Why haven't we seen anything of Busselton itself by now I hear you ask. Simple. I haven't yet taken a couple of photos which are essential, namely one of the entire length of the jetty from the lighthouse tower, which is a 'must'. Hopefully that will be done today, but in the meantime we have done some more touring in the local area.
In our walks along the foreshore paths of Geographe Bay we had seen road signs pointing to a distant marina and boat ramp and noticed the bulk of what appeared to be a breakwater wall in the distance to the east. It was time to take a closer look.
Busselton is an expanding town. This became clearly evident as we drove out through the new suburban area east and north of the main centre before reaching Port Geographe, the marina and development site some 6 kms from Busselton itself.
As this sign shows, the whole marina and beachfront area is currently under reconstruction and expansion. It is a massive undertaking which, like so many of these works, has not been welcomed by many in the community who are concerned about the effects it will have on the bay itself. Where canals have been dredged and completed and homes built, the end result was, to us, just typical of any number of such developments we have seen throughout Australia and of no great interest as such.
But I did take a few indicative shots. The entrance to the established marina area leads to a row of townhouses and restaurant..an expensive restaurant!
In our walks along the foreshore paths of Geographe Bay we had seen road signs pointing to a distant marina and boat ramp and noticed the bulk of what appeared to be a breakwater wall in the distance to the east. It was time to take a closer look.
Busselton is an expanding town. This became clearly evident as we drove out through the new suburban area east and north of the main centre before reaching Port Geographe, the marina and development site some 6 kms from Busselton itself.
As this sign shows, the whole marina and beachfront area is currently under reconstruction and expansion. It is a massive undertaking which, like so many of these works, has not been welcomed by many in the community who are concerned about the effects it will have on the bay itself. Where canals have been dredged and completed and homes built, the end result was, to us, just typical of any number of such developments we have seen throughout Australia and of no great interest as such.
But I did take a few indicative shots. The entrance to the established marina area leads to a row of townhouses and restaurant..an expensive restaurant!
but as we looked out across the array of moored craft we did spot one of particular interest...the biggie! We suspect that this is one of the cruise ships on which those who are prepared to part with about $1,000 per day can take in the Kimberly Coast and its many attractions on cruises of varying lengths, but this is only a guess. In any event, whatever its use, it was very much the king of the castle in this marina.
From Port Geographe (which you may have gathered did not overly impress us) we decided to check out some of the beaches further around the bay. The local road network took us through groves of the ubiquitous Peppermint trees
and past the dairy and beef cattle grazing fields which run along the Vasse-Wonnerup wetlands.
These wetlands are a real feature of the countryside around Busselton, and they are significant. Running some 15 kms north and east of the town, these wetlands are Ramsar listed. Apart from anything else, they provide habitat for some 37,000 birds of 90 species. A great deal of work is currently being done to manage and protect this area from the degradation of invasive weeds and other threats.
Just beyond the waters of the wetlands lie the beaches of the north-eastern end of Geographe Bay, some of which are set aside for 4WD adventures. We poked our noses into the entrance at Peppermint Grove beach to see what this was all about.
Plenty of wheel tracks..this didn't look too bad.
But a closer inspection of the sand above the high water mark soon revealed that this is serious low tyre pressure country, and, as can been seen in the previous shot there is not a lot of beach to play with. But we did spot a couple of hardies belting and bashing their way west along the sand
and, to the east of the entrance road, saw a very well established group who were obviously well versed with the area and were taking full advantage of what was on offer.
Two of the great advantages of beach living on Geographe Bay are that tidal movement as we know it is almost non-existent, and, because the bay faces north, the generally prevailing winds of the area are off-shore. Encroaching large waves are virtually unknown. A beach camp just above the high water mark can be established with confidence. I did feel a pang of envy as I photographed this lot.
Strangely enough, my suggestion that we take a spin along the beach was not met with enthusiasm by the co-pilot. Mutterings of "remember what happened at Inskip Point" (where I infamously bogged last year) filled the cabin. We made our way back to Busselton on the blacktop, and as we did so came across a most unusual house.
This was the sort of home of which I had seen so many in my adventures through England and Scotland on my travels home from Cyprus all those years ago. It certainly looked authentic and I couldn't help but wonder just when it had been built. By sheer good chance my curiosity was soon satisfied...as I was taking this shot the owners emerged to take their dog for a walk and were more than happy to tell me that what I as looking at had been constructed in the mid 1800's.
What a contrast to the home directly across the road!
In our next tour we take in some of the coast to the south and visit Cape Leeuwin and the Augusta area.
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