uncomplicated & unrefined: Wine, chocolate and other indulgences in Margaret River

We were well overdue for a weekend "down south." For weeks, no months actually, we’d been talking about spending a night down in Margaret River, sans Bronson who would stay with Shane’s parents. In the 10th hour (not quite the 11th but somewhere around the 10th) we booked a room for Saturday night and locked it in. Really, we had no excuse not to. Staying in Perth for the weekend would most likely see us landing a spot on our couch rather than a spot in the social pages of Sunday’s paper.

The town of Margaret River is 280 kilometers (175 miles) south of Perth and a three hour drive. The main street of town (and that's all you get) is less than a mile long and reminds me of the mountain towns of Colorado but with surf shops in place of ski shops. It’s charming, sophisticated, trendy, and full of surfing vagabonds. But, the town itself is not the attraction, it’s the entire Margaret River Region with its diverse range of tourist delights that make it a popular weekend get-away for us city dwellers. The region encompasses the land between Cape Naturaliste on the north and Cape Leeuwin on the south. The particularly adventurous can hike the 135 kilometer (84 mile) Cape to Cape track along the Indian Ocean. We chose to cover this region in the comfort of our car along Caves Road which also goes from Cape to Cape.

The top attraction in Margaret River is its wineries. The first vines were planted in 1967, in 1996 the wine region was officially registered, and today it’s the home of over 100 wineries, most of them with cellar doors open to the public. Another famous attraction is its enormous surfing waves. Margaret River attracts surfers from around the globe and has been home to several pro surfing competitions.

But there’s more! The limestone coast hides around 350 caves, 4 of them which are open to the public for tours. These caves are overshadowed by the area’s other attractions but are awe- inspiring and definitely worth a visit. And after you’ve sampled the last glass of wine, there’s always whale watching. Each winter Humpback and Southern Right Whales travel from the frozen waters of Antarctica to the warmer shores of Australia. Tour operators provide boat tours for an up close and personal experience or you can sit on the beach and watch as they leap and frolic in the distance. Did I mention the locally grown olives, gourmet foods, beautiful Karri forests with 60 meter canopies, and yes, there is an actual Margaret River winding its way through rolling hills out into the Indian Ocean.

We wanted to sample it all in less than 48 hours and I must say my trip left me wanting more and suggesting to Shane that we should spend a month or so immersing ourselves in all it has to offer...after we win that 40 million lotto jackpot tomorrow night.

We left Perth around 9am, arriving in town just in time for lunch at the popular Margaret River Bakery. We then decided to head down to the southern point that is Cape Leeuwin where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet. We were hoping to spot some whales but either we were too impatient or there were none around. It was a completely respectable hour to start drinking wine so we hit up two wineries, one of which was also a farm shop and relaxed on their patios on a beautiful winter’s day.

Our home for the night was the Loaring Place Bed and Breakfast. A lovely B&B off Caves Road tucked away in the bush with four guest rooms. A steal at $185 a night during this slow time of year. But before heading to the B&B we stopped by the Margaret River Venison Shop for some dried meats. We really wanted to have dinner at one of the wineries. Only a few of the larger wineries serve dinner and instead many serve lunch or “nibbles” during the day. We ate at Leeuwin Estate which took us down dark windy roads that opened up to the beautiful winery with its small restaurant. It was a perfect setting.

Although many of the wineries open at 10am on a Sunday, we needed to ease into our wine tasting so we did a one hour tour of Lake Cave that morning. I learned many fascinating things about caves and being exposed to millions of years of history made me feel very small. We then had lunch at the Bootleg Brewery, yes there are also local brewers in Margaret River, before hitting up a couple more wineries, then the Providore Farm Shop and the Margaret River Chocolate Company.

When it came time to make our way back to Perth we drove though some tiny beach towns and also the popular beach destinations of Dunsborough and Busselton. We returned home with deer, emu, and kangaroo sausages, sundried pears and plums, various types of chocolates, raw unprocessed honey, vanilla figs and about an extra kilo on our waistlines.

Although Margaret River attracts both interstate and international tourists, its isolation no doubt keeps some travelers at bay. Perth is so damn isolated that a return airline ticket from the east coast is around $500 AUD on average and a 4.5 hour flight and then you still have to get to Margaret River. I’m not complaining. I’m happy to keep it all to ourselves in WA.