Trying to Go to Margaret River

A plan was hatched – lets go to Margaret River for the Labor Day weekend, we will see some wineries, get some chocolate and cheese and spend the weekend.

The first problem – we waited till Friday afternoon to book a hotel and by that time everything was booked up. I could only find 2 hotels available in Margaret River and they were in the $500 a night range; no way Jose – I have a bed at home that I am still paying for.

So we decided instead to start off early in the morning and make it a day trip instead. By 10 we were at Bunbury having coffee at Dome which overlooks the beachy industrial area below

We then decided to drive up to another beach and look at the rocks

Then the lookout tower from which you could see the entire town of Bunbury

We next headed to the Cheese factory where I picked some cheddar with truffles and one with chives and onion.

By this time we were getting hungry and decided to head for Busselton in search of fish and chips. We had an incredible lunch at a café on the beach. The fish and chips with mixed greens dressed with balsamic vinaigrette took at scant 8 minutes from order to come out. The fish tasted fresh from the ocean and the chips like only the Aussies can do chips – crispy outside, tender inside. (forgot to take a pic) but here is the Busselton Jetty

After Busselton we visited the Happs and Three Hills winery where we got 3 bottles of the Eva Marie Semilion 2008 – they only had 15 left and I thought the owner was going to cry to part with 3.

Next up the Gabriel Chocolate Factory – really amazing chocolate that they make from beans from different regions of the world. I came home with a Venezuelan Milk, an Ecuadorian 58% dark and a 65% Ghanaian dark.

Then we hit the Windows Estate winery which was lovely and modern and I enjoyed all of their whites but purchased only a 2010 Mousseux and a 2010 Chenin Blanc which I had never heard of before but was delightful. Unfortunately by time I paid for them it was 5pm, and everything was closing so it was time to head back to Perth.

We took at stop at a beach something that started with a G then decided to try and make it 3hrs without a bathroom break. A daunting task for two tiny bladdered people. One stop to stretch our legs and do the pee pee dance in the woods and we finally made it back to Perth by 9pm where my grateful bladder was happy to see my own toilet.

Everything here in Western Australia is FAR and it takes a lot of driving between places to get anywhere – going to Margaret River is not like going to Napa. You cannot get there in 45-60 mins its more like 4-6hrs. We never even made it all the way – we only got as far as Dunsborough