On Saturday, November 19th, Mum, Dad and I headed into Busselton to walk the length of the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere.
Busselton Jetty stretches 1.8 kms into Geographe Bay, Western Australia. At the end of the jetty is an Underwater Observatory, but it was booked out for the next few hours after we arrived, so we weren't able to experience it. It's also possible to ride the Jetty Train to the end of the jetty and back, but we did the 3.6 km return trip on foot. It was a nice walk and a
very picturesque spot!
After the walk, I felt I had earned a Mrs Mac's meat pie with tomato sauce. :)
Later on, we stopped for lunch in Dardanup, a small town in the Ferguson Valley, where we saw a pet goat and a game of cricket.
We had heard of a place called Gnomesville near Dardanup, and wanted to visit it. It proved rather difficult to find, however, as it was randomly located in the countryside quite a way from Dardanup, and the locals within a half hour radius didn't seem to be able to tell us how to get there. After driving along a lot of country roads, we eventually found a roadside map that pointed us in the right direction, and Gnomesville turned out to be well worth visiting!
I've no idea how it all started, but within a few years it has grown into a community of
thousands of garden gnomes, scattered along walking trails, up trees, and even extending through the fence into the bush beyond. Travellers from all over the world leave gnomes there, and we overheard one lady say that she had been there a few months earlier and it had grown significantly even since then. It's a great spot for it, as the little stream, ferny ground cover, and speckled lighting definitely bring to mind the kind of Enid Blyton-esque woods that could be home to fairies, toadstools, and garden gnomes that come to life when humans aren't looking. It was fascinating!
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| A gnome called Ben |
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| British gnomes |
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| Welsh gnomes |
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| Kiwi gnomes |
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| Astronaut gnome |
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| Gnome loo |
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| My favourite gnome |
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| Gnome couple |
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| Gnomes on the other side of the fence |
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| Laidback gnome |
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| Mobile gnome |
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| Gnome tribute |
Fun, huh?! What a random, unique and entertaining spot!
That evening we arrived back in Perth and stayed at the Crystal Brook Caravan Park, where we'd stayed the first night. The next day would be my last day in Western Australia.
To be continued...
PS. This is our 400th blog post! :)
1 comment:
I don't remember seeing the 'gnome loo', but not surprising I missed something there!!!!!! A very interesting place - some people have great imagination!!
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