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Published: December 18th 2011
Busselton
The Jetty in a good light This Blog entry will cover our stay in Busselton (Busso) until we leave on the 16
thDecember.
As most of you will know this stop was the only date that we had to keep in our ‘hectic’ travel schedule as we were to meet our son Matt here who had entered the WA Ironman event to be held on Dec 4
th. We had arranged to be at the Kookaburra Caravan Park in Busso a couple of days prior to Matt arriving to set up and be ready to help with his preparations. Matt was flying in to Perth (250Klm North) and we wanted to be organised prior to his arrival. We had no sooner set up and I had just suggested a drink with our new ‘neighbours’ when the phone rang…’Don’t panic, I have had an accident, I am OK, I am waiting for an ambulance, I will call you later’. A parents’ nightmare, what has happened, the waiting, the inability to help or be there…all the whats? Dad (Mike) decides this is ridiculous and decides to continuously ring Matt’s mobile….20 minutes later it answers…’Hello, this is Snr Constable…..who am I talking to? ..MATT’S DAD..what the xxxxxxx is going
Busselton
The Goose Restaurant at the start of the Busso Jetty on? I am informed that Matt has been hit by a car, is OK, but in an ambulance and going to hospital. ‘Which hospital’ I say, and how badly is he hurt, whose fault was it etc (I asked a few questions!!). The Snr Constable answered …’don’t know which hospital, but I will find out and ring back, he may have a broken collar bone, it was not his fault, he was cut off by a driver and the driver will be charged…..bye’ But, but…….we wait and wait and wait…the Snr Constable does not ring back…we wait… the phone rings…Hi, it’s me I am in the Alfred Hospital, they think I have broken my collar bone….. 2 days later we pick up Matt from Perth Airport resplendent in sling and in a lot of pain..but he is with us and now feel we can help. An emotional time all round. Matt’s disappointment is that after over twelve months of hard work he is no longer able to compete. I point out that with the number of recent shark attacks and sightings it may be an omen, but this does nothing to dampen this disappointment. Over the next 4 days we
Busselton
The Goose, one of our favourites. Where's Neil the Duck ! go with Matt to watch the WA Ironman event shaping up and as more and more people arrive with millions of dollars worth of bikes and all the excitement and action going on it is obvious he is hurting from more than pain. The big day comes and we are up at 4,30am to watch the start of the swim and spend the rest of the day watching these amazing athletes compete over the 3.8 klm swim, 180 klm bike ride and then a 42,2 klm run. 8 hours and 13 minutes later Timo Bracht from Germany crossed the line as the winner. The next big event in our stay at Busso was the arrival of Penny, Matt’s Girlfriend. So back up to Perth to the airport where unfortunately for all of us, mostly Penny, her arrival into our care was delayed by 4 hours due to a huge electrical storm that stopped Perth. Eventually back in Busso we all had a stiff drink, now lets get on with the holiday….A highlight for us all was a trip to the wineries in the Margaret River area just south of Busso. First stop was Penny’s favourite, Cape Naturaliste Winnery. What a
Busselton
Neil meets The Goose beautiful setting in a valley behind Smith Beach. Originally the homestead was a staging point for Cobb & Co on the trip up the coast to Perth. As I was designated ‘Skipper’, and with Matt on medication, (for his pain), the important role for the day of ‘Wine Tasters’ was left in the hands of Trish & Penny. The wine here must have been good as we left with a few ’paper bags’. After a few more wineries we ended up at Vasse Felix where the ‘Wine Tasters’ were asked ….’would you and your sister like to try our sparkling?’ …well that was the end of the day for Matt and I as we could not compete with that! Next was lunch, and I will openly suggest to anyone going near here to call in to this spot. Hayshed Hill Winery, which not only had great wine but fantastic food and coffee. The gourmet pizzas were terrific and the setting of the winery is more than picturesque. We really recommend this stop. More than adequately satisfied with lunch we headed 200 mtrs up the road to another of Penny’s favourites, The Margaret River Chocolate Factory !! Like I really need
Busselton
The WA Ironman swim goes out and around the end of the Busso Jetty...this is the starting line. that …now !! In we go and straight to the samples and then out onto the patio to eat a Chocolate Fondue that Penny has ordered. There goes that 3 kilos I had lost !!! But hey, it was all great fun and you need to do this when here. A trip to the underwater observatory at the end of the Busso Jetty was a highlight for all of us, what a fantastic attraction this is, a ‘must do’. Shopping in Busso, shopping in Dunsborough, coffees in Busso , Capel and Dunsborough, time on the beach and dining out in Busso were the order for the rest of the time that we had left with Matt & Penny. All too soon we were headed back up the highway to Perth Airport, but not before a magnificent breakfast in Fremantle at Aubergine and a visit to the Little Creatures Brewery. Our first day ‘alone’ we spent catching up with all those things that you do no matter where you are, washing, cleaning, grocery shopping etc. Then we were quickly got back into the swing of our trip doing the tourist thing.
Margaret River is one of the best known towns
Busselton
Our site in Kookaburra Caravan Park. Matt & Trish. in WA with world class wines (except for their reds, my opinion !), magnificent coastal scenery and they claim spectacular surfing beaches , however we could not find one beach in the forest ! The nearest surf beach, which is well known amongst surfers, is Prevelly and according to my maps and the fact we went there, it is not in Margaret River !!! A pretty town it lies on the Margaret River ‘near the coast’ 280 klm SW of Perth. Although the town itself had all the usual range of shops to service a large community and surrounds, they ranged from cheap $1.00 shops to exclusive boutiques. An eclectic mix that did not seem to have one identity, but trying to cater for a ‘green hippie’ type community on one hand, and the wealthy landowners on the other. It just did not click like Dunsborough or Busselton. For such an iconic and well known tourist spot it just lacked ‘something’ and did not present as a ‘clean and attractive’ town. Yes, the countryside is beautiful and the wineries are amazing as are the nearby beach communities, but they are not the town of Margaret River.
Prevelly Beach and
Busselton
WA Ironman Transition Area, This is where you change between disciplines..swim to bike to run. Yallingup are well known surf beaches and that is how they developed to become the communities they are today. The Yallingup region has some of the best surf in the world and is one of the most consistent places for quality waves . I can recall from surf mags in my misspent youth talking of road trips in combi vans and panel vans from Perth down to this region and if only I had realised what would happen I could have purchased half of the coast and now been a property tycoon. Back in the 60’s these beaches were iconic surfing destinations and today nothing has changed except for the real estate which basically did not exist back then. Today both beaches have million dollar holiday homes and are well developed. Unfortunately due to the recent bush fires which occurred as we arrived in Busso, Prevelly was badly affected with the loss of about 40 homes and the surrounding forest region. These fires are the ugly side of living in the bush in Australia and we have personally experienced more than our fair share with the Victorian fires in 2009 and in Cootamundra some 20 years ago. But hey, the
Busselton
Tri Bikes..millions of dollars worth surf still exists and it looked pretty good to me.
Cowaramup was once the centre of a dairying community but seems to have been caught up in the development of the nearby region with vineyards, breweries and ‘hobby farms’ replacing many of these dairy farms. A few still exist and although the theme of the town is still ‘cows’, the agricultural industry is more diverse and local housing is more for commuters to the larger towns of Busso and Dunsbourgh, we suspect. A tidy, quirky little town with a good coffee stop, ‘Udderly Devine’ !
Dunsborough is a picturesque town on the South Western end of Geographe Bay. I said to Trish before we arrived that I had heard it had become a ‘rich man’s playground’ and this was quickly confirmed. With 9 real estate agents and an average house price of around $675k my thoughts were confirmed. But what a great town, fantastic shopping, (no identity crisis here!), and great coffee shops ! Clean, well planned and ‘attractive’, this was a great place to visit, and we did, a few times ! Nearby Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse, built in 1903 is a famous landmark and tourist attraction. For
Busselton
empty space on second rack over to right of red bike is where Matt's bike would have been.... 75 years it was manned manually with no electricity and a climb to the top has panoramic views across the Indian Ocean, Geographe Bay and the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. The nearby communities of Bunker Bay, Eagle Bay and Meelup Beach are picturesque small communities displaying some amazing architecture behind the pristine white sandy beaches that ooze exclusivity. Well worth the trip to look around them.
We could not finish this blog entry without mentioning the Kookaburra Caravan Park, a Council owned park in Busso where we stayed. It was clean, central to everything, shady and overall great value. Managers John and Sue were more than welcoming and helpful with information, please call in and say Hi to them when you are next in Busso, (They may offer a discount if you mention our names!). We loved our time spent here and if only it was ‘closer’ it could be our new home.
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Matty
non-member comment
Busso!
I miss Busso! Penny and I had a fabulous time with you guys over there in Busso, it was just nice to chill out and do some sight seeing with you two. And Busso is a very pretty spot, it was hard to leave! Any more photos? I will try and email or maybe send you some of Penny's photos and some of mine off my phone. Miss you both xoxox