At 1.841 km long, Busselton Jetty is the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. The Underwater Observatory at the end of the jetty is one of only six in the World. You can take an electric, solar powered train to the end or walk.
Back from four days in Busselton. The Spring weather was glorious and we had a lovely break. We stayed at a new hotel overlooking the Busselton Jetty. Once a sleepy coastal town, Busselton is now a vibrant town with many cafes and restaurants, great street art, an art centre being built and so many shopping opportunities! We were surrounded by a brewery restaurant, a couple of other restaurants and a local pub where we enjoyed lovely scallops. The sunset each evening over the ocean silhouetted by the huge pine trees was remarkable.
We had headed down south to visit the Margaret River Region Open Studios, something we often do in spring. This year over 144 artists opened their studios to visitors. This is a great opportunity to visit painters, potters, printmakers, mosaicists, textile printers, timber artists, illustrators, installation artists and photographers. Some artists have purpose built studios, some have sheds, or enclosed verandas or a room in their house. There’s also a converted water tank and a sea container and a train carriage. Some are in beautiful bushland, some have views of the ocean, many have lush spring gardens buzzing with bees.
The region is divided into four areas and all the artists are numbered and can be found on the map for each area. The weather was wonderful, the people we visited welcoming and we really enjoyed meetings the artists.
The afternoon we arrived, we visited a gallery and some artists, then settled into our hotel. At breakfast the next morning we discovered a dear friend was staying there, too, so we arranged to meet each morning in the breakfast cafe to eat and chat. Later we set off to more studios. My husband and I like a paper copy of the catalogue, and we each mark the artworks we like and then I make a list of them for the four areas and mark them on the map, included in the catalogue.
Our first studio visit in Margaret River was Fi Wilkie’s Toot Studio, a converted hay shed. I really like her work and buy handfuls of her cards at a time, for thank you notes, brief letters and birthday wishes. This time we were there to pick up a lino print I had ordered. Not yet framed, but I know where it will be hung. She paints and prints diverse landscapes and the flora and fauna surrounding her home and in the north of Western Australia.
We had been surprised and delighted to find one of her works in our hotel room and discovered various pieces of Fi’s works are hung throughout the hotel.
Terrible photo of ‘The Balance Of All Things’ by Fi Wilkie. Part of the STILL AT HOME series, this print features her Grandma’s jelly mould, some old bread boards, scales, some local proteas on a mantle plus a magpie.
We visited several other studios and were surprised at how Margaret River has spread, with suburbs in areas which were just bush or farmland only a few years ago.
This region of the South West boast some fabulous bakeries, cafes and restaurants. One of our favourites is Claudio’s.
Unable to resist this salted caramel concoction, so that was my lunch washed down with a double espresso from The White Elephant Cafe in Prevelly.
My husband’s lunch.
Our afternoon tea. All from Claudio’s Bakery, all delicious!
This is where Margaret River joins the Indian Ocean.
It’s a popular surf beach. You can walk across the mouth of the river and head off to other great surf breaks.
I hadn’t been to the newly opened Margaret River/Busselton Airport. It is on the way into Busselton. There were about a thousand cars in the FIFO Carpark, so I wasn’t surprised to learn all the Virgin flights were for FIFO workers, known as Closed Charter Flights. Suddenly, the suburban sprawl around Margaret River right through, in places, to Busselton made sense. There’s a lot of FIFO workers living down south! There are three flights a week with Jetstar to the Eastern States.
This regional airport has a RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) dedicated emergency service transfer facility. This enables 24/7 access without affecting other flights.
We enjoyed being down south and plan to return soon.
