Swan Valley - New Norcia

Swan Valley

Just 30mins drive from Perth City is a popular stop point for some more wines. If you are there early, stop by the Chocolate Factory for breakfast. They open at about 9am, and by then you are just in time to have a taste of their freshly baked scones and enjoying it with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

Sandalford - One of WA's oldest and largest privately owned wineries. They also host several huge concerts in their compounds, some include Alicia Keys, Paul Kelly, teh Ten Tenors etc. Didn't do a tasting here, hmmm not a very friendly place on my first impression... so yup.

And this is the place which Edith mentioned earlier - Little River Cafe. It is a little rustic french place which surprisingly serves wonderful French food. I'm never a huge fan of French wines, so I'll reserve my comments of the wines to myself. It's owned by Bruno, the wine-maker from France, and Jan, his wife an Australian. Uber cute old lady....can't get enough of her zest and hype in doing her job.


New Norcia
It's located about 132 km north of Perth, along the Great Northern Highway. It is the only monastic town in Australia still run by Benedictine monks. If you like a serene retreat away from the city, this is one place for you.
Sunsets in New Norcia (view from the New Norcia Hotel)

Daisies outside the New Norcia Museum

the colours of the keys are reversed. We were told because they didn't have enough ivory to make it normal way around.

side view of the New Norcia Monastry

Abbey Church - there's a 7.30am morning mass held here on weekdays.

interior of St. Ildephonsus

scenery along the River Trail Walk in New Norcia

Augusta - Busselton - Bunsbury - Lancelin - Fremantle - Perth City

Augusta - Town Jetty

We stopped by on our drive down South to Cape Leeuwin. And we chanced upon a place serving cheap and good Fish n Chips. After lunch we chilled at the town jetty. Quiet peaceful place and watching the pelican swimming around.

Busselton Jetty
A 1.6km jetty, the longest in the Southern Hemisphere. It also has an Underwater Observatory. But currently it's undergoing a full restoration project
Bunsbury - Koombana Beach
Here's a good spot for dolphins. You will have a very high chance to spot them here swimming and jumping around.
Lancelin
A small fishing town. They are also known for their 4WD on the sand dunes. We stopped by here for lunch on our drive back from New Norcia before heading back to Perth City.the Indian Ocean, and behind it is the sand dunes.

Our first seafood lunch and fresh oysters! This place is near the Lancelin Jetty. You can BYO at just AUD4. But because we brought a screwcap, so the owner thought it wasn't right to charge us the corkage. We had with us a bottle of Chenin Blanc from Lancester @ Swan Valley. Should get a tasting at Lancester when you stop by Swan Valley, you'll be pleasantly surprised.


Fremantle
We went to Kaili's for lunch, it is known as one of the best in Fremantle for seafood. Unfortunately, we were quite disappointed with the food quality. And it is definitely not cheap for the size of serving. Our lunch at Lancelin was alot better I must say. Will prob try another place for good seafood next time round I go to Fremantle. And fighting off the sea gulls is no small feat.

Perth City
Not one of my favourite places to be driving in. The road signs are horrendous. And the 1-way streets.... maybe it's just us. Other than that, beers in Perth is great! Too bad we didn't get to go to Old Swan Brewery during our trip here. Maybe next time.
King's Park

Gija Jumulu (Boab Treet) - it's a major food source for the traditional people of Eastern Kimberley. It also has medicinal properties and a water source in desperate times.
this one is 750 yrs-old, diameter of 2.5 metres

panaromic view of Swan River from King's Park

Margaret River - Part 3 (beaches)

We took a morning drive out to Prevelly Park. I would definitely love to come by here for a morning run and walk. It has a stretch if the walkway that's for people with dogs to use.

here's the Surfer's Point @ Prevelly Park, it's a favourite spot for surfers.

Hamelin Bay

Further south of Prevelly Park. Supposedly you can see sting-rays close-up near the jetty. But the weather was dreary, rained the whole day... our drive up to Cape Leeuwin wasn't that sunny too.

Cape Leeuwin
the place where the 2 oceans collide - Indian Ocean & Southern Ocean

And finally a look at where we spent out nights in during our stay in Margaret River.Our cottage @ Peppermint Brooks Cottage

the living room and kitchen

one of the bedrooms

and below are our home-cooked dinners!

Margaret River - Part 2

sorry I have to split them up... it's a damn chore to include pictures for a long post....

Howard Park & Madfish
hehe definitely one of my favourites... well to fit my budget I was only aiming for the Madfish Shiraz 2004... and I finally found it... damn it cheap there.... sighs.... I should have gotten 1 whole case home and keep and drink my fill of it....

The drive-in to this estate is majestic... very very well landscaped... If you want to know what the word "landscape" means, eh well this is one of the places to explain this word. The impact of the size and view comes into your face direct from the time you enter their gates. (sorry I have not seen vineyards from other countries and this is probably one of my first... so yup just pardon me for being a little not too knowledgable)

I think Edith has more pics of this place....

Cape Lavender
As per it's name, all things are lavender related. They have lavender wines, sparklings, honey, tea, skin products, etc. I liked their lavender honey actually. This is a nice stop to enjoy a tea-break, enjoy the view of the place and breathing in all the lavender you want.

lavender honey?

more lavender...

Vasse Felix
The first vineyard and winery in Margaret River. Was told it's known for their Chardonnay, award-winning. I would like to recommend another very interesting bottle, their Vigonier - limited to cellar doors. One of its kind. It has a very rich apricot fragrance and taste. This is my first time tasting this grape and we also realised that this grape seems to be coming up around in WA. Next trip I will defintely do a lunch there... the lunch menu was very appealing, just that we were there too early for our stomachs.

Duckstein Brewery / Saracen Estate
We initially intended to head to Bootleg Brewery for lunch, but they had some electrical failure that day, thus they directed all the crowd to Duckstein. And it does also seem to be a relatively popular place among the locals. The place was actually fully booked.

Although it serves German food and brews German beers, the drinks and food are actually quite good. I would recommend this place if people are looking of a change of cuisine.

We had to sit outside, which was good and bad. The view was defintely good (as above), but it was freezing eating outside. Well your beer will be kept cold, but your food also does turn cold a lot faster.

Colonial Brewing Co.
For beer lovers, highly recommended. Plus if you have kids and want to drink, another star to this place. There's a huge compound just beside it where the kids love to run around in freely while you enjoy your pint. And their beers have won quite a few awards in Australia. We didn't try their food though, but the food looked quite sumptuous when it was brought out of the kitchen.