Staying with friends in Bunbury and Busselton: My accommodation review

It’s a funny old time to be taking trips, even short ones: but here in Western Australia, at the time of writing and of my trip to the south-west of the state, Covid-19 has been all but eliminated, with essentially no community transmission at all, and very few restrictions on our daily lives, apart from our very solidly closed state border.

In that context, I realised it was finally time to make good on my promise to visit friends in Bunbury and Busselton. When the rest of the world was open to me, I’d spent my chances at getting away exploring Asia or Europe or at the very least the rest of Australia, and poor Jo and Pam had probably given up hope of ever seeing me in their hometowns.

Holidaying in the south-west of Western Australia

I spent much of childhood travelling in this part of the world: between our family’s holiday shack just south of Mandurah, a grandfather who lived in Bunbury and grandparents who lived on a farm in the Great Southern before retiring to Albany, this corner of Western Australia was one I thought I knew well.

But over the last few years, I’d definitely neglected this area. I snuck away, child-free, for a few days in late June, desperately needing a little time away from the city after the stress of our state’s shutdown – insignificant as it was compared to much of the world. The thrill of pulling my bag out of the cupboard where all our backpacks and suitcases had sat, useless, for some months, and then of hitting the open road with an audio book queued up and the joy of seeing close friends ahead, was something quite unusual. It was a thrill that I would usually only feel for a much-anticipated – and much longer – trip abroad. That feeling of being trapped, thanks to coronavirus, made this small getaway infinitely sweeter. I’m grateful for that.

Stop 1: Hotel de la Castro, Bunbury

It’s thanks to Jo that I’m now going to review the accommodation both of my dear friends provided me: when I arrived, she’d left chocolate on my pillow (a huge plus, of course!) and mentioned an article we’d both loved by travel writer Ben Groundwater recently – his “hotel review” of his lockdown accommodation, the home of his parents-in-law in Sydney. “You’ll have to review us,” Jo said, and of course, she was right.

Jo – or, as she’s known in our house, given that we know far too many women named Jo, “Jo from Bunbury” – has been a dear friend since we met some years back through our travel blogging lives. Jo is one of those fascinating people with an incredible history of travelling and living in many countries around the world, and I feel like it would take the rest of our lives for me to finally hear all her amazing stories – each time we catch up I uncover more. She and her husband, Dave, have lived in Bunbury off-and-on for perhaps a decade, now – they had a confusing stint in Perth, when my son and I still referred to her as “Jo from Bunbury” – and I was excited to visit, finally.

After a particularly hectic week (thanks to Covid, I’d just taught a two-day workshop online via Zoom to a screen full of strangers, and I was shattered), I drove down to Bunbury in the rain, the audio book of Yann Martel’s The High Mountains of Portugal a very fitting companion as the narrator of the first section described in detail how he learnt to drive a car. I arrived at Hotel de la Castro – aka, Jo and Dave’s house – just in time for dinner, a fabulously warming curry, served just after I’d had time to get to know their brand new puppy, Minnie (serious bonus points for her!).

What can I say about this accommodation? Well, the number one feature is the fabulous company – I could talk to Jo and Dave for many hours with great ease. But there are other excellent features: as befits a couple who have lived in numerous different countries, each piece of decor has a story to it, like the hangings on my bedroom wall from the Philippines, for example. It’s also only a short walk to the beach – although the weather the next day when Jo and I took a walk there was less-than-stellar (small deduction in points for that).

Before I departed, Jo and Dave took me out for lunch. We attempted a scenic drive through Bunbury, and I could see what’s changed since my last trips there, but pelting rain meant we couldn’t do much more than a quick drive – of course, that’s a good reason for me to return soon. We lunched at Vat 2, only my second post-Covid restaurant experience, so still somewhat of a novelty – and it was delicious. Sadly, it was then time to head off towards Busselton, but with plenty of promises to return soon – I need to see the sweet Minnie as she grows, let alone have more catch-up time with Jo!

Final accommodation rating: 5 stars (I deducted for the weather, but the puppy brought it back up to five!)

Stop 2: Pam’s B&B, Busselton

Pam is another intrepid traveller-friend of mine – the kind of crazy person who, after no particular record of physical adventure at all, decides to trek to Everest base camp to celebrate her 60th birthday (and write about it). I arrived at her house just past Busselton in the late afternoon, just in time to have wine and a (long) chat. The fact that there was no chocolate on my pillow AND no puppy was initially a serious impediment to Pam’s chances of getting an accommodation review as good as Jo’s, although after enough wine I forgot about this, and then had a sound night’s sleep. (The decor, though, was similarly travel-oriented, like at Jo’s – I loved the triptych of prints of Paris, London and New York maps hanging on the bathroom wall!)

When I emerged in the morning, shortly before sunrise, Pam said it was time for our walk at the beach, and I happily obliged, especially as the weather was considerably better than the previous effort in Bunbury (this made Pam’s rating rise, of course). Just a short drive from her home, we parked at the beach and walked along a fantastic track, one of those quintessentially Australian kind of places – we were walking through Aussie bush, and yet the beach was just metres from us, the perfect combination. The sun shone for us, and we got in a bit of exercise ahead of the indulgences we’d face later in the day.

This part of Western Australia is a gorgeous wine region, with Cowaramup close by, and the more famous town of Margaret River a short drive further, and there are all kinds of gorgeous shops, cafes and restaurants to explore. We started in “Cow Town”, aka Cowaramup, and given that I hadn’t done any shopping of the non-essential type since Covid began, I was thrilled to now be able to explore all the little knick-knack shops (and yes, I came home with a few things, especially a new teapot and some local green tea to fill it with). Our hands were sanitised more times than I’d ever thought possible, but other than that, it felt like pre-Covid times, and it was a thrill to be out there seeing the world again.

In Margaret River itself – undergoing some major roadworks which made it a little harder to get around, but will improve it significantly once they’re done – we stopped at a bookshop (we both have a book problem!), and then headed to lunch “out bush”, at a great local favourite called the Goanna Cafe (which its website places in Dunsborough, the other well-known town around these parts). After that meal, it was time for me to head back to Perth – along with plenty of promises to return, of course.

Final accommodation rating: 5 stars (I deducted for the lack of chocolate and puppy, but increased for the significantly better weather!)

Exploring locally

While I still feel heartsore at the thought that I can’t visit friends interstate or abroad right now, I’m grateful that Covid gave me the time to visit friends closer to home. On my drive home, with no particular deadline and much better weather than my rainy trip south several days earlier, I stared around at the landscape of the south-west of Australia with some awe. These paddocks and bush areas I’d driven through dozens if not hundreds of times in my life were so familiar, but they were also new.

That region had been shut off to us for some weeks during the initial days of Covid; once something is banned for you, it takes on new meaning and importance, and I was smiling as I drove along, remembering the beauty of my home state. I stopped multiple times along the way to take pictures and just to stare and enjoy the view. I’ve always known I live in a beautiful place; but now I will remember that it deserves my presence much more often.

You might also like:

5 ways Australia’s Coral Coast stretched my comfort zone (in a good way) Local Trips: Meckering, Western Australia – Episode 208 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast The perfect weekend in Perth, my isolated but gorgeous hometown Abingdon Miniature Village, Mandurah: Kids choosing the destination in Western Australia