Busselton - 1.8km long jetty and best skate park in the world

We headed to Busselton, looking forward to seeing the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere at 1.8km long.  There is a miniature train that runs along it, taking visitors to the underwater observatory at the far end.


Our caravan park backed onto a bike trail that led to the beach and along to the foreshore esplanade to the  jetty.  We rode towards the jetty, impressed from afar at the sight of it stretching so far out into the water.  One thing we have noticed since we arrived in WA is that they do excellent esplanades here.  Esperance had a brilliant long stretch of clean green grass with modern playgrounds and great beach access, Albany's was shorter but also had lots of playgrounds, beach access and a great restaurant.  Busselton blew us away.  It's so great (awesome weather helps I suppose) and we rode along the bike path remarking at how Melbourne could learn a thing or two.  Then we spotted the skate park.

Oh.My.God.  It is the best skate park we have ever seen (including those on YouTube, and we have seen a LOT of those thanks to Ben's bike trick obsession).  Ben saw it, yelled "Skate Park!" and rode off at high speed.  It was pretty busy as it was late afternoon but he had a ride around, dodging kids on skateboards and scooters.  There were only a few kids on bikes but one guy in particular was outstanding, doing amazing tricks in the deep, round bowl.  We convinced Ben to leave only by promising to return the following morning when all the kids were at school.

The next day we started off with skate park time and with hardly anyone else there, Ben became very confident very quickly.  He freaked us out at times but we had to trust him and he was amazing.  As his confidence grew we moved from concerned to really proud (except when he fell off the side of a bridge and face planted from 6 feet.  Then we slipped back to concerned momentarily until he got up, dusted himself off and kept riding.)

Part of the skate park.  It's too big to fit in one shot.

Up ramps...

Down stairs

Up and over.

He fell off the side of this bridge when someone scooted in his path.  Got back on though..

We had a break from riding and took the miniature train along the 1.8km jetty to the underwater observatory at the end.  They take you down through 4 levels of the ocean and at each level there is an abundance of sea life visible through the large windows.  The old jetty burned down and they rebuilt it with concrete pylons.  The remnants of the old jetty are still visible on the sea bed and they are home to many sea creatures.  Hundreds of fish of dozens of species swim past - all different shapes, sizes and colours.  It made me want to go fishing...

About to board the miniature train.

On our way to the aquarium.

In the underwater observatory.

The very end of the jetty.

<Warning - toilet story ahead.  Maybe don't continue if you have a weak stomach.>

Bussleton will always be remembered as the location where I earned a lifetime of 'you owe me big time' points.

Caravan toilets have a canister that holds all the deposits until you take it out and empty it into a 'Dump Point'.  A dump point is usually a concrete sink (some large, some small) with a deep, wide drain pipe and a hose to rinse the deposits down the drain and clean out the canister. The majority of caravan parks have dump points but some do not and in those cases, you take the canister to a municipal tip which usually has one.  We have a strict rule that only number 1s go into the caravan toilet.  Number 2s mean a walk to the toilet block or a trip outside with a shovel.  This incident is a very good illustration of why the rule is a good one.

One afternoon, Jenny came back to the caravan after emptying the canister and said "The dump point drain is blocked, it's all just sitting there".  I went to have a look and when I returned to the van I relayed the bad news. "I don't think that is a dump point. There is no signage.  I'll go and ask."

As it turned out, it was not a dump point.  It was a new drain that had not been connected yet - essentially making it a concrete bowl with a drain hole that led to yet to be dug out dirt.  It was a concrete bowl that now contained the contents of a toilet canister.  Yes, that is gross.  The woman at the front desk looked horrified and I promised that we would clean it out.

Here's the kicker.  Jenny has a really weak stomach and if she had gone anywhere near it she would have barfed (plus she wishes to highlight that she was cooking our dinner at the time).  So, lucky me got the job!  Thanks to the toilet chemicals it wasn't actually as hideous as I was expecting.  What wasn't helpful was the commentary from a nearby caravan park resident who came out with his beer, stood there watching and helpfully said "That isn't a dump point you know".

"Yes, I realise that." I replied.
"It's a drain, not hooked up.  That's gonna stink."
"Yes, that's why I am cleaning it up.  It's mostly water. No big deal."
"It's not a dump point."
"Yes, thanks.  I know it's not a dump point."

Then another guy came over and stood with him.

"That's not a dump point you know."

I nearly threw a handful of gunk at him....

The rest of our time in Busselton involved more trips to the skate park and me taking full advantage of the brownie points I had earned.

As a small aside, I saw this at a dump point in another caravan park.  I don't even want to think about the events that led to this sign being necessary...