Discovering the beauty of Busselton

We had planned to move onto Busselton straight after Hamish’s reading lesson at 9:30am, so hit the road at about 10am.  However a gut feeling said I should ring and check with the Busselton caravan park that we had booked to see if it was okay to arrive after 10am.  Most parks are fine with this but not this one.  They said the earliest we could check in was midday!  I couldn’t work it out but obviously had to accept their rules and Jason quickly ran to the reception of the caravan park we were in to see if we could leave later.  Luckily they were fine with it and had no problems with us staying until 11:30am.

So we decided to focus on school in the camp kitchen and managed to complete two sessions of school before hitting the road.  Hamish had done so well in his on air lessons in the morning and has taken to learning his sight words.  It helps that we revise them in the car as we drive where he revises them at least three times a day.  I am going to start on the alphabet letters and the sounds they make too so he revises them more.  It is funny what he likes to do and doesn’t and how he can remember an octopus has three brains from being told once, but takes a week to get the hang of the sight word ‘see!’

I was glad when we finally hit the road as I prefer travelling in the morning and setting up before it gets too hot.  So I just wanted to get down to Busselton and get all set up.  The drive was only 58km from caravan park to caravan park but it was quite windy and we could feel it so it felt like forever.  Okay it wasn’t really that bad but I just kept thinking if only we had been able to check in early.  All was forgiven when we arrived at the caravan park though as the lady in reception was lovely and even took the time to take Hamish outside to show him where a possum was sleeping. 

We had another easy site to park on which we could drive straight through.  However even though it was easy we still didn’t get it right!!!  There was green matting and I wanted the caravan tyres on it to reduce the grass that came into the van.  So after a bit of forwards and backwards we were finally happy with our position and quickly unhitched and started to set up.  Kayla was thankfully asleep so we left her to sleep in the car whilst we set up.  Hamish even did his usual job of putting together the outdoor table.  It is really a nice big park with lots of sites so I cannot understand why we couldn’t arrive until midday.

All set up and ready to relax.

Someone came to welcome us to the park.

I took the kids for a walk around the park whilst Jason sorted out a new float for the toilet.  The crazy thing has broken off.  It isn’t a drama, but our toilet won’t tell us when it is getting full or is full but you can easily tell that by looking into the bowl.  Still it is under warranty so we are getting it fixed.  I am starting to wonder about these Dometic products that we have in the van.  We then headed off to get some afternoon tea and visit the information centre.  We came across an awesome place to eat and it had a fantastic kid’s area.  We will certainly be coming back there again as I got to have my tea whilst the kids happily played.

Nice big play area with iPads.

Kayla loved the dollhouse.

At the visitor information centre I grabbed a map of the town and a few flyers before we had a quick look at the water front and the famous Busselton Jetty.  We will tackle that another day though.  The clouds had started to build up a bit so we retreated to the caravan and to save the washing that was dry on the clothesline.  Jason then took the kids to hire a pedal bike and took them for a walk around the caravan park whilst I caught up on the blog and other jobs.  I think we are really going to love our stay here.

Hamish pushing Kayla around on the bike.

Our possum.

Hamish having lunch in his cubby house.

Well I think it rained a lot overnight as when I woke up and ventured outside there was water all over our table and chairs.  Guessing the wind blew it all in under the awning so I quickly dried it all up so that we could sit in the seats later on.  We had slept in a bit so we madly rushed to get everything ready for Hamish’s lesson (yes one day we might learn to do it the night before) and whilst Jason did that with Hamish I took Kayla for a walk around the caravan park.  We even got to see a kangaroo and rabbit, along with more and more ducks.   Then we ventured over the road and down to the beach to check it out before returning to the van.

The ducks will probably be counting down until we leave.

We did a bit more school before deciding to head out to the Busselton Jetty to check it out.  We got there and purchased our tickets and then found out there was no food sold there so I quickly went and bought some sandwiches from the nearby café and waited for the train to arrive to take us out to the end of the jetty.  The jetty itself is over a kilometre long and at the end there is an underwater observatory.  It took a fair amount of time to get out there on the little train but the kids loved it and I was secretly grateful as it saved the long walk for Hamish and also parts of the jetty didn’t have a railing so would have freaked me out a bit with the kids.  As it was the railings are just two planks so really it isn’t going to stop a young kid from going over.

On the beach near the jetty.

Watching the train pull up.

Busselton Jetty, such an icon.

Once at the end we all hopped off and headed inside to do the tour of under the water.  It was rather interesting and I loved the window that was half under the water and half out, so you could see the waves crashing against it.  The kids loved the windows where they could see the fish swimming around the jetty pylons.  It was certainly interesting to hear it all but if anything I felt the tour was too big and it would be better to half the numbers so you could stand a bit closer and see what the tour guide was talking about.    Especially for the kids as there were quite a few trying to look out one window.  Mind you our kids would suddenly yell out ‘look a fish’ in the middle of the gentleman’s talk. 

One of the underwater windows.

Trying to get a photo with the kids.

Loved this window as it showed the force of the waves.

After that we headed back out but had a twenty minute wait until the train headed back.  Normally this isn’t a big deal but on a jetty with no real safe barriers, a gift shop full of temptation and cold rainy weather it really wasn’t an ideal situation to be in.  There were limited spots to sit and wait but we were lucky enough to score one and it was protected a bit from the wind.  I lost count how many times we said no to buying a toy in the shop and then Kayla started to climb up a railing to see over the edge.  I think my kids were out to give me grey hairs.  I was so glad when the train finally came along and we made our way back to the foreshore. 

The kids crowding around for the best spot.

It was a great little outing but at $86 for our family it did seem like a lot of money.  Though it is something we had to do once and I am glad we did but I wouldn’t do it again.  I actually felt sorry for the locals as you even have to pay to walk out on the jetty.  I would have thought that maybe for them it could be free, but it still costs $50 for a yearly pass.  You would certainly want to catch some fish to make some of that money back!

We returned to the van for lunch and a bit more school before heading out again to do the food shopping.  We thought by having a meal first we wouldn’t buy as much rubbish.  Well that was the case for Jason’s trolley, but I seem to still find all sorts of treats jumping into mine (and I can’t blame the littlies for that one).  Once we returned the boys headed out to try their luck with crabbing while Kayla and I went to the jumping pillow and then watch a bit of Tom and Jerry.  The boys returned with nothing, so it was lucky I had a backup plan for dinner.  Our night times are quite quiet really as we just have dinner and after watching Shaun the Sheep I do Hamish’s homework sessions online with him before going through his sight words, read a book with them and then it is time for bed.

Well after a rough night with Kayla waking up upset a few times which I assume is because of night terrors we eventually dragged ourselves out of bed.  It was a matter of sculling a cup of coffee, whilst urging the kids to eat faster and preparing for Hamish’s lesson all at the same time.  Somehow we managed to get it all done in time and I did Hamish’s lesson whilst Jason took Kayla for a walk.  Hamish is doing well in some areas but is really struggling with sounding out words and identifying the letters.  He just isn’t interested at all and is an area we really have to work on but I am sure we will get there.

After a bit of school it was time to enjoy another coffee at a more relaxed pace.  I was certainly going to need it today.  We met our lovely neighbours behind us with the help of Kayla who already seemed to be on the hunt for a replacement for us.  This girl of ours certainly knows how to charm people with her poor me looks.  She pulls it off so well, especially with the big bump on her head at the moment from where she tripped over the other night.  After a while we packed the kids up in the car to go off and explore the Dunsborough area and hopefully catch up with the family who we met in Port Augusta.

Dunsborough is a beautiful town that I can only imagine doubles or triples in population on the weekends or school holidays.  There are a lot of large architectural homes that are being built along the beach and in the bushland.  Just even looking in the windows at real-estate agents we soon realised that we could only afford here in our dreams!  Okay there are some affordable homes but there are also some very impressive big (and expensive) homes which I am sure are only used for a small period of the year as holiday homes.

Walking along the beach at Dunsborough.

As the SquidLips fish and chip shop that we wanted to visit didn’t open until 12pm we decided to walk around and have another coffee (see that is the sort of night we had) to fill in time.  We did have a good laugh when Kayla decided not to sit with us and proceeded to move to the other side of the coffee shop.  We had to then move tables just so we could still see her.  We even had a bit of drama when the fire alarm went off in the shopping centre next door and Hamish enjoyed watching the fire fighters come and go.

Kayla sitting on her own.

Watching the fire fighters.

We then walked the streets a bit more before returning to SquidLips to get some lunch to take down to the beach.  It is an upmarket fish and chip shop and it certainly wasn’t cheap - the lunch pack for two costing us $47 but it was delicious with the prawn and scallop skewers just melting in our mouths.  We unfortunately didn’t get to catch up with the family as the worker in the store told us that they were on holidays over in Sumatra.  Still we will have to send them a message to let them know that we really enjoyed their fish and chips.  Unfortunately we both forgot to put the camera in the car so we only had our phones to take photos with.

Our lunch was worth waiting for.  Even Hamish loved the baby octopus.

From there we headed out to Cape Naturaliste lighthouse.  Of course by the time we got there Kayla was fast asleep so I went in and enquired if Kayla was allowed on this tour as she was too young for the one on Kangaroo Island.  I was given the all clear for Kayla to do the tour, but now I was presented with the choice of whether or not I wanted to wake her up.  I wasn’t too keen at this stage so we decided to go and check out Bunker Bay and then return to the lighthouse.  By the time we pulled up Kayla had woken up so it was perfect timing. 

Bunkers Bay.

Around Bunkers Bay.

Looking back towards the big homes.

We bought the combined pass to the lighthouse and the caves as they didn’t have to be done on the same day and it was cheaper in the long run.  The kind gentleman even waved the fee for Hamish and even better, we were the only one on the tour so I didn’t have to be on edge about the kids making too much noise.  The tour went for about half an hour and we climbed right to the top and learnt why they left it spinning all day.  If they stopped it spinning, the glass would work like a magnifying glass and potentially create a bush fire! 

Hamish holding up the new and old light bulbs.

Waiting to go in.

The view out over the ocean.

The view from up on top was really nice and the guide even pointed out a green roofed house off in the distance.  Obviously it still looked big from a distance and apparently the owner travels by helicopter to it.  That is certainly one way to avoid the traffic.  I then got stuck making sure the kids did not accidently fall back down the stairs as the doorway was open and they kept going in there to get out of the wind.  Would have loved to have heard more of what the tour guide had to say. 

Around and around they run.

My two cheeky monkeys.

Played a game or two while waiting for the tour to start.

From there we headed to Sugarloaf Rock which was spectacular.  It is hard to believe that the waves are sometimes so high that when they crash into the rock they splash up and over the top.  I was really wishing we had the good camera with us as I just didn’t feel like my phone was taking good enough photos.  By now it was getting late in the afternoon so we started heading home but took a detour into Eagle Bay.  There was some stunning scenery that we saw from the car but we didn’t stop.  Instead we decided we would come back another day when we had the SLR camera. 

That would have to be big waves that crash over this rock.

Looking back towards the lighthouse.

Trying to capture it as best as I could on my phone.

We need to get home and have an early night as tomorrow we have a big drive up to the Perth zoo to celebrate my nephew Hugh’s 1^st birthday.  Jason took the kids for a good amount of time so I could sit back and relax.  I really enjoyed having some quiet time and I really hope that Kayla sleeps well tonight.  I will leave you with some of the beaches we stopped at on our way home.