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Published: January 27th 2010
Busselton Pier
Unfortunately closed while we were there for rebuilding after a fireWho would have thought the ABSENCE of creepy crawlies could give us such grief?
Busselton, gateway to the lush Margaret River region of south west WA, is etched in our minds as an annoying, buzzing, fly-infested place - probably a little unfair as it’s bordered by the lovely calm beaches of Geographe Bay where the sea is turquoise, the sun always shines and the waves are never more than playful ripples - a perfect family paradise.
BUT...the dung beetles had slept in this season.
Knowing there were so many flies because of the lack of dung beetles to consume the large, juicy piles of cow dung they hatch from, did little to ease our disgust as we were followed everywhere by swarms of flies wishing to invade any of our orifices they could reach.
Even going to the beach didn’t discourage them, so I resorted to a sexy ensemble of shorts, bikini top and fly net to stroll along the sands.
We were going to treat ourselves to a pre-Christmas lunch at one of the trendy beach-side cafes, but although it was hot and sunny, the veranda tables were empty and patrons crammed inside
Sugarloaf Rock
coastline on the Cape to Cape walk near Cape Naturaliste with doors and windows closed to keep the flying plague at bay.
Fortunately our Christmas destination of Margaret River was relatively fly-free and the only plague was over-excited children, so we resorted to frequenting wineries - purely to avoid the family holiday crowd you understand.
This was the first Christmas we’d ever spent just by ourselves. It was a little strange, but very liberating - we went for a bush walk after a lunch of prawns, gammon and excellent Margaret River bubbly and decided we didn’t feel like the planned roast lamb - so had crackers and cheese instead. It WAS Margaret River gourmet cheese.
The south west corner of Oz is peppered with little towns that started as timber mills, whaling stations, pastoral settlements - all the components of a pioneer colony. They have employed varying techniques to survive into the 21st century: Bunbury is now a commercial and manufacturing centre, Busselton touts its wares as an antipodean Southend-on-Sea with family friendly beaches and a pier, Dunsborough bristles with cafes and beach boutiques while Augusta goes for the fishing village appeal and Margaret River is the full-on gourmet, wine-tasting, gallery-grazing place to be
After the fire
bush fire in the park last year leaves a desolate landscape and be seen.
Pemberton is the heart of karri tree country - where I learned to tell my karri from my marri or jarrah. If you have a head for heights you can climb one or two of the larger trees that have fire spotting towers perched in their crowns. Sort of like inverse bungy jumping.
Bridgetown is the village in the hills with shops that time forgot and B&B’s for a romantic weekend.
We celebrated the new decade in Bridgetown above the lovely Blackwood River at a BBQ put on by the van park owners, talking to a couple of kiwis our age who’ve moved to Perth for better job prospects. It was chilly in the hills so everyone was tucked into their tents or vans by about 10.30pm. I watched the Sydney fireworks on TV in bed with Rhys snoring his head off next to me, proving that life in a caravan is no different from usual.
Some settlements are not so successful in attracting visitors and their disposable incomes; Boyup Brook was completely deserted apart from three bored pre-teen girls giggling in the park on the brilliantly sunny Sunday we visited.
Fly strike
in Cape Naturaliste National Park - no matter how fast you walked they just stuck with you The town’s claim to fame is a country music festival and a scattering of “hologram sculptures” by a local artist.
Manjimup (I’m not making these names up) is a bigger town, but the best they could do was a small display case hidden amongst a clutter of bad souvenirs in the information centre which held a motley collection of...Vegemite jars and associated yeast spread memorabilia.
It was so bizarre Rhys couldn’t help asking the friendly (but thankfully irony immune) assistant what the connection was between Vegemite and Manjimup? Maybe the inventor of Vegemite had been born in the timber town, maybe the secret recipe came from an early settler’s attempt to keep their family fed in times of hardship, maybe Vegemite was made to resemble the thick dark gum that exudes from the marri trees in the surrounding forests?
The answer lay in the glass display case, in the form of a photo of the Manjimup water tower with a Vegemite label stuck over it. Our friendly assistant explained “the boss” (which we took to be the Information Centre boss, but could well be the Mayor of Manjimup) had the brilliant idea of painting
Cape Naturaliste Vineyard
Margaret River is the most beautiful wine region we have seen the water tower to look like a huge squat Vegemite jar - as a tourist attraction! I didn’t hear the rest of the story - I had to walk out to hide the giggles.
If they don’t have beaches, rivers, gorges or big rocks shaped like waves, haystacks or elephants, Australian towns have to invent some reason for people to visit. But Vegemite? This took the sandwich.
Walpole and Denmark vie with each other to be The Home of the Valley of the Giants, where there is a perfectly lovely and free boardwalk through old growth tingle trees - yes tingle trees (which are...wait for it...a type of eucalypt of course), and a tree-top walk which you have to pay for, but having shelled out for tree top walks before we knew it would be more interesting on the ground.
There are a lot of trees in the south west of WA and they are very proud of the old big ones - with extensive logging and regular fires they are real survivors. Some are very tall like the karri (which have straight solid trunks similar to kauri), others such as the tingle and
Canal Rocks, Margaret River
bridges make the rocks more accessible tuart only grow naturally in very small areas.
But mostly they all look like what they are - gum trees. It is becoming increasingly hard to get Rhys enthused about going to see trees, walking in trees or driving through trees. He’s also had enough of rocks and hasn’t ever been really excited by beaches, so we’re sort of running out of new experiences in the Great Southern.
Fortunately the SW of WA also has a lot of vineyards which provides a welcome diversion, but an unwelcome affect on the budget.
“What is there to do in Denmark?” he asks as we drive in, “Well, there are walks in the National Park...” “Will that involve trees?” “Well, yes...there are trees in the National Park...there are also beaches...and beaches with rocks...”, “They’ll just look like the other beaches we’ve seen...”
I, however, think all the beaches have their own special beauty and never tire of walking in the forests even though you have to keep your eyes on the path ahead for snakes. (Rhys nearly trod on one on the path just behind the Pemberton van park, then I nearly trod on one
Gunyulgup Gallery, Margaret River
art, design, wine, food, beaches, scenery - Margaret River has it all on the path to the beach from the Walpole van park. They might have been tiger snakes, or more likely the WA dugite - both of which are highly venomous).
The issue of snakes does put somewhat of a damper on bush walking, especially when paths are narrow and overgrown - we now know snakes don’t always get out of the way when they ‘hear’ you coming. I get frustrated I can’t go off on a walk by myself when I know the actual path would cause no problem, but there is a genuine risk of accidentally disturbing a snake and being bitten.
I have no idea how we would cope with a snake bite as you have to keep the patient still - so how do you get to medical attention if you’re in the middle of a forest or half way up a mountain? And how do you ‘stay calm’ if you’ve been bitten by a snake???
The south coast has presented us with a variation on the bush walk theme - monadnocks. Not a spelling mistake, but a geological term for a large granite dome which extruded into surface rocks a
Moses Rock Beach
one of many beautiful Margaret River beaches couple of hundred million years ago and is now exposed through erosion.
They are lots of fun to climb as you get a brilliant 360 view from the top and the granite is easy to walk up - especially as Australians, in their cavalier attitude towards natural landforms, will often carve steps into the rock or bolt walkways and ladders onto rock faces.
Mt Barker is in an area dominated by the Porongurup and Stirling Ranges which have plenty of granite domes to conquer and stunning views to reward the intrepid tourist. We are here for a week to avoid being anywhere popular over Australia Day weekend, i.e. by the beach, overpriced and chocker with rampantly patriotic Australians flying flags on their cars, dressed in Australian flag clothing and shouting “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi. Oi. Oi!”. It happens and it’s rather scary.
We are waiting for the school holidays to be over and the families to go home so that camping grounds can be reclaimed by grey nomads on their quest to find the real Australia.
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Peter Childs
non-member comment
Lithium mining
Could I use this photo with attribution in a free chemistry teacher's magazine to illustrate lithium mining?