Australian Travel Series – South-West

Our trip to Western Australia had two distinct parts. Last week explored the city of Perth plus visiting friends before heading north to the Pinnacles National Park and Cervantes.

This week we explore the South-West in our Australian Travel Series.  After exploring Perth and north to the Pinnacles, Cervantes and Jurien Bay our next phase was to drive down to the South-West of Perth and experience the differences.

No surprisingly there are huge differences in micro-climates and therefore the flora and fauna between the north and south of Perth.  The Pinnacles and Cervantes is mostly made up of low salt bush, desert sands in an arid and dry landscape.

As we drove back toward Perth and beyond this arid landscape transformed into lush fields, farmlands, vineyards and thickly wooded forests.  Amongst this rich setting we drove through large forests made up of the native Karri, Jarrah and Marri trees which cover large portions of the south-west.

I can see why the inhabitants of this magical part of Australia live here.  Although it was winter and a little rainy the temperatures were in the high teens and not too cold.  Which as you can imagine are great for exploring!

We decided on visiting the Wills Domain winery for a tasting, and fortunately for us we were the only people there.

Hence, this translates into a one-on-one conversation with wine expert, and because we had her undivided attention allowed us to taste a few more incredible wines that were not listed.

In addition, the winery also has one of the finest restaurants in Western Australia and is often ranked in the top five places to eat in the state.  The restaurant overlooks the estate’s vineyards, which encompasses the impressive Gunyulgup Valley and the Indian Ocean in the distance.

As our wine host explained the beauty of their location is that the ocean air flows directly up the valley coating the vines in a light covering of sea salt which adds texture and quality to the grapes as they mature.

I can see why this winery is so highly rated for its wines but also the gorgeous setting of its world class restaurant.

We were staying at the Pullman Bunker Bay resort, perched high on the hills overlooking the bay with its thundering surf and white sandy beach.  It truly must be an incredible place to be in the height of the summer.

We ate at the Wayfinder Wine Bar in Dunsborough and absolutely loved the food!  We started with Paraguayan cheese bread, followed by catch of the day along with roasted pumpkin, house ricotta, pepitas praline and sage.  If you go to the south-west you have to go, not only is the food delicious, but they have a great selection of wines accompanied by a relaxing vibe.

No one can make a visit to the south-west of Australia without a stop in the town of Margaret River.  This town is often regarded as the central hub of south-western Australia and is situated only 10 minutes from the coast and the popular surf beaches of Prevelly and Surfers Point.

Yes, the stores are a tad overpriced, but that is the toll you pay for being such a popular place I suppose.  We had lunch at the Settlers Taven in the center of town before heading out to Prevelly.   This well-known and popular live music venue is centrally situated for some epic concerts and shows and is an important part of the Australian music scene in this region.

Given the weather and the strong coastal winds, the surf was huge but a little too choppy for surfers to be out but we did capture some incredible photos of the ocean and beaches as we worked our way along the coast back toward Dunsborough.

Our final South-West experience was to go Truffle hunting which was what Judy had always wanted to experience.

We headed out early from our hotel to the town of Manjimup to begin our Truffle hunt.  We chose the Hound and Hunter although we had other options this one spoke to me.

After meeting our guide at the cafe the small group of us followed them out of town about 10 kilometres to their property set within a large forest.

Our guide explained how they had established the truffle farm and the hurdles they had to overcome in order to create the right environment to grow truffles.  No, these aren’t wild truffles but have created the right environment and organic methods for them to flourish.

In addition, the other favourite part of this experience was to interact with the truffle dog (Max).  He was trained specifically to find the scent of truffles for which he works about two-hours per day finding these delicacies.  And because of his expertise is worth over $50,000.

On our hour-long stroll through the forest Max identified probably 30 truffles.  The beauty of the experience is that we all got an opportunity dig them up (carefully) given the price.  They ranged in size from as big as your fist to smaller ones about the sixth of a marble.

Max only finds the truffles ready for harvest, and as our guide said there are literally a carpet of truffles under our feet, but they ripen at different times and so Max and his cohorts can walk the truffle forest every day for four months and find new truffles every day.

Incredible to imagine!

On our final night in Perth, we visited my Canadian mate Tino at his Beeliar location for the best pizza in Perth.  After an incredible pizza or three with him, Mandy (Tino’s girlfriend) and Craig Stewart (another Dingo football player from Toronto) we headed back to our hotel.

Another great trip in the books and definitely a place worth exploring on your next trip to Australia or Western Australia as the case may be.   And if you’re heading to Perth check out Tino’s pizza – seriously awesome!

Until next week.

Ciao!