Bunbury town centre

Koombana Bay

Back Beach, Bunbury

Interaction with wild dolphins on Koombana Bay

Leschenault Inlet

The port city of Bunbury is the second largest city (after Mandurah) in Western Australia outside the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. It is situated 175 km south of Perth's central business district. Bunbury is situated near the mouth of the Collie River at the southern end of the Leschenault Inlet, which opens to Koombana Bay and the larger Geographe Bay which extends southwards to Cape Naturaliste.

Where is it?: Western Australia: South West. 89 km south east of Perth via the Old Coast Road (from Manduarah) or South Western Highway.

Things to see and do:

Koombana Bay; Collie River; Preston River; Leschenault Inlet; Dolphin Discovery Centre (interaction with wild dolphins); towns of Brunswick Junction and Australind; villages of Dardanup and Picton Junction; Centenary Gardens; Wellington Weir; Harvey Weir. Historic buildings - Springhill Homestead; St Paul's Cathedral; Leschenault homestead (c.1843); former Bunbury Boys School (1885); The Residency (c.1904)

Lookouts:

Marlston Hill Lookout: Located on Apex drive, off Victoria Street it is here where you can see the three waters of Bunbury and take in the magnificent coastline. The Lookout is a spiral staircase with more than 100 steps. If you don’t wish to climb the stairs you can still obtain magnificent views from the base of the lookout.  Please be aware that caravans are unable to park at the base of this lookout.

Mindalong Lookout: Located on ocean drive, the Mindalong Lookout consists of two wooden structures that are in shapes of a boats bow. The lookout has magnificent views along Bunbury’s diverse ocean coastline.

Boulter's Heights Lookout: This lookout overlooks the Central Business District (CBD) of Bunbury. You are able to enjoy a detailed overview of the CBD.

Events:

Surrounding area:

For the traveller, Bunbury is the gateway to the south west region of Western Australia. The inland road - South Western Highway - leads to the farming towns of Boyanup, Donnybrook, Bridgetown, Nannup in the Blackwood River Valley, and the timber towns of Manjimup and Pemberton. On the coastal road - Bussell Highway - there is Busselton and the resort towns on Geographe Bay and Cape Naturaliste (Dunsborough, Eagle Bay, Yallingup). Beyond them, and to the south is Margaret River and the Margaret River wine region, the Augusta Yallingup and Augusta limestone caves, and the coastal communities of Cowaramup, Gracetown, Prevelly, Hamelin Bay and Augusta (Cape Leeuwin).

About Bunbury

The City of Bunbury itself has a population of 31,000 but the Greater Bunbury Region, which includes the suburbs of Dalyellup and Gelorup (Shire of Capel), Eaton (Shire of Dardanup) and Australind (Shire of Harvey), which is regularly utilised for statistical purposes, has a population of 54,000. Leschenault Inlet was extensively altered in the 1960s and 1970s by major earthworks to create the Bunbury Inner Harbour that is centre for the large export industries in the region which include 20% of the world's alumina, timber, dairy and mineral sands.
Bunbury's climate is slightly more temperate than that of Perth. This is as much a consequence of its coastal location as of the slight difference in latitude; Fremantle, on the coast immediately southwest of Perth, is more comparable in climate.

History: The first registered sighting of the Bunbury coast was by French explorer Captain Louis de Freycinet from his ship the Casuarina in 1803. He named the area 'Port Leschenault' after the expedition's botanist, Leschenault de la Tour. The bay was named Geographe after another ship in the fleet. In 1829, Dr. Alexander Collie and Lieutenant Preston explored the area of Bunbury on land. Later Lieutenant Governor Sir James Stirling visited the area and a Military post was established. The area was renamed Bunbury by the Governor in recognition of Lieutenant Henry William St. Pierre Bunbury, who developed the very difficult inland route from Pinjarra to Bunbury. Bunbury was declared a city in 1979. Today, the city is the major centre of the state's southwest region.
Bunbury was in the past an important railway terminus. The Railway Station was close to the centre of the city. The Railway Roundhouse was an important servicing centre for the steam engines of the past. The daily passenger service between Perth and Bunbury - the Australind - is the longest-running named service in Western Australian railway history.
The Pinjarra to Picton Junction railway line was completed in 1893, connecting Bunbury to Perth, and also to the coal and mineral deposits and agricultural areas to the north and east. The famous Railway Roundhouse and marshalling yards located at what is now Bunbury Centrepoint shopping centre were a vital service centre for the steam engines of the day. The train station served as the terminal for the longest lasting named service in Western Australia - the Australind passenger train between Perth, transporting its first passengers on 24 November 1947 and connecting to a newly established bus network distributing passengers all over the South West.
By 1983, the railway into the city (closely following Blair Streets alignment) was considered an eyesore by the local council and developers, who wished to take advantage of the newly elected Burke Labor Governments pledges to make Bunbury an alternative city to Perth. A new station was constructed at Wollaston 4 km to the southeast, and the last train to use the old station departed Bunbury on 28th May 1985. The railway land was then sold and Blair Street realigned.

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