Saturday, October 28, 2017

DAY 113 – EXPLORING BRUSSELTON…



Pretty quiet morning this morning… the weather was beautiful here at the beach and Steve was keen to get out his drone and fly it once more…  He is feeling a lot more confident with it, flew it up and down the coast, and actually got some good footage of the coastline here where we are staying.  


He also wanted to get in a little fishing…. He would love to be fishing each day, but we have been so busy sightseeing that he has barely had any time to fly out a line. 

Whilst he was doing that, I managed to get a load of washing done and hung out and then I joined him on the beach for an hour or so.    It was such a beautiful day, and it was quite warm for a change…

Whilst we were here, Ian and Kathy decided to go and check out the Freedom Church down the road.  

They got back just on lunch time, so we all had a quick bit to eat and then headed into Busselton for the afternoon.  Even though we have been here for a couple of days already, this was to be our first actual visit into Busselton itself and we were keen to get out for a walk along their famous jetty.
 

The Busselton Jetty is 1.841km long. It is the longest timber piled jetty in the world.   Because the shallow waters of Geographe Bay restricted ship movement, a long jetty was required so that cut timber could be transported to ships.
Busselton Jetty

The jetty construction commenced in 1853 and the first section was opened in 1865. The jetty was extended numerous times until the 1960s, ultimately reaching a length of 1841 m. The last commercial vessel called at the jetty in 1971 and the jetty was closed the following year. It passed into the control of Busselton Shire and has been gradually restored and improved since. The jetty has survived Cyclone Alby in 1978, borers, weathering, several fires, and the threat of demolition, to have become a major regional tourist attraction.

The jetty features a rail line along its length, a relic of the railway line into Busselton from Bunbury. The line now carries tourists along the jetty to an underwater observatory which opened to the public in 2003.

The Jetty is also the  home to one of only five underwater observatories in the world!  Here you can descend 8 metres beneath the water’s surface to view more than 300 individual marine species in their natural habitat through eleven viewing windows at various levels within a 9.5 metre diameter observation chamber.



We decided to take the tourist train ride out along the jetty to the end stop.  From here you can go down to the underwater observatory, but we chose not to pay the extra to do this as it was about $35 each to do this.  We felt that we had seen enough coral and fish species whilst up around Exmouth, and also living in Qld, we have access to coral reefs on a regular basis.  
Once the train gets to the Underwater Observatory, you are allowed to hope off the train and walk a further 100 metres to the very end of the jetty.  We only had about 15 minutes to do this before boarding the train again for the ride back in along the jetty again.
There were lots of people out on the jetty, quite a few fishing, lots strolling and it was great to see lots of young people out there using the jetty for swimming and diving and recreational skills.  
Once the train arrived back at the Info centre, and we hopped off, we then decided to actually go for a stroll back out along the jetty ourselves.  It was interesting to see what people were catching, and actually talk to some of the fishermen on the jetty.  I really enjoyed watching the young teenages interacting with each other and just enjoying being out of doors without constantly being on their phone or tablet.  There should be more of it.
We even managed to see a very young mermaid sitting on the rocks.
Young mermaid sitting on the beach.
  We probably spent a good two hours out along the jetty, such a nice spot to be on a Sunday afternoon.  Before leaving the jetty precinct, we paid a visit to the Busselton Info Centre, where we got extra books and maps and asked about other things to do in the region.  We managed to pick up a very handy and useful map of Western Australia and crossing the Nullabor.
Amazed that the whole roof was covered in solar panels
The original train that used to and frun along the jett
Before leaving the jetty precinct, we paid a visit to the Busselton Info Centre, where we got extra books and maps and asked about other things to do in the region.  We managed to pick up a very handy and useful map of Western Australia and crossing the Nullabor.
We also picked up a few post cards, as well as a new mug for me… I found one, which had caravans around the outside, so thought it might be an appropriate one to keep in the caravan.  Also it is quite a fine china, so is actually very nice to drink out of..
 
Love the rubbish bins around Busselton - they all have scenes of the area printed on them. 

It was probably close to 4.30pm by the time we left here, and as we were all hanging out for a cuppa decided to go looking for some parkland on the beach  for a cuppa and a slice of the sultana cake we had made the previous evening.  So yummy and it all went in one sitting.
 As we were still in town at 6pm, we decided to head back towards the jetty to see if we could watch the sun set there and gets some photos of the jetty silhouetted with the sun in the background… such a magnificent sight and we were fortunate enough to visit this.  Absolutely magnificent.

It was going on for dark when we left Busselton to head home.  We have had such a nice afternoon.  We are loving it at the Anglican Campground where we are staying.  Initially we only booked to stay here for three nights, and have now extended it for at least an extra night.  I have a feeling we will be extending our stay here for a few extra nights again as well.

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