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Published: November 14th 2009
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It was a three day cruise from Bali, our last Asian port, to the big beautiful continent of Australia. Just 72 hours took us between two very different worlds. We arrived in Fremantle on a gorgeous Monday morning. Ann, our friend from Australia, met us at the Freo port and drove us to the Rottnest Ferry terminal. We had planned to spend the day on Rottnest Island, a former Aboriginal penal colony and home to the indigenous quokka marsupials. As we were waiting to board the ferry Ann said, “How would you like to take a drive from here to Albany?”-- our next port of call. It only took a few minutes to figure out the logistics for this change of plans. We went back to the ship, packed an overnight bag, grabbed our passports and by 10am we were cruising in Ann’s Prius down the road for a Western Australia adventure. Rotto would have to wait for another day.
Since Ann grew up on a country farm, she knows this part of Australia very well. Ann lives in a showcase home in downtown Perth. She took a former foundry and converted it to a beautiful living space decorated with indigenous
wood and stone. Our destination for the first day was the Margaret River region which is famous for its wines. We were just happy to get a chance to explore a part of Australia we had never seen before Many people picture Australia as an arid place filled with red dirt and kangaroos. Western Australia is such a surprise because it is a lush, green, forested, picture-perfect bucolic countryside. We have been to many of the world famous wine regions like Napa and the Rhone Valley in France, but the Margaret River area looks like a painting by Monet as the perfect place to sip some wine. There are over 80 wineries in the region along with numerous olive oil tasting rooms, breweries, lavender fields, orange groves, art galleries, designer cheese, honey and home-made ice cream shops, and emu, alpaca and deer farms. All of these cottage businesses are located amidst green rolling hills dotted with ponds, grazing lambs and the occasional village like Donnybrook, Dollykissangel or Denmark. It would be hard to imagine a more pastoral scene. We were fortunate that since it was Monday it seemed that we were the only ones on the road and we encountered
Vasse Felix Winery
Margaret River Region very few people in the wine tasting rooms. So we wetted our whistles at will.
We stopped at Voyager Estate Winery, a place of manicured gardens, old Dutch style buildings and vineyards surrounded by rose bushes appropriately planted with white roses to denote the white wine grapes and red roses for the rows of red grapes. Since we spend months at a time on a ship named Voyager, I liked the winery before we even sampled their wares. They have a Cabernet Merlot wine called “Girt by Sea.” I asked the wine master what that meant. She told us that phrase is from the Australian National Anthem and it means an area or country surrounded by the ocean. I would like to name our next boat “Girt by Sea” as I love the idea of always being encircled by water. I guess we do a pretty good job of that already!
We looked around town at some motels and then found a two bedroom apartment at the Margaret River Lodge which had a nice balcony overlooking the woodlands in this quaint village. We walked around town in search of just the right restaurant for dinner. I also bought some fresh
Susan & Ann
The tastings were de-lite-ful! milk—my first in two months.
The next morning we had a fresh croissant breakfast on our balcony and then continued on our journey south. We stopped in Tall Timber country to see the world’s highest fire-lookout. The Gloucester Tree is about 180’ high and it can be climbed using the stakes which spiral from ground level to the top platform of the tree. We opted for the Tree Top Walk instead in the Valley of the Giant Trees where centuries old karri and tingle trees abound. The karri trees must be in the same family as California redwoods--they are just as large and majestic. The walkway weaves its way among the crowns of the karri trees 120’ above ground. Several years ago there was a tremendous fight to save this old-growth primeval forest from clear cutting and now it is possible to stroll amongst these giants on the Ancient Empire Walkway.
Ann took us to some of her favorite wineries around Denmark. We were stopped by the police as we were driving through the forest because of a controlled burn that was right beside the road. The traffic control officer led us through the thick smoke and the flames at
the road’s edge. Even with the windows rolled up we could feel the intense heat of the fire. I can only imagine what it must be like to fight a forest fire.
Ann deposited us at the Albany Port gate and then it was time to rejoin our ship as we would continue cruising along the southern portion of Australia. We are so fortunate to have Ann show us this lovely corner of her homeland. She is an excellent tour guide, driver and a great traveling companion.
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