Busselton WA (Margaret River, Western Australia)

Busselton is a port city in Western Australia, with population around 25,000. Busselton is located approx 220 km (140 mi) southwest of Perth (Western Australia's capital city). The town was named after its founders - the Bussell family (four brothers and three sisters) who emigrated to Fremantle from England in 1830. Busselton (as Cattle Chosen) was officially founded in 1835 as one of Western Australia's earliest settlements. Through the city flows the Vasse River.

Since the early-20th-century, Busselton developed as a resort town and received city status in 2012. Today it is best known for the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park and its coastline (between capes Yallingup and Naturaliste) popular among tourists for the camping sites and seaside resorts. Besides tourism, the current-day city's economy is also based on winegrowing (Margaret River wine region), commerce (retail shopping), manufacturing, agriculture, commercial fishing.

The city is served by two highways - Bussell (linking to Bunbury and Augusta) and Vasse (to Pemberton) Caves Road is a scenic route linking to Augusta. Buses link to Perth. Busselton Margaret River Airport (in the Yalyalup suburb) serves regularly scheduled domestic flights linking with Melbourne (Jetstar Airways) and also charter flights (by Virgin Australia) linking with Perth, Barimunya, Boolgeeda, West Angelas.

Port Busselton (locode AUBUS) has the Southern Hemisphere's longest pier (wooden jetty) with length 1841 m (6040 ft) out to sea. The jetty was constructed to serve the shipping trade but the port was closed in 1972. The jetty sustained serious damages - in 1978 (by Cyclone Alby) and in 1999 (by fire), but was later restored and improved. Since 2003, the historic pier serves as a tourist attraction offering a train ride and an underwater observatory.

Busselton is the cruise port to Margaret River Town (population around 5,000) famous for its craft breweries and surrounding wineries. The River's coast (to the west of the Town) is a worldwide famous surf break location, with a coastline of 130 km (80 mi) between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Hamelin. Here are also held major surfing competitions. Cowaramup Bombora is a big wave surf break producing some of Australia's largest waves. Margaret River Town is just 9 km (6 mi) to the east of the Indian Ocean. Margaret River Wine Region is well known for its wine production and tourism. Annually, the region is visited by 0,5+ million tourists. Margaret River Wine Region has vineyards covering nearly 55 km2 (21 mi2) and 140+ wineries, most of which are boutique wine producers.

The road distance between Busselton and Margaret River is approx 50 km / 32 mi (via Bussell Highway running north-south/southwest) or at around 40 min bus travel distance.

One of the world's premium wine-producing regions, Margaret River produces only ~3% of Australia's total grape production but holds over 20% of the country's premium wine market. The region is sized 100 km (60 mi/north-south and 27 km (17 mi/east-west). Its soil, climate (lacking extreme temperatures) and humidity levels provide perfect conditions for making dry vintage wines with high-quality fruit flavors. Grape varieties are evenly split between red and white (Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Shiraz, Merlot, Sauvignon blanc, Verdelho).

Another major tourist attraction is Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. Of all the several hundred caves, only 6 are open to the public, including the Mammoth Cave located approx 21 km (13 mi) south of the town. The cave is self-guided and with disabled access.