During the Australian winter months (June until August), many Australians tend to go north for a holiday. Whereas Australia’s south is experiencing lower temperatures and rain during winter, it’s dry season in the tropical north with temperatures above thirty degrees Celsius. We went north last year on a fantastic road trip to Exmouth so we decided to explore the lush and wild south coast this winter instead. Over two long weekends, we visited the wine region of Margaret River and Augusta.
Margaret River is a small town 277 km south of Perth. It’s known for its craft breweries, (mainly boutique) wineries and agriculture. The nearby coast features stunning beaches and surf breaks, and the waters host migratory humpback whales between June and November. The town is named after the river that runs through it and the Margaret River wine region stretches about 100 km from north to south, in between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin. The Mediterranean-style climate, lacking extreme summer and winter temperatures, provide ideal growing conditions for the vintage. Even though the region only produces three percent of Australian grapes, it commands over 20 percent of the Australian premium wine market. Augusta, the nearest town to Cape Leeuwin, is a further 43 km from Margaret River and situated within the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River. The entire region has a lot to offer for holiday makers, from wine and brewery tours, local delicatessen over whale watching and mountain biking to caves and other attractions.
Wine tours in Margaret River
A great and uncomplicated way to explore the wineries, provided you don’t have your own driver, is certainly a wine tour. We booked the award-winning Bushtucker Tours which, in addition to wine, beer and cider tastings, features a buffet style lunch with “bush” foods. Our tour guide and driver, Lenny, is a seasoned oenologist (wine making specialist) as well as a viticulturist (specialist in growing grapes for wine production), and he shared his abundant knowledge with us. The first winery, Jarvis Estate, already exceeded our expectations because rather than going straight to tasting their wines, which most wineries on these tours do, the owner gave us a full run down of “wine basics” from grape varieties to producing the wine and how to properly taste it. We couldn’t leave without a bottle of their “WTF” (Wine That’s Fortified), a port style, ripe Merlot blended with distilled red wine. Next up we stopped at Haywood Wines, who work with local artists that feature on their labels. I particularly enjoyed their Sauvignon Blanc, so one of those followed Jarvis Estate’s WTF into the shopping basket. At Knotting Hill Vineyard, we savoured our lunch buffet featuring local meats such as kangaroo and crocodile as well as local cheeses, chutneys and many wild berries sampled straight from the bush. After a short visit at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory, we headed opposite the road for a quick vino at Fishbone winery and left with a lovely bottle of their Tempranillo for the shopping basket. By the time we stopped at the last winery, neither my taste buds nor my brain was firing anymore. The tour ended with a visit to a Cheeky Monkey Brewery & Cidery before Lenny dropped us off right where he’d picked us up earlier and more sober: In front of our accommodation.
Of course, such a wine tour will only ever scratch the surface of all the beautiful wineries and breweries this region has to offer. There are still so many wonderful places we have to explore but from what we’ve seen, we have also really enjoyed Glengarty Road, a rustic farmhouse with grass-fed meats, house-made charcuterie, seasonal produce and local goods, where we had a beautiful lunch and tasted some of their delicious drops. Another favourite is the Margaret River Brewhouse in town for some local brews and live music during weekends.
A special lunch at Leeuwin Estate
Liam treated me to a very special lunch at the reputable and prestigious Leeuwin Estate. This family-owned winery has been a founding member – together with four others – of the Margaret River district. The three-course fine dining experience was one of a kind. Everything we ate – from the scallops and kangaroo fillet that were served as entrées, over the gnocchi and Waygu beef cheek we had as mains to the deserts of rhubarb parfait and cheese platter – was simply mouth-watering. Even Liam, who usually inhales his food, paced himself so he was able to enjoy every bite that much longer. Each course can be enjoyed with a matching wine to complement the flavours in the food. We tasted a few more wines after lunch and walked away with some Sauvignon Blanc from their Art Series. This range represents Leeuwin’s most opulent and age-worthy wines, featuring paintings commissioned from leading contemporary Australian artists on their labels. Most of the artwork used in the Art Series is featured in the estate’s very own in-house art gallery, now featuring over 150 paintings. Leeuwin wines are available in 30 markets.
Mountain biking in Margaret River
With all that yummy food and beverage on offer, it’s not a bad idea to get some exercise under the belt when in Margaret River. After hiring mountain bikes at The Hairy Marron, we set off on the Wadandi Track running from Witchcliffe just south of Margaret River to the nearby town of Cowaramup. Whilst we were told that the track was quite wet, we had no idea just how dirty we would become. At some point we just abandoned the idea of going slowly through puddles because there was just no escaping the wet and muddy splashes. The path was in parts completely flooded so we just raced through and embraced the experience for what it was – and had a lot of fun. More information about mountain bike trails in Margaret River can be found here.
Visiting the caves in the Margaret River and Augusta region
The Margaret River region features over a hundred highly decorated limestone caves, formed approximately one million years ago. We visited the Lake Cave, which, as the name says, features a permanent lake whose surface reflects the magnificent pillars, stalagmites and stalactites that have formed in this fascinating underground world over thousands of years. The water levels are currently rather low, but the cave is incredibly beautiful nevertheless. As we proceeded through the cave, the tour guide explained the various formations of stalagmites and stalactites to us, and at the end of the cave, a light show lit up the entire scenario in different colours. At one point, the tour guide switched off the light and the entire group of visitors sat still for a little while, admiring the complete silence and darkness surrounding us.
The Jewel Cave is the biggest show cave in Western Australia with three massive chambers featuring stunning formations such as a very large stalagmite called ‘The Karri Forest’, and beautiful examples of flowstone such as ‘The Frozen Waterfall’ and ‘the Organ-pipes’. Even though the Lake Cave is incredibly beautiful, I enjoyed visiting the Jewel Cave more, simply because there is so much to see and it’s so vast. Fossilised remains of several Tasmanian Tigers or ‘Thylacines’ have been discovered within Jewel Cave’s chambers, safely preserved more than 3000 years after the species became extinct. There is a skeleton of a thylacine on display in the Jewel Cave centre.
Whale watching in Augusta
Between May to August is the time when Humpback Whales are passing Augusta on their northern and southern migration. After this, they can be spotted from Perth until early December on their southern migration. I find it quite incredible that you can book a tour to see these magnificent creatures in the wild for only 90 AUD (49 GBP / 57 EUR). I have already done three tours with Whale Watch Western Australia, a family run business which is now running in 6th generation. There’s always an incredible amount of information given about the cetaceans throughout the tours. The Humpback Whale Tour lasts for a couple of hours, and we spotted a few whales early in the trip. It was very moving to see them come up so close to the boat, letting out a deep sigh while spraying water out of their nostrils, flapping their tail fins while going under again, and sometimes even eying our boat up curiously. It wasn’t my first whale watching tour and it’s surely not going to be my last. Read more about a recent orca tour I did in Bremer Bay.
The Cape to Cape track
The Margaret River region is also the home of the famous Cape to Cape track, running 123 km from Cape Naturaliste in the north to Cape Leeuwin in the south. To tackle the whole track in one trip is a great challenge (usually 5 – 7 days), but multiple vehicle access points allow the trail to be completed in smaller segments. Overnight options include some very basic camping areas for track walkers only, campgrounds with more facilities and vehicle access as well as of course the plentiful other accommodation within the Margaret River region. We only did smaller hikes along the Cape to Cape track during our getaways but getting more kilometres under the belt in this stunning scenery is definitely on the bucket list!
Staying in Margaret River
Whilst we go camping quite a lot on our trip, we were looking for cosy accommodation for our winter getaway. We ended up booking the Rosewood Guesthouse which is ten minutes walking distance from the town centre, and felt we got just what we wanted. Our charming Leeuwin room on the upper level featured a comfortable king size bed, an en-suite bathroom and opulent armchairs overlooking the garden. Upon our arrival, we received a complimentary bottle of red wine from Redgate, a local winery, as well as a cheese platter featuring blue cheese, brie and cheddar, crackers, mixed nuts and dry fruit as well as olives. I believe this was because we booked direct with them. Since it was a rainy day, we sat down in our cosy room and enjoyed the wine and cheese platter while the wind and rain raged outside. What a great start to our stay! As far as character goes, this place is hard to beat. There are two cooked breakfast options to choose from every morning plus fruit parfait. The hosts, a friendly couple, do all the chores themselves including cooking and serving up. There’s homemade jams and complimentary, homemade port and cherry in the comfortable lounge room. We certainly enjoyed both beverages for a night cap in front of the gas fireplace downstairs most nights.
Right next door is the River Hotel, featuring a great pub where we went for food and live music one night and which is highly commendable.
