We were blown away by the range of things to do in Fremantle on our recent visit to the port city. We decided to stay in Fremantle while visiting Western Australia for a friend’s wedding across the river in Perth, partly to sample some of the famous Fremantle nightlife. We stayed almost a week and left feeling a strong affinity with this fine port city.

Discovering the city of Fremantle was a wonderful experience, full of surprises. The first was the distinctive cityscape, streets lined with grand 19^th century buildings in the unique Australian style with verandahs and ornate wrought-iron parapets.

Freo, as it’s known to locals, also seems to have a wonderful free spirit that’s hard to describe or define, but you see it everywhere. Fremantle has a strong, vibrant arts and music scene, and the city, its many independent shops, cafes and businesses all seem to have picked up on the whole creative vibe, this sea-salt, slightly radical, collective yet individual identity and character pervades everywhere. It is wonderful, and they really should try to bottle it.

Like many ports around the world, Fremantle is a melting-pot of different cultures. In some ways it reminds me of some of the great ports I’ve visited in Europe, including the likes of Hamburg in Germany, Cadiz in southern Spain, Marseille in France and Liverpool in England. It may have a shorter history than these, but has a similar maritime multicultural feel, and buckets of soul.

This is our guide to the best things to do in Fremantle.

Fremantle Round House

The Round House is the oldest building in Western Australia, built in 1831 as Fremantle’s original prison, tiny in comparison with its successor.  The Heritage guides we met were wonderful, keen to show us around the rooms inside and the views outside, including the brilliant Arcs et ellipses work by Felice Varini, a series of bright yellow ellipses painted on buildings the length of High Street, including the Town Hall Tower, which was commissioned for the 2017 Fremantle Festival.

It’s a great starting point for a visit to Fremantle as it’s one of the best viewpoints in the city, with great views along the coast and of the historic streetscape of this 19^th century port.

Fremantle Beaches

Bathers Beach is the closest beach to the centre of Fremantle, between the Fishing Boat Harbour and the Round House.  It’s two gorgeous curves of white sand washed by the turquoise waves of the Indian Ocean, and because of its location it’s the most developed of the Fremantle beaches, with restaurants such as the Bathers Beach House and Cicerello’s right next to it.

Another of our favourites is Port Beach, up in North Fremantle, with more of the same sand and beautiful ocean combination, hugely popular with locals who had packed the beach before the heat of the day at 8.30 on a Sunday morning.  The cranes of the nearby port loom in the background, adding even more character to the scene.

Leighton Beach is the northern continuation of Port Beach, which was also packed when I was there, this time with a surf lifesaving carnival with a great atmosphere.

South Fremantle beach is on the free blue CAT bus route that runs down from the Cappuccino Strip on South Terrace, and deserves the same superlatives I’ve given to the other Fremantle beaches.

Shipwreck Museum Fremantle

The Shipwreck Museum – the WA Museum Shipwreck Galleries is its full official name – is one of the best museums we’ve visited in Australia.

You really need to visit it in conjunction with the WA Maritime Museum in the port area. The Shipwreck Museum is located next to Bathers Beach, a short walk down from the Round House and next to Esplanade Park.

Having lived on the east coast of Australia for two years or so, the exploration of the west coast of the continent by Dutch explorers doesn’t get much mention in comparison with the British landings and colonisation, and the same goes for what we were taught in British schools back in the day.  This Museum gives a much more balanced view. The north and north-west of Australia had been discovered 50,000 years or more before by those who became the first Australians, with regular routes from what are now the islands of Indonesia.

The Dutch East India Company took over this part of the world, and some of their ships – both unintentionally and intentionally – landed on northern and western Australian shores over the course of the 17^th century, eventually naming it New Holland. The Dutch had also mapped the western half of the continent long before Captain Cook made landfall in 1770.

Our little man was captivated from the moment we walked in. Straight away he was looking at items salvaged from various wrecks along the western Australian coast. For him this was one big treasure hunt, and he was completely engrossed in it.  The skeleton of one wreck victim required some explanation, though he didn’t take long to return to his treasure quest.

The highlight for him was the wreck of the Batavia, a Dutch ship wrecked in the Houtman Abrolhos Islands off the west coast in 1629.  A large part of the wooden frame of the ship remains, along with a replica of a stone portico that was carried on board.

It’s a very moving museum, absolutely fascinating.

http://museum.wa.gov.au/museums/shipwrecks

Fremantle Maritime Museum

The Western Australian Maritime Museum is a ten-minute walk or a short bus ride from the Shipwreck Museum, in an impressive purpose-built modern building where the Swan River meets the Indian Ocean.

The Maritime Museum was built high to accommodate some of the permanent exhibits, including the yacht Australia II which captured the America’s Cup, the world’s oldest international sports trophy, in 1983.

I had the pleasure of the company of the little fellow for the day, and sold him the idea of the visit to the museum on the back of the Pompeii exhibition which was on at the time. He is a great lover of volcanoes, but breezed through the entire exhibition in about two and a half minutes.

However, he was greatly impressed by the scale and height of the building, and kept eagerly running ahead to see as many of the boats as possible. He also loved the old Swan River ferry that ran back and forth to Perth, and the huge missile in the Naval Defence section. I was most intrigued by the Indian Ocean Gallery, including the atmospheric ship interior, and the Cargoes Gallery.

There’s also a submarine – HMAS Ovens – berthed outside, and you can also explore this as part of your visit.

http://museum.wa.gov.au/museums/maritime

Fremantle Cafes and Cappuccino Strip

Fremantle has so many great cafes, bars and restaurants, with the biggest concentration along the famous Fremantle Cappuccino Strip, which is on South Terrace.

We made sure we sampled as many places as we could along the Strip, all in the name of thorough research, and loved the cakes and coffee at Fremantle Bakehouse and the risotto at Gino’s, made with some of the freshest ingredients you could ever hope to taste, transporting us back to our beloved Italy for half an hour or so.

One of the best things about Fremantle is the sheer variety of cuisines and cultures you find around the city, and we also tried some great Vietnamese food there.

We also loved Parlapa, a gorgeous quirky Italian place near the Town Hall run by a lovely lady from Turin. Between the three of us we went through all the courses on the menu, and all were impeccable.

The Cappuccino Strip is at its liveliest on a balmy summer’s evening, when everyone is sitting at outside tables dining or drinking al fresco.

Fremantle Markets

Fremantle Markets are one of the port city’s biggest attractions for visitors, and the whole place was buzzing in the couple of hours or so that we spent there.

Most of the 150 or so stalls are in the covered market area on South Terrace, close to the Cappuccino Strip.

Wherever we go, we always seek out the local markets, and Fremantle’s are great. There’s all the fresh seafood and produce and great regional health foods for the locals and Perthites, and a lot of street food stalls and tiny restaurants on the street side. There’s also a whole range of stalls selling books, art and design. One of our favourites was the Stunned Emu Designs stall, by local author and graphic artist Wendy Binks – our little man had received one of her books for Christmas a few weeks before our visit.

Fremantle Markets are the best possible place in the region to show and see work like this, and for us the Markets fit in very much with the ethos of the rest of the city, with a proud, individual, independent spirit with an eye for the quirky and an ear for wit.

The Markets are open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Holiday Mondays.

Fremantle Prison

Unlike the first cities and towns to be founded in New South Wales, Fremantle was founded as a free settlement. It was only later, in 1849, that the British colonists decided to turn the Swan River settlement into a penal one – all with the avowed aim of boosting the local economy.

Upon arrival, the first thing the convicts had to do was build the vast prison that would house them. It was completed by the late 1850s, and housed over 10,000 convicts transported from Britain – the last transport was in 1868, and Fremantle Prison became the region’s main prison in 1886, when very few of the convicts remained in custody. It remained in use as a maximum security prison for over a century, finally being decommissioned in 1991.

Fremantle Prison is one of eleven Convict Sites across Australia to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage status, and it’s the only building in Western Australia to be accorded such status.

The Prison runs several different themed guided tours, including one on the Convict Era, when you hear some of the stories of those transported from Britain, many for minor crimes. Another tour – Behind Bars – focuses on its later history as a maximum security jail, and there is also a Tunnel Tour, exploring the network of escape tunnels dug by inmates.

http://fremantleprison.com.au/visit-us/

Fremantle Arts Centre

Fremantle Arts Centre looks fascinating. They seem to have an excellently curated programme of events, the sort of place we’d visit every week if we lived in the area. However, time wasn’t on our side during this trip,  and we weren’t able to visit for very long.

The Arts Centre  is housed  in a magnificent old Gothic pile which used to be the town’s ‘Lunatic Asylum’, an amazing venue for exhibitions and performances. .0ppoo[poi[[u43

Esplanade Park

Esplanade Park is the biggest park near the centre of Fremantle, with a great children’s playground and café, all just a short walk from Bathers Beach, the Shipwreck Museum, and Fishing Boat Harbour. It’s also home to a lovely ferris wheel, which unfortunately was closed  for maintenance during our visit.

Ferry to Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island is a mini-paradise 19 km off the coast, and one of the most popular things to do in Fremantle is to take the ferry across for a day trip. It’s also the weekend break destination of choice for the good denizens of Perth, and popular for longer stays.

We took the Sealink ferry across from Fremantle and had five or six hours on the island, and what we saw made us yearn to come back for much more. There are no cars on Rottnest – you either bus it, bike it or walk it. We opted to head for the Basin, one of those world bucket list beaches a short walk from the ferry wharf and the main settlement, Thomson Bay, and also explored Pinky Bay beach, which is overlooked by the Bathurst lighthouse.

The Basin beach is one of the most memorable beaches we’ve visited anywhere. The aquamarine water was some of the clearest we have ever swum in, and the reefs and pools offshore make for great snorkelling.

We also spent time there meeting the local wildlife in the shape of the curious and cute quokkas. They have been compared to both cats and rats, but are small marsupials, probably resembling smaller wallabies most of all. They happily hop and scuttle around you and are experts at ferreting their way into picnic bags and baskets. Our little man absolutely adored them.

We only explored the north-east corner of the island, but there are many more beaches, with plenty of swimming and snorkelling along the way, and so much marine wildlife to see.

http://www.rottnestisland.com

SaveSave

The post Things to do in Fremantle – voted one of the top ten cities in the world to visit appeared first on .

The Margaret River beaches in the south-western corner of Western Australia are among the most spectacular beaches in Australia. We knew plenty about the wine and gastronomy of the Margaret River area, but it was the amazing coastline that really took our breath away on our first trip to the area.

The beaches vary greatly in character, with the east- and north-east facing beaches between Eagle Bay and Dunsborough ideal for swimming in the calm waters of Geographe Bay, while many of those on the west-facing coast, in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, feel the full power of the Indian Ocean and are more suited to surfing.

All of the beaches we have written about are accessible by conventional two-wheel-drive car, but another way of seeing these and others is to tackle the Cape to Cape Walk from Cape Leeuwin in the south to Cape Naturaliste in the north (or vice versa), which is 125 km long and can take seven days or more to complete.

So here’s our guide to some of the very best Margaret River beaches.

POINT PICQUET

There are two beaches at Point Picquet, a small headland on the coast road around 10 km from Dunsborough, and neither seems to have a name.  That said, they both seem to have a steady stream of visitors, so there is plenty of parking space close by.

The first beach is tiny, a small narrow strip of sand largely guarded by rocks, but with some of the most enticing clear turquoise water either of us have ever seen.

The second is also very small, probably no more than 40 metres across, but is one of the most idyllic we have ever visited. It’s still in the sheltered part of Geographe Bay, with the calm water among the very best Faye has ever swum in. It’s guarded either side by striking orange granite rocks, the whole scene making an incredible spectacle.

The drive along the coast road – Eagle Bay-Meelup Road – is pretty special too.

MEELUP BEACH

Meelup Bay beach is a short drive up the coast from Dunsborough, and absolutely sublime. We visited a few times during our visit to the area. I drove there one morning, a few minutes after sunrise, and it was deserted, the only sound the waves of Geographe Bay gently lapping against the sandy shore.

It’s probably the busiest of the beaches in the Dunsborough area by mid-morning, with the beach full of families kayaking, swimming, snorkelling or snoozing. Our little man made a beeline for the ice cream van and we found a shady spot below the trees just behind the beach, watching the world go by for a while.

CASTLE BAY

Castle Bay – sometimes called Castle Rock Bay – is a near-neighbour of Meelup, around a 2km walk or 3 km drive away.

The Castle here is Castle Rock, an impressive outcrop and viewpoint a short walk away along the Meelup Trail footpath. Again, we made repeat visits here, drawn back because it’s such an evocative spot.  The small beach is dotted with lovely orange rocks, particularly beautiful at sunrise, and it seems to attract less of a crowd than nearby Meelup. A wonderful place.

EAGLE BAY

In Eagle Bay Margaret River has one of the finest beaches we’ve visited in Australia, a gorgeous crescent of white sand and that amazing turquoise water. The car park seemed busy, but the beach is so spacious that everyone seemed to have half an acre of space to themselves. There are also other places to park along the road back towards Point Picquet and Meelup which offer quieter places. It’s an incredible base for a holiday in the area, with plenty of Eagle Bay accommodation to choose from.

BUNKER BAY BEACH

Bunker Bay beach is the northernmost of Margaret River’s Geographe Bay beaches, and it’s quite different in character to the others nearby. We drove from the relative calm to Eagle Bay to markedly different conditions, with some big waves pounding the shore and strong rip currents sucking them straight back out to sea. It’s a magnificent beach, but the conditions were more akin to those we had already seen on the surfing beaches exposed to the full power of the Indian Ocean to the south of Cape Naturaliste.

We also made sure we had time to stop by at the Bunker Bay café, Bunkers Beach House, for a light lunch and coffee. It has a fantastic setting just metres from the beach, with outstanding views out to sea. There’s also luxury Bunker Bay accommodation close by at the Pullman Bunker Bay Resort.

YALLINGUP BEACH

Yallingup beach is the beach adjacent to Yallingup village, and it has great areas for both swimming and surfing. A statue on a lawn overlooking the beach acknowledges the role of Yallingup in Western Australian surfing history: Yallingup was one of the first places to which Perth surfing enthusiasts ventured in search of bigger, better waves, and this is exactly what they found at Yallingup and all along the Margaret River coast.

The village is a great place to visit or stay, with a good range of Yallingup accommodation including the Yallingup beach resort.  Throw in one of the most memorable short scenic coastal drives in the area, a fantastic play area mostly built from wood and a great general store, café and bakery at the top of the hill, several vineyards nearby and in Yallingup you have a great base from which you can explore the Margaret River region.

SMITHS BEACH YALLINGUP

Smiths Beach is a few minutes’ drive from Yallingup village, down Caves Road then along Canal Rocks Road before a turn on the right leads you to the sandy shore and some great Yallingup beach accommodation, including Yallingup beach resort.

It’s one of the best surfing locations on the coast, with the Supertubes break one of the best-known along the whole stretch between the two Capes.

Parts of it are also fine for swimming, and it’s also a great starting point for short walks along the Cape to Cape track, with Yallingup beach in one direction and Canal Rocks in the other.

INJIDUP BEACH

Injidup beach is the first of the west coast Margaret River beaches that we visited, and it set the bar very, very high.  It’s a glorious stretch of sand and crystal-clear ocean, where we could happily have stayed all day.

It’s the first beach to the south of the Yallingup beaches, and also just down the coast from Canal Rocks, another beauty spot with bridges taking you out onto a reef of rocks to get closer than normal to the ocean.

It’s also a fairly quiet beach, seemingly attracting a mainly younger, surfer crowd. The Injidup Spa Retreat is on the approach road: we didn’t visit, but what a setting for some pampering.

COWARAMUP BAY

Cowaramup Bay is named after the quirky town full of bovine sculptures 15km or so inland, but the beach is actually located at Gracetown, and some simply refer to it as Gracetown beach.

Cowaramup Bay is another beauty, a long, narrow curve of soft sand ideal for swimming with calm water, shielded from the full force of the southern Indian Ocean by headlands at either end.

SURFERS POINT

The small beachside town of Prevelly – named after a monastery in Greece, and with its own whitewashed Greek chapel on the hill above – is home to several beaches, each different in character.

The grandstand location is Surfers Point, which if the size and frequency of waves are an indication is one of the best surfing locations on this coast. The beach is wild, great for a bracing walk as your ears are pounded by the loudest waves I’d heard since I witnessed the Atlantic crashing onto some of the great Portuguese surf beaches a few years before.

Whereas surrounding beaches including Rivermouth are quite tranquil, there is an endless succession of big waves to ride, and the area behind the beach has some great viewing points to watch surfers and kite surfers tackling the waves.

GNARABUP BEACH

Gnarabup Beach is a short 2km drive or walk from Surfers Point and Prevelly, and when we were there it was like a millpond in comparison, the ocean almost flat as waves lapped around the wooden jetty.

Gnarabup enjoys a delightful setting, and a great way to savour it is to strategically bag one of the tables on the terrace at the White Elephant Café, place your order at the bar and linger. We could have grown quite used to this, and for those who prefer to stay around longer, there is also some Gnarabup accommodation in the village.

HAMELIN BAY

Hamelin Bay beach is one of the highlights of any trip to the Margaret River region.  The long sweep of gorgeous white sand and the dunes behind, not to mention the gorgeous Indian Ocean, are compelling enough reasons to visit, but many visitors go out of their way to get to Hamelin Bay to experience one of the most amazing wildlife encounters in Australia.

A small population of stingrays lives close to the bay, and over time they have grown accustomed to getting a feed of fish scraps from some of the fishing boats in the bay. They swim right in to the shore, often brushing against your feet to greet you (and presumably hint that they would like some more food, thank you).  Some of the fish are huge, over a metre and a half wide, but are very friendly, not aggressive at all. Some people leant forward to pat them, others were just captivated by them and filmed or photographed them on their phones. For the little man and I, it was a wonderful experience and one of the best experiences we’ve had yet seeing wildlife in Australia.

Faye is the family fish and went to investigate further. We noticed that very few people were swimming in the vicinity of the stingrays, and the reason for this is that a swimmer would be more likely to have an entanglement with one, with the possibility of it reacting aggressively and releasing its venomous barb. But standing and letting them come to you was perfectly safe.

There are several Hamelin Bay accommodation options, from the Holiday Park to a number of Airbnb rentals, with more choices down towards Augusta and back to the north around Margaret River.

FOUL BAY

Never can a beach have been named as inappropriately as Foul Bay, the southernmost of the Margaret River beaches we visited.

It’s just beyond the headland at the southern end of Hamelin Bay, and as our little fellow was worn out after seeing the stingrays, I took a sneaky half-hour walk around to see it for myself.

Foul Bay is one of the most beautiful beaches on the Margaret River coast, a long curve of pristine white sand, with the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean sweeping in to shore.

There were a few surfers at the other end of the beach, and though I didn’t have time to have a long walk down the beach, I’m very privileged to say that I have seen it.

SaveSave

The post 14 amazing Margaret River Beaches you must see – some of the best water you will ever swim in appeared first on .

There are so many things to do in Dunsborough, one of the gateways to the Margaret River wine region in the south-west corner of Australia. Much of the best Margaret River wine is on Dunsborough’s doorstep, with a multitude of wineries to visit within a short drive of the town.

Dunsborough is also a great base to explore some of the best beaches in Australia. Several of these are located just to the north-west of the town, facing the relatively calm waters of Geographe Bay, which stretches east beyond the city of Busselton.  The water here is among the clearest we have ever seen, and is a glorious turquoise colour in contrast to the bright white sands. The west coast of the Cape Naturaliste peninsula is very different in character, getting a buffeting from the Indian Ocean and attracting surfers to some of the best surfing spots in Australia.

As the wineries have grown, so have the dining options in the area, so it has also become a gastronomic mecca as well. As well as the wineries, some breweries have opened up and other producers have set up to take advantage of the fertile soils of the area, cultivating produce ranging from olives to lavender to cereal crops. In turn, attractions have opened to cater for families and children, and there is a great deal of accommodation in Dunsborough to choose from, from private rentals to international chain resorts, which we’ll be covering soon in an accompanying article.

So here is our guide to things to do in Dunsborough.

Dunsborough Beaches

I’ve been fortunate and privileged to see some of the most amazing beaches in the world. To name a few, I have explored some of the most exquisite beaches of the Mediterranean, the windswept sands of the North Atlantic, the incredible rock formations of Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf, the endless sand bars of the Baltic, the legendary surfing beaches of Portugal, the coast of southern California and the iconic Pacific Ocean beaches of east coast Australia. But nothing had quite prepared me for the Margaret River beaches, especially those around Dunsborough.

The beaches on the west and east side of the Cape Naturaliste peninsula are distinctly different. Those to the east, including Dunsborough and up as far as Eagle Bay, are on the sheltered shores of Geographe Bay, and the calmer waters tend to attract sunbathers and swimmers, whereas the beaches to the west of the peninsula are more exposed to winds from the Indian Ocean, and are more popular with surfers.

But it was the beaches to the north of Dunsborough on the Geographe Bay side that struck me the most: white sands, gorgeous shallow turquoise water, framed by orange granite rocks under a completely clear blue sky. These form the Meelup Regional Park. They made for an incredible sight – I had seen images of them before travelling, but nothing came near doing them justice. This was sensory overload for the eyes. I just had to sit, breathe slowly, take it all in, close my eyes and relax. Then I had to open them again to make sure what I had just seen was real.

For us, the best of the beaches around Dunsborough are between the quiet Castle Bay and Eagle Bay Dunsborough, including popular Meelup Beach and the two small beaches at Point Picquet headland, off Eagle Bay Meelup Road.

Faye is the family fish and said she hadn’t swum in water this clear and pure anywhere in the world.

But she did recount the tale of a poor inflatable koala washed out into the Indian Ocean

when its unsuspecting occupant was surprised by a strong rip current that took it away from her in seemingly tranquil water off Eagle Bay. We heard that the koala was later rescued by a boat out in the bay but this showed how you need to be aware of dangers, even in seemingly benign conditions.

Dunsborough Surfing Beaches

Some of the best Margaret River surfing can be found on the coast to the west and north-west of Dunsborough, the section of coast which bears the brunt of the south-westerlies from the Indian Ocean, and are part of the stunning Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park.

By far the most accessible surfing beach in the vicinity of Dunsborough is Smiths Beach Yallingup, a vast curve of golden sand. A statue of a surfer overlooks the beach – a monument to the beginnings of surfing in Western Australia, and the discovery of the bigger waves of the coast around Yallingup.

Several other Margaret River surf beaches can be reached by conventional two-wheel-drive car, including magnificent Injidup beach, a few miles to the south of Yallingup, an inviting sweep of sand culminating in a tall outcrop of dunes. Moses Rock and Guillotine also have good road access. Others like Honeycombs and The Window are only reachable by 4WD down dirt roads, while the likes of Three Bears, up near Cape Naturaliste, are even more of an adventure, accessible only on foot.

Dunsborough Coastal Walks

Dunsborough also has some wonderful coastal walks to explore. The long-distance Cape to Cape Track is the obvious draw, and it’s possible to do sections of it as day walks, particularly from Yallingup to the Cape if you can arrange a lift back.

On the Geographe Bay side, the Meelup Reserve Trail is a relatively short hike of around 8 km (5 miles) from Old Dunsborough to Meelup. It takes in some of the aforementioned sublime coastal scenery, including the stretch from Castle Rock to Castle Bay and onward to Meelup. It then climbs a rocky hill inland from Point Picquet before descending into Eagle Bay and continuing onto the beach there. It’s a fairly easy day walk, especially with an early morning start.

Dunsborough beach foreshore, a minute or two from the town centre (or CBD) and the one beach within walking distance also deserves some exploration. In the mornings it’s fairly quiet except for a few runners and people fishing, the water calm like a millpond. It’s a wonderful place to watch the world wake up, as the beach gradually gets busier with swimmers and sailors.

Scenic Coastal Drives

The Dunsborough area also has some of the best scenic driving routes in Australia. For scenic tours Australia is an outstanding destination, but the Dunsborough and Margaret River region has some of the most staggering I have ever seen.

My personal favourite is along the Eagle Bay to Meelup Road, which links these two outstanding beaches, also passing the small rocky coves around Point Picquet, offering glimpses of Eagle Bay through the trees as you approach the village.

The approach down Yallingup Beach Road is also stunning, the roadsides framing the spectacular coastline just below.

Most of the other roads in the Dunsborough and Margaret River region are inland, and are a pleasure to drive, especially the tree-lined avenues leading to some of the vineyards and wineries, and the long Caves Road which takes you south from Yallingup towards Augusta and Cape Leeuwin, a beautiful drive through the shadows of the forest and dappled light falling across the road.

 Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse

Cape Naturaliste lighthouse sits near the northern end of the peninsula, with outstanding views over the Indian Ocean to the west and the calmer waters of Geographe Bay top the east. It’s around 15 km from Dunsborough – a 15-to-20-minute drive if you take the direct route, which we didn’t.

It’s the end (or start) point of the Cape to Cape Walk which runs all the way down the coast to Cape Leeuwin near Augusta, and is around 125 km in length, and we met some Canadians who were completing the seven-day trek and about to reward themselves with double espressos and muffins from the café just below the lighthouse.

It’s a short climb of 59 steps to the viewing platform at the top of the lighthouse, which you visit as part of a guided tour.  As we were short of time, we opted to explore the lighthouse precincts instead, with a brief stop for coffee and cake at the Goose café in the beautifully restored lighthouse keeper’s cottage.

Ngilgi Cave

Ngilgi (pronounced Neelgee) Cave is one of several limestone caves in the Margaret River region, and the closest of them to Dunsborough and Yallingup – it’s only a few minutes’ drive (10 km) from Dunsborough town centre.

Ngilgi was discovered by European settlers in 1899 and initially named Yallingup Cave, it has been renamed in acknowledgement of its indigenous heritage. The local Wadandi people are custodians of this and the other caves to the south.

Its name comes from a good spirit, Ngilgi, which triumphed in a battle with an evil spirit, Wolgine, according to Wadandi tradition.

We weren’t able to visit the cave during our trip, but several people with whom we spoke recommended it, especially for the spectacular rock formations.

Margaret River Wineries

The Margaret River region is home to around two hundred wineries, and is unique among Australian wine regions in being so close to the sea – in this case, the Indian Ocean, whose cooling breezes keep temperatures lower than most of the rest of Western Australia.

Many of the region’s vineyards are located in the northern part around Yallingup and Dunsborough, with many others concentrated in the rural hinterland between the area’s two main routes, the Caves Road and the Bussell Highway, just to the north of the lovely town of Cowaramup.

You’ll find many high quality wines across the region, varying from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc to Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, and you can drop in and taste wine at any of the vineyards, or join one of the Margaret River wine tours to sample several and not have to worry about driving afterwards. If you’re looking at booking wine tours Dunsborough tourist office can also help.

Many of the wineries also have restaurants attached, mostly tending towards fine dining, something which we’d like to sample more next time we visit the area.

Apart from wine, there are plenty of other food and drink options in the Margaret River area, from breweries and a distillery to olive farms to chocolatiers all offering visitors a chance to sample and buy their produce.

Bush tucker tours

The country around Dunsborough and Margaret River has also fed the Wadandi people for tens of millennia, and a fascinating way to learn more about this is on a tour with a Wadandi guide, explaining the cycle of seasons and various foods available at different times of year.

Various plants can be used for food or medicinal purposes, and different migrating fish are available to catch in different seasons.

A local Wadandi custodian offers several tours – the bush tucker experience is part of the Aboriginal Food Cave and Didge Tour.  As part of this, you’re also taken foraging on a bushwalk, and see him playing the didgeridoo in the atmospheric surroundings of Ngilgi Cave.

Dunsborough Attractions For Children

There is also a good range of Margaret River attractions for kids, and one afternoon we headed down Caves Road to Sunflowers Farm, where our son had a fantastic time meeting and feeding the animals.  We had a great time chatting with Pommy the long-beaked corella, and our little man adored feeding the goats, horses and little lamb. There was a lovely feel to the place, everyone was very friendly, and our little fellow said this was one of his favourite parts of the holiday.

There are also a couple of other similar attractions close to Dunsborough – Country Life Farm (watch out for the red double-decker bus by the side of the road) and the Wonky Windmill Farm and Eco Park which is on the road to Yelverton.

Getting to Dunsborough

For most, the starting point in Western Australia is Perth.

We drove south from neighbouring Fremantle, starting out on Old Coast the Kwinana Freeway (state route 2), which later becomes the Forrest Highway (state route 1) passing Mandurah and Bunbury, joining the Bussell Highway (Route 10) just south of Bunbury.

We then followed the Bussell Highway to Busselton, opting to take the bypass south of the town, then taking a right turn at a roundabout meeting the Vasse bypass, then a left along Caves Road to Dunsborough.

You really do need your own vehicle in Dunsborough. We cannot recall seeing any public transport while staying there almost a week. You can get a coach from East Perth Terminal to Dunsborough – but once there, you’re stuck without your own transport.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

The post Things to do in Dunsborough – Western Australia appeared first on .