Jan 2016 trip.
Rottnest Island
While not officially in Margaret River, we flew into Perth, and took a smll plane over to Rottnest Island for the day. Rottnest is really known for two major things, first there are lots of ‘holiday rentals’ and most of the traffic is bicycles. Lots of opportunity to get out and swim or snorkel. Second, Rottnest is well-known for a small marsupiel called a Quokka. They can be found across Western Australia, but there are no natural predators for them in Rottnest, so they have become quite comfortable around humans. The last time I was there, a curious Quokka entered the outdoor dining area where we were easting and just hopped under our table.
Transport to Rottnest | Canon PowerShot S120 | Canon 5.2-26.0mm | 24mm | f/3.5 | 1/2000th | ISO160
The Infamous Quokka | Canon PowerShot S120 | Canon 5.2-26.0mm | 16mm | f/4.5 | 1/100th | ISO160
We really just rode bicycles around for a few hours, had a meal and got the plane back to Perth so we could drive the ~2 hours to Margaret River.
Boranup Forest
Our first morning in Margaret River, we took a drive down just about 30 minutes south of our B&B and walked through the Boranup Forest. This place is quite unique, especially for the area, as there seem to be a million trees, all fairly thin and all around 50-60 meters tall. We were there about 10 AM or so, and the light was coming through the trees at a nice angle to give it an impression of depth that you would never get out of. Really stunning place, and a nice introduction to the region.
Boranup Forest | Sony A7R II | Sony 24-70 f/4 | 70mm | f/4.5 | 1/125th | ISO200
Boranup Forest | Sony A7R II | Sony 24-70 f/4 | 24mm | f/22 | 1/60th | ISO1250
Wiliyagup Cliffs – Cape to Cape Track
A couple of our first few days, we took walks down on the coast. Dirk, our B&B host, took us on a walk on our first day, and we also got a bit of it on our ‘tour for non-tour people’ (see below). The weather on both occasions was absolutely stunning, and the coast couldn’t have been more beautiful. There is actually a walk that goes from Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse up in the north, all the way down to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse in the south. The entire walk is 135 kilometres along the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge, and the majority of it along the coast. Most estimates are that it takes a good 7 days to walk it at a reasonable speed while camping the whole way. I really want to do the full walk some day, but we probably only did a couple of kilometers just outside of Margaret River.
Coast Walk | Sony A7R II | Sony 24-70 f/4 | 51mm | f/9.0 | 1/640th | ISO200
The Left Coast | Sony A7R II | Sony 24-70 f/4 | 24mm | f/9.0 | 1/500th | ISO200
Hamelin Bay for the Stingrays
Just south of Margaret River, there is a small bay called Hamelin Bay, where I imagine for some time, people have been feeding stingrays that come up to the shore. Many people and many reports said that during the summer, there can be upwards of 100 stingrays swimming through the shallow water – I’m betting looking for food. We went down to the bay for a couple of hours, but only saw about half a dozen stingrays swimming around. A couple of stingrays did catch our eye, and there was another couple that actually had a bucket of bait fish and they were feeding the rays. We joined them for a few minutes, and one of the stingrays actually headbutted my partners leg assuming there would be food there!!! These couple of rays weren’t too big – I bet they were no more than 1 meter wingspan, but a very cool experience in the summer afternoon.
Stingrays in Hamelin Bay | Sony A7R II | Sony 24-70 f/4 | 31mm | f/4.0 | 1/5000th | ISO200
Stingrays in Hamelin Bay | Sony A7R II | Sony 24-70 f/4 | 26mm | f/4.0 | 1/4000th | ISO200
Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse
Cape Leeuwin is on the south end of the Western Australia, and is known for its lighthouse down at the end. I won’t go into the full history of the lighthouse (even though it’s over 125 years old), you can find much better descriptions online. That being said, this is the official point where the Indian Ocean and the Southern Oceans meet. This is the second time to see this type of meeting – 6 years ago, we were at the south end of Africa – officially where the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans meet in Cape Point South Africa!!!
The Oceans Meeting | Sony A7R II | Sony 24-70 f/4 | 39mm | f/4.0 | 1/1600th | ISO200
Morries
As is the case with most wine regions, there tends to be some pretty good restaurants. Margaret River town itself is not all that big, only a few blocks in either direction, but we did get out a few nights for dinner. We ended up going to Morrie’s twice over the long weekend. Each time, the staff was super-attentive, the food was excellent, and overall a great experience. We tended to order off the tapas menu, trying out the dishes. Also, we ordered wine by the glass, and was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the wine. Morrie’s served both The Purist and The Prospector by the glass – really nice wines from Gordo’s.
Canoeing the Margaret River
We were trying not to just *drink wine* all the time, so my missus looked for a tour where we could stop by a few wineries, but also do *something* else. So we did a half-day tour with a place that advertised as the “tour for non-tour people”. We ended up doing a short canoe on the *actual* Margaret River, we did a short hike along the coastal track (same one we did a few days prior), and then went to Fraser Gallup Winery and had some lunch and some wine. The canoe was fun, if not a little bit short. The walk was good, but as I said, we had already done it, but the wine was spectacular. My only regret here was that we didn’t get more of it!!! We ended up shipping two cases back to our house. Will definitely order from them again, and frequently.
The Commons Pub (went there three times)
Down just west of Margaret River the town, was a little area called Gnarabup. Mostly a residential area, there was a small shopping area that, among other things, had a nice pub / restaurant / bar called The Commons. Really nice spot, and just around the corner from Surfer’s Point (below), which gave us a nice starting point to have 1) a couple of drinks, 2) a nice bite, and 3) perfect vantage to get to see the sunset over the beach. Excellent food – had tapas (featuring some starters first night and one of their signature pizzas the second night). Highly recommend their pizzas. Apparently owned and run by the same people that run Morries (above) – I’m not surprised that we enjoyed it.
Surfers Point and Margaret River mouth sunsets
There really is something quite different about being on the west coast versus the east coast. People always talked about it in the US, but I always had the impression it was more of a conservative (east coast US) versus liberal (west coast US) leaning – meaning people liked the coast that fit their own personal values. However, after living in Sydney for just more than four years now, I forgot how nice it was to see the sunset over the ocean. In Sydney, we get some sunsets over the harbour, but it’s not quite the same thing. There is a spot called Surfer’s point, where you can drive up the hill and watch the sunset over the Indian Ocean, really stunning, and based on how many people were there, a common experience for the locals. We brought a bottle of wine and enjoyed a few glasses while we watched the day end.
Checking the surf | Sony A7R II | Sony 24-70 f/4 | 32mm | f/16 | 1/60th | ISO1000
Playing in the sunset | Sony A7R II | Sony 24-70 f/4 | 43mm | f/16 | 1/60th | ISO320
Wineries
Peacetree Estate – Wine Companion Profile
A friend of the owner of the B&B (not to suggest they aren’t also class wines), this was our first stop on the wine tour. Really nice wines, both the regular Cab Sauv as well as the Reserve Cab Sauv were really delightful. However, the wine that stole the show for me was a 7-year old Sauv Blanc that had been aged in oak (not normal for a Sauv Blanc from any region that I have been to). It was absolutely incredible for a southern hemisphere Sauv Blanc (not sold on their website). If you stop by the winery, be sure to ask if they still have any of this left for sale.
Redgate Vineyard – Wine Companion Profile
We weren’t too impressed with Redgate, the wines were a bit tight, and generally not expressive. They make consistent wine, and decent wine, but not super interesting to me.
Leeuwin Estate – Wine Companion Profile
I have ordered Leeuwin Estate for a few years now, but haven’t been to the winery itself. Well-made, bigger operation winery – class stuff. The downside to that is generally the wines show less ‘unique’ characteristics. The estate itself was gorgeous, and they were preparing for one of their signature summer concerts that day. I bought a case of their Prelude Cab/Merlot and had it waiting for us back in Sydney when we arrived.
Haydon Estate – Wine Companion Profile (No longer exists)
Haydon was another one of those ‘larger estate’, well-made wineries. The Chardy was fantastic, and we ended up going home with a case of The Willow Chardonnay, and a split case of the W.G Grace Cab Sauv and The Sledge Shiraz. Really good, beautiful wines.
Ashbrook Estate – Wine Companion Profile
Ashbrook was another slightly larger winery, clocking in at over 12,500 cases made (on last count). However, their wines were really well-made and classy. Their Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay consistently get 90+ points ratings, and I know that we sent home a case of the Chardonnay and a case of their Cabernet Sauvignon. Really nice wines.
Aravina Estate – Wine Companion Profile
Aravina was an interesting winery. One of those that seemed to be a side-project for someone that already had a bunch of money. As in, it’s just something they focus on, rather than being a source of pride in product and in approach of the wine itself. As an example, they have a pretty decent tasting room, lined with all the impulse buy and other little accoutrements that you can buy, but in the back is also a garage with 8-10 showcase cars – cars that I wouldn’t take out any day of the week. In any event, most of their wines were good, if not unimaganitive, but I will say – their Chenin Blanc was brilliant. Really expressive and really nice. Highly recommended, even just for that one wine.
Fraser Gallup – Wine Companion Profile
Fraser Gallup was a tremendous find. Really nice grounds, obviously a decent size, if not bigger, winery. But their wines were amazing!!! Their Cab Sauv was excellent, their Cab/Merlot was delicious – and their Misceo – which is basically a Bordeaux blend, was simply put, incredible. Looking at their website now, it certainly seems that they have upped their prices, but if you can get a good deal on the wines, they are simply magical. Definitely the best winery that we visited in Margaret River.
Margaret River B&B
My final note is about the Bed & Breakfast that we stayed in. Dirk was a fantastic host, and the B&B was clean, accomodating and welcoming. It’s a little bit of an interesting location, given it is sort of in between the actual town of Margaret River and the coast, but it ended up being fantastic for us. I would highly recommend it!!! Tell them we sent you!!
Additional Resources
https://www.australia.com/en-us/places/perth-and-surrounds/guide-to-margaret-river.html
Paul Rin Travel Photojournalism 