A rainy miserable morning in Bunbury. Drove to nearby Woolies for brekkie supplies and bits and by 10 ish were driving around checking out the town . Pleasant enough - just a shame weather not great. Found it's renowned lighthouse (black and white checked!) and a spiral lookout tower provided great views though unfortunately just too windy to get all the way to the top! Marina area was lovely, and sun just trying to sneak through.
Decided to move on the only 40 or so kms to Busselton and with weather lightening somewhat, took a slight detour through the Tuart Forest National Park. Very scenic, tree lined thoroughfares dotted with farms and an incredible abundance of wildflowers - particularly white lilies. Unreal! The road often followed estuaries and swamp land with the coastline of Geographe Bay not far away.
Once in Busselton, with rain eased and cloud cover lighter, we headed straight for the famous jetty. Extending 1.8 kms the heritage listed jetty is the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere with construction beginning in 1865.
Evidently the blustering winds were even stronger than we realised as at up to 40kms an hour neither the jetty's train or it's underwater observatory were operating! Our only option was to walk the jetty - not a mean feat under the horrendous conditions but needless to say I was determined to give it a go! And, we survived! Have never seen an ocean so dark and turbulent -all adding to the atmosphere of the day.
Once we had returned and taken in the information at the Jetty museum it was time for lunch and we enjoyed sandwiches and coffee in the Old Post Office Tea Rooms - really quaint. And lovely gallery in the old Courthouse next door. Endeavoured to take in some more of the town before continuing on to Dunsborough. Another pleasant short drive with Bussell Highway now the well known Caves Road, dotted with holiday and camping parks, attractions and the start of some vineyards. Dunsborough appeared a very trendy, modern tourist town as we passed through on to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse. Another scenic drive, lush, green and undulating. Once again the windy conditions worked against us, even though the sun was now shining. As the area had registered winds up to 70 kms(?) not only was the guided tour of the lighthouse not operating, but we weren't allowed within close proximity. Hence our only option was to walk around an extended perimeter - quite spectacular views particularly out to sea. Plenty of colourful wildflowers as well.
Returned back to Dunsborough, particularly checking out the seaside area, then back to Caves Road to Yallingup. Didn't appear to be a great deal here - though Caves House looked impressive and the beach areas were incredibly imposing. The remainder of the drive along Caves Road towards Margaret River to find our accommodation was bewildering. Beautifully scenic with an overwhelming amount of vineyards, attractions,galleries and accommodation - almost too much to absorb. Found our Bridgewater B & B, right next to McHenry Hohnen winery, about 7 minutes from town of Margaret River. Met Beth, our host, and our room seems to be very comfortable and has all we need- including everything for continental brekkie in the morning. Quickly freshened up and drove into town, taking Beth's recommendation of The Settlers Tavern for dinner. Both our meals were super (loved my swordfish!) and Raym was particularly happy we were positioned close to telly for the bulldogs v panthers game! Returned to our accommodation for the second half! Time to relax!