Roadtrippin' WA

Margaret River

Slightly under 300km from the central city of Perth, a drive which passes small shires and a landscape of much wild beauty - tuart forests, gum, eucalyptus, bottlebrushes and acacias dot the road once you leave the main city, with stretches of coast breaking through.

Days were spent visiting the different vineyards ranging from well-known, international houses like Leeuwin, Howard's Park, to smaller ones like Hayshed and Voyager. Between these two, the design for my dream home starts to shape up - vines on trellises and roses, white-washed stone walls, bricks, earthern tiles. I want to grow things. I've lived in large cities all my life. I crave the open spaces and unfiltered sunlight, without people looking in my windows, without me seeing them every time I look out mine as well, the packed subways, and the nonstop noise. I want somewhere I can stretch my roots and listen to me.

Also dropped by the chocolate factory, cheeses and olive oils companies, little stores selling natural soaps and lotions (Moonhaven! =D ) a lavender farm and the candy store (aptly named, Candy Cow). It is fascinating to me how conscious the Australians there are of their environment, from recycling to care of the land, to the emphasis on non-chemicals for soaps and lotions... I carted back some, hopefully it'll ease the skin itches..

Visited the beach, and Cape Leeuwin as well, where the Indian and Southern oceans meet. There is an old watermill there, since calcified. Picked up some stones there that seem like a mix of quartz and sedimentary/igneous rocks of some kind.

Evenings were spent cooking dinner in our cottage, then writing in front of the pot-bellied stove, or just quiet. The cottage had this bulldog who'd sit outside our place every night once we started cooking. He'd not make a sound, just sit outside and stare. =_=

Swan Valley
From there, were drove back up to Perth for a night, heading out the next day to Swan Valley, a smaller wine region. There, it doesn't feel like winter. Days are warm, in the mid-teens Celsius, with blue skies and a clear sun.

One vineyard stood out: Little River Winery. Owned by a French count named Bruce and his Australian wife Jan, it is a tiny place of 15ha, where they run everything old school - no irrigation of the vines. They've a little mophead of a dog called Petrus who welcomes you into their restaurant by barking you in until the owner comes out. I swear tiny dogs have no idea of their sizes. Jan herself is a tiny lady as bouncy as her dog, with such twinkly eyes and a barbed sense of humour. The food was excellent - traditional French rustic fare - pasta provencale, lamb pies, beef bourguignon, duck confit, paired with their wines. They've an interesting Viognier-Marsanne mix which I think could cellar well.

On the way, we passed through other smaller towns of a couple of hundred to a few thousand people, Busselton, Bunbury, Augusta. Stopped by to see the wild dolphins along Busselton.

New Norcia
"In thirty years of almost constantly traveling around the world, I have seldom met a place so clarifying and calm as New Norcia. It makes you think again about what matters; it returns you to a sense of stillness and community that's hard to find in the modern world; it refreshes the soul better than any holiday. The only hardship of coming here is leaving." - Pico Iyer

A little monastery town further North from Perth, where 5 Benedictine monks still live by the Rules. This is a quiet town where faith and commerce reside in peace together; an old guesthouse/hotel which looks haunted, meals where everyone gathers in the hotel restaurant. Old churches and cathedrals. A beautiful art collection of early religious works, 26 of which were stolen in a heist and slashed, now since restored. Sheep rearing, olive oil production, a bit of wines, honey. The monks brew their own abbey ale which is only available there, and a famous bread, which we didn't get to sample as the temperamental baker decided to take the days off when we were there.

A lot of wild parrots and moneyjungles there, spent the evenings at the balcony watching them come home to roost against the sunset.

Lancelin
From New Norcia we drove further to Lancelin, a little fishing village where white sand dunes afford some thrill-seeking. Stopped by for a good lunch at a tiny restaurant - fresh oysters, seafood plate.

Fremantle
Drove back to Perth from Lancelin, spent a day exploring the small port town of Fremantle, about half an hour from Perth - the sunday markets are a fun visit, vegetable stores, fresh honey, glass works, more soaps and lotions and potions. They also have a fairy shop where the shop-keepers are dressed as fairies with sparkles all dusting the threshold. It seems to be a magnet for little girls, and the wishing basket there had some wishes along the lines of, "I wish I was a mermaid" to "I wish to be a fairy".

Perth
In Perth itself, we visited King's Park, their huge botanic gardens. A particular walkway made me sad - it is lined with 1300 trees planted by the friends and relatives of men who died in the 1st and 2nd world wars. Some of the memorials were to 19 year olds. I fear losing a dear friend who's a soldier now, but sometimes I think he's safer at war vs. at home in the US, where drink and women eat into his mind.

The Mint itself was fun to see, all the gold *squee*.

Through the trip, we spent a fair bit of time in different breweries and pubs too - Among these, Colonial Brewing Company in Margaret River and the Moon and Six Pence (A piece of ol' England down to the construction workers visiting it =D ) in Perth itself stood out for being places with good beer, and good grub.

Photos to come... ummm. Xr.... =D