Vasse

Busselton to Yallingup, day 4, Thursday 24 November 1983. I decided not to stay at Dunsborough but to try a new place, new to me anyway, Caves House at Yallingup. At that time it was still the old traditional caves house with some new units built at the back. It hadn’t been revamped into the modern expensive resort. I booked one of the units.

I set off up the Bussell Highway. 7 kilometres out was the Vasse store. At that time it was isolated at the junction of Bussell Highway and Caves Road. Now it is lost amidst the continuous building that has spread along the shore between Busselton and Dunsborough.

I bought a drink at the store and continued to Dunsborough.  ... Read more

Busselton to Margaret River, day 4, Thursday 30 November 1978.  I got my breakfast delivered to the door on a tray again ($2.75) and enjoyed that. I don’t think I took an early swim before setting off. I don’t do that any more if I am facing a challenging day, as this was, setting off for the unknown. I wait until the challenge has been overcome before relaxing with a swim. Sea bathing can suck out a lot of calories.

After showering I got ready, paid (I hadn’t got into the way of paying the night before, and hotels didn’t demand it in those days) and set off down the Bussell Highway as though going to Dunsborough, but with the intention of turning left about 7 km out and heading down the unknown (to me) part of the Bussell Highway.  ... Read more

Busselton to Margaret River, day 4, Thursday 30 October 2008. The wind had turned around to the SE during the night. I left Busselton at 8:50. I had only 48 km to go to Margaret River but would have to climb the Wicher Range. The wind was strong and was turning to the SW but helped me a bit on my way to the Vasse turn-off and as far as Carbunup. There were still some showers coming through.

I rested at 453 next to a farm where a huge bull reposed in the morning sun watching a man on a tractor rushing around baling hay. I took an image. There were vineyards on the other side. The country was green and there were plenty of flowers, native ones and of course the ubiquitous gladioli and arum lilies.  ... Read more

Margaret River to Busselton day 5, Sunday 26 October 1997. The morning was cool and sunny with light winds that would freshen from the NNW as the day went on, impeding my progress to Busselton. I would not even come close to my effort in 1980 when I did the journey non-stop in 1 hour 55 minutes.

As I hoped, I was awake at 7 am and got up quickly to take the walks. I set off down the main street with the new map, crossed over the road bridge and turned left onto the path. After some distance I came to the footbridge that gave the walk its name. The scene was beautiful, with the morning sun casting shadows over the rippling river and the rocks.  ... Read more

Vasse is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, 10 kilometres (6 mi) west of the town of Busselton and 240 kilometres (149 mi) southwest of Perth. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Busselton. The town is named after the Vasse River and Vasse Estuary.