Mission possible: Brisbane to Busselton in 44 hours

“I’m just going to Perth for the weekend,” said no East Coast dweller ever.

Well, I’m going to tell you a story about the time I travelled 9000 kilometres, slept 10 hours, checked in to two hotels, hired one car, partied six hours, drove seven, attended a wedding and briefly stopped by a concert. You CAN do Perth in one weekend – I can prove it.

But first, some history…

Although I’m a Brissy girl now, I did most of my growing up in WA. When I was 18, I escaped and moved to the Gold Coast but kept a tight group of besties in Perth. It’s the news of one of them getting hitched in Busselton (and the fact that I have NO annual leave) that leads to my wild weekend decision.

Busselton is Perth’s version of Byron Bay, a seaside city famous for its super long wooden Jetty. At two kilometres, it’s the longest in the Southern Hemisphere.

Scoring some cheap flights, I leave the lastminute office and board the plane at 8pm on Friday. Four-ish hours later, I touch down at Perth Airport. The dry air is familiar, nostalgic.

Hiring a car, I drive 25 minutes and check in to the Pan Pacific Perth. It’s smack bang in the city, right across from the Esplanade. My Superior room is comfy with a king bed and view of twinkling city lights.

Pan Pacific Perth room

Morning comes, so I wake up, scoff down a quick buffet brekkie at Origins Restaurant, glam up, check out and head off to Busselton. Phew.

Psyched

I follow the clouds for two and a half hours down the Kwinana Freeway. As I get coastal, the clouds get darker and the windscreen spatters with wetness. The shower turns torrential. I have no wet-weather back up or waterproof mascara. CRAP.

Signs to Margaret River start to pop up; it’s almost time to turn off. The wedding starts in 30 minutes and it’s still raining – eep!

The ceremony is at Wonnerup House, a beautiful, heritage-listed building around 20 minutes from Busselton town with picnic-perfect green lawns and surrounding trees. Just as I pull the handbrake on in the car park, the skies stop. The sun comes out. It’s perfect.

The Bridal Party

The ceremony is lovely, with lots of smiles, reunion hugs and plenty of love for the happy couple.

The happy couple

Next up, the reception. Not the post-wedding reception, the Abbey Beach Resort reception. I’m staying there tonight!

Abbey Beach Resort

Grabbing the keys from the lovely check-in staff, I open the door to a two bedroom, self-contained apartment. This place is lush, but unfortunately I don’t have time to waste.

I call a cab and wait on the driveway… for 40 minutes! After anxiously checking my phone for the 20th time, a local tells me the reason I’m waiting so long is because there’s a John Butler Trio concert on, multiple weddings and the entire town is booked out.

Much to my delight though, they offer me a lift as long as I agree to bypass the concert on the way. #winning!

I make it to The Goose with minutes to spare. There’s even time to catch the sun setting over the famous jetty. Ooh ahh.

Busselton Jetty

The Goose’s fab location makes it a magic spot for any sort of occasion and tonight is no different. After an amazing night of dancing and drinking (I may have instigated ‘last drinks’ on the Busselton Jetty with a bottle of wine at 3am), it’s time to head back to Abbey Beach Resort where I promptly pass out.

7am comes too quickly, and I wake to the sound of my alarm with a cranking wine headache. Where am I? Do I have to go to work? Huh?

Oh, that’s right – a plane. I have to be in Perth by 12pm for my flight home.

I stumble out of bed, jump into the shower and head back to Perth in my hire car, sculling water in between cups of McDonald’s coffee.

I make the plane home and tuck myself into bed by 7pm Sunday night.

44 hours. Two flights. One wedding. Mission accomplished.

WA is closer than you think. #liveeverylastminute.

Have you ever had an epic trip like this? Tell me about it in the comments.

Book a trip to Perth.
Stay at the Pan Pacific Perth
Book a night (or five) at the Abbey Beach Resort