Margaret River | Day 1

I’ve had a trip booked to Margaret River for a few weeks and had been looking forward to it all week! It’s a long drive so it makes it worth while being there two days, we definitely could have spent longer!

We started our morning in Mandurah where we had breakfast at Rosie’s Cafe. Breakfast was pretty good, we both ordered omelettes which took quite awhile to come out but they were pretty big and sandwiched our choosen fillings, mine was salmon and the other was chicken & mushroom. Since it cost €21.90, I would have loved more salmon in mine as there were only a few squares. I also felt quite sorry for the young lad working there as he was constantly ridiculed for his work and efforts to keep the customers happy, I made a special effort to thank him before we left.

As breakfast took so long, we were a little behind time and made it to Margaret River 5 minutes before our wine tour was leaving so we didn’t get to check in.

I booked a tour with Cheers Tours and got picked up at 1pm. Our first stop was Margaret River Venison where we tasted a few types of the meats and patés sold inside. I wasn’t overly impressed with this as we didn’t actually get to taste venison. It was chorizos and salamis more so.

Next stop was the Fermoy Estate Winery which shared it’s grounds with Pukara Estate. We went into the winery first…finally getting to taste some wines! The winery was first planted by a man who hailed from Fermoy in my home country, Ireland. It’s claim to fame is that it was the only red and only WA wine (2001 Cabernet Sauvignon) served at the official wedding reception of Danish Royal Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary in May 2004. Just next door housed the Pukara Estate Tasting Room. Here we got to try many flavoursome olive oils, vinegars, tapenades, pesto, dukkah, jams and mayonnaise. I think I tried every single one but there were so many, I can’t be sure. My favourite oil was the garlic infused oil and there was a mouthwatering chilli jam…yum!

Knotting Hill was my favourite winery. It is a boutique winery who sell exclusively through their cellar door and website. The winery itself was stunning! There was a man made lake which was home to fish and marron. A big part of a wine tour are the hosts at the winery and our host was witty, comical and informative.

Our second last food stop was the Margaret River Chocolate Company. This place is a chocolate lover’s heaven. You can literally scoop up chocolate drops and take as many as you can. You can purchase coffees as well as cakes and chocolates for consumption in the cafe and to take away.

The last food stop was The Margaret River Dairy Company. I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried out every cheese. I think my favourite was Camembert and I even bought some to take home! If there’s one good thing about a tour like this, you can try things and if you don’t like it, you can move on to try something else.

Final stop was the Colonial Brewery. Here, we had to buy our own beers on a paddle of your choice. The staff welcomed us in but were only interested in talking to people who wanted to buy drinks. I had a glass of wine and my partner in crime decided on the paddle. The Colonial Brewery was our longest stop and anything we wanted to try, we had to buy. I don’t mind spending money, however, it was meant to be a wine tasting tour. I enjoyed the tour but I think, given the option, I would like to visit more wineries and do more tasting. There were a lot of food stops, a little too many for my personal liking but everyone’s experience is different.

We made our way back to the village and got ready for dinner…to be continued!

Margaret River-Day 2

Thanks for reading! ♡