My first venture to the far side of this continent (around 3500km west, “as the crow flies”) was a very enjoyable adventure, made more so by the great hospitality and local knowledge of my long-time pen pal, Dorothy. Dorothy is a Red Hat lady (the Queen of her group, in fact!) so knows the priorities - dessert is obligatory, as is indulging yourself and having a good time! We have been pen pals for well over 20 years and have met twice previously (both times she visited me here), but it was still a bit of a “leap of faith” to commit to a four day driving tour with me, one on one - what if I had some strange habits! I’m sure I probably do, but she was kind enough to take them on board and not mention them! I even introduced her to the ritual of playing Spotto on long drives, even though I’d forgotten to bring along the Spotto sheet. Phyl and I have devised our own game which I produced on the computer with about 60 items on a laminated sheet, which can be ticked off daily and then wiped clean for use the next day. We’ve played it so often on our many trips that I know most of the items by heart! It became more a game of “The Rich List”, as Dorothy got the hang of the sort of things we were looking out for and would ask, “Is such and such on the list?”, to which I would reply, “It’s on The List!”, in my best Andrew O’Keefe impression!
The adventure started out very early and almost became derailed when the driver of the Airport transfer bus arrived 10 minutes early at 4.30AM and then proceeded to get lost, and then dry bogged (!) at the bottom of a very steep driveway (to nowhere and nowhere to turn around), trying to find his next pickup. We had to leave the van at the bottom and trudge to the top, in the dark and light rain, with only his flashlight to guide us! Even with his taking charge of my luggage, I still needed a couple of rests on the way up - it was very steep! Luckily he was able to call a Taxi and we were able to make our connections but I was really hoping it wasn’t an omen for the rest of the trip. I needn’t have worried, it all went like clockwork from then on.
Dorothy and her husband, Ted, were there to meet me at Perth Airport and whisked me out of the city, stopping just long enough for a delicious meal at an old pub on the outskirts. We then headed to their 150 acre property, about two hours drive east of Perth, at Beverley. Along the way we stopped to pick up their first ever “batch” of olive oil, made from olives they had grown on their property and left to be processed, on their way in to pick me up. We also had afternoon tea in York, which is WA’s oldest inland town and has so many beautiful old buildings. There was just enough time for a brief look around the house and surrounds, a visit to the hens to collect the eggs (they were not overly impressed, having already retired for the night!), and to open a bottle of bubbly for a quiet pre-dinner drink and then the delicious meal itself, which she had prepared earlier. Their home is a lovely old farm house which apparently had seen better days, but Ted has done wonders with it. There are still a couple of things he has on his list, but the bulk of the renovations has been done, and it is now a very roomy and comfortable home - with cupboard space to die for.
We had a reasonably early night as, going on WA time, I had been up since 2AM (two hours behind here) and we wanted to make a fairly early start the next morning as we had a long drive ahead of us. After a delicious country breakfast of bacon and creamy scrambled eggs, fresh orange juice and coffee, we headed off south towards Albany, on the state’s southern coastline. We travelled a route parallel to the main highway, which was so much nicer as it went through all the little country towns, about 30 or 40 km apart, and we had a little stop in each one, breaking the journey up and making it seem not quite so long. We had a yummy Devonshire Tea at one stop, which proved so large, it became lunch, we just grabbed some fruit to munch along the way! We arrived in Albany about 4ish and had a quick look around town and then Dorothy took me to Mt Clarence where there is a memorial to the WWI troops - the original ANZACS departed from Albany - and a great 180 degree view. (This entailed another steep climb - I managed to get my exercise each day, as you will discover as you read - just as well, with all the delicious foods and wines that were also part of this trip!) Then it was back to our motel, with fish and chips from an award winning local takeaway for dinner.
Dorothy’s decision to visit Mt Clarence that afternoon proved prudent as we awoke to some rather nasty weather the next morning. Thankfully, it didn’t last long, or perhaps we just drove out of it as we headed west and then north. Before leaving Albany, we visited their new Whiskey Distillery, where I had been hoping to buy a bottle or two. However, they have only had one “batch” so far and they are all individually numbered, and well out of my price range. Even the 10ml “tastings” are charged for but I was able to have a small tasting - enough to know that it was very smooth and quite delicious! We stopped in the town of Denmark, for another yummy morning tea that became lunch, and then headed off on a wine trail loop road that returned to the highway further along. Here I found the very best winery ever - Ducketts Mill Winery. They not only had a good range of wines, but also port, cheese and fudge. I mean what more could you ask for! With so many wineries to chose from, I had to devise some sort of way to decide which ones to visit. What could be more logical than choosing the ones I liked the sound of the names of! Therefore, we also visited the Rickety Gate Winery and Bettenay Premium Wines, who happen to have a “Lost the Plot” label! We were deciding that was enough for one day, when we came upon Somerset Hill, who very slyly had a sign at their gateway shouting “Champagne and Belgian Chocolates”. Well the car just steered right in there, of its own accord!
That afternoon we visited the Valley of the Giants and did the Tree Top Walk - a suspended walk through the tops of WA’s world-famous tingle trees, some of the most enormous trees in the world. The walkway soars 40 metres into the tingle canopy and opens up a world that most people never see - an amazing experience. From there it was a solid two hour drive to reach Bridgetown where we stayed the night with Dorothy’s sister.
Next morning there was a real pea-souper and it still hadn’t lifted when we finally got on our way about 10am. We travelled east again heading out to the coast and the Margaret River region, famed for its wineries. Before tackling some more wineries, we visited one of the many limestone caves in the area, Mammoth Cave, where we could tour the cave at out own pace, using individual audio headsets. Here we found this day’s exercise in the form of the 170 odd steps out of the cave back to the surface, quite a distance (and on the other side of the main road), from the entrance, as well as the many ups and downs within the cave. We visited about three more wineries but I had to start slowing up on my purchases as I was fast running out of space! I had originally packed for the trip in my small case, but thankfully remembered I’d be coming home with more than I’d taken, so repacked into my larger one. As it was, I managed to bring home NINE (9) bottles of wine/port and a wine glass from one of them, and all arrived home safely - you don’t work for Aust Post and not learn how to pack things securely! I’m sure I must have been over the 20kg limit but I got away with it!
We stayed in Busselton that night and next morning walked out to the end of the Busselton Jetty and back. At two kilometres in length, it is the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere - see, I told you I was getting my exercise! From there it was basically just the run north towards Perth, stopping off for a brief look around Bunbury and Fremantle. We had lunch at a lovely glass-fronted restaurant, right on the beach at Bunbury, where I had the best sweet potato soup I’ve ever tasted. We reached Perth by late afternoon and checked into our inner city hotel, whereupon Dorothy decided another bottle of champagne was needed and we dined in the hotel restaurant.
My last day was spent touring the highlights of Perth - a visit to the Royal Mint and a lovely walk through Kings Park, the botanical gardens, which gives a wonderfully elevated view of the Perth skyline, and lunch at the kiosk there. Then a quick drive along the beaches before Dorothy dropped me off at the motel close to the Airport, so I could be close by for my 6.30am flight the next morning. The motel was just one step up from those cubicle type Japanese ones you see on Getaway but was convenient, cheap and clean, which is all that was really needed! The next day was spent travelling, with me finally crossing my threshold at about 6.30pm - a long day, but a wonderful holiday. I will return…
(Photos from this trip can be seen in my Gallery)
Tags: West Aust Holiday Wineries Caves
