Sept. 18
Morning – some quality phone and internet time in Margaret River. At the visitor center we asked advice on winery tours – we’re interested in seeing the technology, not so much the tasting room. The person there suggested the Leeuwin Winery.
This is a historic winery. Along about 1967 some California wine bigshot was looking for a place to start growing grapes and made an offer to a cattle rancher near MR. Rancher was savvy enough to find out who this guy was and figure, hmm, there must be money in grapes, so he didn’t sell, but started his own vineyard and wine production. The rest is history. There must be 50+ vineyards in the region.
We got to the Leeuwin Winery, coincidentally named after the cape whose lighthouse we'd toured, and the chap on the desk asked if we’d like to take the eleven o’clock tour. As it was ten to, we said sure and congratulated ourselves on lucky timing. Well, we were the only two on the tour. A little earlier and I’m sure we could have gotten the 10:30 tour.
This place is more than just a winery. It’s a site of big-name concerts on the lawn, pictured here with the adjacent restaurant.
Morning – some quality phone and internet time in Margaret River. At the visitor center we asked advice on winery tours – we’re interested in seeing the technology, not so much the tasting room. The person there suggested the Leeuwin Winery.
This is a historic winery. Along about 1967 some California wine bigshot was looking for a place to start growing grapes and made an offer to a cattle rancher near MR. Rancher was savvy enough to find out who this guy was and figure, hmm, there must be money in grapes, so he didn’t sell, but started his own vineyard and wine production. The rest is history. There must be 50+ vineyards in the region.
We got to the Leeuwin Winery, coincidentally named after the cape whose lighthouse we'd toured, and the chap on the desk asked if we’d like to take the eleven o’clock tour. As it was ten to, we said sure and congratulated ourselves on lucky timing. Well, we were the only two on the tour. A little earlier and I’m sure we could have gotten the 10:30 tour.
This place is more than just a winery. It’s a site of big-name concerts on the lawn, pictured here with the adjacent restaurant.
Also, each year Aussie artists are commissioned to produce paintings which are then used in wine labels. Several of the paintings are shown in a basement, that is, wine cellar, gallery.
Well, we got done with the tour, having asked a lot of questions, then each had a sip of one wine, nodded approvingly, just so our guide wouldn’t be too disappointed and headed north to Fremantle, a seaside town near Perth. An America’s Cup yacht race was held here when Australia hosted a challenge.
We got to Freo, as they call it, in late afternoon. We go downtown looking for a “torchlight tour” of historic Fremantle, find where it takes place, unfortunately, though, not on Tuesdays.
We split a kangaroo dinner and a ribeye steak dinner. Kangaroo is OK, but you wouldn’t “misteak” it for beef. Too late for pictures, though. You can go Google.
Next morning, up early for a drive across the S side of Perth at morning rush time. Goes OK, though, as often seems to be the case, it was hard to find a place to gas up near the rental agency. We had allowed plenty of time, so no reason to worry about making our flight. Until …
We wait fully 45 mins. while the one clerk in the office processes one customer. Luckily, we still had adequate time to catch our plane. Don’t know what would have happened if we’d been pressed for time.
So, that's it for SW Australia. Had a good time, saw lots, avoided driving mishaps, and managed to squeeze into the upper bunk four times. Here's a farewell shot of Perth, shot earlier in the week.
Cheers,Rob
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