Margaret River Weekend Getaway

Our trip commenced to Margaret River Friday afternoon dogs and bikes in tow. Margaret River is about a 3.5 hour drive south from Perth. Our first stop was the Margaret River Dairy Company for cheese and yoghurt tasting before checking into our cottage at Margaret House right in the main town of Margaret River.

The dogs were so excited to get out of the car and explore all the new smells. As we were unpacking, we were greeted by a bird similar to a turkey (but could fly) that came right up to the fence. Jaek and Chloe both were anxious to do a little more than just greet them and soon enough, Chloe was under the fence on a bird chase. I couldn’t help but die laughing at our little bird dog that has learned so much from her big brother. Luckily, they were able to fly quicker than she chased them. Not a great start to the trip as I just knew we would get an earful from the owners for letting our dog escape.

That evening after unpacking and getting the dogs settled in, we drove to the town a few miles down the road to walk around and find dinner. Our next stop was the Settlers Tavern for a few beers and an afternoon snack of their delicious Mexican nachos complete with pico de gallo and guacamole.

After enjoying the beautiful weather and doing a bit of people watching, we decided to go to the local butcher to pick up a few steaks to take back to our cottage to grill and grab a bottle of wine.

The next morning we headed back to town for breakfast to have a bit of food in our stomach before a full day of wine tasting. The wine trail in Margaret River is not only picturesque, but full of some of the best wineries in all of Australia. First on the list was a small boutique winery called Edwards Estate. We decided they had some nice wines, but since it was our first stop, decided to not be over zealous and buy the first thing we tasted. I was keeping a list of our overall favorites from the trip to help in buying at the local regional wine center on our way home.

Next on the list was Voyager Estate with its manicured lawns and white stone building that reminded me of being in Greece. I have to say that I didn’t try a wine there that I didn’t fall in love with. Our favorites were their signature Chardonnay and my very favorite, the Sauvignon Blanc Semillon with its crisp refreshing aroma and taste; perfect for drinking during our warm summer months ahead.

Leeuwin Estate was right down the road and is also another popular winery in Western Australia. They are known to have their arts series premium wine label that has a new piece of art as the label for each new vintage that is released. Kaes had been given an Arts Series Shiraz from a vendor last Christmas, and it was one of the best wines we have had since being in Australia. We picked up three bottles here that we both agreed on and headed up the road to Xanadu for lunch.

I was very excited to wine taste at Xanadu as we had done a bit of wine tasting the night before at the Wine Industry Association of Western Australia event in Perth. The 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon (did I mention I was a big fan of white wine?) is due to be released in February of 2011, but we were able to sample it at the event in Perth. The friendly representative from Xanadu gave us a bottle of their wonderful Chardonnay and convinced us that we had to have lunch at the vineyard after we told him we planned to head to Margaret River the next day. The 2009 Viogner (pronounced vee-on-yay) was by far my favorite with the flavors of kumquat and apricot that will go perfectly with a Thai or Indian dish.

After wine tasting and a late lunch, we headed back to the town to visit the Aboriginal Art Center and do a bit of tasting at the Margaret River Fudge Factory. (I know you are wondering if this place actually exists with its award-winning wine, superb cheese, and delicious chocolate; but yes, there is such a place) Then we headed back to the cottage to play with the dogs before taking an afternoon nap (wine tasting tends to make you sleepy, and we were on vacation) Dinner was leftover steak and potatoes while watching a movie.

Our last morning we woke up early to go bike riding down to the beach, only 5 miles away. Along the way, we came across some new friends.

They seemed quite docile especially considering that several of them had joeys in their pouch. They seemed just as curious of us as we were them. After we finished riding and got packed up to leave, we headed back to the field to take more pictures of our native friends.

Heading home we stopped at the Regional Wine Center to pick up our favorites from the trip, then headed back through Dunsborough as we heard there was whale watching at Cape Naturaliste Park. We couldn’t have asked for better weather and the breathtaking scenery of crystal blue waters with humpback and blue whales swimming so gracefully through the water.

It was quite a wonderful and relaxing trip for the long weekend that we plan to do again very soon!