Western Australia: Wine, Beautiful Scenery, Kangaroos and More Wine

Perth, Albany, Margaret River (18-Oct to 2-Nov 2016)

Perth

The Peninsula Riverside in South Perth was our base for our 2 night stay in Perth. We used public transportation (bus, ferry) to get from the airport to the hotel. It was a short walk from the ferry stop to our hotel. Our room had a kitchen, living area, bedroom and a small balcony area. We did not cook here, but took advantage of the kitchen facilities to taste wine with our take away food. Nice smoked salmon and proscuitto sandwiches from Millstream Kitchen and wine from the bottle shop started our vacation. We mainly stayed in South Perth enjoying the neighborhood, river, and green areas nearby.

We splurged on one dinner at the Friends Restaurant in Perth. We decided to try their tasting menu with 5* wine pairings. It was a great dining experience – very professional servers, good food and wines. We were stuffed by the end of the meal! The way the vegetables were integrated into the courses was creative and very much appreciated. Many times while dining out the veggies are lacking or absent. This was just the opposite! These vegetables were really a treat and may inspire us to search and try more creative vegetable recipes in the near future.

Albany

After picking up a car rental in central Perth, we took the long drive to Albany stopping in Williams for a meat pie and coffee break. The Albany area's natural scenery is so beautiful and calming. While there, we had some very cool and rainy days as well as nice, sunny days to explore and hike. We cooked up chicken stew to help our colds when we stayed in, but went into town on occasion for lunch. In the Middleton Beach area, we had some very nice fish and chips!

There are many places to hike at Torndirrup National Park and surrounding areas. The beaches, water, coastline and foliage are stunning. The white sandy uncrowded beaches were great for shell hunting. It would have been nice to bring along a picnic lunch.

Margaret River

Right outside the bungalow that we rented, we really enjoyed watching the kangaroos. When walking or driving around the neighborhood, we saw kangaroos often. They were just hanging around, laying around the grass areas or jumping through the woods. Yes, we were not in the central area of town, but shopping was just a short drive away and roos were very accessible!

Margaret River was a great central location to explore the surrounding area. We took a leisure drive: Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse and ,later, drove on Caves Road out to the coast at Gracetown. We stopped at the beach to enjoy the beautiful sea and wind.

Busselton

Walking the Busselton Jetty-the longest wooden jetty (almost 2 km) in the world-was a nice quiet relaxing walk (even with the occasional train passing by). The plaques posted on the railing made us imagine the past and the people that used the jetty in days gone by. We, along with many other people, were enjoying the beautiful, warm day.

After getting a bit hungry and thirsty from our walk, we headed to a restaurant that we thought we would try. Unfortunately, that was closed (not indicated in their website!). Fortunately, The Urban Coffee House was opened. We had a delicious beef burger with a nice tasting sauce and caramelized onions on a very nice bun. It was a pleasant surprise!

Wine and Groceries

Throughout this trip, we had wine even when we were not feeling 100%. When shopping for groceries, we also frequented the bottle shops. We had mostly good wines, a couple very nice wines and a couple of okay wines. There were quite a few Chardonnay Semillon blended wines we thought were well-structured, nice tasting, good with food, and reasonably priced. Try one while you are in the area.

Groceries and Bottle Shops found:
  Coles Supermarkets, in Albany and Margaret River
  IGA stores in South Perth, Albany and Margaret River
  Margaret River Farmers Market (Saturdays) **breads, prepared foods
  Windsor Cellars, 112 Mill Point Rd., South Perth **helpful staff
  Bottlemart, 40 Walcliffe, Margaret River
  Liquorland, 132 Bussell Hwy., Margaret River
  Dan Murphy’s, 9 York St., Albany **large selection

WA Pub: 2017-Feb-26 15:30 Places: Western Australia, Perth, Albany, Margaret River, Busselton,
Torndirrup Nat'l Park. Lodging: Peninsula Riverside, The Bungalow St. Clair. Eats: Friends Restaurant,
Ocean and Paddock, Millstream Kitchen, The Urban Coffee House