Category: Australia

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Day 134: 11 October – A Margaret River lunch to remember

Author: Mr A

Location: Margaret River, Wills Domain

Another cold, gloomy day, but we had indoor games planned today so it didn’t matter. We had followed several friends’ advice and booked a table at Wills Domain, a restaurant and winery made famous by head chef Seth James.

Before heading out to lunch, however, we headed down to the beach for a short (emphasis on the short!) walk down along the coast by Yallingup. It’s the first time we’ve seen proper surf in a while, and a stunning location.


After getting the blood moving and some fresh air in our lungs, we headed over to Wills Domain.

It was set in a beautiful location amongst the vines, and we were offered a sample some of their wines before lunch.  Margaret River is known for Chardy and Cab Sav, not two of our favourite grapes actually, but one needs to be flexible in these matters. If we were still building a cellar, rather than drinking as we go, I would have been tempted with several of their wines, which are likely to turn into beauties with some more time in the bottle.

Tasting over, we wandered through to the restaurant, which they have recently renovated and changed the style to be very intimate, I counted only 6 tables, so there was no getting away from me for Mrs A. The dining room was quite lovely, with a fire flickering away and plenty of space between tables, refined not raucous, we fitted right in.

We asked our waiter (whose accent seemed to change from French to something else every other sentence!) the dairy question right up front – What can Mrs A eat without spending the afternoon losing her lunch from the dairy allergy she has? We were interested in the “feasting option”, as they so bluntly called it. In fact a great sample of their food in small courses. So, Mr ‘French-this-Minute’ comes back and explains how they can adapt the ingredients to suit. Wow….and they did. And it was a feast. Such fantastic blending of flavours, fresh ingredients, a little spiciness here and there, we loved it.


The car seemed to struggle back up the hill to our caravan park carrying the extra load.  Mrs A then took Tassie out for a late afternoon stroll, attracting the attention of several parrots, who seemed as intrigued to see a cat on a lead as some of the other residents. We are so happy she seems to be gaining in confidence, and with some encouragement, exploring her surroundings. Tomorrow, we will destroy all that and move her again!

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Day 134: 11 October – A feline perspective of the Margaret River

Author: Miss T

Location: Yallingup, Margaret River region

Distance walked: 600 metres

Apparently we are in an area famous for whine. I’m not entirely sure why my servants have brought me here – after all I only associate whine with dogs or complaining humans, particularly the small variety – neither of which are good.

There are several other terms I have heard bandied about, which I can interpret as follows:

Bouquet – that I understand fully. Bouquet is all about the aromas – and that I know a lot about. I am more than capable of sitting in front of a single bush for in excess of 20 minutes just enjoying the smells of the creatures that came before me – be they feline, canine or possum, the odours they leave behind are quite irresistible. I get bouquet. 


Palate – I can only assume this means when something tastes rather nice. Like those treats my humans recently purchased for me. They don’t seem to understand how irresistible they are – if only I could eat those instead of that Science Diet they give me. That is rather dry on the palate, extremely savoury, lacking complexity, with hints of fake chicken and meat juices. Fills a hole but that’s about it.

Terroir – Easy.  Its all about how much sunshine I get, how little I am disturbed, multiplied by how nice the soil outside is to walk on. I don’t really understand why humans find it so ethereal….interrupting the terroir can result in a look like this below…you don’t want to disrupt the terroir…


Thankfully, it is rather quiet in these parts. It seems we are travelling outside of school holidays, so no small screaming (or whining) humans around, and only the occasional canine. It’s a good opportunity to explore somewhat freely, though I still seem to be tethered by the pink lead thing. Hopefully the servants will soon learn to walk without me guiding them.


I was stalked this afternoon by a pair of ringnecked parrots. Most odd. I said hello to them in my usual feline way (a slight hint of ‘I’d try to catch you if I wasn’t so well fed’) and they followed me all the way home. Quite  scary. I believe Alfred Hitchcock wrote a film about this exact situation. I’ll be staying in the rest of the night – I dread to think what’s next…


Signing off for now. Miss T x 🐱 

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Day 133: 10 October – Our first taste of the Margaret River

Author: Mrs A

From: Busselton

To: Yallingup

Distance: 33 km

Waking to a morning of showers we considered stopping another night in Busselton, but decided to make the move onwards into the Margaret River region, our local map looking dauntingly full of places to visit.

Our first stop was the Flametree winery, just 20 minutes up the road. Flametree has just won the prize for the best Chardonnay in the Royal Sydney and Perth wine shows…And at $65 a bottle, it was priced to reflect that status. Mr A and I are not usually Chardy fans, but theirs was lovely – not too oaky, not too sweet, much more complex than the Chardonnays usually rejected. But we declined to invest in a bottle on this occasion. The tasting was good, an interesting selection, but we have limited space and many wines to taste ahead. We made a single purchase of a rather nice Tempranillo-Touriga blend.

Miss T enjoyed a stroll around their yellow daisy filled lawns on our return, before we headed off to Yallingup to set up at our new campspot for the night.


We’re quite close to Wills Domain here, a winery several people have praised for not only their delicious wine, but very special lunches too. We decided to book in for lunch tomorrow, and gave our new friends, Chris and Anne a call to see whether we could have a tasting of their wine before that, given they are located right across the road. Instead, they suggested we visit today, and given our very flexible plans, we headed over to see them, via a local chocolatier – yum!


I tapped in the secret code to the gate, and we drove up to the house, past vineyards and dams and a very pretty holiday cottage. Chris was there to meet us, and we transferred into his car for a tour of the 13 hectare property, learning about the various grape varieties, the soils, the pruning methods and how things had changed in the 20 years since they first started planting vines.


Then it was back to the house for some tasting. Not a single bad wine – all delicious – even the Sauvignon Blanc, which was made in the style of the French Sancerre wine. We ended up staying about 3 hours all up, and left with half a case of wine, fresh eggs from the hens, two pots of home made jam and some protea flowers – and best of all some incredible memories, and friends we hope to keep in touch with, and perhaps see again in Sydney next year.


We finished off the day at the local pub for fish and chips and soda waters. A fine start to our Margaret River adventures!

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Day 132: 9 October – Brilliant Busselton by bike

Author: Mr A

Location: Busselton

Distance cycled: 30 km

We took the Zone to see the doctor this morning, The Caravan Doctor, that’s right. Somewhere down the Gibb River Road our suspension had taken a hammering and some little plastic stoppers had been damaged. Or was it the weight of the hefty wine cellar, packed in anticipation of a vitculatural desert, that gave the suspension too much to cope with?  The lovely people at Zone had sent some new ones down to this caravan repairer in Busselton. We rolled in at 8.45am, they immediately went to work, and we were away by 9.30am. How about that for service? 

So back we went to the caravan park and set up again, not exactly arduous, plug in a few pipes and leads and we’re done. Our trusty two wheeled steeds were readied for exploration and off we set. We headed along a cycle way that followed the coast, ogling some amazing houses on the way, and all the native flowers that had been planted beside it. It truly was one of the best cycle paths we have ever seen. Beautifully tended flower beds alongside us, views of pristine white beaches, oh…and flat…Mrs A is doing well but still on the mend. 


The path eventually led us into this new marina development at Port Geographe, just stunning, the houses, the landscaping, the canals, its one of the most spectacular estates I’ve seen in Australia. 


We forced ourselves to turn round and cycle back into Busselton and explore in the other direction along the coast. It was just the same, beautiful beaches framed by wild flowers flowing alongside this cycleway. We wanted to just go on and on…but the afternoon was drawing on so we headed back into town, stomachs grumbling. 


A shingle backed lizard we spotted along the way – very well disguised in the pea gravel and sand:


Busselton, you really are something special. The wealth of this council must be enormous to invest in the infrascture of the town as they have. And its all so terribly tasteful, darling. 

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Day 131: 8 October – Winemakers and Dolphins

Author: Mrs A

From: Australind

To: Busselton

Distance driven: 63 km

Distance walked: 4 km

We moved off down the coast to Busselton, calling at the Bunbury Farmer’s Market on the way for some bread. Well, at least that was the plan. Somehow my basket filled with some more fruit and vegetables, another dip, some dairy-free banana bread…oh it was hard to leave – I had to keep reminding myself that Mr A and Miss T were outside waiting for me!

Eventually we pulled away and drove the short way down the coast to our next location. Not long after setting up, visitors arrived. Two fellow Zone owners who live on a property between Busselton and Margaret River called in to say hello and exchange local knowledge and experiences. We have now realised we need a whole six months in just this part of Western Australia – so much to do!

Before long, two prospective Zone owners also arrived to have a look around our mobile apartment and ask a few questions about it. The Zone is manufactured across the other side of the continent in south east Queensland, so there is little opportunity for Western Australians to have a look, unless people like us are willing to do a demo. We do get a voucher as a thank-you for our trouble.

After everyone had said goodbye, we decided to go for a walk and a look around. Busselton is on the coast, and one of WA’s only north facing beaches. No surf here. It is famous for having the longest wooden jetty in the world, which stretches almost 2km out to sea.


We didn’t take the train to the end, instead spotted The Goose Bar, conveniently located at the beach end of the Jetty, with a DJ playing some chilled Sunday afternoon tunes and the tempting sight of people enjoying the sunset with a glass of wine or beer. A couple kindly shifted across their bench so we could enjoy the view with our own beverages. 


As often happens in these situations, we started chatting as we watched dolphins fishing in the still waters in front of us. It turned out Chris and Anne own Brash Vineyard in the Margaret River – acclaimed wine critic James Halliday has rated their wine no lower than 92 points, and they have just had several bottles selected to be showcased in Neil Perry’s new Sydney restaurant, Rosetta. Located opposite Wills Domain, and open by appointment only, we plan to give them a call for some tastings when we are down that way next weekend. 


We shared a few more wines/beers/soda waters (Anne is doing a dry October!) as the sun set, before heading back to cook dinner. Fresh fettuccine with a basil pesto, sundried tomatoes, fresh cherry tomatoes and salmon – thank you very much Farmer’s Market!


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Day 130: 7 October – A gastronomic treasure in Bunbury?

Author: Mr A

From: Australind

To: Bunbury

Distance driven: 24 km return

Distance walked: 7 km

Uninspiring weather led to a reluctant start to our day, in fact by the time we had driven 12 km down the road to Bunbury it was almost lunch time – handy really. A bento box later, our first Japanese food since leaving Sydney in May, we were heading to what Trip Advisor said was the number one attraction here. 

The Bunbury Farmer’s Market was an unimpressive brick building, but once inside our taste buds started to tingle. Wow…our trolley started to fill up, mouths watering with a fabulous selection of all things naughty and nice. I even located a Scotch egg that at least looks like it has some chance of tasting authentic. Catherine was in dairy free heaven, with ice creams, yoghurts and dips that even had me looking twice. The prices were very reasonable as well. Well done Bunbury! 

Back at the Zone I attempted to sort out the muddy water problem that has plagued us through this trip. This time it’s a different water tank that was producing discoloured water, so it was drained and a hose pipe shoved into the drain plug to try and blast the sediment out. Hopefully the water will no longer look like a pint of VB. 

We finally dragged ourselves out into the cold, windy, showery weather to have a quick “appetite sharpener” before dinner. Catherine of course caught some fab pictures.



Tucked in for the night now…Tassie is just in heaven with the constant attention she is getting! It’s a cat’s life in the Zone. 

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Day 129: 6 October – Back on the bike again

Author: Mrs A

From: Clifton Lake

To: Australind (just north of Bunbury) – for map see ‘Where are we now?’

Distance driven: 60 km

Distance cycled: 26 km

It was a lovely peaceful night’s sleep and we woke to sunshine streaming in through the trees, kookaburras, ring neck parrots and magpie larks all around us. It just so happened there was a bakery about 100 metres from where we camped – Mr A wondered whether he had woken up in heaven as he trotted over for a look and found freshly baked pies and sausage rolls. No prizes for guesssing what we had for brunch before we headed off on our way.

We drove south a short way south, just a 45 minute journey to Australind, before setting up at our caravan park. Australind was one of Western Australia’s earliest settlements, named in the 1800s as a combination of Australia and India – in the hope the two countries would maintain a prosperous trade of cavalry horses and food.

Once set up we jumped on our bikes for an explore. I decided it was about time I stopped being lazy (breathing much better now, voice still channelling my inner porn star i.e husky!) and joined Mr A for some activity. Our first visit was to a jetty which juts out into the Leschenault Estury.  The wind coming off the water was icy cold, and after admiring the view and many black swans, we rushed back to put on more clothes. 

More appropriately dressed, we decided to follow the cycle lanes into Bunbury, the nearest large settlement. For the most part, it was a lovely ride, just a couple of kilometres were alongside a very busy road. Bunbury impressed us. It is clearly a city (they call it a city, we would say small town) with a great deal of money flowing into it. The public areas are beautifully landscaped and shared pathways are everywhere, weaving behind dunes and past the large modern houses with incredible views out to sea.

Bunbury is surrounded by water – rivers, harbours, beautiful beaches lining the ocean front.

We rode along to the black and white striped lighthouse, then around to the helter-skelter-lookout up on the hill. We climbed up the 91 steps to admire the full view.

On our return cycle we were entertained by some bottle-nosed dolphins in the estuary chasing fish in the shallow water, creating a fabulous wake behind them, and a black shouldered kite hovering over the nearby bushland, hunting its Friday evening meal.

Talking of Friday evening meal. We Andersons are having a wild one. Already in PJs by 6pm, we are sipping on a delicious Central Otago Squealing Pig Pinot Noir, which (if there is any left) will accompany our fish curry dinner. Another fine day in WA.

Oh and Miss Tassie? She enjoyed a day catching up on sleep after yesterday’s busy day of travel.

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Day 128:  5 October – Perth in the rear view mirror

Author: Mr A

From: Perth

To: Clifton Lake

Distance: 128km driven

The day started early, it was wheels on the road by 7am as we needed to drop the Zone off to have a new en-suite door fitted, courtesy of the manufacturer. We’d had trouble with it not securing properly, but they keep innovating their build and now have a more robust model. They had kindly sent one across the continent for us. We also have had some custom made privacy screens made up  – the off the shelf models are too short for our high clearance off-road warrior. 

So caravan dropped off, we had a day to fill. A breakfast spot by the beach, a mushroom medley for madam (supposedly dairy free – the after effects proved not) and kippers for me (oh yes) and we were set up. A final top-up trip to T2 was called for, one simply can’t travel without some fine herbal and fruit teas. We did stop at a park to give Tassie a stretch, but it was rather too open and dogified for her taste. 


Then we get the call from Zone, rather sheepishly they tell us the door has been damaged in transit. Not their fault, it was packed well. Damm…we decide to get it fitted anyway, and they immediately offer to get a new one shipped to a destination of our choice fiurther down the coast. Rather wonderful of them. So more delays, the privacy screens wont be ready until 4pm. Anyway its 4.30pm before we leave the big city behind and point our nose south once again.

We have mixed feelings about leaving. We are both keen to get on the road again, but keep seeing things we didn’t get around to visitinthere. No visit to Rottnest, no cycling along the Swan River. And we are leaving our newbie friends Andy and Caroline. Such are the dilemmas of doing the big lap in 6 months! Will there be a next time? 

Catherine had found us a free camp for the night right outside a pub. Sounded good to me. We pulled up at the Clifton Lake Tavern, and I checked with a friendly manager all was good. Five minutes later (I love that about caravanning) and we were sauntering over for a very nice pub meal and a pint. 


The security was tight. Fortunately we had left Tas all snuggled up in the Zone. 

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Day 127: 4 October – Marge Simpson can still have fun

Author: Mrs A

From: Lane Poole Reserve, Nr Dwellingup

To: Forrestfield, Perth

Distance: 95 km

We made our final return to Perth today, arriving around lunchtime to undertake multiple loads of washing, and clean up the mobile apartment before some final repairs tomorrow and heading south on our continuing adventure.

It was an uneventful journey north back to Perth, and a busy afternoon cleaning and shopping, before showers and changing for our highlight of the day, our farewell dinner with Caroline and Andy.

We’d booked a nearby restaurant with fabulous reviews, Quills. It turned out to be a great choice, delicious food and wine, and vouchers from our caravan park gave us two free dinners too.


We had a great evening, and I am so sad to be saying farewell to these new friends, who I know could become second family given the chance. I hope we get to meet again. I had my first ever (decaf) espresso martini for dessert…not quite Singapore Grand Hayatt Martini Bar quality, but ok for my first try….


Andy and his whisky creme brûlée….


Mr A’s amazing desert….

A fine evening with lots of laughs had, stories told, and adventures relived, all with my Marge Simpson husky voice…the things we do!

By the way – our wine selection for the evening was delicious – a Margaret River Vasse Felix – Cathy Gadd, you’d be proud…We will be there next week in person to try the latest selections – all for medicinal reasons, of course!

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Day 126: 3 September – A walk in the woods – from a feline perspective 

Author: Miss T 

Distance walked: 600 metres

I thought it was about time a feline perspective was provided into this narrative. I’ve a few words to say on how well my staff (yes…let’s be honest here) are performing on this caravan caper. If you’ve been paying attention to me (and you’re only human, so you must have – the cute Burmese you’ve seen adorn these posts recently ) I’ve joined them on their “Big Lap”. It’s not the kind of lap I was thinking about when it was first discussed,  but admittedly it does have some upsides. 

Today, for instance, I was encouraged to take a walk in the woods. Now I don’t mind a bit of a wander, nothing too rushed mind you, every bush and tree provides a unique ofalcatory experience that should be savoured like a fine piece of raw minced steak (if you thought cats like fish, do your homework). 

So this lead thing is a bit of a chore, a nice colour though, pink, so highlights my blue coat – don’t you dare call me “grey”. I just try to ignore that I’m actually attached to something and head off in random directions so the staff don’t start to get ideas about them being in charge. 


So off we set with the more agile staff member in tow, even SHE is struggling to keep up with my dodging and weaving around some prickly bushes. Its important to keep them on their toes. It’s rather a pleasant day, a few not-very-bright potential targets of my sleuth-like hunting skills are giving away their location by chirping and hopping about. I give them a stern look, but to be honest I’m being rather too well fed to make much of an effort. Anyway the other member of staff comes out to meet us, HE has his usual stomping gait and scares everything away. Honestly, I’ve seen labradors turn up with more grace. 


I did let HIM cuddle me last night though, as it was a trifle chilly, plus I did feel slightly guilty about how as soon as SHE came back from some jaunt, I immediately transferred my valuable affections from one sleeping mat to the other. Even though SHE arrived after a night away smelling like the place where I get prodded and poked with a needle every so often. But at least SHE doesn’t make that growling noise when  asleep. With HIM I sometimes wonder in the night if I’ve been thrown into a kennel full of boxers with bad colds.

So all things being considered, I am quite enjoying the change of air here and the chance to get out and about. The big windows they have installed for me in this particular caravan allow an appropriate amount of sunshine in, and I’ve got a pretty good rotation worked out now around the various sunny patches and soft furnishings. My water is freshened up whenever I give them a particular look, apparently they have big tanks of it all ready for me. I have also taken rather a liking to the outdoor chair that HE has been trying to sit in. Silly man thinks he’s going to get that back. Ah well…humans…let them dream…


The staff did go out today, thank goodness, leaving me in peace for a change, coming back rather too quickly (for my sleep schedule) 4 hours later. I communicated my displeasure with the withering look I am rather pleased to have honed. I feel sure they would have got the message…DO NOT DISTURB UNLESS YOU HAVE TREATS. 

Well I do need to get back to my feather pillow, but let me know if you would appreciate further feline perspective on this Big Lap thing. I’ll try and cram it into the brief time I spend during the day with my eyes open, not feeding, eating or being adored.  Meanwhile the staff are about to have their dinner, bless them…some kind of pizza thing the big bloke got all excited about. 

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