We started this week with a visit to a very pretty cottage called Ellensbrook House which had been recommended to us by the owner of last nights campsite. The house was built in the 1850’s by Alfred Bussell, an original settler of the Augusta and Vasse settlements. The house (and the Ellen Brook flowing alongside) was named after his wife (yes you guessed it –Ellen) and was the hub of a beef and dairy cattle farm which stretched for 30Km along the coast and 2 Km inland. The white-washed walls and original paperbark roof shingles, surrounded by beautiful green grass and the gurgling brook were all very photogenic.
The coast line in the Margaret River area is absolutely wonderful with various shades of turquoise clear water and white sand, rugged cliffs, dunes and glorious beaches. And of course not too many people! Much of it is National Park but we just left the dogs in the van for half an hour when there were lovely spots to explore and photograph – after all, they are definitely very spoilt for the other 99% of the time. The outer security door grill on the van can be locked but still let the air in, and having this and the large ceiling vent has allowed us to leave the doggies quite happily and safely inside.
Then it was time to sample some more wineries. Margaret River is known by the locals as Margaret Rip-off – and we had started to find that out for ourselves! You certainly need lots of spare cash to really enjoy yourself. The wineries are mostly amazing “chateau-like” structures with huge wrought iron gates, carefully manicured gardens, lakes, landscaped walkways, statues and acres of pruned vineyards. Money seems to have been no object in the construction of these estates, and this is reflected in the price of the meals, the gallery objects and the wine.
We had a lovely time calling in at Saracen Estates on Caves Road in the famed Wilyabrup Valley and sampled all their range whilst admiring the estate grounds. We also visited Gunyulgup Galleries just south of Yallingup which was representing the works of over 80 artists – paintings, glass, pottery, sculpture, jewellery etc. The Gallery was in a rural setting, overlooking a tranquil lake and we had coffee and a banana sitting outside our van in the car park – but with this scenic view!
We spend the night in a rather ‘iffy’ campsite in Dunsborough on the edge of a huge brand new housing estate with golf course that was still under construction. It was $28 per night for a power site, but the nearest amenities block was closed and the other one was old, leaking and mosquito ridden. The washing machines and tumble driers didn’t work, so it was hardly value for money. The doggies enjoyed a walk on the next door golf course but we were careful to steer them away from hundreds of Kangaroos that were hovering around the edges, no doubt wanting a taste of the lush green grass on the fairways.
We drove on to Busselton, arriving right at the famous jetty on the beach. The Busselton Jetty is the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere – about 2 Km. Building was started in 1865 and took 95 years to complete. The Jetty was used to ship timber products with horse drawn trucks used for loading until the railway jetty became operational. Operations stopped in 1972 and general deterioration, plus a fire and a cyclone destroyed most of it. However it is currently being completely renovated to the tune of $24 million dollars and will be a huge attraction when finished next year.
We found a great campsite called “Kookaburra” just 2 minutes walk from the town centre and beaches, and we were given a spot right on the edge of the site, so we could leave the doggies asleep in the van for the evening (with management approval) and we headed into town for a meal and movie called “The Young Victoria”.
The sun was shining high in the sky when we got up the next morning, so we washed all the sheets and towels and got them hung out on the line flapping nicely – a glorious sight! I had the horrible job of paying my enormous (it seemed to me to be enormous anyway) annual 08/09 PAYG tax bill AND a 1st quarter instalment 09/10. (What can the tax office want with all this money of mine?) I tried not to let it put a cloud over the day...
We really enjoyed Busselton and extended our stay to three nights at the Kookaburra site for $28 per night – but this one was excellent value compared to the Dunsborough site. We took Tia to the local Vet to have a small persistent red lump in the corner of her eye examined. It turned out that it could be a small tumour developing so we have been referred to a Veterinary Ophthalmologist in Perth on Monday as she may need it removed. Anyway we’ll cross that bridge once she has been seen by the specialist. Poor Tia has had so many operations...
The doggies all had an excellent time running and walking on the Busselton beaches and the playing fields, and we enjoyed the shops and sights. We decided to treat ourselves to tickets for ‘The Great Moscow Circus’ show on Saturday night as we had passed the huge marquees on our walk and it all looked exciting. We thought it may be similar to Cirque du Soleil but it was actually much more like a conventional circus that we would have seen in our childhood, but with the ultimate death-defying acts. We were thoroughly amazed and clapped and shouted until we were hoarse. The most spectacular act consisted of four motorbikes being ridden at 80kph INSIDE a large sphere made of grid metal so you could see them from the outside. How the bike riders didn’t hit each other was beyond me, but so very exciting. There was a ‘modern’ clown in a pink suit with a black nose who built a great rapport with the audience and other amazing balancing, juggling and acrobatic acts.
We left Busselton after a last walk along the beach and Muffin suddenly looked a bit peaky. Maybe she had eaten something horrible on the beach? She quickly recovered and fortunately we only drove a short distance to a rest area about 50Kms past Bunbury on the Leschenault Inlet. This inlet is very popular for crabbing (blue manna crabs) and is tidal. We arrived when the tide was out and camped on a grassy area surrounded by paperbark gums on the edge of the Inlet. We got out our chairs and a glass of red wine each, a packet of chippies and watched the sun go down and the water come in. We were the only ones stopped there - bliss. Paul heated up some pumpkin soup and the doggies snored and made horrible smells – as only dogs can.
Final stop for the week was beautiful Mandurah, said to be the fastest growing ‘sea change’ town in Australia. The traffic on the road was much busier as we got closer towards Perth and was quite scary at times as we had become so used to empty outback roads! We stayed here for two nights in a campsite quite close to town, which had mainly permanent residents but seemed very friendly. We had long walks on the dog friendly beaches and totally wore ourselves and the dogs out. The weather turned really hot and we struggled to acclimatise to the heatwave. We pottered about in the town and along the foreshore where there were huge new apartment complexes with marinas and yachts, and we both decided we liked Mandurah. It had a nice atmosphere and seemed to attract every demographic, from retirees to foreign tourists, young people and families, all blended well together. On our last night we sat outside a bar with a gin and tonic and the thoroughly exhausted doggies lying by us, and just watched the world stroll by.
To see some photos, click here (open in new window!)
