"Keeweechic's Busselton" a Busselton Travel Page by keeweechic

The first Europeans to settle in the Busselton area in 1832 were the Bussells, Turners, Malloys, Chapmans and Laymans. The families originally settled in Augusta but moved further north into the valley of the Vasse River for the richer and fertile soil. Other families quickly followed and by 1836 a townsite was mapped out at the mouth of the Vasse River. The town was given the name of Busselton after John Garrett Bussell who was the leader of the first settlers. The area became important for its beef, dairy and timber production. Geographe Bay also became popular with the whaling ships who worked the Southern Ocean.

Busselton, a popular seaside resort town, is around 230kms south of Perth and was judged WA's top tourism town in 1995 and 1996. There are 30 kms of white sandy beaches and the bay is sheltered from prevailing winds making it ideal for all kinds of water activities. There are also many reef dives as well. Well known is the 2km long jetty which has its own train to transport you to the underwater observatory at the end. The city is also close to the Margaret River wine region which extends from Bussellton down as far as Augusta in the south and there are plenty of winery tours to take advantage of.