Gidday everyone , anyone ? The small town of Margaret River immediately appealed to us both with its very country look and laid back style so the first day was spent wandering from the camp into the town centre and having a nice relaxing day. There are over 120 wineries in this region so it would have been rude not to book a wine tour for the following day. On Tuesday morning at 10.30am we were picked up at our motorcamp and driven about 15 km to the first winery. After everyone introduced themselves to the other 13 people on our tour,11 girls and 2 guys it was a talk on how to sample wine correctly and then it was all go. Nine of the women on the tour were on their annual girls get together trip and were a really nice friendly hard case crew. Everyone was there to really enjoy themselves so that set the tempo for the whole day. The wines on offer were some of the best of these top wineries had as some had received gold medals and were priced up to $60 a bottle. After the second winery and another very entertaining host we were treated to a nice change by visiting a olive oil & balsamic vinegar farm and to be able to taste up to about 25 different infused oils ranging from garlic to hot chilli and every thing in between with bread and dukka, very yummy!
After the next winery at 1pm and after having tasted over 35 wines we were all well and truly hanging out for lunch.
With a name like The Wild Tucker Wine Tour we all were wondering what would be for lunch so with baited breath we watched as it was laid out for us to help ourselves. Starting with a cold meat platter of Croc, kangaroo, chicken and beef you could pick from a selection wild fruits and nuts prepaired in many ways and a large selection of tasty condiments and breads. Now that's what I call a lunch! Next port of call was a distillery winery where we we warned that the host was very cheeky and rude especially to non-Australians being us and a pair of Scots. We were not disappointed by this guy who I would compare to the Auzzie comedian Chopper! without the swearing. He proceeded to mix us up 4 liqueur cocktails ( shooters ) and as they were drinks not samples 4 was more that enough. Next was a chocolate factory where there was every chocolate that you could imagine and more with buckets of small samples to help yourself to. The last visit of the day was to a boutique brewery and..............
Christopher John Gouverneur did not even taste one beer ! After such a enjoyable day I thought why spoil it by tasting beers that I probably won't even like and also I was what they technically call, full up to the gunnels ! Steph opted to finish off with a nice cake while I had a cappuccino in the restaurant. After saying farewell to our happy and entertaining drinking buddies we were dropped off back at our camp with Steph and I agreeing that it had been a very very good day. I think the secret of surviving a day like this was to drink water and eat the cheese and biscuits that were offered to us through out day.
When we sitting in the camper our new neighbours for the night pulled up and when the man got out he was wearing a jersey the same as I have from good old Farmers. Steph said I bet they are Kiwis. Sure enough when we spoke to them they were from Tauranga.
Next morning it was on the road again with two more caves to visit on the way. The first cave was huge and you could have fitted a two story house in some of the caverns hence the name Mammoth Cave. The second was very different called Lake Cave as you had to climb down 180 steps into a huge sinkhole and wait for the guide. That was only half way down with about another 170 down before entering the cave. We wondered why some people were huffing and puffing coming out as we were heading in, little did we know! The cave was really worth the effort and it was quite a climb out but Steph and I lived to tell the tale!
Augusta is as far south as you can go on the west coast and again we were able to get a nice sea side camp spot in a roomy camping ground in town. Cape Leeuwin lighthouse is on the point and this is where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet. The weather is a bit windy with the odd shower but the forecast is good for the next week so after a few days here we now head east for a change. Ooooppps it's nearly happy hour so I have to go,
catch ya latter. xxx