Thursday 11 May 2017

037 - Donnybrook to Busselton (3/5/17)

A glorious morning broke over the valley. I can see why people would want to live in this area. Is really is quite pristine.

Bob awoke pretty well all things considered and his lip has swollen up nicely so he could do a decent Freddie Mercury impersonation. Still, I was expecting a little morning moaning as the pain and bruising set in, but like yesterday, hardly a whimper or whine out of him all day. I think quietly, like most of us do, he enjoyed the special treatment of extra yogurt and ice cream portions!

Yep... shocking morning. Simply terrible.

Perhaps it was a view like that that allowed James to wake up, fat lip and all, in a good mood. And whilst his room might be small compared to other kids, I reckon it's pretty cool and the view is always changing and new.

We rolled out of Thompson Brook Wines, unlocking the front gate for them as instructed, and rolled down into Donnybrook a short drive away for some nice ham and cheese croissants. We’d been told that Donnybrook had the “free park to end all parks” but after the likes of Manjimup and Monash, I was sceptical there could be another that could top them. With some strict new rules on slide guidelines and James getting his own parameters, we went and found the park in town.

The jury is out from the kids, as they seem to enjoy them all, but for me I loved this one the most out of all them. Clean, accessible and representative of the community, this was one pretty spectacular park. My favourite park was a shaded section that was completely designed for disabled and mobility impaired kids. Wheelchair accessible roundabouts and seesaws, music and light interactive stations, it was very well thought out. The area was paved as opposed to sandpit like the rest of the park ensuring wheelchairs wouldn’t get bogged and was located right next to the parks facilities as well as the carpark. I thought it was incredibly considerate and progressive of a community to include such features. There should be more of it.

So do yourself a favour, if you are in the area (and with kids) stop here and give the kids a chance to burn off some energy. You and they won’t regret it.

I had to go all panoramic to try and fit it all in.

An impressive slide arrangement. What is the collective noun for a group of slides? B reckons a 'slither' of slides. I think perhaps a 'slick' of slides.

And... from the other side...

A great spot, dedicated to mobility impaired patrons so they too can enjoy the park.

...which might make  me mobility impaired.

From there, it was a relatively short jaunt across to Busselton and we found a spot in one of the bazillion caravan parks Busselton has to offer. Most of these were, in my opinion, completely overpriced so I was happy when we managed to find a spot at the local RAC/Big 4 park at a very reasonable rate. It’s always nice going to these “bigger” parks for a change to give the kids some quality facilities (like a heated pool!) but this one was particularly impressive. Huge kitchen, games room, 9 hole mini golf course, BMX track, two pools and what I likes, a strict scooter and bike policy. We took advantage of a 3 for 2 night deal and decided we’d set up camp here for a few days.

Camp Gecko at Busso

After set up, we rolled down into Busselton town proper for a look at the famous Busselton Jetty. For those not in the know, this jetty is Australia’s longest and stretches the measuring tape to a tick over a mile long. Yep. One full mile. So long it has it’s own freakin’ train and underwater observation deck at the end. One bloke at Fowlers Bay was remarking how someone had caught a sailfish off the end recently. Solid fishing tale that one… Amazingly though, neither B or I got a shot of the jetty itself! I guess we'll have to head back one day...

See... a train!

Whilst arriving there we finally managed to meet up with the Matthews family from Bacchus Marsh. The Matthews family, Glenn and Christy and their three girls, Zo, Liv and Milli are also travelling around the country in a journey similar to ours, if a couple of months shorter.

We actually hadn’t met before, although Glenn and I are pretty sure we’ve shared drills at Auskick on a random night here or there, but have plenty of mutual friends in common. Also, like us, they’ve got a Facebook page documenting their adventures and we’ve been watching them bounce around the same parts of the country as us. Finally, the planets aligned and we were able to meet up and we spent a great afternoon strolling the jetty and talking about our trips and about back home.

The six kids hit it off amazingly, as kids tend to do, and there were plenty of hugs and byes and high fives when we called it a day in the fading light (after ice cream of course). A whilst we really hope to catch up with them again, the Matthews family are now well North of us and with a van service required in Perth soon, I doubt if we’ll catch them. Still we can only hope and trust that they have an awesome adventure. They certainly look like this lifestyle agrees with them!

The Little Kids

The Big Kids (and a photobomb by Bob)

Back to the park and a nightly tradition of “mini golf at 5” was started whilst B sorted out dinner with a bit of peace and quiet. Not sure who got the best part of that deal, but there weren’t complaints from either her or I 3 nights in a row…

Apologies for blurry shot, was all I had. This course was complimentary and, whilst basic, certainly proved its challenges for the unaware. 

Following that also we threw in a quick Skype back to Shep to see Poss and Pop and we called it a night.


I’ve got a good feeling about Busselton. It seems to have a good balance between “country town” and “tourist town”.

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