Honouring the past
Original postcard found of the motel
In 2024 owners Jamie & Alice Brady were lucky enough to meet the original owners Don & June Kelly, who built the resort (then called On The Vasse Motel Resort) in 1982.
Over morning tea Don and June were welcomed and honoured back to the resort for a reunion and trip down memory lane, with some ripper stories shared. The 80’s were a time!
June spoke about having dinner with guests most nights at the onsite restaurant ‘Rosies’ and waiting up late till all guests had arrived and checked in. Don told us how he would play a movie (VHS) at 7pm and 10pm from the office and it would ‘stream’ to all 34 guest rooms via a complex network of cables running to each room. This was Netflix before it’s time!
June Kelly & WA Premier Sir Charles Court opening the motel.
The motel was formally opened in December 1982 by the Premier of WA Sir Charles Court, who apparently flew down from Perth in a charter plane to cut the ribbon and then back he went (image below).
Originally a dairy farm along Causeway Road in Busselton, the Kelly’s approached the farmer named Rosie and purchased the land to build this iconic 34-room motel with an on-site Restaurant, originally named Rosie’s Restaurant! We found her painted portrait (image below) in our storage and proudly display her up on our wall in the office to watch over us. We hope she’d be proud.
Many photos, memorabilia and stories were shared. Plus a few questions from Jamie about mysterious pipes/cables/wires and what they were originally meant for?! Don’s memory was as sharp as ever!
Jamie & Alice meeting the original owners Don & June Kelly.
We are so honoured to have met the Kelly’s and for them to love what we have done here.
Busselton Jetty summer in full swing, circa 1980.