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Departed on the Friday morning. I was a little late and for once Claire was on time! The result of which was me being in trouble... wooops (Thankfully this wasn't going to set a precedent for the entire weekend)!!!
After the car was packed and the rules laid down (Rule 1 - No Mention of Work. Rule 2) No fast food to be consumed. Rule 3 - Daniel can made up further rules whenever he wishes.) we were on the road for the short two and a half hour drive to Margaret River. With the trusty iRiver cranking out some tasty tunes (much to Claire's delight) we made good time with only one stop required to pick up the ultimate road trip food, a cheese sausage!
On arrival our tummies were rumbling which was a signal to get directions to winery and fast! So stopping in at the Margaret River Wineries Information Centre seemed like the perfect place to start. Unfortunately they were able to provide less useful information than an episode of Today Tonight! Thankfully the tourist bureau was a little more helpful and we were sitting at a table in Vasse Felix's restaurant before long. After a
most enjoyable lunch (Veal wrapped in prosciutto washed down with a glass of the Merlot for me and Pink Snapper accompanied by a glass of Semillon for Claire) we made a quick service stop to pick up some provisions for the night before checking into the hotel.
A spa bath was the order of the night, however once it was filled a slight problem arose, it wasn't exactly HOT! In fact it wasn't even warm. A little investigative work soon pin pointed the cause being that the hot water had run out!!! Sheer determinism shone through and the kettle soon burst into action. This downtime did give us the chance to have a few games of uno (more affectionately referred to as goono thanks to my love of cask wine and uno discovered at Coral Bay some years earlier) which I am glad to report was easily won by yours truly.
Saturday morning rolled around and breakfast consisted of fruit loops eaten straight out of the box. I decided it would be a good idea to see how many I could fit in my mouth at once. If a representative from Guinness World Records was present I think
my name would have appeared in next years book.
Today had been set aside to visit some of the regions world renowned wineries. With the map in hand and the days destinations carefully marked and ordered we set out. Voyager was the first stop of the day, the wine was good but I was more interested in seeing if I could make Claire do something silly to work off some penalty points (gained by breaking the rules mentioned earlier). Although much to my disappointment she declined all dares that were offered. After a few more wineries it was time to hand the keys across to Claire who had decided at the second winery that all wines taste the same. And by the end of the day after hearing about how this one had been oaked for 6 months and that one has a slight hint of charcoal, arsenic and anything else they could find I could certainly relate. So by the end of it we had visited Voyager, Watershed, Xanadu, Howard Park, Hay Shed and Cullen (the lunch stop were we both dared to go out of our comfort zones, Claire had the fish and I had beef rendang)
wineries with the chocolate factory thrown in for good luck.
Saturday night was again spent lounging round the room where again the hot water decided to run out before the spa was full. But tonight we had a plan and before the long the kettle was on accompanied by saucepans on the hot plates (good thinking Claire). Just as I was about to fall asleep I received a text message from Jabba, who was drinking at the footy club with Jonno, enquiring if I would like to chip in to get some pizzas. The humour was lost on me but apparently they found it extremely amusing!
Sunday morning... Time to pack up and go home... bugger!!
Before we left the hotel we went for a walk down to the beach. As the ocean got closer an overpowering smell hit me. At first I thought it was Claire, but much to my relief (and probably hers) I realized that it was just the seaweed. A quick stroll around the shops on Margs main strip and it was time to head back to the big smoke. But before we did we had time to have lunch at one last
winery. Today’s target was Capel Vale just north of Busselton. The steak for Claire and some absolutely massive lamb shanks for myself.
And that’s it! My last weekend down south for a year or two! Thanks for the memories!!
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