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I was off for just 3 nights staying at an Air BnB place out in the bush and hoping for better luck than on the trip to Augusta.
The photos we saw online turned out to be a bit misleading as the place was shown with beds made up neatly and towels folded up and available. On reading the
actual details we found that we had to take our own bedding and towels which was a bit of a surprise considering that it was costing us $144+ a night. As the
other places in the area were all booked up, there wasn't much choice unless we postponed the trip but as it was a combination of Dorothy's birthday, Valentine's
Day and Chinese new Year, we wanted to go as close as possible to mid-month.
The day we left was a hot one, 37C in Perth but at least the Prado (unlike the Coaster) has air conditioning that works as we travel so the trip down was pleasant
enough.
We arrived around 2pm (usual check-in is a rather late 4pm) after stopping for lunch at Meelup Beach.
After unloading we were pretty hot and looking forward to flicking on the air conditioner to cool down. 2 hours later we were still hot and uncomfortable.
The ancient air conditioner just didn't seem up to the task of keeping the place cool.
There were some other issues including a fan that would just not push any air out - something I have never encountered before. It was pretty dusty so I cleaned
it up but even on full, it was just incapable of moving air. Another identical fan in another room worked fine - despite also being very dusty.
The advertised wifi was also 'on the Fritz' so everything combined to make for a rather bad first impression of our accommodation.
Other more minor issues were cutlery that had not been cleaned, no dishwashing liquid or dish towel, shelving in the bathroom that was pretty dodgy, only one
shelf in the fridge, a general run down feel to the place and a couple of other things, that in normal circumstances wouldn't have been a big concern. The
one thing that made minor problems get blown out of proportion was the inability to cool down on a very hot day. Nothing makes me more irritable than being
hot and unable to cool down.
After a long drive we had just wanted to settle in and relax but this wasn't possible in the heat so we contacted one of the owners who came down to see what
the problem was.
Unfortunately it wasn't until later in the day that the air conditioner got a long overdue clean up and finally began to work properly again. We had been
thinking about just giving up and heading somewhere else but as we could now get cool, we decided to stay as the surrounds of the accommodation were very pleasant.
The owners were very friendly and helpful so we were glad that there was no longer any motivation to want to move on. I am not going to identify the place
because that isn't what we are about. We much prefer to help people with our artcles than do harm so hopefully the problems will all be dealt with
because the next vistors who are not happy may well use the internet to voice their concerns in a much more damaging way.
Later that night when I went to lock the front door, the lock jammed and try as I might, I could find no way to unlock it. As it was already late there was
no point in disturbing the owners again so we left it until the following morning and eventually it turned out that a retaining screw had fallen out and
the lock mechanism had shifted sideways.
Anyway it was all sorted out with a minimum of fuss but day 1 had not been quite what we had hoped for. (Yes that is an understatement).
After a quick walk around the property to see if we could photograph some birds (we failed) we drove to Busselton where we checked out the local Salvation
Army Op-Shop and then had lunch before taking a tour of Busselton Jetty and the underwater observatory.
Oddly we have been coming to this area for decades but have never been out on the jetty before.
Busselton Jetty solar train
At $34 a head it isn't cheap but then every ticket sold helps to preserve and improve the jetty which is one of the most historically important structures
in the south west.
The ride out to the end of the jetty on the solar powered train was pleasant and the observatory was very impressive.
Underwater observatory at Busselton
The whole structure was built near Fremantle and was floated down to Busselton before being flooded, attached to the sea floor and then pumped out to create
the observatory we see today.
The weather was a little cooler and by the time we got back to the accommodation, the air conditioner did a good job in cooling things down as we began to
relax. If only it had been working as well the day before, the holiday might have been off to a much better start.
A lazy start to the day saw us head out after 9am.
Our destinations for the day included the weir at Margaret River, Rotary Park, The Wild Hop brewery, Windmills surfing spot and the end of Bunker Bay road
where you can walk down to some shady trees and just sit and relax enjoying the view.
The only disappointment was the Wild Hop brewery where we thought prices were, at least for us, too high and you have to bring your own container to take
away beer or pay $12 for an empty one. I can't justify $12 on top of the price of the beer for an empty bottle!
Our opinion is obviously in the minority however, as the place seemed to be very popular for lunch time diners.
In the end I picked up some cheap booze at a 'gallon license' shop in Dunsborough. I wasn't even aware that any gallon license places still existed.
The deal is, you get cheap booze but you have to buy a minimum quantity (1 gallon) but this is easily dealt with if you want to buy a carton of beer.
The trip was short but had mostly been enjoyable and we did finally get out to the end of the Busselton jetty and have a look at the underwater observatory.
updated February 2021
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places to see on this trip:
Dunsborough
Busselton
Margaret River
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