The Margaret River Holiday

If you ever come to Perth, you MUST make an effort to spend a few days down at the Margaret River. It is the most beautiful, laid back place in the world, well at least that I have ever been to. It is considered the wine region of Western Australia and produces some of the best wines in the entire country! All of the tastings are free and all of the wines are terrific. It is roughly three hours south of Perth, and well worth the trip. If I ever get any visitors, the Margaret River region will definitely be on the agenda.

The drive down was my first "legal" experience behind the wheel of a car with the steering wheel on the opposite side. It is an odd feeling, driving on the other side of the road, but good practice to adjust doing easy highway type driving. This was advice from my father, he said that you can get tired trying to orient yourself driving in the city. Which I understand, simple things like keeping the car in the middle of the lane, things you hardly think about after you have been driving for awhile, you have to be conscious of again. You have to focus and spend energy on things that have become second nature to you. Just so you know the pedals are still the same gas on the right brake on the left. One thing that is opposite is you wipers/turn signals. I cannot tell you how many times I go to flip on the right or left turn signal and the wipers go. The easiest way to spot a tourist driving in Australia; Putting on the wipers on a hot sunny day.

I successfully got us to the house where we were staying for the week! No tickets, no dents or scrapes, success. We had a large house and were staying with three other couples. I was bunking with a ten year old. When we arrived you would not believe how many kangaroos we had lounging in the back year. There must have been 100! Quite a site to see on day three of being in the country.

Hard to make out, but there are a lot of kangaroos out there!

Easter egg hunt!

Doesn't get much better than that!

One of the best things about the being in the Margaret River was the sunsets and the stars that would come out shortly after. Rarely do I get to see stars as clear as I did in the Margaret River. In the Southern Hemisphere the main constellations you can see are Orion's Belt and the Southern Cross. Those two I can pick up no problem, can't say I know many others.

We had great meals and activities planned every day, with lots of wine tasting in between. One thing to note here the drunk driving laws here are a little more strict, .05 is over the limit. I guess that means you can only have one glass of wine not two, wherever you stopped. Our group was well aware and planned our tastings accordingly.

Some of the highlights of the trip were the croquet games out back on the paddock. We made an extreme croquet course, it seemed to take about an hour to finish a game. Granted there were a lot of cocktails consumed and strategising between hits.

We made an effort to get out of the house and into nature every day. One adventure we hikes part of the Cape to Cape Track from Contos to Redgate beach. The Cape to Cape track is 135 kilometers long and connects the lighthouses of Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin. One of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done. You like along a bluff up from the ocean fro most of the hike with breathtaking views around every corner. We even spotted a school of dolphins swimming along with us. Apparently, there are caves that you can go into along the way, but we did not venture into any. Once we made it to Red Gate beach we all got int he water. Red Gate beach is one of those beaches that you think only exists in the movies or photos or exotic places. White sand, perfect waves, clear blue water, its a hard life down at Red Gate beach.

We also ventured to the mouth of the Margaret River. Another popular surf spot. Reminds me a little bit of the wedge in Newport Beach. It's a high pitch wave that breaks right on the sand, it over a very short intense ride (not something I could do). The actual "Margaret River" does not actually make it to the sea in the summer months I believe it does in the winter after the rains. We went for another hike along the sandunes and peered up the coast towards Cape Naturaliste. The below photos are from that hike

We were there over the weekend as well so naturally we had to partake in the farmers market in town. We got lots of samples and got to add local produce to all of our meals. The culture down in the Margaret River is much the same as in Santa Cruz its all about living of the land, minimizing your foot print and all that. Laid back and socially conscious.

I know we got corn , chocolate and cheese, fruits and vegetables. There may have been more, but I am not in procurement.

The last day we were there Dad and I were up early on on the golf course. We played the Margaret River golf course, a decent track, not stand out, but a good way to start the day. Always great spending time with dad on the golf course, quality father son bonding. After that it was lunch, a wine tasting, and the trek home. Now to become a real person! Bank account, Tax File Number, JOB!