The Siesta Park property was purchased by the late Ivan and Dulcie Tickle in 1946, and was named by Ivan after his launch, Siesta, which caught fire and was lost during a rescue operation involving a downed aircraft in a training exercise over Cockburn Sound off Fremantle during WWII. The Siesta was part of the Naval Auxiliary Patrol, and following the war the government reimbursed Ivan for his loss. These funds largely financed the purchase of the property in Busselton — so while the loss of his launch was a sad and personal one, what more appropriate name for the newly acquired property than Siesta Park?

The property faces due north, looking across Geographe Bay, and is nearly 400m wide. The current area on the beach side of Caves Road is around 6 hectares (15 acres), but it's interesting to note that it was twice this size according to the original 1892 high-water-mark title — a stark illustration of the severe erosion the property has experienced since it was first surveyed.

Long before any of this, and still today, the land here is Wadandi Noongar Country — its people the traditional custodians of this coast, the saltwater and forest for which they are named. We acknowledge them, and their continuing connection to this place we're fortunate to call home.

In the more recent past, there were three owners prior to the Tickles, beginning in 1892 when a very large area of land, Location 5, was granted to a Mr Richard Gale by the government. Mr Gale did not develop any part of the land, but subdivided it into 400-metre "strips," giving arable land to the south, progressing to swamp and finally beach. The second owner of the particular Siesta Park strip, in 1915, was Angus Gilchrist, who had six very basic cottages built on it and named the property Peppermint Park. The third owner was Ron Tough, who ran an engineering business in Perth. With extra demands on his business during World War II, he was pleased to be relieved of the erosion and other issues associated with owning a property "down south," and sold to Ivan Tickle soon after the war ended in 1946.

Ivan and Dulcie's sixteen-year-old son Phil was the first family member to permanently reside on the park, alongside the caretakers, and was apprenticed under the guidance of Ivan's gun carpenter and foreman, Alf Smith. Together they undertook many of the first tasks of setting up Ivan's vision for Siesta Park, including building a caretaker's residence and a workshop, and setting up ex-army tents on board floors. Other projects in the early years included building a number of small caravan-like cabins, and moving the original six unlined beach shacks back about 50 metres from the encroaching shoreline; these were rebuilt, lined, and given a bathroom. Electricity came to the area in 1960, allowing fridges to replace the ice chests and electric stoves to replace the kerosene burners, and relieving the park's own diesel-powered 24V DC system, which had been run in peak periods to provide light.

Caves Road was a dirt road then, and carried only a few cars each day. Phil would ride his bike leisurely along it, gun over the handlebars for perhaps the odd rabbit, his faithful collie dog Darkie following behind.

The severe winter storms and erosion problems of the early years were of great concern to the family, and a major challenge to Ivan and Phil as they waged an ongoing battle to develop successful methods to combat them. There were many experiments with sleeper walls and the like that did not stand up, but the wooden-style groynes proved by far the most effective and lasting method. The large rock groyne 800m to the east of the property was built in two stages by the then Public Works Department in 1965 and 1967, and this has proved a major factor in stabilising the beachfront to the west — up to and including this property.

Ivan sadly passed away in 1958, aged 54, having had little satisfaction for his efforts as a pioneer in the industry. He did, however, get to take many fishing parties out into Geographe Bay on his 26-foot boat of that era, the Skylark, and enjoyed some fantastic fishing with Phil and many park guests. He also got to see Phil launch his beloved 35-foot boat, the Siesta II, which Phil built on the shores of the property between 1954 and 1958, and with which he then professionally fished and chartered for about seven years before reluctantly selling her to concentrate more on the holiday park.

Phil and his mother Dulcie carried on with Siesta. Phil married Margaret, who had a nursing background, in 1960, and she soon got into the swing of helping manage the park. In 1992, Phil's mother Dulcie passed away suddenly at the age of 86, after many years as our pleasant and popular "bookings lady."

The property catered for caravans and camping in an informal setting until this was closed in 1980. It was extremely popular in its time; guests booked the same sites each year and renewed friendships made with fellow caravanners over the years.

Later, in 1988, Phil and Marg's son Greg returned from study to help run the park. This led to a major surge in development, including the renovation of the older chalets and the building of the villas in various stages.

In 1996, Greg married Jane, who joined the family management team and took on responsibility for reservations. Around 2020, Greg and Jane's sons Blake and Kyle also returned from study to work full-time and help run the park, while Jane's daughter Naandi assists with social media and other tasks.

Over the years there has been a succession of small jetties, each an improvement on the last. The adventure playground equipment, mainly crafted by Phil, seems a never-ending source of fun for the kids and the young at heart — including the flying fox and Tarzan swing. Unfortunately, procuring public liability insurance is an ongoing challenge in the modern era, and in 2022 the flying fox and some other items were reluctantly removed to allow us to maintain our policy. The jarrah furnishings in all the units were also crafted by Phil, and reflect his passion and appreciation for our local native hardwoods — jarrah, marri, sheoak and blackbutt.

Interestingly, the 3km coastal strip spanning our holiday park now carries Siesta Park as the local locality name, following a period up to the mid-1980s when the Siesta Park shop and service station, at the entry to the park on Caves Road, operated as a postal agency for local residents.

After a full and rewarding life, Phil passed away suddenly in 2015, at 84. He had thrived in the environment he came to as a sixteen-year-old, and was one of the early individuals to catch waves at Yallingup, spearfish all the way down to Augusta, and make intrepid forays out into the Bay in various boats. Another of his many adventures was to sail around Australia in an S&S 34 yacht — departing from, and arriving back at, the mooring at Siesta Park, at the age of 65. Encouraged to write an article about a particular incident of historical interest, he kept writing short pieces and produced a reasonably sized book, Stories From the Bay and Beyond, less than a year before he passed away.

The property has always maintained a spacious, casual atmosphere in a natural setting, and in this sense not much has changed. The family plans to continue operating Siesta in a similar style into the foreseeable future, in line with our more recent "eco" accreditation. We regard our long-established guests and their growing families as our most valued asset, and strive to provide a safe and peaceful environment for all to come and enjoy. For our part, we consider ourselves fortunate to enjoy the lifestyle that Siesta provides — and we take some satisfaction from the fact that it remains a family-run business of such long standing, and by the same family.