Margaret River and Perth August 2017
Once again the airlines are at fault, or should I say they cause the problem. They know people just love to travel and sometimes they put out destinations at ridiculous prices that we poor subjects just can’t resist. This time Jetstar was able to give us 2 tickets from Sydney to Perth for the grand sum of $432. Yes that’s $216 each return. Crazy stuff and of course we couldn’t let the opportunity go by. We looked at the ungodly hours the planes were scheduled at but were undaunted. Getting to and from Perth is always a time consuming one given the time difference. We looked for a timeshare in WA that would give us a base to have a look around the Geographe and Margaret River regions. The Busselton Beach Resort was perfect so we booked the time share, booked the flights and done some homework on where we should visit.
The flight out of Sydney was at 8.25pm on Thursday 17th August 2017 and arrived Perth at 11.30pm. Or at least that was the schedule. In reality the plane departed over an hour late due the Captain had to recalculate the amount of fuel they would need given the strong headwinds forecast. Apparently he is a slow calculator and after the extra fuel was taken on board we were over an hour late departing and because of said headwinds, the flight was going to be 7 hours not 5. After all said and done, we arrived Perth airport at about 1.30am and got a taxi to the local Airport Ibis to lay our head.
At about 8.00am we went to the Avis rental car company office at the airport to pick up a V6 Holden commodore at the impressive rate of $39.90 per day.
Then a leisurely drive from the airport southward to Bunbury for lunch. The after lunch onto Busselton to book into the Resort. Busselton Beach Resort is strangely enough right on the shores on the Indian Ocean and a good 8 minute drive away from town. The 2 bedroom apartment we were given was more than satisfactory for us. The kitchen was well equipped, the bedrooms were spacious and the view to the water was great. It also overlooked the tennis courts and a well laid out gardens and BBQ areas etc.
Our first real day in WA was spent looking over the Geographe Bay wineries. We done our homework on the ones open for tastings on a Saturday (all of them) and proceeded north of Busselton for about half an hour. The wineries we went to were;
CAPELVALE – good size winery very well appointed cellar door with good restaurant. We found the cellar door wines underwhelming however their best we thought was their 2016 Malbec.
St AIDANS – A smaller winery sited next to St Aidans Church in the Ferguson Valley. An ordinary selection of cellar door wines however their Temperanillo was well balanced with blueberry undertones and a touch of tannin. Temperanillo (pron Temperineeyo) was a new wine to us and we enjoyed it very much.
FERGUSON HART Winery – A smaller winery with good Chardonnays and Shiraz. The GSM was exceptionally good however the front man tried too hard to make a sale and hence, didn’t get one. Ferguson Hart Winery was the best we tried on the day.
WILLOW BRIDGE WINERY – had a good Chardonnay however that’s about where their wines went. The Temperanillo’s Shiraz and SSB were ordinary
GREEN DOOR WINERY was unique in that they did their tastings at the table. We were seated near the window and they brought us 7 small carafes with enough in them for two to taste. They explained their wines well and they were very reasonably priced for a cellar door. They had a good Mouvedre. The method of tasting was unique and a very good idea.
We had a good sipping and spitting day.
Sunday morning 20th August we went to the Busselton Markets……..an ordinary market with some good fresh vegetable stalls but little else.
We then drove to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse.
Cape Naturalise is at the very bottom of Australia where the Great Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean.
Then to Palmers Winery for a quick tasting. Palmers were underwhelming as well. They have a reasonable Semillon and they were certainly over priced for the quality of their wines.
Then onto Ngilgi Caves….absolutely brilliant. A large ‘rabbit warren of caves’ very close to the ocean that have been brilliantly cared for and well presented by the local rangers. A great place to visit.
Then onto NATURALISTE VINEYARDS. 2 great dogs on hand to welcome us but the prices of the wines were ridiculous. Their chardonnay and Semillon were nothing more than quaffing wine and whilst the Shiraz was more than acceptable but their price range of $40 to $60 was way over the top.
DEEP WOODS ESTATE – a beautiful setting for a winery. The lady was by herself and was very pleasant in her presentation. The Chardonnays and Shiraz were more than acceptable and at $20 price point.
Then onto CLAIRALT WINERY. This was the best winery of the day. The whites were all of good quality and the reds didn’t disappoint. The young presenter was also very helpful.
Our winery tour Monday 21st August 2017 – through BUSHTUCKER TOURS
The first winery was the best of the day. FERMOY ESTATE. They had an excellent quality range across the board. There wasn’t wine we didn’t like including the Rose’. The Semillon wasn’t up to Hunter standard but was the best we have come across in the west.
The second winery was WOODY NOOK WINES – none outstanding. Even Gallaghers Choice 2013 Cab sav at $65 was only OK. It drank about $20.
Then on to KNOTTING HILL – most wines were well presented but nothing out of the ordinary The 2013 Jack Gordon CabSav at $48 and a Halliday rating of 94pts was over rated and priced. Get better from Vinomofo black market. We had lunch at Knotting Hill which was a buffet style and was very well presented with plenty of good quality fresh meats and salads.
We went to a distillery, then a chocolate factory and then a cheese factory – the distillery was an interesting hour where the host entertained us with light repartee and some crude jokes. He presented his ‘whiskies’ very well but we are not spirit drinkers – especially at $100 a bottle. The Cheese and chocolate stops were a waste of time. Our tour guide was Greg. He was an amiable type of bloke.
Tuesday 22nd August went in search of a winery that doesn’t exist however we ended up at a winery called BROOKWOOD ESTATE. The young lady at the tasting table was from Shoal Bay near Newcastle and she recommended we have lunch. They had a special offer of a main course meal and a glass of premium wine for lunch and $29/each. We had already had lunch but said we would be back the next day.
Then onto VASSE FELIX – underwhelmed with them. Their cellar door wines should be better. The winery is of course one of the best wineries in WA but we felt it lacked character and warmth.
Then onto CULLENS WINERY – before we came, Mike Nesbitt from our apartment building recommended we go to Cullens and tell them he sent us. We tasted some excellent wines. Good quality whites especially the $125 Kevin John Chardonnay however the reds all had too much tannin for us. There was the $125 Diana Madeline CabSav that drank $25…..ordinary. (my peasant tastes). We mentioned the name Mike Nesbitt and we promptly ejected without ceremony.
Then onto FLAMETREE WINERY – a good overall winery. Whites quite good and their 2014 Frankland River Shiraz was good enough for us to buy one for dinner that night.
We spent some good time wandering around Busselton and in particular the Busselton Jetty.
The Busselton Jetty is 1.841km long. It is the longest timber piled jetty in the southern hemisphere and is operated by a non-profit community organisation known as Busselton Jetty Inc. Proceeds from ticket sales contribute to jetty maintenance and conservation.
On Wednesday we ventured down to Augusta to look at their lighthouse at Cape Leeuin. Very similar to Cape Naturaliste but no less spectacular. The drive down through Margaret River was very picturesque and well worth the time. Its about an hour drive from Margaret River.
Whilst at Augusta we thought it only fitting we call in at the Golf Club. The local tourist lady said it was just down the road. It was. It was a 20 minute drive over red dirt roads that led us into the wild woods of Augusta Golf Club. It seems to be a fairly well kept golf course but not for those who don’t want a trek every time they want a game. The roads were winding and well wooded.
We had had enough of wineries. We were thankful we came to the Margaret river region and appreciated the wines, the food and the hospitality of the people. Its an area everyone should do if they have the opportunity.
After a week in Busselton we then drove to Perth to book into an Air BnB we had booked in Highgate. The drive from Busselton to Perth would normally be about 3 hours but because we weren’t able to get into our accommodation until later in the afternoon we meandered our way up the coastal road. Had an excellent Thai Duck Red Curry for lunch at Bunbury and then spent some time wandering the dockside of Fremantle.
Our accommodation in Highgate was a one bedroom apartment with full cooking facilities. It was well appointed and suited us nicely. It was about $100/night. Good secure car park and security building. We were on the 4th floor and could see out to the racecourse and sporting arenas. It was across the road from NIB stadium.
In Perth we did the tourist thing of walking the main streets and back alleys.
Perth City
On the Saturday we decided to go to the Perth Horse races. We always like to walk the local areas and the Racecourse was about a 30min walk from where we were staying so it was a good opportunity to get some exercise. We had a good day at the races but of course our mantra of ‘following horses that like to follow other horses’ came true as usual. None the less we had a good day and you can’t go too wrong with Wendy betting $2 each way.
The trip home on the Monday night was as we predicted – a real pain. The ‘red-eye’ as it’s commonly known in airline terminology – we departed Perth at 11.00pm and got into Sydney at 6.00am. Bleary eyed and bloated.
Got train home from Sydney – overall a very good trip.
Goodmans Travels 