Hello from Margaret River - Part 3 (OJG)

Hi everyone,

Last post from Margaret River. Since part 2, we went on a wine tour which was great fun! First of all we went to a couple of "Boutique" vineyards (Boutique applies to wineries that have vaguely less than 70 acres of grapes). Then we had some cheese and after that some chocolate. Then back to 2 more vineyards, and then top it all off with a brewery. We were both fairly pished.

Other than that we cycled a fair bit, and we spent time feeding the ducks and their ducklings at the camp site. It was very impressive watching the duckling's parents be so protective of them at all times. That image to the right in any Australian nature program would probably be quickly followed by a crocodile lunging out of the water. Luckily for this duckling, crocodiles cannot afford to live in this river. Unluckily for this duckling, he did decide to plunge in, and when he had had enough of the cold water, had real trouble finding a bank that he could climb back onto. He succeeded in the end, much to the relief of the parents!

Walking, and site-seeing around Margaret River I cannot help but feel the place is very much "nouveau riche". I'm not sure exactly why I feel this, possibly it is down to the new European cars people drive, the slightly exclusive food shops with imported Belgium chocolates, the trendy cafes with delicious croissants and Swiss cheese. I just want to say, there is nothing wrong with this at all, in fact it makes the place quite an attractive place to be, as you can have the best of both worlds. However land prices in Margaret River are going up like crazy, and probably with good reason, as any product with "Margaret River" in front of it can add a premium to the price tag.

What is especially nice though is the number of people here who decided they had had enough with their jobs, bought some land here, and 10 years later they make wine and enjoy every minute of it. And who wouldn't?!

Oly

A quick rewind...

Lets catch you up to my last post in Margaret River...

We left Perth very late on Sunday after spending the afternoon catching up with my cousins that I haven't seen in 20 years. We had a very nice Sunday roast and the last thing we wanted to do in the end was drive 3 hours to Margaret river, but if we didn't make a start we would never leave Perth!

When it started to get dark, which is 6PM without fail, we called ahead to a camping site in Bunbury and booked ourselves in for our first night sleeping in the van (well second night for Ol) It rained and it rained, the winds wailed and beat against the van and we woke up every 30 minutes. However it was comfortable and I quite like my feet hanging out of a bed that is about a foot too short (no pun intended)

We set off south again the next morning and decided to spend the night in Yallingup, which is Aboriginal for Place of Love. There is nothing there except for the fantastic view and this time we even had hailstones battering down on the roof.

It was not looking good for camping!

Our luck was better in Margaret River, the weather was sunny at times but at least there was no rain.

We went on a wine tasting trip. After the first winery I had to start using the spitoon to tip my wine into as I started to feel a bit queasy. All was forgotten when we arrived at the chocolate factory! I think Oly and I have been on a chocolate high ever since, we will come crashing down when our meager supply runs out, then there will be tears!

There were seven in our group, three girls from the east coast and a couple that have just emigrated from Ireland. We had a really nice day and we were very lucky to have such a good group.

Oh, I decided to do some washing that morning and the tumble dryer was really useless, taking ages to dry the clothes, so I ended up doing the tour in my pajama bottoms... luckily they were plain black and they were clean on, I had not just woken up in them, unfortunately they were too short for me and flapped around my ankles. I am sure nobody noticed.

All the people who invited us to taste their wine were so nice and friendly and really made you feel as enthusiastic about their wine as they did just by listening to them. It really is another world here in Australia, we have yet to meet someone that is rude or unhelpful, it is going to be a shock when we come back to the UK for a holiday!

Em

I told you so

We had our first outdoor cooked meal today. It was beef burgers and carrots with sesame and sunflower seed bread... Even better than nandos!

I cooked while Oly did a bit of camper van envy with the van next to us. I am sure he will tell you all about it... by the sound of it we were coming out on top. Every time we see a kombi we get excited and have a peek inside, it could be a little embarrasing if we get caught.

The van is very comfortable to sleep in and as we have so many gaps in the curtains the sun streaming through wakes me up bright and early. This morning I thought Ol had been dribbling in his sleep quite severely, but it turned out that we have a leak in the pop top somewhere. Quite possibly the one that Alpha pointed out to us that day in Freo... kids nowadays, they just don't listen! Oly gaffer taped it up this afternoon so lets hope it rains again so we can test it.

I have ten more minutes left to write this before they throw us out of this internet cafe, I am suddenly feeling the pressure. I am also talking to James on MSN at the same time which doesnt help.

Talking of weather... I really thought the van was going to tip over last night, I hardly slept it was very scary, I swear wheels were lifting off the ground.

Gotta go... times up

Em

Hello from Margaret River - Part 2 (OJG)

Ok this is a sort of continuation from the last Margaret River blog...

Right, a few other things that I wanted to mention. First off, I went into a shop the other day bought a card at the till and saw this funny little book at the counter... "Aussie Slang Dictionary".. hmm... probably a waste of time... unless I bought it for the blog and added a word each day, perfect! So I bought the little book, and then put it in the back of Henry somewhere. And where do I suddenly see it again?! Emelie had grabbed the book and added Aussie Slang of the day onto her blog... pfff! It is just wrong! Anyway, I had to get that off my chest. And I won't even go into the text that I had prepared for Oodle ending dogs!

Also, I think I have mentioned this before, but people in shops over here are so friendly, I mean really truly friendly! And if you are looking for something in particular which they do not have in stock, they will immediately tell you the name of a competitor who might have it in stock. It doesn't help the guilt at all! We have found this to be particularly true of nearly every camp shop we have been to, where all sorts of conversations (non camping) have taken place.

I have noticed that an awful lot of restaurants and cafes sell Florentines (which is good) but that they do differ quite a lot not only from our typical European (and original!) Florentine, but also from each other. And whilst I love the original as one of my all time favourite foods (can it be classed as a food?), I am quite enjoying tasting all these variations. Some are very peanuty, whilst others are almost all chocolate. Some have all sorts of extra bits added on such as raisins and large dried fruit. Perhaps a chart of "Florentine of WA" will appear soon, with appropriate names given to each sub-class!

It is a really terrible thing to say, but I am starting to notice that our English accents do in fact sound drab and maybe a tiny bit depressed. I know the Australians love to end their sentences on a high, which makes things sound a lot more positive than they necessarily are. And I know that this is an annoyance to a lot of us Pommys, but when in the middle of a conversation, I can hear myself talk and the tones just don't sound as exiting as the rest. I notice this the greatest when saying hello to someone, they just sound so much more cheerful and enthusiastic about it! I have tried to deliberately sound over-cheerful, but it just doesn't have the same ring to it. I am not giving up my English accent that easily but something somewhere has to give!

Well, I think that is it for the moment. As we are out and about on camp sites at the moment, it is a lot more difficult and expensive for us to post to the blog, so it might end up being a bit more sporadic than the previous posts. Please check often and be patient :)

Also thank-you to everyone that has posted comments, please keep them coming, even if it just a "hi from me", it is great to know that our friends and family (and friendly family) are in some way still in contact, it really makes a huge difference to us.

Ok, well off for a cycle ride and then back to the camp site.

Oly

Hello from Margaret River - Part 1 (OJG)

Hey everyone,

Right now I am typing this whilst laying flat in the back of the Kombi, Henry. There are winds thrashing around us, and I am expecting rain to come back any minute now. It is not what I would call ideal, but hey there is a blog to type!

So, where are we I hear you all ask?! Well we finally left Perth on Sunday (much to the relief of Danny and Jody who had put up with us for far too long), and headed down South after a couple of stops with relatives. By the evening we made it to Bunbury, found a camping site, and then proceeded to convert the packed and messy transportation into a sleeping area. I think we did pretty well considering it was pouring down with rain and it was very dark outside. Add to this that our one fluorescent light decided to stop working after 5 minutes of use‚… a feature no doubt.

Needless to say it became obvious that we would need to get some more bits as soon as possible, such as Fridge, Side Tent, Working Fluorescent light, and a few other bits. I would just like to say that we did already know of these items before the journey, however their high prices led us to try (without) before we buy.

So getting back to the first night in Henry, everything went pretty well, and even though it rained literally the whole night (light rain, heavy rain, light rain, really bloody heavy rain, light rain, heavy rain and hailstones, start over again) I did not notice any leaks which made me sigh with relief. The next morning we got up at 9 ish and got packed up and out of the site by 10. We visited a few camping shops for more gear and then headed to Yallingup, an apparently famous place for its surfing. On our way there (whilst Henry was strugglingg with a long hill and thereforer holding up a decent line of cars behind), we saw a roo pound across the road in front of us, and then a second right behind him! I like to think that our slow driving probably saved their lives!

It was easy to see why Yallingup is famous for surfing, the wind was incredible, the waves immense and the coastline never-ending. After our first "gourmet" meal for a while (which was pretty delicious), we headed to the campsite and got ready for the night. Now I thought it had rained a lot the night before, but boy were we in for a treat! It rained heavy just about non stop the whole night, and add to that winds that were simply terrifying! I reckon with all our gear Henry must weigh at least 2000kg, but last night I was sure the wind was going to knock him over. Of course nothing happened, and in the morning we were greeted with a beautiful clear sky. I know the winds were substantial because several of the other long term campers at the site were exchanging their views on it. Oh and I woke up to find a small pool of water, but I think I saw the source of the problem and intend to fix it tonight.

So, this morning we headed down the Caves Road to Margaret River, which was a lovely short journey through woods and vineyards. Margaret River the town is actually very small but very sweet. As Emelie said, it looked like your perfect town from an American movie. And that is where we are right now. Margaret River as an area is vast, and we will hopefully do a wine & chocolate tour of some of that area tomorrow, weather permitting.

Oly