Dunsborough - Day 1 - Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse & Sugarloaf Rock

---

This morning, we drove out to the other lighthouse on this ‘horny’ bit of south-western WA, the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse. When we checked opening times last night, we discovered that the lighthouse is currently closed for maintenance and that we would not be able to do the lighthouse tour. That was disappointing!

But before we drove out the Cape Naturaliste Road, we pulled in at the beach almost opposite where we are staying (a few streets back from the beach) to check it out for possible swimming. It’s a bit confronting when you are walking onto the beach and there is a ‘Shark Watch’ sign on which can be recorded the date and time of the last shark sighting. Most shark attacks are in SA and here in WA after all. For the record there was no data filled in on the sign today.

Anyhoo, shark risk aside the beach was beautiful. No wind again today and no surf so it looked perfect for swimming … BUT no one was in the water??! Steve asked some dog walkers why no one was swimming and was told it’s because it’s only knee deep here at Dunsborough. The dog walkers suggested that if we were looking for a swimming beach, we should check out Eagle Bay and Meelup Beach. Good to know for later during our stay.

With our swimming research done we continued out to the lighthouse which suffers from comparison with the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse because it’s a stumpy little thing after you’ve seen the mainland’s tallest lighthouse just a few days ago! We were happy to discover though that the maintenance being undertaken has not resulted in the lighthouse being shrouded in shade-cloth. We have had THAT happen before. The maintenance is all happening on the inside with the mercury bath that supports the light being checked for impurities. With no tour available, the entrance fee was waived.

We walked up to the gate of the lighthouse and tried to take photos through the wire mesh. It’s always a challenge trying to get a good shot through a barrier of any kind. On the other hand, we probably don’t want to be too close to any work going on that involves mercury. Who needs heavy metal poisoning on their holiday?

Bernie headed off around the side of the fenced enclosure to see what could be seen from the seaward side of the lighthouse. Not much as it turned out! A tantalising look at an elevated boardwalk inside the compound – it would have been nice to see what view there is from that? – and we got to see the temporary light strapped to the balustrade of the viewing platform on the lighthouse. It would have been even better to have seen the view from there, but not possible between the 11th and 25th of March 2024.

Keen to find a view of the ocean and/or a more picturesque angle for the lighthouse we set off on one of the nearby walking trails. It was a lovely, flat, hard-packed track through foliage that was just high enough to obscure the lighthouse completely! Each time the bush opened up near the path, lifting our hopes for a view back to the lighthouse, there would be taller trees behind the low foliage. Eventually our efforts paid off and we found a couple of spots along the path where it was possible to glimpse Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse over the bushes.

The trail deteriorated into a sand path with patches of rock erupting from it. Not very comfortable to walk on with the loose base and the constant trip hazards to be avoided. Plus, the chances of any sort of an ocean view were seeming remote. After a couple of hundred metres we decided to return to the car park and drive to our next destination, Sugarloaf Rock.

One of many rocky outcrops in the world called Sugarloaf Rock or Island this is a popular lookout and photo point. We pulled into the car park to see a coach and the hilarious sight of a coach load of tourists all piled into the elevated lookout. OMG how are we going to get to enjoy the view with all those people? As we parked the crowd was starting to disperse in a conga-line of people making their way back down the steps. Beauty, we thought, they are all leaving, and we WILL be able to fit on the lookout.

Ha, just when we thought our viewing was assured ANOTHER coach pulled up behind the first. Right, we’d better be quick about this to insert ourselves amongst the last of the passengers from the first coach and before too many make their way up from the second coach!! A window of opportunity! All the tourists had their numbered sticky labels on so pretty sure they were cruise ship passengers on a day trip to Margaret River.

With us planning to head up to Busselton to meet friends for lunch and Cathy and Steve planning to swim, the Gaffneys and the Gatts parted ways for only the second time in 22 days! As we drove back towards Dunsborough we pulled onto Meelup Beach Road and had a quick look at Castle Rock, a popular swimming spot on a warm Saturday.

We stopped in at the house to change clothes and then drove up to Busselton to make a quick stop at Woolies on our way to the Shelter Brewery. With our perishables stowed in the fridge and the rest of the items packed in the truck we drove around to the jetty precinct looking for the brewery. It was very busy around the foreshore with a Beer Fest taking place AND a little bit of Google research on the drive up had revealed that the cruise ship is here in Busselton today. No wonder we struggled to find a park!

Fortunately, Sharon had had the foresight to book a table for lunch as I think we would have struggled to get a ‘walk up’ table for eight and a half people. Kath and Albert are with Ross and Sharon at the moment, so we were very lucky that they were able to organise a weekend in Dunsborough to coincide with our time here. Joining them was eldest son, Matthew, his wife of one week Rebekah and their daughter, Ellie. Kath and Albert only decided in January to fly out to Oz to meet their newest great-granddaughter, Ellie. As an added bonus a wedding was hastily organised so they could be at Matthew and Rebekah’s special day while they are here in Perth. Wonderful memories for everyone.

While we were eating, we could see the massive queue of passengers waiting to catch tenders back to the Coral Princess. Although it is the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere it is, apparently, not suitable for cruise ships to dock at. The Coral Princess was bobbing around out in Geographe Bay and passengers coming ashore for the day had to be ferried each way by tender. With the sun blazing it must have been very hot waiting on the jetty although we could see that some passengers were prepared with umbrellas to provide them with some shade while they waited.

With their house ready to be checked into we left the gang to it and headed into the Visitor Centre to check that they didn’t have any amazing suggestions not already on our list. We had already seen a number of the places the staff member suggested as we drove up the coast on Friday and we already plan to explore the Busselton Jetty with Cathy and Steve over the next couple of days. Otherwise, she told us there are lots of wineries, breweries and distilleries to visit throughout the Margaret River region.

We drove back down the coast to Cormorant Court via Simmos Ice Creamery. The pull of their excellent ice-creams was just too strong! Cathy and Steve were feeling very relaxed at the house after spending an hour down at the local beach. Despite their recce this morning they had decided to swim closer to ‘home’. Although shallow, they found there was enough water to enjoy a dip in the Indian Ocean.

With kitchen facilities to hand again at this location Tracey whipped up some spaghetti bolognese for dinner. Made way too much! The mince is going to be converted into taco filling tomorrow night with the addition of some red kidney beans and corn kernels!

After dinner we drove around to Gifford Street to check out Ross and Sharon’s home away from home. They are in a complex of apartments that looked very comfortable. We had to scrounge some change out of the console of the car because of course you can’t play cards with Kath and Albert without money being involved. With only one pack of cards and seven players we were restricted to a couple of games of 31s followed by a couple of games of Chase the Ace. Bernie managed to win one game of each. Tracey’s losing streak continued. Doesn’t seem to matter what game is being played, Tracey is equally unlucky at all of them at the moment!!



Steps: 9,269 (5.99kms)

---