68 | TRADEABOAT.COM.AUCLOCKWISE FROM
LEFT Augusta is a boatie's
delight; Where two oceans
meet off Cape Leeuwin;
Bathing in the shallows near
the famous Busselton jetty.T
wo great capes – Leeuwin and
Naturaliste – mark the extremities
of the southwesterly corner of the
continent and lend their names to a narrow
national park that hugs the coast for 120
kilometres between them.
This area is sometimes referred to as the
‘Limestone Coast’ for the ridge of 600 million-
year-old limestone-capped granite that runs
from north to south between the capes.
Along its seaward edge, the Indian Ocean
has eroded the coastline into a complex array
of reefs bordered by rocky headlands and steep
cliffs, interspersed with sheltered bays and
sweeping beaches.
The Ngari Capes Marine Park protects
1,200 square kilometres of coastal waters from
Busselton on Geographe Bay, around the capes
to Augusta on Flinders Bay.
Inland, the 15,500-hectare Leeuwin-Naturaliste
National Park protects dense karri forests and
magnificent limestone caves, in which the fossil
remains of prehistoric megafauna have been found.
The South West area enjoys a Mediterranean-
style climate, characterised by hot, dry summers
that are themselves moderated by strong
afternoon sea breezes, and cool, wet winters,
with strong westerly cold fronts crossing the
coast every week or so.
It is one of the fastest growing regions in
the state, with major urban communities at
Busselton, Dunsborough, Margaret River and
Augusta, and smaller population centres at
Yallingup, Gracetown, Prevelly/Gnarabup,
Cowaramup, Witchcliffe and Karridale.
This popular regional destination attracts
more than two million visitors annually for a
wide range of marine-based recreation and water
sports, as well as land-based activities that include
walking, camping and four-wheel driving.ABORIGINAL HERITAGE
Ancient spiritual beliefs connect the Pibelmen
and Wardandi Aboriginal people to the South
West Capes area.
Their traditional occupation of the region
dates from about 50,000 years ago and is
evidenced by many important heritage sites that
include fishing weirs, shell middens, grindstones,
burial grounds, campsites and ceremonial places.
Prior to colonisation, a sophisticated
Noongar-speaking culture flourished here, but
conflicts with early settlers led to the dispersal
and dispossession of the indigenous people.
In recent times, a strong resurgence of their
culture – through resource gathering, ceremonial
activities, environmental management
and recreation – reflects a contemporary
manifestation of a traditional practice anchored
deep in the past.MARITIME HISTORY
The South West Capes have a long and
distinguished maritime history, beginning in
1622 when Dutch navigators in the Leeuwin
(Lioness) charted the coast from Hamelin Bayto Point D’Entrecasteaux, naming this stretch
‘Landt van de Leeuwin’.
Dutch explorer François Thijssen visited the
coast in Gulden Zeepaert (Golden Seahorse)
in 1627, followed 145 years later by Louis de
St Aloüarn in Gros Venture, who purported to
annex the whole west coast for his French king.
In 1801, Matthew Flinders began his survey
of the south coast of New Holland from Cape
Leeuwin (giving it that name), followed in the
same year by the French expedition commanded
by Nicholas Baudin in Le Geographe, with
Emmanuel Hamelin in Le Naturaliste.
Whalers and sealers, from America, France
and Britain, hunted along the coast until the
1880s, when declining whale numbers rendered
the industry commercially unviable.
Shipping transport continued to flourish
as hinterland forests were plundered for the
valuable hardwoods, in turn leading to the
construction of jetties at Busselton, Hamelin
Bay and Flinders Bay.
Many shipwrecks are recorded off the
Leeuwin-Naturaliste coast between 1830
and 1910.