Meelup - Place where the moon rises out of the sea.  Meelup Regional Park, on the Geographe Bay side of Cape Naturaliste, is 280kms south of Perth.  It is approxmately 577 hectares in area and extends from Dunsborough to Bunker Bay. This coastline is rare in Western Australia because it faces north east.  It is therefore sheltered from the prevailing strong salt bearing south westerly winds, and so, in many places, tall trees and dense vegetation grows down the waters edge.   Photograph courtesy of Christian Fletcher Photography

Meelup Regional Park is an A-class reserve at 577 hectares on the western shore of Geographe Bay.  The local Wardandi people named Meelup ‘place of the moon rising’ because the full moon appears to rise out the sea on a few days of the year.  The park offers excellent recreation facilities among pristine coastal bushland and has a stunning visual landscape, due to its general north-facing direction and hence protected coastline, and the stark contrast between the rustic granite outcrops and turquoise ocean. The Park is a special place for locals and visitors alike, providing all with a unique connection to the ruggedness, beauty and inspiration of nature.

Meelup Regional Park lies within the Busselton-Augusta ‘biodiversity hotspot’, the only one in Australia that is recognised internationally. A biodiversity hotspot is an area rich in plant and animal species, particularly high in endemism and under pressure from a variety of threats. The park’s size and relatively pristine condition of much of the vegetation means that it has both local and international conservation significance.

The Aboriginals living in the area are Noongars of the Wardandi people.  They live in the coastal region from Busselton to Augusta and relate strongly to the limestone coast and cave region, believing the spirits of their people live within the caves. It is known they camped on the freshwater lagoon above Meelup Beach.

In 1801 a scientific expedition under the command of Captain Nicholas Baudin and Baron Hamelin visited Geographe Bay in the corvettes Geographe and Naturaliste. After making landfall at Cape Leeuwin on 27th May 1801, the ships travelled up the coast and into Geographe Bay to study the natural resources in the area.