Tired from our overnight flight, we drove 3.5 hours from Perth to Margaret River and our home for several nights at the Cape Lodge.  The grounds are beautiful with vineyards, pond, tennis courts, and lovely rooms. A Malaysian couple is said to own the property and they have taken an interest in the wine and foods of the area.

After unpacking and freshening up, we had lunch at the Driftwood Winery across the road and took a ride into the town of Margaret River to visit the regional wine center.  Later, we had an excellent dinner at the Lodge.

Jan 3 - Sat.  After a full night of sleep and a relaxing morning reading outside on our patio, we were able to renew our sightseeing regime.  We drove north to the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park to see the lighthouse and walk around the point.  This is the beginning of the Cape to Cape trail system that continues south to Cape Leeuwin.  The flies were so thick that we had to cover our faces in order to walk around on the trails. 

After lunch at Yallingup, we walked along the white sand beach and tested the water temperature which turned out to be cold like the Pacific.  That afternoon, we investigated some local wine brokers and wineries while exploring the area.  Much of the land is ranches and pastures in the process of conversion to vineyards.  Compared to the Napa- Sonoma vineyards, these properties are very large.  Much of the labor for the farms is done by students during the harvest season as there is not a large steady migrant population. Ponds are dugs for water retention much the same as in California.  Dinner was at Flutes, a part of the Brookland winery - very strange dinner and wine.

 

Jan 4 - Sun.  Our drive was south to Cape Leeuwin and Augusta. Here the terrain was very different with lots of trees and rolling hills along the way.  Augusta is a small, slow moving town.  We drove out to the point and struggled to walk in the gusty winds. 

On our return to the Lodge, we made several winery stops (Voyage Estate and Leeuwin Estate) which made us feel like we were back in Sonoma County. 

Leeuwin Winery has an airport on its property along with overnight accommodations - something to keep in mind for a return trip. We had a nice lunch at Cullen and visited the winery.

We finished the afternoon with a set of tennis and Jon won the honor of buying my dinner at the Cape Lodge restaurant again.

On to Perth