Margaret River Roadtrip

For their 6th wedding anniversary my Aunt Pat and Uncle Hank took a trip to Australia. They spent time in Sydney, Cairns, and Uluru before coming to Perth to spend some time with us. We were VERY excited about their visit because we hadn't seen them since December and we haven't had any company here since August 2008. Aunt Pat and Uncle Hank are marvelous company- always helping out, interacting with the kids, and just so much fun to be around! Knowing Aunt Pat was a fan of good wine (as are we), I couldn't resist taking them down to Margaret River. This is wine country, about 4 hours south of Perth, and it's marvelous!

Some Perth friends had recommendations about where to go and stay so we booked a really nice 3 bedroom house for the weekend and spent Sunday and Monday exploring the region. We stayed at a holiday property called Tamala Ridge near Prevally Beach (in case you are planning a trip!).Sunday was a full day. We drove down to Augusta where the Indian and Arctic Oceans meet, and spotted a pod of whales. Photos were hard to snap. You'd see a spray of water and then a fin or a back rise above the water's surface. It was so cool!! Laurance Winery was a perfect spot for a long lunch (Thanks Lisa!). We arrived in time to get the best family table, right beside a nice playground. We tasted the wine, devoured the amazing lunch, and sat in the sun, watching the kids run and play. Perfect! Loved this chandelier at Laurance Winery. Those are all wine glasses!After that were stops at 4 wineries where we tasted and picked up a few favorites. Finally, a stop at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory.

The house came fully equipped and had a bbq. So we picked up groceries for dinner and made it back in time for sunset on the Indian Ocean from our balcony. Cloudy but still incredible over the ocean.

With the sun gone for the day, C could focus his full attention on the guacamole and chips. He was so busy with the dipping and crunching he didn't even mind me styling his hair into a new do!

On Monday, we woke to rain. So we took our time getting around and headed into the town of Margaret River to visit a few shops. Before long, it was lunch time so we drove out of town to the Duckstein Brewery. Beautiful place, great beer, fantastic food! Below is a photo of Aunt Pat's lamb cutlets but up in the left hand corner is the platter of bratwurst and sauerkraut that T and I shared. It was outstanding!
Our last stop before heading home was Simmo's ice cream factory. Yum! Fantastic ice cream, a playground, and an ice cream eating emu, or so they say.

The kids had a go on the Merry-go-Round. C gave us a wave and a giggle at each pass.
We made good time getting home and made it back to Perth in time for dinner. Uncle Hank took some really nice city photos from the south side of the river, near the restaurant where we ate dinner.

Lots of photo credit to Uncle Hank! Thanks for sharing your photographs!