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Undiscovered jewel
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Australia's Undiscovered Jewel
by: Keith Palmer
Bunbury and the South West area of Western Australia (or WA) is one of
the world's great places to live, with a Mediterranean climate,
sandy-white beaches, beautiful native forests and all the infrastructure
expected of a modern western society.
Bunbury is the major city in WA's South West region, that is also home
to other centres such as Busselton, Margaret River, Donnybrook, Manjimup,
Augusta, Pemberton, Collie, Harvey and Bridgetown.
Located 175km south of Perth, the city and its neighboring suburbs have
a population of 52,000 and Bunbury is one of Australia's fastest growing
cities. Bunbury is the commercial hub to WA's "South West", an area that
is home to the Margaret River wine region and major coal, alumina and
mineral sands industries; a region that boasts around 8,000 businesses
and a GDP of over $5 billion. Presently it is about a 2 hour drive from
Perth to Bunbury, but this will be reduced by 30 minutes on the
completion of the recently announced Bunbury Highway or Peel Deviation.
Western Australia is Australia's largest state, comprising about
one-third of Australia's land mass and occupying over 2.5 million square
kilometres in area. WA is divided into 10 regional areas - the South
West, Mid West, North West, Peel, Wheatbelt, Great Southern, Goldfields-Esperance,
Pilbara, Gascoyne and Kimberley.
Outside Perth, Bunbury is Western Australia's next largest city. It
boasts a thriving CBD shopping and business area that is these days more
famous for its many restaurants and cafés, or as it is referred to
locally - The Cappuccino Strip, and more recently the fast developing
Marlston waterfront area that already includes the upmarket Vat 2
restaurant, Taffy's "live" confectionary outlet, Barbados tavern and
nightclub, Jiving J's waterfront bar and eatery and "Surprise Chef"
Aristos's own seafood boardwalk.
Many restaurants are open early and close late, with the remainder open
in the evenings from around 6pm and for lunch around 12-2pm. There's a
bevy of fast-food options both within the city area and in the Bunbury
suburbs, and Bunbury is well known for its family-owned pizza stores in
the city area.
Enjoying a mild Mediterranean climate, the city is bordered by the
Indian Ocean, Koombana Bay and Leschenault inlet and naturally enough
water sports, port and harbour facilities as well as a growing seafoods
industry, feature highly in the local lifestyle and economy. Bunbury's
port is Australia's ninth largest port by volume and by 2020 should be
rated within the nation's top five.
Thousands of years ago Bunbury was subject to lava flows which resulted
in both the unique basalt rock formations on the city beach as well as
the present Marlston Hill and Boulters Heights, where today some of
Bunbury's most exclusive residential real estate is located. Bunbury is
also home to Australia's southernmost mangroves and the world's last
native Tuart forest is just south of Bunbury.
The first recorded mapping of what is now Koombana Bay and the eventual
City of Bunbury, was in 1803 by the French explorers Nicolas Baudin and
Louis de Freycinet, from their ships the Geographe and Casuarina. In
1831 there was a temporary English military settlement with the first
settlers moving to the area named after Lieutenant Henry William St
Pierre Bunbury in 1838. A growing port serviced the settlers and the
subsequent local industries that developed.
The area is the traditional land of the Noongar Aboriginal people with
many Noongar names and travel routes still widely used today. The
Noongar (which means "man") people have occupied the south west area of
Western Australia for around 38,000 years and their traditional stories
tell of the Waagle (or Rainbow Serpent) giving life and sustenance to
their people who in return were the caretakers of the land.
Bunbury is truly a water-lifestyle city being bordered by the Indian
Ocean, Koombana Bay and Leschenault Inlet and fed by the Collie and
Preston Rivers; making watersports such as sailing, water skiing,
fishing, wind surfing, diving and snorkelling, boating, rowing,
swimming, surfing and jet skiing extremely popular.
Bunbury is a great place to live, and especially so for families.
There's plenty to do and there's a wide range of education options, with
government and independent pre-primary, primary and secondary schools as
well as a TAFE College and a campus of Edith Cowan University.
There are numerous property choices in the Bunbury area ranging from
trendy cosmopolitan apartments to traditional suburban family homes and
from beach retreats to rural or semi-rural properties.
There is a wide variety of attractions, with Bunbury the home of the
Dolphin Discovery Centre where you can learn about and interact with
wild dolphins, whilst in 2005 the city hopes to host a round of the
Formula Nippon motor racing circuit. There is an indoor skate centre,
ten pin bowling, cinema within the CBD area with the Bunbury
Entertainment Centre alongside. Bunbury boasts a major aquatic and
fitness centre with a smaller indoor pool located at Australind. You can
get a good view of Bunbury and the surrounding areas from the Apex
Lookout Tower at Marlston Hill or at Boulters Heights, right alongside
the city centre.
Bunbury is home to up to 90 bottlenose dolphins and visitors can wade in
Koombana Bay while dolphins swim amongst you or you can take one of the
Dolphin Discovery Centre's "Swim with the Dolphins" cruises. Bunbury is
one of the few places where wild dolphins freely visit the beach and
interract with humans.
There are 9 secondary schools in the central Bunbury area, a campus of
Edith Cowan University, TAFE College, several shopping centres, sporting
grounds and major private and public hospitals.
Shops are normally open 8.30am-5.30pm Monday to Friday and 8.30am-5.00pm
Saturdays with late night shopping until 9pm on Thursday. The Eaton Fair
Shopping Centre in Bunbury's north-eastern suburbs has extended trading
hours 7 days a week. Banks only operate 10am - 4pm Monday through
Thursday and until 5pm on Fridays, although credit and building
societies normally also open on Saturday mornings. There are a host of
automatic teller machines and bank agencies dotted in and around Bunbury.
To get around Bunbury there are ample modern taxis, a public bus
transport service and more recently a tourist "tram" that will carry you
about the city areas and give you an explanation of the local sites as
you go. The Bunbury Visitor Centre in Carmody Street near Centrepoint
Shopping Centre will also assist with additional maps and local
knowledge.
There are a number of Post Offices in the Bunbury area and postage
stamps can also be purchased at local newsagencies. Postage for a
standard letter, anywhere in Australia, is 50c.
Free to Air TV channels in Bunbury are the ABC, GWN, WIN and SBS but
many homes also receive the Perth networks 7, 9 and 10. Foxtel pay TV is
also available in Bunbury. The electricity supply in Bunbury, like the
rest of Australia, is 240v. While you are travelling you can be updated
on Bunbury and the South West region by turning to Western Tourist
Radio. In the Bunbury region turn to 98.4 FM.
City and suburban locations in the Bunbury area include Australind,
Eaton, Dalyellup, Vittoria Heights, Marlston Hill, Clifton Park, Gelorup,
Mangles, Leschenault, Crosslands, Sandridge Park, Glen Padden, South
Bunbury, Withers, College Grove, Carey Park, Picton, Davenport and East
Bunbury. There is a full listing of Bunbury real estate in the Bunbury
Online real estate guide.
The Bunbury region of Western Australia includes the areas of Harvey,
Capel, Dardanup, Binningup, Myalup, Burekup, Boyanup, Peppermint Grove
Beach, Stratham, Yarloop, Wokalup, Benger, Brunswick, Roelands,
Leschenault and the Ferguson Valley.
Bunbury is now also home to a substantial expat community from the USA,
Canada, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana, however, the original human
inhabitants of the South West area of WA are the Noongar Aboriginal
people.
Today, as locals try to make sense of the established Western seasons,
it is worthwhile examining the traditional Noongar seasons that divided
the south west's climate into 6 rather than 4 separate seasons.
In Noongar Aboriginal culture, Boojar (or land) is of the utmost
importance. Each tribal group had their own kaleep or favoured camping
locality, which held a special significence to them. The culture has a
complex relationship to the land and pays respect to the seasons and the
bountiful supply of food.
The Noongar year has six seasons, the first being from December to
January. This season is called Birak where hot, easterly winds blow
during the day and Noongar people used to burn sections of scrubland to
force animals into the open to hunt.
From February to March, during Bunuru, the dry weather conditions meant
Noongars moved to estuaries where fish constituted a large proportion of
the seasonal diet.
During Djeran, in April to May, the weather was becoming cooler with
winds from the south west. Fishing continued and bulbs and seeds were
collected for food.
During the coldest season, Makuru (june to July), Noongars moved inland
to hunt areas once rains had replenished inland water resources.
In Djilba, as the weather was becoming warmer from August to September,
roots were collected and emus, possums and kangaroo were hunted.
In Kambarang, when rain was decreasing during October to November,
families moved towards the coast where frogs, totoises and freshwater
crayfish were caught.
You can learn more about Bunbury Western Australia by visiting –
www.bunburyonline.com part of the WA Online network – "Building
information bridges for Western Australian communities".
About The Author
Keith Palmer is founder of the WA Online project whose aim is to build
information bridges for Western Australian communities.
This article courtesy
www.waonline.com.au and Article City.
email: keith@skyaustralia.com.au
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