8 minute read

guide to HIKING & BIKING AT MEELUP

from Tales and Trails Margaret River Region Magazine - Autumn Winter 2023

by Vanguard Publishing Perth

from Tales and Trails Margaret River Region Magazine - Autumn Winter 2023, page 98

Article from: Tales and Trails Margaret River Region Magazine - Autumn Winter 2023

GETTING AROUND

Discover Dunsborough MTB Park and Meelup’s glorious walk trails

WORDS | Lizzy Pepper

There’s no finer way to experience Cape Naturaliste than exploring the wild and wonderful Meelup Regional Park. Rich in biodiversity and home to many native animals, the park is laced with hiking and mountain bike trails, glamorous glimpses of Geographe Bay and true Aussie bush, gumnuts, grass trees and all.

Sure, it’s famous for Meelup Beach and “ocean the hue of a Bombay Sapphire bottle” according to Lonely Planet, but stretch your legs or hop on your bike to delve and discover its other charms.

“It’s the place to watch the moon rise”, explains Josh Whiteland, Aboriginal cultural tour operator from Koomal Dreaming; “the name Meelup comes from the word for eyes, meel. It’s an old camping area, and families would rest beneath the peppies during Bunuru season and drink from the spring that runs down the hill.” Wadandi families moved with the seasons for food, following the many coastal trails during Kambarang, Birak and Bunuru, roughly October to March.

Mountain Biking Meelup

The Dunsborough Mountain Bike Park sits in the southern tip of the Meelup Regional Park and caters for all levels from beginners and families on wide gravel fire trails to advanced mountain bikers on technical black trails. Winding through native bushland in and around Dunsborough’s original golf course, you’ll see plenty of kangaroos and spectacular Geographe Bay views along the way.

Get local knowledge at the Bike Shed Start with a visit to Bike Shed Dunsborough to hire a full-spec drop-seat dual suspension bike. Note: bikes are available in limited numbers, so book roughly two weeks ahead to avoid missing out. Owners Graham Clark and Lee

Scurlock are happy to advise on where to go or link you up with a qualified MTB coach to help get the most out of your visit.

Three ways to explore

Happy to go it alone? Start at the Country Club entrance, follow the maps and signs. It’s important to read and understand the grading of the circuits; green is for beginners; blue is intermediate and black circuits are for advanced riders.

Get the Trailforks app and you’ll have every MTB track in the world in your pocket, including the grading. There’s a free seven-day trial. Book a qualified MTB coach to guide you and your family through the trails. Andy Van Kamm is one of the Bike Shed’s professional coaches; “If you’re a family looking to do something more memorable than sitting at a coffee shop, come on an adventure and do an MTB tour.”

He also built the park’s many picnic tables, perfect for taking a break in the shade of a gumtree. Andy loves Meelup’s extensive network of tracks and trails and reckons “you can do any number of kilometres in any number of hours.” He recommends cycling mid-morning in winter when there’s some warmth in the sun, and summer mornings before the day heats up. “And always take plenty of water!”

Hiking Meelup Hills and the Coastal Path

Hiking through Meelup trails isn’t just a lovely way to exercise – it’s an immersion in nature’s generosity.

Meelup’s walking trails are graded 1-3 by Australian standards, with one short universal access path and many paths suitable for families and steeper rockier paths for people with some bushwalking experience.

The easiest place to start is on the gravel coastal track that leads from Old Dunsborough to Eagle Bay. It skirts tiny “pinch me, I’m dreaming” beaches, so be prepared to strip off and jump in, as the water is too good to miss. Park along the way at Castle Rock, Meelup Beach, Gannet Rock or Point Picquet to break the 7km stretch into a shorter stroll.

Head into the hills for sweeping bay views, to hear the call of Baudin’s cockatoos and to reflect on Castle Bay’s terrible time as a whaling station in the 1840s. There’s the Whaler’s Lookout Walk above Castle Bay, where humpbacks and southern right whales can be seen close to shore in spring. The Lookout Circuit from Meelup offers the chance to see the Moodja tree (Nuytsia floribunda) in vibrant orange blossom in December. The Meelup Brook Loop and Car Rally Trail are a treat following autumn and winter rails when the brook is bubbling away.

You’llfindmapsforeightdifferenttrailsat meeluppark.com

See more of Meelup with a local guide

• Koomal Dreaming

• S outh West Eco Discoveries

• Bike Shed Dunsborough

Look out for wildlife and wildflowers

Bring your binoculars as you might spy migrating whales and zipping birds on your walk, depending on the season. There’s quendas and kangaroos at dawn and dusk, and whales, fairy wrens, emu wrens, orchids and other wildflowers in spring. Watch for reptiles in summer!

Caring for country

“How fortunate we are to access a place as amazing as Meelup! There are so many native animals, bandicoots and echidna, lizards and birds,” and caring for country is how we can keep it beautiful, according to Josh Whiteland. “Be mindful of how unspoiled and unique the park is. Stay on the paths and be careful not to break the vegetation. Appreciate it, look after it and it will stay beautiful.”

Josh’s favourite place to unwind with his family is Eagle Bay, where celebrating the spirit of the place brings him closer and more connected to country.

Woodworking artists are drawn to the Margaret River Region for its beautiful and abundant timber, and a lifestyle that inspires creativity. Ben Edwards is one of those craftsmen, carving a career out of wood.

In early 2018, Ben Edwards was almost ready to give up on his dream and walk away from his five-acre Karridale bush block. He had spent the past three years setting up a bespoke woodworking business from his home in the Boranup forest, but things hadn’t worked out the way he imagined. Now the bank was knocking on his backdoor, and if they didn’t get to his property, then the white ants and weeds surely would.

But Ben didn’t give up. He couldn’t. The power of his dream was too strong to quit. Instead, he spun his compass back north and set off out into the bush for a couple of years, returning to work skippering boats. He saved his bucks and sought direction and purpose, and found the mainstay and love of a solid woman along the way.

In April 2020, after a rollercoaster ride travelling around Australia together, Ben and Dani returned to Karridale to begin their business, Caves Timbers in earnest. Their journey hasn’t been easy. Like many artists of the Margaret River Region, they have sacrificed a modern, conventional life to live on the edge of society in order to remain true to their art and their dreams.

Ben’s journey to woodworking was instigated by a camping and fishing trip with a mate in the Boranup Karri forest that he now lives and works in. At that time, he was living in Exmouth and was ready for a change. He discovered the Margaret River Region as the change he needed.

“I just wanted some trees,” he says.

“I camped in Boranup forest one night with a good mate, and we went on a bit of a fishing trip at Hamelin Bay, and that’s what kicked it off for me. The boat ramp and the forest and Boranup beach. After I moved down, I suppose the timber stuff just came with it.”

When he moved down, Ben never planned to start a woodworking business. It just came to him in the way that life sometimes throws little things at you, and tells you where you’re supposed to be going.

“I’ve always loved woodworking. My grandad was right into woodworking, I loved it since I was a little kid but never really connected with it too much. Then this place popped up. I had wanted to buy down here. Somewhere quieter than Margaret River. And yeah, the bloke I bought the house from had a heap of timber, and I started making little bits and pieces for the house, and little chopping boards and frames and stuff for family and friends, and it just grew from there.”

This new pursuit felt right to Ben, but he was young – 25-years-old – and his dream was novel and vague. He had gone from a high-paying job in Exmouth to earning almost nothing, and his property needed an enormous amount of work before he could even get started. Soon, financial pressures began to mount.

“There was a lot to do just to get started. The property needed a good clean up, the shed was falling apart, I needed to get a garden going so I could live off that and survive without too much money. That way of life just made more sense.

I like to know who cut it down, if it was meant to be cut down, why it was cut down. I mill a lot of my own timber too, and love seeing a tree turn into art.”

“I think woodworking, or any sort of art really, it’s pretty hard to make a living from it. Every artist has their journey. It’s not easy. I nearly gave up. There were some pretty tough times.”

After taking some time to reset, Ben met Dani. They had planned to travel around Australia together, but fate – namely a rolled car and the covid pandemic – brought them back to Karridale.

Dani helped Ben to organise his life and their property, and they set about building their business together. They started small, building picture frames and chopping boards and selling those - along with Dani’s photography prints, at market stalls. Soon things began to grow.

With more money Ben bought more equipment and got the property set up. Soon he was harvesting and milling all of his own timber, and building furniture and kitchens.

In early 2022 they acquired their own gallery and displayed their work for the first time at the

Margaret River Region Open Studios event.

Ben often draws inspiration from the forest surrounding him. He mills much of his own timber, often fallen trees gifted to him from local farmers that would otherwise be destined for the burn pile. He works with a lot of native timbers - marri, karri, jarrah, wandoo, banksia, and she-oak – and is motivated by the desire to give something a new life and preserve the story of that particular piece of timber.

“I like the whole process. Even if I buy timber, I like to know where it’s come from. I like to know who cut it down, if it was meant to be cut down, why it was cut down. I mill a lot of my own timber too, and love seeing a tree turn into art.”

“You rip into a bit of timber and it’s like you’re giving something a new life. You get a piece of timber that’s been sitting in the dirt for 20 years, and to someone it looks like a rotten piece of junk and you can turn it into something that ends up in someone’s home. That’s art I guess. It’s amazing, and I suppose it’s giving something that new life that keeps me going.”

Want to explore more woodworkers in the region? Visit these popular artists: