Destination IRONMAN (and IRONMAN 70.3) Western Australia: Part 2 – Play Time Down Under

Photos by Kevin Mackinnon

Last week we posted the first of our “travel to Western Australia” pieces, focussing on things to do around Perth, the state capital. Today we’ll focus on the Busselton/ Margaret River Region of the province. The IRONMAN event has been held in Busselton since 2004, but a bit further south of “Busso” is Margaret River, which is renowned for its wineries and is a “must-visit” area for anyone who has made the trip to the race.

After spending a couple of days checking out Perth and Rottnest Island, I drove down to an AirBnB I had booked in Prevelly, which is about 10 km from the town of Margaret River. I managed to find a great spot about 400 m from the beach and the Cape to Cape Track, which runs between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin. On my first morning there I walked along the track up to Surfers Point, which is considered the best surfing spot in the area and is only one of two sites in Australia for a World Surf League World Championship Tour event. With the early sunrise the surfers were already out when I cruised by at 5 am to try and capture some sunrise shots.

As you walk past Surfers Point towards the mouth of the Margaret River, you’ll get more spectacular views …

… And you’ll also come across this unique sculpture by Russell Sheridan of “Layla, the great granddaughter of surf God Huey, who cares for all sea creatures and watches over all those who enter the water,” according to the Margaret River Art Trails website.

One of the beaches you’ll find close to Surfer’s Point is called Swimmer’s Beach, and every morning at about 6 am you’ll find lots of members of the Prevelly Penguins swim club out in the water. While a bit cool in early December, it was quite swimmable without a wetsuit. (None of the Penguins were using one, so I wasn’t going to let them make fun of a wimpy Canadian who couldn’t handle the 17-degree Celsius (62.6 Fahrenheit) water.

While I was in Prevelly the winds were fierce and the water was pretty choppy, so I didn’t end up getting down to Hamelin Bay to experience the stingrays, which reportedly will come right up over your feet as you stand in the water. Since I couldn’t hit the beach, I ended up at Lake Cave in Boranup.

About another 20 mins drive south from the cave gets you to the Boranup forest, where you can check out the karri trees that get to over 60 m in height. (Stop at one of the parking lots on the side of the road and take a hike into the forest to get up close to the magnificent trees.)

Heading north from Prevelley up towards Busselton, it’s well worth stopping at Canal Rocks, If you’re looking for a great walk, you can follow the trail from the rocks to Smith Beach.

There’s another cave close to Canal Rocks that’s worth checking out, too – Ngigli. If you can time things right, there’s the opportunity to pair a trip to the spectacular cave with an indigenous experience, but that didn’t quite pan out for my trip. There’s no lake in the Ngigli cave, but it’s considerably larger and is very easy to explore through a self-guided tour.

One more really cool spot to check out for a hike is the lighthouse at Naturaliste. You can follow the Cape to Cape Trail, or head towards the whale lookout spot (there’s not much whale activity in December, unfortunately) and work your way down to the water – there’s a small beach down there and some spectacular rock formations. The afternoon I did that hike down I saw a grand total of three other people.

What About the Wine?

I know, you’re all saying that Margaret River is famous for wine, and even though I am not a wine drinker, I did get to experience a couple of impressive wineries during the trip. The Tourism Australia folks took the visiting journalists out for a spectacular lunch at the Amelia Parks restaurant. It’s renowned for the lamb (and the wine, of course), but the steak was possibly even better, in my opinion.

Our afternoon tour also included one more stop at the Wills Domain winery, which, in addition to the excellent wine, offers a spectacular view of the rolling hills in the north part of the Margaret River region.

There are literally dozens of wineries in the area, and you can’t go wrong driving up or down Caves Road and stopping at one that catches your fancy for a spectacular lunch and wine-tasting experience.

Busselton

Busselton offers lots to do outside the competition, so you can rest assured that your non-racing family and friends can keep themselves busy while you’re training, and then you can join in for the Margaret River fun. (Ideally after the race.) Busselton is famous for the wooden jetty – all 1,841 m of it. (That’s 1.14 miles for those who think that way.) It is the “longest wood-piled jetty in the southern hemisphere,” and also “home of one of six underwater observatories in the world,” according to the official website.

There are, of course, lots of beaches nearby, too. It’s worth exploring a few different options – take a bit of a drive north of Busso and you can find some deserted stretches where you can go for miles without seeing anyone. (Although you might see some tracks from someone who beat you to the spot!)

Wildlife

Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, the early December race date doesn’t work well for whale viewing as it’s past the migration season, but if you’re there from mid-August to November it would certainly be worth checking out the many tour options.

I am not an avid birder, but my mother is, so whenever I travel I try to find a spot to get some photos to send back to her. I did an early morning trip to the Malbup Bird Hide and got some great shots. The very pleasant surprise on the way into the hide, though, was seeing a couple of kangaroo families, including the pair of youngsters who were wrestling, and the very attentive adult that kept an eye on me.

The scary part of the trip was that even though I was in Australia for nine days and covered a lot of ground, there certainly was lots more that I wanted to check out. Suffice it to say, if Ironman Western Australia (or the 70.3) isn’t on your bucket list as a great race-cation, it should be.

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