EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Described as the capital of the Southwest, BUNBURY , the state's second-largest population centre, is a pleasant town, clearly prosperous and content, but not the sort of place you've crossed oceans to see. A day's dallying here on the way south certainly won't give you nightmares, and a chance to commune with the visiting dolphins (found around The Cut on Leschenault Inlet) is a lot less regimented, if less predictable, than traipsing all the way up to Monkey Mia. Two boat tours can take you to the right spot: one from the Dolphin Discovery Centre on the beach off Koombana Drive (daily 9am-2pm; tel 08/9791 3088; $4 admission; tours $15-25), the other with Bunbury Dolphin Tours (tel 08/9721 7922; $15) at the Parade Hotel on Stirling Street alongside Leschenault Inlet.

Daily bus services from Perth (3hr) drop you at the well-stocked tourist office (Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 9.30am-4.30pm; tel 08/9721 7922) in the old train station on Carmody Place. Shuttle buses operate from the new train station , 3km from the centre, during the daytime; otherwise taxis (tel 08/9721 2300) generally meet evening arrivals. The train from Perth takes two hours and costs $20.

Accommodation includes the Wander Inn at 16 Clifton St (tel 08/9721 3242, wanderinnbp@yahoo.com ; under $35), a dowdy but well-run backpackers' place with bikes and cheap twin rooms, ten minutes' walk from Koombana Beach. The YHA (tel 08/9791 2621, fax 9791 4742, yhabunbury@hotmail.com ; under $50) on Stirling Street is comparatively serene despite some huge dorms. The elegant Rose Hotel (tel 08/9721 4533; $70-90) on Victoria Street boasts a reasonable restaurant and a large range of boutique beers, or there's the lovely Federation-style The Clifton (tel 08/9721 4300, fax 9791 2726, theclifton@tpgi.com.au ; $90-115) at 2 Molloy St. There are many sidewalk cafés and restaurants ranged along the colonial frontage of Victoria Street all the way up to Fast Eddy's .