It's an odd thought to have on a beautifully balmy autumn evening. But when I take a seat at the polished-wood bar in the Banksia Tavern, I can't help wishing it were a bit colder. With its stone walls and wood-fired stoves, this would be the perfect place to warm up on a cold winter's night, nursing a glass of whiskey from the 30-strong whiskey list.
Create a free account to read this article
or signup to continue reading
Mind you, it's pretty darn nice on a warm evening, too, with several groups of diners tucking into dishes such as Abrolhos Islands scallops with Jerusalem artichoke puree and chargrilled Shark Bay prawns with harissa. This is the kind of cool bar I'd expect to find in Melbourne rather than Busselton, the seaside town that marks the gateway to Margaret River, and it's yet another sign that Busselton is developing a distinct buzz.
"The buzz is definitely building," agrees Banksia Tavern's co-owner Nathan Headlam as he mixes me a Banksia spritz (vodka, lemon myrtle, sherbet, mandarin, grapefruit and soda.) Headlam and co-owner Brendan McCarthy opened their bar last year and take a local, seasonal approach to both food and drinks, working with regional producers such as Beyond Distilling, Giniversity, Eagle Bay Gin and West Winds.
Sitting on the seabed are a dozen sculptures by WA artists, including a mermaid, a shark and a life-sized southern right whale.
The Banksia Tavern is part of a new wave of sophisticated venues in Busselton. Among the standouts are Inara, offering an inviting selection of Middle Eastern dishes and drinks, and Busselton Pavilion, a loft-like space where the menu mixes crowd favourites such as sesame prawn toast with more adventurous dishes, including a sensational skewer of beef tongue served with a melt-in-your-mouth roti.
"People are used to going into the wine region and getting good food. We want to bring that finesse into town," says venue manager Steve Sandison. Adjoining Busselton Pavilion - the first offering outside Perth from The Parker Group, which also helms popular Perth venues Fleur bistro and Perth's oldest pub, The Royal Hotel - is the South West Wine Shop, a friendly wine bar showcasing smaller local wineries that don't have their own cellar door.
Getting to Busselton is easier than before, too. Jetstar's new direct flights from both Melbourne and Sydney mean you no longer have to tackle the 2.5 hour drive from Perth. There's even a new place to stay. Set back from the beach in a prime spot near the Shelter Brewing Co, the four-storey Hilton Garden Inn is the town's tallest building, which means you can enjoy a sea view from your bed. The hotel also has two restaurants, including a casual diner that serves a terrific steak sandwich.
Amid all the new openings, some things remain happily unchanged. The town's biggest claim to fame is still the Busselton Jetty, all 1.8 kilometres of it, the longest timber-pile jetty in the southern hemisphere. There's a train that runs the length of the jetty (be sure to book in advance), allowing the less mobile to access the natural underwater observatory at the end of the jetty.
It's one of just a handful of such observatories in the world, with its 10-centimetre thick acrylic windows giving you glimpses into the area's rich marine life. More than 300 species make their home in Geographe Bay and the jetty's 695 wooden pylons function to provide two acres of underwater habitat especially beloved by sponges and corals.
Last year the jetty added a new attraction - an underwater sculpture park designed to double as an artificial reef. Sitting on the seabed eight metres below the water's surface are a dozen sculptures by WA artists, including a mermaid, a shark and a life-sized southern right whale. Snorkel and sculpture tours allow you to get an up-close view of this flourishing eco-system.
The jetty will also be in the spotlight during this year's Busselton Festival of Triathlon. Held on the first weekend in May, it includes a two-kilometre swim alongside the jetty as well as an 80-kilometre cycle through the Tuart Forest and an 18-kilometre run along the Busselton foreshore.
That same month Busselton will for the first time host a satellite event as part of the Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival, held from May 17 to 19.
No matter the time of year, Busselton is a great base for exploring the rest of the Margaret River. It's just a 30-minute drive to one of the area's most celebrated wineries, Vasse Felix. This is also Margaret River's oldest winery: the first vines in the region were planted here back in 1962 by Tom Cullity.
Book one of the behind-the-scenes tours to learn some of the winery's fascinating history including the story behind its peregrine falcon logo. After the first year's harvest was eaten by birds, Cullity decided to try an old-school technique for keeping birds away, importing a bird of prey to fly over the vineyard. The peregrine falcon arrived and Cullity released it for its first flight. Soaring high, the falcon flew all the way to the neighbouring forest - and was never seen again.
Read more on Explore:
If you feel like lingering after the wine tasting, you can nibble on a cheeseboard in the wine lounge or book in for lunch at the leaf-fringed restaurant that is one of the area's best. Stand-out dishes include a glorious leg of quail, the meat chopped, minced with mortadella and stuffed back into the skin, basted with a char siu sauce before roasting.
Don't try and schedule every second of your stay in Busselton. You are going to want to spend some time kicking back on Busselton's glorious white-sand beach, which seems to unfurl endlessly along the coast. Even if you're avoiding the sun, it's a great place for early morning jogs or sunset strolls - and WA's ocean sunsets can be truly magnificent.
Winter brings another remarkable attraction to the area. "During whale-watching season, Cape Naturaliste is a great place to look for whales," says Des Shanks, the Hilton Garden Inn's general manager. "You don't need to go on a cruise - just standing on the cliff, I've seen 30 or 40 whales in the water at a time."
TRIP NOTES
Getting there: Jetstar flies direct to Busselton three times a week from both Sydney and Melbourne.
Staying there: King rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn Busselton start from $230 a night. hilton.com
Explore more: margaretriver.com
The writer travelled courtesy of Hilton.
Pictures: Tourism Western Australia; supplied
Read the flight review of the new Sydney-Busselton route here.
