Around the West in 90-Odd Days: Days 76-78 (17-19 Sep) A Land Flowing with Wine & Chocolate

Margaret River! The promised land, flowing with milk (exotic ice-cream) and honey (truffle infused), but more importantly wine, chocolate and cheese. The cradle of world-class produce, we can see why everyone up north – and from all over Australia, really - salivates and swoons at the very mention of this region. The sparse wilderness which dominates the majority of Western Australia suddenly transforms into lush green fields, huge tree forests, vineyards and orchards.

Because we had been transported into some sort of paradise in Margaret River, we somehow ended up with a private ensuite on our caravan site there as well. Which was great when it rained at night.

Margaret River has 215 vineyards and 187 wineries. It has 5 chocolate factories, and countless other providores selling all manner of fine fare. How to choose just a few to visit? The Berry Farm was recommended; an excellent choice, as I got to sample up to 6 of their fruit wines and liqueurs. Let me know if you want to sample the blackberry liqueur which pairs well with dry champagne on our return; I’ve already booked Joce in for this. We also watched feeding time at the huge bird enclosure which doubles as an orchard; the chickens share their quarters with ducks, peacocks and even an emu, who very much looks as though he is still wondering whatever happened to his life.

You must understand that the wineries down here are lavish, capital L. We wanted the full experience, so picked Voyager Estate, which comes with extensive formal gardens. They do 3 and 6 course gustation lunches, but we opted for the cheese platter and bread plate, curling up near the indoor open fire with a wine flight of 3 (Liz), while the wind blew and rain fell outside. Happiness with a capital H.

Driving around Margaret River we were intrigued by what looked like historic ruins down by the river, and, in usual Dave style, went crashing through the bush looking for this elusive building. Even more intriguingly, once we found it, the buildings were indeed historic (a Victorian Georgian mansion), and destroyed by fire, but the very elaborate and extensive gardens were in immaculate condition. A private gardener spotted us and immediately ordered us to leave. We later learned we had stumbled upon a certain private estate lost in a fire some years ago – a controlled burn that was apparently not so controlled. Its future remains very uncertain.

Chocolate – we picked the Gabriel chocolate place, because we know a nice guy by that name back in Canberra. Their chocolate berry brownies - superlative. Gabriel would definitely have enjoyed them too.

Talking about desserts, we managed to get ourselves invited for supper to the home of Carmelo, owner of Edible Art in Margaret River, award-winning cake maker, who also just happens to have cooked dessert for the Queen. No, I’m not making this up (he’s also a descendant of a famous Sicilian Mob family, but that’s a whole other story). We met Carmelo and his lovely family at the Margaret River Baptist church and were even more delighted to discover – through Facebook – that we already had friends in common.

We visited the magnificent coastline, took hundreds more pictures of the noxious arum lilies, fields of flowers, vineyards and winding walking trails and – well – you have to come visit it yourself. We’ve provided some photos to whet your appetite. Don't get jealous, get travelling.

For those who have been concerned about Dave’s toes – they are improving significantly, and looking much better. He is on his 5th (!) lot of antibiotics, so we’ll see what happens. He has now seen 4 doctors in 3 months, more than he usually sees in 3 years. This trip will officially go down in the record as The One Where Dave Got Sick (not Liz). Although we still have 2 weeks to go…