Looking from Sugarloaf Rock towards Gull Rock in Cape Naturaliste National Park

Dunsborough (including Cape Naturaliste National Park)
Small town at the entrance to the beautiful Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park
Located 254 km south of Perth and 26 km east of Busselton, Dunsborough is a small resort town which stands at the entrance of the dramatically beautiful Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park. The appeal of the area is that it has so much to offer people who love coastal scenery, bush walks, wildflower displays and untouched rugged coastlines.

Dunsborough is a recent discovery. Only a decade ago it was a sleepy little town with a couple of general stores and a permanent population of about two hundred people. Today it has huge seasonal variations in population as visitors arrive to swim, fish and bushwalk.

Historically the coast around Dunsborough was known to Europeans as early as the seventeenth century. The Dutch named the southern tip of the coast Leeuwin's Land in 1622 but, according to the maps, they did not chart the coastline to the north.

On 30 May 1801, Nicholas Baudin sailed up the coast rounded Cape Naturaliste and anchored in Geographe Bay. Both locations were named after his two vessels the Geographe and the Naturaliste.

Settlement of the area occurred as a combination of the movement of settlers from Augusta to the area around the Vasse River in the 1830s (some moved as far south as the Dunsborough district) and the presence of American whalers in Geographe Bay. Certainly by 1845 the Castle Rock Whaling Station was operating north of the present township.

The area developed slowly. The town was proclaimed in 1877 but it was little more than a few shacks until this century. The first general store in Dunsborough opened for business in 1925 and the first bakery didn't appear until 1930. Prior to that supplies for the small local community arrived twice yearly when the traveller from Fremantle Union Stores travelled through the area with his sulky laden with goods.

No one knows how Dunsborough got its name but there is a theory that it was named after an American whaler named Dunn who settled in the area during the wet season. Somehow the area simply became known as Dunnsboro or Dunnsborough and the 'n' was dropped, for no apparent reason, in the 1940s.

Things to see:  

Hutchings Antique Shop and Museum
In recent times a number of tourist attractions have been developed in the area. Hutchings Antique Shop and Museum in Gifford Road boasts that it is the largest private museum in Western Australia and that it has the largest display of stuffed wildlife in the state. It also can lay claim to the oldest standing building in Dunsborough as part of the museum is housed in a building which dates back to 1892.

Bannamah Wildlife Park and Greenacres Shell Museum
Bannamah Wildlife Park on Caves Road is a zoo featuring Australian birds and marsupials. And Greenacres Shell Museum in Dunsborough's Shopping Centre, claims to be Australia's largest privately owned shell collection.

Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park
The highlight of the area is the Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park which is a wonderland of dramatic coastline and interesting flora. A good sealed road runs between Dunsborough and the lighthouse which is open for inspection twice daily. Check at the Dunsborough Tourist Centre in Naturaliste Terrace - ((08) 9755 3517. There are a number of bush walks which start near the lighthouse and move around the Cape either to Shelley Beach or to the area of sand dunes known mysteriously as the 'Other Side of the Moon'.

The Cape includes such delights as Lookout Rock near Castle Bay which offers superb views over Geographe Bay. It was used by the whalers for sighting whales swimming up the coast. Then there is Curtis Bay where a sailor named Anthony Curtis used to load cattle onto his ship by swimming them out and pulling them aboard by their horns.

Further along the coast are Castle Bay and Castle Rock (take Meelup Road off Cape Naturaliste Road) which were once used as a resting place for the American whalers who worked in the Southern Ocean. The whalers, having caught and killed the whales, would bring them ashore at Castle Bay where they would be cut up and the blubber boiled down for its oil. The Castle Bay Whaling Company operated from 1845-72. There is a cairn which marks the original site.

Further up the coast are the popular beaches at Meelup and Eagle Bay. At the end of Cape Naturaliste Road is the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse which was built in 1903. It is nearly 120 m above sea level and its light can be seen over 40 km out to sea. It is open from 9.30 a.m. - 4.00 p.m. and refreshments and souvenirs are available. The lighthouse has the distinction of being Australia's most westerly weather station.

Sugarloaf Rock in Cape Naturaliste National Park

The highlights of any visit to Cape Naturaliste are visits to Sugarloaf Rock (clearly signposted to the west of the cape) and Shelley Beach (to the east). Sugarloaf Rock is a dramatic rock just off the coast in an area which is rich with wildflowers and excellent scenery. Shelley Beach is part of Bunkers Bay which, being on the eastern side of the cape, is more gentle and subtle being protected from the full force of the Indian Ocean.

All these places, and exact directions as to how to get to them, have been described in Claire Guinness' booklet All and About Dunsborough which is a lively account of the history of the local area as well as a very detailed and useful description of the attractions which should appeal to visitors.

Tourist Radio
Additional information - particularly very good up-to-the-minute information - about this town can be accessed by checking out Western Tourist Radio at www.touristradio.com.au . Not only does it provide excellent information for people planning to visit Dunsborough but it also provides access to information for people while they are actually travelling through the area. Check it out. It is very useful information.

	Tourist Information
	Dunsborough Tourist Bureau Naturaliste Tce Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3299 Facsimile: (08) 9756 8065
	Motels
	Naturaliste Resort Motel 536 Naturaliste Tce Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (097) 55 3200 Facsimile: (08) 9756 8540 Rating: ***
	Resorts
	Three Pines Resort YHA Lodge 285 Geographe Bay Rd Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3107
	White Sands Holiday Resort 362 Geographe Bay Rd Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3011 Rating: ***
	Dunsborough Bay Village Resort Dunn Bay Rd Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3397 Facsimile: (08) 9755 3790 Rating: ***
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Views of the Bay Bed & Breakfast Rowan Pl. Bayview Ridge Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 2366 Facsimile: (08) 9755 2366
	Carramar Rural Retreat Bed & Breakfast 3 Ungarra Dve Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 5063 Rating: ***
	Apartments
	Bayshore Resort Serviced Apartments Geographe Bay Rd Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: Rd (08) 9756 8353 Facsimile: (08) 9756 8354
	Holiday Homes & Units
	Clearwater Townhouses 2 Lecaille Court Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9756 8724 Facsimile: (08) 9756 8724
	Whaler's Cove Villas 3 Lecaille Court Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3699 Facsimile: (08) 9755 3699
	Cottages & Cabins
	Dunsborough Beach Cottages Gifford Rd Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9756 8885, 1800 816 885 Facsimile: (08) 9756 8880
	Redfern Cottage 3 Kunzea Pl. Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3555 Rating: ***
	Windmill Cottages Ungarra Dve Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3258
	Farm & Eco Holidays
	A Dunsborough Farm Cottage RSM 100 Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3865 Facsimile: (08) 9756 7529
	Lodges & Chalets
	Yungarra Lodge Chalets Yungarra Dve Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (097) 55 2153 Rating: ***
	Caravan Parks
	Green Acres Beachfront Caravan Park 77 Gifford Rd Geographe Bay Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3087 Rating: **
	Dunsborough Lakes Holiday & Caravan Park 2 Commonage Rd Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9756 8300 Rating: ***
	Restaurants
	Bay Cottage Restaurant Lot 2 Dunn Bay Rd Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3554
	Carramar Rural Retreat Restaurant 3 Yungarra Dve Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3063
	Dunsborough Bay Village Resort Dunn Bay Rd Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (097) 55 3397 Facsimile: (08) 9755 3790
	Dunsborough Resort Hotel Naturaliste Tce Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (097) 55 3200
	Golden Bay Chinese Restaurant 26 Dunn Bay Rd Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9756 8118
	Little Havana Dunn Bay Rd Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3244
	Wise Winery Restaurant Albany Hwy Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3331
	Cafés
	Cafe Ibis Shop 5 Dunsborough Village Dunsborough WA 6281 Telephone: (08) 9755 3381