Living and Working at Caves House 1979 – 1984. A Photographic Memoir by Gary Gibbon

Gary Gibbon is a retired school teacher and an enthusiastic member of The Prevelly Penguins swimming group at Margaret River.

These are Gary’s memoirs and photos.

In the middle of 1979, I returned to the South West of Western Australia after two and a half years’ absence. During the time away I’d done some fairly extensive travelling including spending a year living and working on Hayman Island in North Queensland’s Whitsunday Passage. At the Royal Hayman Hotel, I’d managed to fine tune my expertise in the hospitality industry working as a cocktail bar attendant and a food and wine waiter. In the short to medium term I hoped to land a job at Caves House Hotel, to which I’d always held an attraction. Growing up in Queensland in the early 1960’s I’d lived for a time on Tamborine Mountain in the Gold Coast hinterland, where I’d been fortunate on a number of occasions to spend time at St Bernard’s Hotel. Even as a young kid, I’d always enjoyed wandering through the extensive gardens there and admiring the views, which on a clear day, extended right through to the nascent Gold Coast and Pacific Ocean beyond.

So unsurprisingly, years later, I appreciated finding a very similar hotel on the opposite side of Australia with even more consistent oceanic panoramas, which might offer me a regular job, adjacent to some of my favourite surfing breaks. It was synchronous too, that I lobbed onto the scene at around the time Caves House manager Em Rudiwick wanted to expand the marketing opportunities for this one-time government hotel, that was by then owned by the Emmotts, a farming family from Dowerin in the Wheat Belt. Em was keen to see Caves House attract more tourists and events on a year – round basis, as well as promote the local wine market, which, over 40 years ago was just really beginning to develop a rivalry, with better known wine producing areas of the state, such as the Swan Valley. To this end, Em was keen on turning the Hotel guests’ dining room into a weekend night-time, a la carte restaurant. It was a smart move. Back in 1979 there were very few nocturnal eating establishments outside Busselton and Margaret River in the Capes region. Dunsborough, before the tavern was built, at best, only had a fish and chip shop. Even the highly regarded Lobster Pot on the Smiths Beach turn – off on Caves Road, spent more time closed, rather than being open for business. Caves House had, since its early beginnings, always had a reputation as a honeymoon destination for couples who’d just tied the knot. Em was the first manager as far as I know, to really push the total Caves matrimonial package: ceremony, photos, reception, honeymoon and stay – over for guests, all in the one location. But she did need some experienced staff to pull it off. And it was around this time, that I came knocking on the door, trying perhaps very optimistically to convince her, that all her troubles in regards to staffing were over.

Luckily, she decided to give me a chance (though she later admitted that she initially thought I was just another itinerant surfer looking for a couple of weeks work, before moving on). I was made bar manager and it worked out really well for both of us. I was happy to set up the core weekday activities in the front bar and adjoining very modest lounge. But then most weekends I came out of the bar and worked both the restaurant and functions (usually weddings). For me, I had variety in work roles and usually had my days off during the week. Much of my work was in the afternoon or at night, so I had plenty of daylight hours to pursue surfing, back in the days of course when things were a mite less crowded than you generally find them today. I also had a roof over my head, courtesy of the old staff quarters and 3 appetising meals a day, straight from the Caves House Hotel kitchen. Without intending to blow my own trumpet unduly, I think Em found she did have an experienced customer service agent, on her hands capable and confident of dealing with and managing the intended changes she wanted and succeeded in implementing. I was also able to train up others in facets of the required work, which did lead to greater local employment. I remained at Caves House on a full-time basis, till mid – 1981, when I entered teacher training in Perth. However, that wasn’t the end of the story by any means. Em was always happy to have me back during vacations, where I would pick up shifts and help out wherever was needed. During the college semesters, Em could always rely on me (and later my wife Rosa) to come down and work the bigger weddings, which were popping up with increasing regularity. By mutual agreement with Em, I finally called it a day, in late 1984, by which time I was already teaching.

Rosa and I remained very good friends with Em, even after she retired (sort of) in around 1988, I think. She moved to Albany, where she’d spent a fair bit of time earlier in her life and where one of her two daughters lived. I say, “sort of,” because she became a custodian/caretaker at a couple of different establishments providing independent accommodation for senior citizens. We visited on several occasions, always finding her in good spirits and very happy to see us. I’ve always felt quite privileged to have known and worked with Em Rudiwick. She was a thorough professional who managed Caves House well, rarely ever lost her cool, had a great sense of humour, looked after her staff and maintained a very cordial relationship with the Emmott family, who seemed to look favourably upon her ideas and management practices. She was also, as best as I could see, very well respected by the local Dunsborough/Yallingup communities. I don’t remember when she passed away, but I do know that Rosa and I on finding out about her passing, were both disappointed we were unable to have attended her funeral.

The following are photos mainly associated with my work at Caves House during that very enjoyable time I lived and worked there. The observations and anecdotes that accompany photos are my own and I apologise in advance for the many names I don’t remember or may have misspelt.

Postscript:

I guess I should also mention that in 1982, Rosa and I had our wedding reception and photos at Caves House. Then in 2020, my son Kiran and daughter-in-law Bec, went the whole package, as described above.