Category: Camping cat

Author: Mr A

Location: Margaret River region

The day dawned sunny, finally it was warm enough to have breakfast outside again. A certain member of our family group particularly enjoyed the warmth:

So we’re not usually tour group inclined, but on this occasion I’m glad we signed up to today to do this all day guided exploration of some local producers. I really enjoyed having someone do the driving and make the decisions about where we go. We left at 10am and got back at 6pm – thats a big day of sampling I reckon, and for $80 a head, great value.

We had a wine tasting, followed by a decent lunch, another wine tasting, with nougat sampling thrown in, then a chocolate factory, another winery, a venison farm and finally a distillery!

A little background first. The Margaret River is a relatively young wine region, with dairy farmers starting to turn to grapes less than 40 years ago. Blessed with really fantastic terroir, they have aimed at the premium end of the market, with mainly low volume, bourtique producer (around 185 at last count). In total last year Margaret River wineries only accounted for around 1% of Australia’s total wine production. In an effort to diversify, a number of wineries have added other foods to their cellar door shelves. Nougat production, fine olive oils and chocolates. One has even built a distillery, offering premium (an overused word in this region I think) beers, whiskey, and liqueurs.

We drank some good wine…and some very ordinary wine, but had a lot of fun and learnt some things. Objective achieved. There has been very little about the food and wine in WA that we would perceive as good value, compared to what we have experienced in other states. My take is that those who truly are offering premium goods and services in their niche will continue to do OK, but those businesses who aren’t at the top of their game will find, as the economy in WA struggles, their usual queue of well heeled local customers will shorten or disappear. The customer demographics are also changing dramatically – UK visitors were down in WA this year by 10%, tourists from Asian countries are all up significantly. The businesses who understand how to meet these changing customer needs will prosper, but those who continue to present a very traditional white Australian face perhaps may not.

Author: Mrs A

From: Yallingup

To: Rosa Brook, just outside Margaret River

Distance driven: 51 km

Distance cycled: 10 km

We continued our exploration of the region, heading further south and setting up camp about 10 minutes drive outside of the town of Margaret River. It’s a very picturesque area, and a lovely change of scenery being surrounded by bleating sheep and lambs, all recently shorn. We’re set up on a working sheep station, complete with chickens, cockerels and guinea pigs (!) roaming the area, much to Miss T’s delight. The native birdlife is prevalent.

(Above: Western New Holland Honeyeater)

We decided to cycle to a nearby winery, one of many recommended by friend Cathy. It was only 5km away, and Miss Google promised just a 15 minute ride. It was a very scenic journey, though quite hilly. While it was 15 minutes in one direction, it was definitely slower on the return journey (particularly with a couple of bottles in my pannier and a few tastings under our belts!).

Brown Hill Vineyard had some great well priced wines though, and an enjoyable visit.

We did very little the remainder of the day, choosing to relax in the sunshine and read. We’re booked on a gastronomic tour tomorrow, so we’re saving our eating and drinking energy for that!

(Below: a pair of Common Bronzewings)

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!