South West Life

When you've grown up in Western Australia, there's a routine celestial event that you miss out on every day - the sun or moon rising over the water.

Then again, if you've lived your whole life in the eastern states, then you've missed out on something just as magical - the sun or moon setting over the ocean at the end of the day. There's nothing quite like lying on the beach at 7:30pm watching the last of the burning sun get swallowed up by the sea, turning the sky a magnificent orange, pink, red and purple.

But we West Australians don't need to miss out on the rising moon over the water, especially in the south west.

Meelup is actually Aboriginal for "Place Of The Moon Rising", which should give you a hint that something special happens there. It's an absolutely beautiful little bay that actually faces eastwards. Only on the most clearest of days can you just make out the coast near Bunbury - most of the time as you look out eastwards, all you see is the ocean. And so when you time it right and the moon rises at night, you get to see the spectacle of the moon rising over the water.

And yes you really do need to time it right. I was down at Meelup recently with family and friends. We weren't there specifically to see the moon rise, but just to spend the day having a great time snorkelling and swimming. At dinner time we really didn't feel like going home, and we made the decision to stay and see if we could watch the moon rise. We did this even though we didn't know when, or even if, the moon was rising that night.

We sat on the sand and watched it get dark. To entertain the kids, we played games such as looking for satellites in the sky, or finding constellations. Eight o'clock rolled on and we moved onto the "think of an animal that starts with the letter..." game. Somehow we managed to drag that out until about 9 o'clock and still no moon.

We now had to make a decision. Was the moon rising tonight? Maybe it was a new moon. Maybe it had already set. Maybe it wouldn't rise until 4am. For some reason we decided to stay on. Around 10 o'clock, we started arguing over what the glow on the horizon was. Some said it could be the moon. Some said it was the glow of Bunbury. Some even said it was the glow of a refinery tower. All possible explanations.

And then it happened. The moon rose over the bay, and we watched it soar into the sky and the glimmer on the water grew in brightness. It was fantastic.

So yes, the timing is important. The moon should be full, or near full, and it needs to rise at the right time. A handy site I found that will tell you when the moon is full and when it will rise on any given day in any location is at www.ga.gov.au/geodesy/astro/moonrise.jsp.

So here's a recipe for a fantastic day out:

Ingredients: Family and/or friends, plenty of food, chairs to relax on, swimming and snorkelling equipment, money for the Mr Whippy ice-cream van, sunscreen, a boat if you have one, fishing gear, mozzie repellant, a light jumper for the cooler evening, thermos flask for a hot coffee or tea when it gets dark, and a determination to relax.

Method: Simply mix together and chill out. Don't try and plan the day too much. Just head down to the bay and see what happens.

Meelup Bay is located about 5 minutes west of Dunsborough - head down Cape Naturaliste Road and then turn down Meelup Beach Road. It has BBQ facilities, shade, showers, toilets, and one of the most beautiful flat bays you'll ever see.