Margaret River

We managed to dodge rain all day but its still cold here, 15degrees and for us that is cold as we have just come from 38 degree temps with 90% humidity in Malaysia, it seems very strange that it is June yet winter??

Voyager Estate Winery

Onto another vineyard, Voyager Estate, these vineyards are much bigger and more grand but still the wine sampling was really pleasant, we learnt that the Chardonnays have in the past been “over-oaked” which could have been why i use to “pass-out” even after only 1 glass, honest, now they have become more lightly oaked and some are even stored in stainless steel casks which gives them a much lighter cleaner flavour, this vineyard makes a nice one its their 2008 Chardonnay, they are sold in Canada but i think only Ontario at the moment, I will have to get on that when I get home!

Just beautiful grounds

One of the things I think Salt Spring vineyards could learn from these vineyards over here is having some food and entertainment events at them, most of the vineyards we visited had a small cafe in the gardens and they were still open even in their winter season, it was such a nice place to eat and relax in, not just for visitors but for the locals too.  Some of the bigger vineyards even had some really famous entertainers like, James Taylor, Diana Ross, Sting, really big names, in an open concert settings, really beautiful, then some others had galleries of local artists in them too which i thought was a great idea.

Big Red is such a poser.

Last was the visit to Leeuwin Winery, this is the big one where the top names come to perform, the grounds are fields and fields of vines and rolling green grasslands, with massive trees on the property.  Part of the wine cellar below has been turned into a huge gallery with locally made furniture selling for $17,000 a dining room table and paintings worth even more than that.  Trev and I turn up in our biking gear and wandered around taking pictures and having a wine tasting, they didn’t care, their Chardonnay and Riesling were the best yet. 

Thats the thing about the Ausies they don’t seem to care what your wearing you still get treated the same, we have found them really friendly, helpful and accommodating and it sure is nice that we can understand the language again.  We are finding it really expensive here, from the food to the accommodation, we cant seem to find somewhere to stay any cheaper than $75 a night and thats for a cheap motel, and meals out are a min of $50. for the two of us and thats if we are lucky, beer is $8-10 a pint.  Some of the shock of the prices could be due to the fact that we have been spoilt in the rest of the world, coming from Thailand and Malaysia where it was so cheap, we were hard pushed to spend $50 a day there but regardless I still love it here so far.

This reminds me of a Hiscock Painting such clean lines

We are seeing a lot more bikes like ours in Aus.

Our Timeshare in Australia plus we have at least 15 more to choose from when we 

get to the other coast, yeh!

We packed up and were out of our timeshare by around 11ish, i must say it was a great place we really loved it, right on the beach, a luxury for a few days, staff, food and property were all very nice. 

This is Bunkers Beach, there is a great little cafe down here close to the beach where we had the best lemon meringue pie!

Cape Naturliste Lighthouse in Dunsborough, look at that blue sky!

A blustery day walking along the coast

Roos are a constant danger on the roads here, you see them dead on the side 

of the road so we have to be super aware when riding.