Day 5 31/10/2024

Perth to Margaret River

It was time to leave Perth and head south to Margaret River, or Margs, as Australians apparently refer to it.

We enjoyed our hotel, the QT, where we had been for the past three nights. It was comfortable, central, and slightly quirky. The staff were friendly, and the food was good. My only gripe was over coffee at breakfast. They serve barista coffee at breakfast. It takes too long to arrive and there is not enough of it when it does arrive. I like a pot of coffee on the table that I can serve myself from. That aside, I would recommend the place wholeheartedly.

We got a taxi along to the car hire depot as it was bit far to walk with our bags. Our friend Brian was waiting there for us. He was also traveling down to Margaret River for Rob and Georgia’s wedding. After sorting out a minor issue with the booking, we were on our way. In the worlds most environmentally friendly car.

It was fine to drive. However, getting used to 2m of bonnet sticking out in front took a moment or two.

We headed south and decided to stop at a town called Busselton for lunch. We found a brewery called Shelter to have lunch. I find it amazing the number of small craft type breweries that there are in West Australia. There seems to be one on every corner. Forty or fifty years ago, I used to come out here regularly. To the best of my knowledge, there was only one brewery, the Swan Brewery in Perth.

After enjoying a toasty and a paddle of beer for lunch, we decided it was time to walk. The goal was to cover the full length of Busselton Jetty.  This is the longest woodpiled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere.It extends 1.841km out into the Indian Ocean. If you are unable to walk the full length, there is a train. It will take you there and back for $17. Walking along costs $4.

The jetty was originally built in 1865 to facilitate exports and imports from Busselton. Now, however, it is preserved for tourism and recreation.

Walking along and back got our steps in for the day. By the time we got back on shore, it was getting late. Margaret River was waiting for us. We had not planned on spending quite as long as we did in Busselton and the Jetty. We wanted to check out the underwater observatory at the end of the jetty. Unfortunately, we ran out of time.

We arrived in Margaret River about 40 minutes later. We checked into the apartments that would be home for the next week.