Bunbury

Bunbury Beach

A three hour coach journey south of Scarborough took me down the west coast to Bunbury. No ordinary coach journey for me. I found myself on a luxury coach with tea and coffee, free wifi and movies. I missed the hawkers of SE Asia though, I could have done with some cheap pineapple. Australia seems to be a great country but sometimes it just feels a bit too sedate after the madness of SE Asia and I’ve found myself missing the chaos. Still I could probably create some chaos of my own. Although I can see why people strive to live here, for young families it’s a great way of life and the standard of living is very high. The recession hasn’t reached this far. However the country does seem to have the same social problems as ours maybe just on a lesser scale because the population is so sparse. Bunbury is situated on the south west corner and apparently is home to lots of friendly dolphins. It is also one of only 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world. I don’t know what that means exactly but it sounds good in the leaflet! Surrounded on three sides by water Bunbury is a charming city, very small with a population of only 35,000, it’s very quaint and old fashioned in a lot of ways. Arriving on a Wednesday caused problems. When I asked where the nearest shop was there was a big sigh from the hostel receptionist. She said “Is it Wednesday?” I agreed it was. “Oh dear” she said “Wednesday, Wednesday, everything shuts early on a Wednesday” My fault, I was a bit silly thinking the shops would be open after 6 pm after all! It’s also very strange to see the Christmas lights and trees decorated when it’s 30 degrees outside.




I have met up again with Ben who has been staying here since we arrived in Australia. It’s nice to see him and he certainly seems to seems to have settled into the way of life and looks happy and healthy. Bunbury is a great place to cycle with endless shared pavements and I have taken advantage of the cheap hostel rates for my first bike ride in Australia. The sunsets again are amazing and the beach is even better than Scarborough. White sand, virtually deserted bar the odd dog walker and clear water. It makes for a very picturesque scene. I have spotted my first kangaroos other than in the zoo and I think they were wild. Well they certainly looked pretty angry to me! Oh and my nose is peeling and bright red, quite an attractive look if I say so myself.