We’ve just enjoyed a break in Busselton. The past few months have been difficult and sad and very tiring for both of us and we really needed to just sit and recharge. The weather was still unusually hot so a gorgeous unit with ocean views was the answer.
Preparing to go away is actually hard work. Although we have someone to come and collect the mail and water the plants it’s other things that take time and effort. I really don’t want to throw away food, so the leftover vegetables were turned into soup with some stock and a sachet of instant soup nobody would drink. It’s very hot to be making soup, and hot to be ironing all the same old summer clothing.
My other important preparations were some library books, a small collection of decorator magazines, plus three tubes of coffee capsules and some chocolates. My husband had made a list of the bakeries he needed to visit early in the morning for breakfast treats and the restaurants and cafes we’ll visit for lunch. We ticked nearly all of them off the list. Ate way too much food.
Different breakfast treats, different days. Balcony breakfasts were lovely. The treats lasted all day!
Dinner was ‘bed picnics’ like the picnics we had on hotel beds when our son was little. We’d settle to cheeses, cherry tomatoes, crackers, strawberries and cold meats. We still eat much the same if we’ve been out for lunch plus leftover bakery treats from breakfast. Then I’d go for a long walk along the ocean or in the ocean. So very beautiful at sunset.
So, why go to Busselton? Busselton is a coastal city ‘down south.’ People from Perth love to go down south all year round. Founded in 1832 Busselton has a wooden jetty which is 1.8km long and has an underwater aquarium at the end. The beaches along Geographe Bay are all amazing. Although the area was initially known for it’s dairying industry, fruit and vegetables and general farming, visitors flock there now for the beaches, the restaurants and cafes, the vineyards and breweries, the historical buildings and parks and gardens.
The jetty is a mile or 1.800 metres long. There’s a small train to take you to the end where you can visit the underwater aquarium.
Once a sleepy town sought after by retirees, Busselton hums with activities now. A huge arts development is being built, there’s a new airport with flights from Sydney and Melbourne and there’s every shop imaginable. Amazing food markets and lovely gift shops add to the attraction. Also some of the best bakeries we’ve ever visited in Australia.
I grew up near the ocean and at the northern end of an estuary. I really like listening to waves crashing and knowing there is water nearby. I like to smell the ocean! A few years ago we arrived in Brittany after flying from Perth to London then on to Paris and then two different trains and a taxi ride before we arrived at our hotel. We’d been traveling for about 40 hours and I was beyond tired. I couldn’t sleep. Eventually, my husband got up and opened the balcony doors and I could hear and smell the ocean. I went to sleep. Slept really well for the entire stay.
Thought that might happen on this trip but we kept the windows and sliding doors shut and the air con on most of the time. So hot, no rain. The usually green and lush looking farmlands and bush around here are dry and brown.
This trip was all about enjoying the ocean. And eating. My husband had located all the bakeries recommended to us and a new one, too, and we made the most of their early opening hours and visited some for lunch. Often we eat at breweries and vineyards south of Dunsborough, but this time we focussed mostly on cafes and restaurants around Busselton. Dinner tended to be much more modest, eaten overlooking the ocean or watching television. One night we had fish and chips from a shop recommended by a friend. Wonderful.
Lunch at Maison Lassiaille, Metricup one day. From the coffee to the quiche then the exquisite, surprising desserts, everything was delicious.
Returning from lunch in Metricup we stopped at a roadside stall with honesty box for just picked potatoes.
Really good fish and chips eaten on the balcony at night.
Books, magazines and newspapers plus on demand television programs meant we stayed at the unit most nights. This break was really about recovery after a difficult time. The ocean was restorative, I spent time in the pool, the view was wonderful and we ate some great food. Mostly, we relaxed and made plans.
Evening on the balcony of our last night. Sad to leave.