Surf, wine and chocolate were to dominate the next stage of our Australian road trip as we entered the Margaret River wine region. This coastal area has more than 200 wineries packed into an area about 25 miles by 10 miles.
Many are 'boutique' wineries that only produce small quantities each year and the region is known for quality. As well as wineries there are specialist food producers including chocolate and fudge makers, olive oil producers and craft galleries galore. Our drive took us through Busselton and out the other side. I spotted a succession of Christian camps on the coast road seemingly all competing with each other as there were (in no particular order) camps for Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists, 7th Day Adventists, Scripture Union and the Abundant Life Centre and possibly a few more...but little clue as to why they'd all chosen to be next door to each other. Before arriving in Margaret River we stopped to visit some of the small coastal towns and beaches along the way..with no more camps in sight! Dunsborough was bustling for a Sunday morning with the coffee shops doing a roaring trade. Yallingup only a few miles away was quieter and had lovely beaches that had attracted the surfers. Between the two communities we'd made a short detour to walk round the Cape Naturaliste headland. Lunch was a picnic by the sea after we'd spent half an hour scrambling over Canal Rocks, a natural geographic feature which had created a canal like channel following erosion. The sea surges crashing through the channel and over the rocks were spectacular.
By mid afternoon we'd arrived in the town of Margaret River It was lively and had attracted lots of surfers who were competing in a World Surf Pro event. We checked into a cabin we'd rented for a couple of nights, located on the edge of town on a quiet campsite with lots of trees and after unloading the car we walked back into the town centre to explore on foot. Despite being a Sunday afternoon pretty much everything was open...apart from the bottle shops. For those who don't know Aussie supermarkets are different to those in the UK in that they don't sell alcohol. To buy booze you need to visit a bottle shop...and there are two varieties, the conventional type of shop and....the drive through!
There are other cultural contrasts that confuse the traveller. Aussies seem inordinately keen on shortening names and adding a vowel. Fremantle next to Perth is known as Freo. The aforementioned bottle shops are 'bottle o's. If an Aussie admires your thongs they are not making a comment on your risque underwear...they are just complimenting your footwear, what most people in the UK would call flip flops.
The morning after our arrival we'd planned to watch some of the surf competition but a traffic accident had closed the only road to the beach. No one was getting in or out. After a detour we ended up instead in a small town called Cowaramup, or 'Cow Town' as its known by the locals.
They've gone big on cow statues here..including a bizarre golden cow statue on a long pole that's a parody of a nearby statue at a winery called 'Free as a Bird'. The locals however call the original 'chick on a stick' and the cow version 'rump on a stump'.
After a surfeit of cow theme gift and craft shops and stopping to watch some colourful parrots (Australian Ringnecks) we headed to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory. Mrs B. seemed quite happy.
With free samples and multiple chocolate purchasing options we could have been there a while...
Eventually we departed and headed to the 'House of Cards' winery which made single vineyard wines. I tried three reds and bought a spicy shiraz and then immediately went next door to Gabriels who made artisan chocolates. These were superb and I bought a small single origin bar of java cocoa beans that had a smoky taste..dark and aromatic and not at all like Cadburys!
Our next stop was the Howling Wolf vineyard and Rivendell cellar door where I sampled 4 more reds..all excellent. So we'd managed two vineyards and two chocolate makers before lunch. Not a bad morning's work.
By now Mrs B. was driving so we ended up at a tea shop. It was called the Lavender Tea Rooms and I had a strong coffee and a lavender scone with jam and cream....I needed something to absorb the alcohol.
We meandered down the coast after lunch first finding the deserted Moses Rock beach, our walk through the bush was observed by a solitary kangaroo.
Further south Redpoint beach was full of surfers so we sat on the rocks watching their efforts. As far as I could tell this involved 5 minutes of paddling, 5 minutes of waiting for a decent wave and then about 5 seconds being upright. You must need a lot of patience to be a surfer!
Back in Margaret River we bought some locally made cheeses and chorizo for a light meal and concluded that to fully explore this area we'd need at least a month..and even then there might be some wineries left out. Still it was time to move on and head inland towards the vast karri forests around our next destination: Pemberton.
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