SQ 787-10 Dreamliner New Business Class to Perth, Margaret River Glamping & Vineyards

[yflyer]

Cape Grace was the last stop of our tour with Hank. It was a day well spent. While the sights in the Margaret River region are well documented in brochures, tourist guides and websites, these weren't really a substitute for a guide like Hank, who knew the region, places, and even the residents and business owners very well.

There were many hidden gems and spots for photos that we would never have discovered for ourselves. And as someone who knew the wine business so well, Hank was also the ideal person for anyone who wanted an expert guide to wineries and vineyards here.

There were many different kinds of visitors to the Margaret River vineyards, he said.

"Yes...", I agreed. Mrs yflyer and I were not serious oenophiles, but we did appreciate good wines, and were just here to enjoy ourselves.

"We're here to drink, not taste and spit...those who do that are a different breed altogether..." I went on.

Margaret River did see quite a number of serious wine collectors and trade visitors too. Hank had done multi-day tours of wineries, where some serious wine tasting did take place, and often the visitors were very impressed with what they tasted at the many lesser known, boutique wineries. "Why are these wines not more well known?" was a common question.

On the other end of the spectrum, there were wine tours with young people or college students on holiday, where they would go around, by the van load, to different wineries to drink their fill. By the 3rd or 4th stop, they would all be thoroughly sloshed. We did encounter one such high spirited group on one of our wine stops. The spirit-fueled banter was pretty gregarious...all in good fun...not that Mrs yflyer and I were in any way sober by that point either...

A fun way to tour the region: sightseeing in the morning and then several wineries in the afternoon. Multi-day tours were also common -- there is enough to see and do in the region to keep visitors occupied for several days.

[yflyer]

There wasn't quite enough time on the one-day tour with Hank to cover off all the wineries we wanted to see.

"Is there another vineyard you think we should visit on our own?" we asked Hank.

"Heydon", Hank replied...

So the next day, we found ourselves heading up a long driveway, past immaculately tended vines...



...to the tasting rooom at Heydon Estate...



Heydon is a family owned and operated winery that produces single vineyard wines of superb quality using traditional and organic/biodynamic techniques. No pesticides are used, and all fruit are hand picked.



Parked outside the tasting room was a beautiful MGB Roadster in Racing Green...

[yflyer]

We said hello to Ray, who was manning the tasting room that day, who warmly welcomed us inside...



"Whose MG is that outside?" I asked...

"Mine!" was Ray's reply...

"Beautiful car!", I said in awe...

The owners of Heydon Estate, George and Mary Heydon, were fans of cricket, so all their wines' names had cricket-themes...

From "The Declaration", their sparkling blanc de blanc, with the label depicting a cricket ball...



...to their Sauvignon Blanc, "Chin Music"...



...and "Hallowed Turf" Chardonnay...



My favourite wine, indeed my favourite of the trip, was their Cabernet Sauvignon, "W.G. Grace"...



This was a wonderfully concentrated and beautifully structured Cabernet that I simply could not get enough of...needless to say a couple of bottles of this wine ended up in my luggage, but I would happily have carted home a case of W.G. Grace Cabernet Sauvignon if I could...

[yflyer]

The last winery we visited on our trip was Vasse Felix. This was the first vineyard to be established in Margaret River, in 1967. Since then, it has grown into a major wine label known worldwide.



Their beautiful tasting room and restaurant is set on sprawling grounds where visitors could take in views of neat rows of vines.







With Mrs yflyer kindly volunteering her services as designated driver that day, I was free to indulge in yet another round of wine tasting...



These were decent wines...



...and at the top of the range, the Vasse Felix wines were excellent...



...but the 2014 Tom Cullity Cabernet/Malbec, their top wine, was not available to taste that day, not even if you were willing to pay the token $5 tasting fee.

I enjoyed the wine tasting at Vasse Felix. Service was impeccable, and the facility itself was beautiful. After the intimate tasting rooms of Fraser Gallop, Cape Grace and Heydon Estate, however, I could not help thinking that the experience in the Vasse Felix tasting room, impressive though it was, felt more like a sampling of the wares of a commercial venture, rather than tasting the fruits of the labours of a passionate winemaker...

Still, it was nice to visit this sprawling estate and tasting room. I've been a fan of Vasse Felix wines for many years, and their wines are widely available in Singapore (And even DFS at Changi Airport).

[yflyer]

After two days at Olio Bello Lakeside Glamping, which was a 15 minute drive away from the town of Margaret River, we moved to different accomodations, in the town itself.



The town of Margaret River has a main street lined with businesses, restaurants and other businesses, including Coles and Woolworth's supermarkets.

We stayed at Vintages accomodation, very conveniently located on a quiet corner just 3 blocks off the main street.



This is single storey property with rooms and apartments laid out along a covered corrider, right next to guest parking.



Our apartment had a small living room...





Kitchenette with fridge and microwave (But no stovetop...only one two-bedroom apartment at Vintages had a stovetop)...



Bedroom...





Small outdoor patio...



The bathroom...



This was a spacious apartment in a convenient location. After a couple of days of glamping, it was a nice change of scenery to be staying right in the middle of town.

While we still had our rental SUV with us, the central location of Vintages meant that the restaurants in town that we wanted to check out were all within walking distance...

[yflyer]

Our first stop after checking in at Vintages was lunch in town...

We took a stroll to Squid Lips...



This was another one of Hank's recommendations, and once again, he was bang on target...



"Try the local whiting and the gummy shark...", Hank had suggested...



The fish and chips were fried up fresh, and given to us all wrapped up in paper...we were told to "just turn it upside down, put it on the table and unwrap it...go ahead and make a mess..."



...and that is exactly what we did...



Apart from Augusta whiting and gummy shark, we also ordered a serving of their battered squid with salt and pepper...

There was no need for plates...we just unwrapped the paper, spread out the contents, and dug in!



Yum...spectacularly delicious...some of the nicest fish and chips we had ever eaten. The squid was delicious too!

[yflyer]

On this trip, we also learned that the Margaret River region also had many limestone caves, formed a million years ago, which are now popular tourist attractions.

After lunch, we visited one of them, Mammoth Caves, which as the named implied, was huge...



Inside, a stunningly beautiful cave with limestone stalagtites and stalagmites, all lit up along a guided route with walkways and stairs (170 steps to climb up to the surface at the end of the cave route...)



Temperatures inside were cool year-round and there was a the cathedral-like silence in the cave, which gave it a very unique, tranquil atmosphere...unlike the busy world on the earth's surface, in the cave, it was as if time stood still...





There is a self-guided audio tour available (via headset). Best to go off-peak, when the cave is not busy. We were there in the late afternoon not long before closing time, when only a handful of other visitors were present....

[yflyer]

That evening, we had dinner at Miki's Open Kitchen...



Both table and counter seating were available.



The most popular seating at this restaurant was at the counter...



A range of tasting/degustation menu's were available, along with either wine or sake pairings.



We opted for Miki's Complete with the wine pairing, comprising largely of wines from the Margaret River region...

Sparking white wine from Carpe Diem Vineyards to start...





The amuse bouche course...



Cold entrees...



...which were paired with Blue Poles Fiano...



Warm entrees were next...



...paired with Cape Grace Chardonnay...

[yflyer]

For our main, the wine was a Coda Pinot Noir 2017...



The main comprised 3 tasting portions...snapper with mentaiko aioli, soy-braised beef croquette with wasabi creme fraiche and pickled chilli, and black beer-braised pork cheek...



After that, a rice dish of Tasmanian salmon ochazuke...



...which was served with strict instructions from our server not to eat this until after the ever-ebullient Miki came to explain the dish, and finish it by pouring on the green tea broth...





Dessert was a sesame semifreddo and chocolate gelato, paired with a sweet wine, Flametree Botrytis Semillon...



What a memorable dinner...a beautifully curated tasting menu which was both creative and original, and which also showcased local wines from the area.

No wonder Miki's was so popular (And complete booked out...).

It was a short stroll in the cool night air back to Vintages...

[yflyer]

Every Saturday morning, there is a Farmers' Market at Margaret River...





It was not a huge market (Margaret River is not a huge town)...but the local delights on offer made it worthwhile to visit, not least as an ideal place for a lazy Saturday morning breakfast/brunch...

There was good coffee, served out of a VW Kombi...



Crepes and wraps...



Fresh fruit (And vegetables)...



Delectable looking bread...



And gorgeous free-range eggs from the Margaret River Free Range Egg farm...

Including these cartons of double yolkers (Someone asked how they distinguished double yolkers from regular eggs, and the answer they gave was fascinating...)



I bought a couple of cartons of their eggs to hand carry back to Singapore. It is a little known fact that eggs are permissible hand-carry items onboard planes, and get through airport x-ray machines with no problem at all...

A surprise find at this farmers' market was Chinese Ma La dumplings...



Ma La here referred to the numbing taste of Sichuan flower pepper along with the spiciness of Sichuan chillis...



Very popular at the market, and quite delicious!

[yflyer]

After the Farmers' Market, while Mrs yflyer and Miss yflyer no.2 headed into town on a shopping expedition, I changed up into running attire and headed out for a run.

The route for the day was simple: It was 10km from Margaret River town to Surfer's Point, and there was now a cycling/pedestrian path that led directly directly from town directly there.

There are two kinds of run I like. The first kind is where there are things to see at every turn. Many city runs are like that...Rome is a good example.

But there is the other, second kind of run where it is just you and an endless trail leading into the distance: an almost zen-like, solo running experience...just you and the road ahead, one stride at a time.

The day's run was of the second category: a straight route west where the only scenery of note would be at the very end, at Surfer's Point.

It was now 11am and the sun was up but it was a cool 22 degrees -- perfect for a run!

I headed out of Vintages...



...and quickly cut across town, along Bussell Highway, the main street...



...before turning right at Reuther Park...



...to Wallcliffe Road, which would take me almost all the way to the coast...



I passed the Margaret River Youth Precinct...



...and St Thomas More School...



...and also a drive-through bottle shop (What a wonderful business idea...)...

[yflyer]

Just outside town limits, there was just the road and the cycling/running path next to it….



Occasionally the road was visible…



…with occasional views of vineyards on the opposite side of the road…



There were several stretches where the cycling/running path went through the forest, a fair distance from the road…



Just before the 6km mark, there is a need to cross Caves Road, before continuing on the path next to Wadcliffe Road...



As I got closer to the coastline, the vegetation opened up, and there wasn’t much cover or protection from the sun or UV…



I passed the Margaret River Golf Club (“Visitors Welcome”)...



As I approached Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, glimpses of the ocean could be seen in the distance…



The path went over a hill with a good view of the Margaret River at it neared the coast…





Finally, spectacular ocean views…

[yflyer]

I arrived at Surfers Point, the end point of my run.





At that time, unlike the previous occasion we were here with Hank several days ago, there weren’t any big waves or surfers, just kiteboarders taking advantage of the windy conditions to zip along the coastline…





There were good restroom facilities available at Surfers Point.



It was now 12.20pm -- right on schedule! Moments later, at the pre-arranged time, Mrs yflyer drove into the Surfers Point parking lot to pick me up and fetch me back to town.



Total distance from Margaret River town to Surfers Point: 10km



A very pleasant running route…on a dedicated cycling/footpath most of the way, and one almost impossible to get lost on. And the spectacular scenery at the Surfers Point end point, not to mention the sea breeze, was a perfect pay-off after the long run.

The distance to the coast was very convenient as well: 10km was just right for me…but if you wanted to do a half marathon distance, you could always run back to town to make it 20km. And if it was marathon you felt like, you could do this round trip twice!

[yflyer]

In the afternoon, we headed to The Berry Farm for lunch.



The Berry Farm has a cafe serving seasonal fare, with a very pleasant al fresco dining area.



Despite a few flies (Common in summer all over WA), the outdoor area, surrounded by flowers, was a very pleasant place to have coffee...



...and dine on savoury, as well as sweet, pies and scones...



There were beautiful small birds flying around the flowers and shrubbery...



...which were quite interested in pecking on any food scraps on the ground, or indeed even food left on plates...



...these birds had no fear of humans...



...which could potentially lead to what one friend put as "Snow White moments" with small birds getting up close and personal...

This sounded like a good idea, but in practice having birds swoop in, land on your table and approach your food could actually be quite intimidating...for anyone not used to birds, we nervously joked that the bird experience might have been closer to Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds", than Disney's "Snow White"...

Cafe aside, the Berry Farm is a well regarded wine producer, with dry wines under the Thornhill label...



...as well as a range of fortified wines (Similar to Port wines...)...



... in addition to fruit/berry-based preserves and syrups, as well as cider, which are available to taste in their tasting room...

[yflyer]

We also made a quick stop at chocolate maker Temper Temper...



...which also has a nice selection of chocolate to taste in their store...





"I could spend a long time here tasting chocolate!", said Miss yflyer no.2



The range of chocolate on offer was mindboggling, from single origin varieties...



To their "Art Series"...



I suspect a large proportion of their business would still be their regular white, milk and dark chocolate bars, though...