Day 130: 7 October – A gastronomic treasure in Bunbury?

Author: Mr A

From: Australind

To: Bunbury

Distance driven: 24 km return

Distance walked: 7 km

Uninspiring weather led to a reluctant start to our day, in fact by the time we had driven 12 km down the road to Bunbury it was almost lunch time – handy really. A bento box later, our first Japanese food since leaving Sydney in May, we were heading to what Trip Advisor said was the number one attraction here. 

The Bunbury Farmer’s Market was an unimpressive brick building, but once inside our taste buds started to tingle. Wow…our trolley started to fill up, mouths watering with a fabulous selection of all things naughty and nice. I even located a Scotch egg that at least looks like it has some chance of tasting authentic. Catherine was in dairy free heaven, with ice creams, yoghurts and dips that even had me looking twice. The prices were very reasonable as well. Well done Bunbury! 

Back at the Zone I attempted to sort out the muddy water problem that has plagued us through this trip. This time it’s a different water tank that was producing discoloured water, so it was drained and a hose pipe shoved into the drain plug to try and blast the sediment out. Hopefully the water will no longer look like a pint of VB. 

We finally dragged ourselves out into the cold, windy, showery weather to have a quick “appetite sharpener” before dinner. Catherine of course caught some fab pictures.



Tucked in for the night now…Tassie is just in heaven with the constant attention she is getting! It’s a cat’s life in the Zone. 

Day 129: 6 October – Back on the bike again

Author: Mrs A

From: Clifton Lake

To: Australind (just north of Bunbury) – for map see ‘Where are we now?’

Distance driven: 60 km

Distance cycled: 26 km

It was a lovely peaceful night’s sleep and we woke to sunshine streaming in through the trees, kookaburras, ring neck parrots and magpie larks all around us. It just so happened there was a bakery about 100 metres from where we camped – Mr A wondered whether he had woken up in heaven as he trotted over for a look and found freshly baked pies and sausage rolls. No prizes for guesssing what we had for brunch before we headed off on our way.

We drove south a short way south, just a 45 minute journey to Australind, before setting up at our caravan park. Australind was one of Western Australia’s earliest settlements, named in the 1800s as a combination of Australia and India – in the hope the two countries would maintain a prosperous trade of cavalry horses and food.

Once set up we jumped on our bikes for an explore. I decided it was about time I stopped being lazy (breathing much better now, voice still channelling my inner porn star i.e husky!) and joined Mr A for some activity. Our first visit was to a jetty which juts out into the Leschenault Estury.  The wind coming off the water was icy cold, and after admiring the view and many black swans, we rushed back to put on more clothes. 

More appropriately dressed, we decided to follow the cycle lanes into Bunbury, the nearest large settlement. For the most part, it was a lovely ride, just a couple of kilometres were alongside a very busy road. Bunbury impressed us. It is clearly a city (they call it a city, we would say small town) with a great deal of money flowing into it. The public areas are beautifully landscaped and shared pathways are everywhere, weaving behind dunes and past the large modern houses with incredible views out to sea.

Bunbury is surrounded by water – rivers, harbours, beautiful beaches lining the ocean front.

We rode along to the black and white striped lighthouse, then around to the helter-skelter-lookout up on the hill. We climbed up the 91 steps to admire the full view.

On our return cycle we were entertained by some bottle-nosed dolphins in the estuary chasing fish in the shallow water, creating a fabulous wake behind them, and a black shouldered kite hovering over the nearby bushland, hunting its Friday evening meal.

Talking of Friday evening meal. We Andersons are having a wild one. Already in PJs by 6pm, we are sipping on a delicious Central Otago Squealing Pig Pinot Noir, which (if there is any left) will accompany our fish curry dinner. Another fine day in WA.

Oh and Miss Tassie? She enjoyed a day catching up on sleep after yesterday’s busy day of travel.