Gracetown

**Gracetown, WA — where the local shop sextuples as a bakery, cafe, general store, petrol station, bottle shop AND boutique, because heaven forbid we have more than one building.**

Let's be honest, Gracetown is less a town and more a scenic afterthought between Margaret River and Yallingup that the tourists drive through on their way to somewhere with a roundabout. But we wouldn't have it any other way.

Our morning routine? Wandering into the local general store — which, as Urban List so lovingly pointed out, does six jobs because we simply don't have the population to justify separate establishments — and grabbing a pie from the legends at Pies & Ale down in Forest Grove. Those hand-pressed beauties have a cult following among the surfing crowd, and if they sell out by 11am, well, that's just tough luck. Should've surfed earlier.

Speaking of surfing — yes, we know about the sharks. Don't bring it up. Sure, there was that whole situation back in 2014, and the 2015 Cow Bombie wave two kilometres off our shore where local legend Felicity "Flick" Palmateer broke Layne Beachley's record. We've got 3km of high-performance breaks behind the town and roughly 50 to 100 breaks from Cape Leeuwin to Cape Naturaliste. We're basically drowning in waves and pretending we're not smug about it.

The real local drama? Whether the "shark cull" was justified or absolute madness. We've got opinions, and we're not afraid to share them over a craft beer from Margaret River Brewhouse.

You'd hate it here if you need nightlife, a traffic jam, or a supermarket that isn't also a petrol station. You'd hate it if you can't handle your beach house booking falling through because some Sydney family nabbed the four-bedroom Airbnb that "sleeps eight."

But you'd love it if you appreciate a coastline that's essentially national park, if you don't mind the general store knowing your coffee order, and if you understand that sometimes the best day involves a hand-pressed pie, an untouched beach, and absolutely nowhere else to be.

Just don't ask for directions to the second pub. There isn't one. And we like it that way.