Winter 2019 - OZ 6 Busselton Jetty

2019 - OZ  6   Busselton Jetty

Driving to Busselton

The world’s 2^nd largest wooden Jetty, the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, started in 1853 as a puny 176 meter jetty. But… sand accumulated around the jetty over the years.  Sections were added over the decades so that by 1971 the jetty was a whopping 1841 meters long. The maintenance costs grew with its length and in 1972 the 

Jetty Destroyed by Hurricanes, Fires, Termites

Government shut the jetty down. It lay abandoned for quite some time, hurricanes tried to ‘eat’ the structure, but somehow, with all the misery of wood eating worms, fires from careless visitors or fishermen, this jetty survived.

 Needless to say that there was never enough money to repair the whole thing. Then, one day someone had the idea of putting an underwater observation section at the end of the jetty.

 Voila, tourists came to see what grows below the waves. All of them bring money.

 And that is how we got there, too.
 

Electric Train to the End of the Jetty

We did not walk the 1.841 KM walk just to get to the end. We took the train!

Yes, this jetty has a ‘toy’ train that rides its entire length. It’s really a nice ride. I waved to the ‘walkers’ while passing them sitting in a comfortable seat. The walkers loved it, they waved back. 

At the end of the jetty is a larger platform with a staircase going down, down and down.  Windows along the outside of the staircase make it possible to see out and soon one walks below the water line. Going ever down we

Yes, the Jetty Is Curved

 finally reach the ‘bottom’. Well, we are not 

standing in the ocean sand but we can see the bottom of the ocean through viewers, we see the wooden pilings that hold up the jetty and the cross members. We are ‘under’ the jetty. Fish float by, crabs rummage about, and the view shows us how the posts of the jetty work like a breeding station for sponges, crustaceans, small fish, etc.

It’s a world only a diver would see but we are wearing our street clothes.

Pilings Holding Up the Jetty

A bit of a weird sensation to be ‘under’ water yet totally comfortable, breathing the air we always breathe. 

The whole jetty today is an environmental affair; A very good setup for children and youngsters and a fair bunch of them were on this tour with us.

Pilings Underwater

Very Colourful Kelp & Seaweeds on the Pilings

Six-Banded Coral Fish (Small Pointed Head)

We paid extra to get a guided tour but it was more or less a speech on how Australia now handles their Marine areas responsibly. 

The huge shipping loads from years ago have changed. Containerization has taken over from old time jetties like this one. Like a lot of things, progress has killed a lot of businesses. 

More Colour

But somehow this jetty was impressive, it was very long, very well built and it gave me a view on how it ‘was’ when sailing ships still had to dock in the deeper water to load and unload.

But just like sailing ships, it is more for the nostalgia than for necessity that those structures still exist.

A Sea-Worm Attached to the Viewing Window

We made a good visit out of exploring the Busselton Jetty, though.

End of Jetty, Life-Sized Whales Painted  - This Is a Humpback

Great Crested Tern On the Jetty

New Holland Honey-eater - Eats Pollen, Insects

We slept that night however a bit away from Busselton; we slept at the Hotel Margaret River. Had a bit of a time finding the hotel and it was a party hotel, some local celebrated a 70^th birthday at the hotel. Lots of whoopee going on, the verbal kind.

Looking For Our Motel and Found Several Wild Kangaroos

Margaret River Dairy