Dunsborough is a coastal town in the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, south of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, on the shores of

Geographe Bay Geographe Bay is in the south-west of Western Australia around 220 km southwest of Perth. The bay was named in May 1801 by French explorer Nicolas Baudin, after his ship, ''Géographe''. The bay is a wide curve of coastline extending from ...

. Dunsborough is a popular tourist destination for Western Australians; in 1999 it was voted the state's best tourist destination and in 2013 awarded the Top Tourism Award for Population Under 5,000. The town's location in the Margaret River Wine Region provides easy access to many wineries and breweries. The town is a favoured destination for annual school leavers in Western Australia, the other frequent choice being

Rottnest Island Rottnest Island ( nys, Wadjemup), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, Rottnest is an A-class ...

History

Indigenous prehistory

The South West region of Australia, within which Dunsborough sits, is recognised as being one of the oldest continually occupied human habitats anywhere on Earth, with archaeology dating back approximately 40,000 years. Dunsborough itself shares in this history, with multiple sites of Aboriginal importance in and around the town. Prior to European colonisation, several distinct tribes inhabited the land and utilised the waters around Dunsborough. Those living on the coast were called ''

Wardandi The Wadandi, also spelt Wardandi and other variants, are an Aboriginal people of south-western Western Australia, one of fourteen language groups of the Noongar peoples. Name There are at least three theories about the meaning of the tribal eth ...

'' (sea people), and their language recorded as ''Burron Wongi''. These Indigenous peoples referred to Dunsborough by the name of ''Quedjinup'', which means "Place of Women". The name Quedjinup is retained for the district immediately to the south of Dunsborough, encompassing the Dunsborough Lakes and Biddle's Common housing developments which form part of the greater Dunsborough development zone. Important local Aboriginal Heritage sites include: * Caves Road – Naturaliste Road Roundabout: a large area, extending some 400m east of the current roundabout, within which many artefacts including flints, crystal quartz, and blades have been discovered. The artefacts discovered at this site have been dated between 8,000 and 12,000 years old. The site is on the Permanent Register of Aboriginal sites, and is protected under the West Australian Aboriginal Heritage Act (1972). * The Seymour Street Camping Grounds: located between what was Seymour Street (now Cape Naturaliste Road) and Naturaliste Terrace, and again on the southern side of the wet ground within the playing fields, including part of the playing field itself and where the netball courts now stand. * Dunn Bay Road Ceremonial Ground: a reported "law ground" that was a ceremonial meeting site that brought traditional Wardandi people together.

British settlement

The modern town is named after the nearby Dunn Bay, which was named after Captain Richard Dalling Dunn under whom Governor James Stirling had served in the ''Hibernia'' and the ''Armide'' in 1810–11. Land for a

townsite A townsite is a legal subdivision of land for the development of a town or community. In the historical development of the United States, Canada, and other former British colonial nations, the filing of a townsite plat (United States) or plan ( ...

was set aside here in the late 1830s, and there is a recorded whale fishery at "Dunsbro" in 1850. When Dunsborough first appeared on a map in 1839 it was spelt "Dunnsbro" but the extra "n" seems to have disappeared by 1850, and the spelling of "bro" was amended to "borough" when the name was gazetted on 29 April 1879. In 1860, the Seymour family who worked for the Castle Rock Whaling Company built the Seymour Homestead. It would later be moved to Millbrook Farm in Yallingup. In the 1920s the family built Seymour's Cottages, which were among the first holiday houses in the area; they were also relocated toMillbrook Farm. A general store was opened in 1925 and the town's first bakery was established in 1930. By the 1950s, Dunsborough's population consisted of about forty families; 1957 saw the opening of the Old Dunsborough Hall and Dunsborough Primary School opened in 1963. Surfing became popular in the 1960s and wine tourism in the nearby

Margaret River The Margaret River is a river in southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River. The river arises from a catchment of just 40 square kilometres in the Whicher Range. The ...

was emerging by the mid-1980s. The population of the town began to significantly increase from the late 1970s onwards.

Tourism and culture

Dunsborough's beaches, restaurants, cafes, and boutique shops attract tourists. The town is also near

Meelup Regional Park The Meelup Regional Park is a coastal regional park near the Western Australian town of Dunsborough in the state's South West region. It contains of coastline between Dunsborough and Bunker Bay (the latter in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National ...

(including Meelup Beach),

Cape Naturaliste Cape Naturaliste is a headland in the south western region of Western Australia at the western edge of the Geographe Bay. It is the northernmost point of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge which was named after the cape. Also the Leeuwin-Naturaliste ...

and its lighthouse (which are in the

Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park is a national park in the South West region of Western Australia, south of Perth. It is named after the two locations at either end of the park which have lighthouses, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste. It is l ...

and part of the

Cape to Cape Track The Cape to Cape Walk Track is a long-distance walk trail located in the far south-west corner of Western Australia, south of Perth. It meanders along the whole length of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge, which forms the backbone of the Leeuwin ...

Ngari Capes Marine Park The Ngari Capes Marine Park is a marine protected area on the lower south west coast of Western Australia, located approximately south of . The marine park was gazetted on and the park's western and southern boundaries are the limit of coastal ...

(containing the dive wreck of HMAS ''Swan'', and the Margaret River Wine Region. The CinefestOZ film festival stages some of its screenings and events in Dunsborough in late August each year.

Transport

Caves Road and Cape Naturaliste Road are major roads in the area, linked by a roundabout. Dunsborough is serviced by Busseltons public bus service route 815 run by

Swan Transit Swan Transit is an Australian bus company operating Transperth services under contract to the Public Transport Authority. It is a subsidiary of Transit Systems. History On 21 January 1996, Swan Transit commenced operating services in the Midl ...

South West (TransBusselton).

South West Coach Lines South West Coach Lines is a bus and coach operator in South West Western Australia. It is a subsidiary of the Australian Transit Group. History South West Coach Lines was founded in 1977 by David and Lenita Adams. In January 1986, it commenc ...

and

Transwa Transwa is Western Australia's regional public transport provider, linking 240 destinations, from Kalbarri in the north to Augusta in the south west to Esperance in the south east. The Transwa system provides transport to the major regional ...

coach services also run service to Dunsborough for connections to other south west towns and Perth.

Education

Dunsborough is served by one government school, Dunsborough Primary School, and two private schools, Our Lady of the Cape Primary School and Cornerstone Christian College (a primary school campus in Quedjinup).

Events

* Dunsborough Arts Festival and Sculpture By The Bay * Dunsborough Bay Fun Run * Dunsborough Lions Easter Fair * X-Adventure Dunsborough