Wreck hopes, long walks, & new mothers

Dunsborough was judged WA's Top Tourism Town in 1999 - things must have changed. I'm not putting the place down. It's lovely. Really. The previous posts illustrate the type of competition the town is up against. There just wasn't anything there we hadn't seen that was better elsewhere.
The sole driving force for our visit was it being the nearest access town to the wreck site of the 'The Swan' - an anti-submarine vessel, said to be one of the top diving sites in the world - one more addition to the seemingly infinite list ;)

Unfortunately, an impeccably timed cold crashed my hopes against the rocks, and we were left only with a tour of Cape Naturaliste lighthouse before pushing on to Busselton.

The main attraction and subsequent star of all tourism photos for Busselton is the heritage listed jetty. Extending almost 2km out over the protected waters of Geographe Bay, it is the longest timber jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. The reality of this, is a long walk on a long pier, with buildings at either end and nothing much to look at in between. We spent as much time as it takes to casually wander around the sea front, walk the jetty, and eat some ice-cream before moving on again.

The final destination for this journey was the town of Bunbury. When asked about dolphins in Western Australia, most people will mention Monkey Mia without hesitation. Few will think that a small town, just an hour or so, south of Perth has much of the same on offer - at least that's what they say in Bunbury. The staff there defend their 'interactive experience' as offering a more authentic experience, and one that isn't inadvertently harmful to the dolphins by causing a dependency on humans for food.


Our continued luck became apparent the moment we realised the campsite we had blindly chosen to stay in, was located a stone's throw from the very bay where over 200 dolphins reside. There is a charge for going on the beach but at $2 each, for a ticket that is valid for 6 months, it's probably the best value attraction in Australia.

There is no guarantee that any dolphins will make an appearance, but their attendance record is quite exemplary. Strangely the males rarely grace people with their presence but the females are so comfortable, they bring their calves. On both the mornings that we visited the beach, so did the dolphins. We were exceptionally lucky to see different mothers on each day bring their 4 & 5 week old young. As they casually swam right up to Lucie and I, I wondered who was studying who. Whilst there a school trip arrived at the beach (as they always do). The aim was to familiarise the children with these wonderful creatures in an attempt to ensure their interest in future preservation. I imagine that this is the same intention of the dolphin mothers that bring their young to these daily meetings.

Thinking about it now, it seems slightly irrational what an amazing effect the dolphins have on the people that see them. Smiles lighten every face, and the sensation of seeing something special remains for the whole day.