Bunbury to Margaret River

We had seen the weather forecast yesterday and expected today would not be favourable for our planned itinerary. That had included Ngigli Cave but we had discussed that option and decided we had all seen caves elsewhere and did not want to spend the more than 2 hours recommended for a visit. I did some searching last night and found that two of the wineries Steve had suggested on Monday were on the same road as the cave. That seemed a suitable alternative.

Majella and I rose and ate breakfast (muesli and yoghurt with coffee and some of the fruit bread) in our room using the folding bowls and cutlery I had packed. A little before 9 am we went next door and talked about what we might do on a wet and windy day. Picnic lunch by the lighthouse at Cape Naturaliste seemed less attractive than it had been and we considered indoor options.

Margaret River open studios running this week and next had some options in the Busselton area through which we were planning to drive. We thought some of those would be interesting but decided to first visit the Dolphin Discovery Centre before leaving Bunbury.

It opened at 9 am. We packed the car and arrived as it opened. It was raining so John dropped us by the entrance and went to park the car.

Once John had joined us inside we went in and spent a bit more than an hour among the aquarium exhibits. There were numerous tanks with coral, fish, and other water creatures explained by informative signage. Majella was fascinated by the shapes and colours of the starfish and relished the opportunity offered by a woman at a counter tank to touch different starfish and a sea urchin.

We stayed in that area to watch as volunteers weighed and measured a rescued loggerhead turtle that was being rehabilitated with physiotherapy to restore strength to its hind legs. When they moved on to feed the octopuses we followed but that was less successful because the octopuses were having an introverted day.

The octopuses may not have been hungry but by then we were. We moved to the cafeteria where we had coffee and cake before deciding it was time to move on.

John fetched the car back to the entrance and we headed for Busselton. The main attraction was the jetty so we parked there.

We spent some time in the information centre which had interesting displays about the timber industry around which the area developed. From there we walked the short distance to the Shelter brewery where an artist, Reif Myers, was working as part of the open studio event. He has an interesting style which seems to be part caricature with super heroes represented in unusual situations and repeated motifs like a Greek vase.

John was still keen to walk the jetty while there was a break in the weather. The rain had stopped but the wind was blowing a gale. Majella and I agreed to join John on his walk but Lynne opted to head for a nearby art gallery.

We dropped some things at the car to avoid carrying them in the rain and I put on my rain jacket. When we had fought our way to the jetty against the wind we found it was closed. John tried calling Lynne to tell her but she was not answering. We walked toward the art gallery.

Lynne was standing at the entrance to the old courthouse and police station which was housing several artists for the event. She had missed John’s call because she was on another.

The artists working in the space were showing a variety of media and styles. They included photography, naive painting, ceramics, felted and silk fabrics, and more. We spent about an hour working our way through the historic building, admiring artwork from, and chatting with, artists.

By then it was after 1 pm and we were more than ready for lunch. We walked back to the jetty area and The Goose restaurant which had been recommended by a woman in the information centre. Lynne and John had the wood roast market fish, Majella had fried squid, and I had BBQ chicken wings. All the food was delicious and the service was very attentive.

Our itinerary had included a visit to Cape Naturaliste but as we left Busselton the rain was still falling so we headed instead for Cherubino’s winery; it had been suggested by Steve on Monday and was the next place on our plan for today. We had not gone far when we noticed that the weather had cleared enough to reveal some blue sky and, when I checked the BOM app, it looked like the cape would be clear of rain for a while. We changed course and drove toward Cape Naturaliste.

By the time we arrived there it was 3 pm so we opted not to take the lighthouse tour and bought passes for the heritage area around, but not inside, the lighthouse. The gentle hill up to the lighthouse was lined with trees and somewhat sheltered. When we arrived at the lighthouse we were almost blown off our feet by the gusting wind. That was even more fierce when we walked out onto the timber viewing platform beyond the lighthouse. We enjoyed the view for a few minutes but did not stay long for fear of being blown away.

Our drive south toward Margaret River was on Cave Road which is home to many wineries. Cherubino’s was our first target but it was closed. However, as we drove on we did manage to see the landmark ‘girl on a stick’ that Steve had told us to look for. It is the figure of a woman perched on a long pole that leans over a pond. The story is that the owner was in deep trouble when his wife discovered that the figure did not represent her but his girlfriend.

Next stop was Cullens’ winery which Steve had noted for its wines and organic garden. We tasted a couple of wines and Majella went for a walk in the organic garden until a rain shower drove her back inside. We left with a bottle of Amber, one of the wines we had tasted, which is made from white wine grapes but in a red wine style by leaving the juice on the skins for long enough to develop some orange, rather than rose, colour.

We found our unit in Margaret River without difficulty. We should be comfortable for our two nights here in a 2 bedroom unit with two bathrooms, a full kitchen, and comfortable living area.

After we had brought in our luggage we went out for a walk around the streets of central Margaret River. None of us needed real dinner after our substantial lunch so we bought some cheese, crackers, and strawberries to nibble with a glass of wine, Amber or a red that John bought.

Back at the unit I managed to get my Apple TV account operating on the smart TV. Majella had been extolling the wonders of Come from Away, the musical about what happened at Gander in Newfoundland in the wake of 9/11. We had seen it in Melbourne and had also watched the Apple TV movie made from the Broadway production. We enjoyed our snacks as we watched it again with Lynne and John who also thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lynne and John had been telling us about a movie, My Octopus Teacher, they had watched on Netflix. The unit has a Netflix subscription so I found that and we watched that movie too. It was a fascinating study of interaction between human and animal and the learning that resulted for the human.

By the time we had watched two movies it was late enough to retire. Tomorrow we plan to explore the Margaret River region though exactly what we do will likely depend on the weather.