Margaret River - Western Australia Wine Country

Although it was tough to leave Perth after a just few awesome days exploring and basking in the sun, we “hired” a car and headed 3 hours South to the Margaret River region, one of Australia‘s most scenic wine regions and home to some of the country’s most famous surfing beaches. En route to the wineries, we stopped at several beaches and bays to get a feel for the isolated coast. The beaches are everywhere and are easily accessible, and in many cases, we had them to ourselves. One after another, these were stunning beaches! In particular, we snapped some photos at Eagle Bay, Yallingup, Smith’s Beach and Redgate Beach.

Although the entire region is called Margaret River, we stayed a few nights in the Margaret River township, a small village “in the bush,” but just a dozen or so kilometers from the beach. Forty years ago, Margaret River was a quiet countryside and home to a few diary farms, but after someone discovered the region’s climate was similar to Bordeaux in France, the first wineries were planted here just inland from the beach. Now, more than 100 wineries are scattered within a relatively small area, and many crank out some of Australia‘s finest wines. Needless to say, we spent several days in Margaret River sampling the goods. The wineries vary in size and often in personality, and most offer awesome free tastings. Down dirt roads and through the countryside, we visited too many to list, but some of our favorites included Vasse Felix, the Cullens Winery, Voyager and Xanadu. The wineries are mixed in with other craftspeople offering free tastings, too, including chocolate, olive oil, cheese and fudge. And to mix things up a bit, a few breweries are also scattered along the dusty roads.

Next, we’re heading to Hong Kong!