Day Tripping to Bunbury

Distance from Perth: 159km
Route: Forrest Hwy

Ah Bunbury just a hop skip and jump South from Perth. Recently (i.e. since I last went to Bunbury) the state government spent millions of dollars on laying the Forrest Highway joining the Kwinana Freeway to Old Coast Road just North of Bunbury.
The weather started out good in Perth but deteriorated as I travelled further South... to the point that I considered turning around several times. I really dislike driving in bad weather, especially when sharing the roads with caravans and trucks all doing 110km/hr.
Anyway what can I say about this day trip? First off the Forrest Highway is BORING!!!! Considering it is only about 5kms shorter and only saves about 12 minutes of travelling time I think I prefer the Old Coast Road route to Bunbury. There is virtually nothing along this flat straight boring new road. Add to this the fact that we bypass Lake Clifton which used to be home to The Center of the Universe BP Roadhouse which was closed down last year due to lack of trade from having it's passing traffic diverted to the new highway. I can't imagine any of the other businesses are doing much better.
So uninspired by the awful weather and the uninteresting trip that I didn't get out of the car (apart from filling up at the Bunbury BP service station). I did drive around town though and I was surprised at the amount of new buildings and businesses that had opened since I was last in Bunbury.


Since this day lacked photo opportunities here are a few from the web:

Bunbury boardwalk

Statues near Entertainment Center

Mangrove Boardwalk

I admit that Bunbury is usually a pit stop on the way to destinations further South, but it does look very interesting and I will visit again on a better day.

Perhaps I will visit a future festival or market, check out the native animal park, see some local arts and crafts or learn about the local aboriginal culture. There is also the Dolphin park, beaches, Boulters Heights Lookout, Mangrove Boardwalk, the Wellington Discovery Forest and 40km's out of Bunbury is Gnomesville.