Un Dia de Vino!

---

Day 4- Thursday, September 5th



Thursday morning we woke up at 7 so we could leave by 8 and get back down to Bussleton by 9 so we could leave there by 10 and be in Margaret River by 10:20. TV, one of our friends, kept asking us what the plan was so Carla made up a strict itinerary to follow so he would stop asking. Of course we didn’t really stick to it and we were late leaving, because of Carla, but it didn’t really matter because we got to where we wanted to be when we needed to be there.

My only real goal for this entire trip was to do a wine tour in Margaret River. They have some that you can pay to go on that last either a full day or half a day and they bus you around the all the breweries and wineries for free tastings, but TV offered to be our driver so we didn’t have to pay. Margaret River is well known for its wineries, and since I absolutely love my vino, I was more than excited to start the day.

We stopped first at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory and then the Candy Cow. The chocolate factory had sooo much chocolate, and free samples (: They had 3 huge bowls of chocolate chips, one milk, one dark, and one white. It was so good! I had a bit of a stomach ache by the time we left because I ate so much of it hah. It was so good though! Much better than the other chocolate I have had since I've been here. Because it gets so warm, they have to put a certain chemical in the chocolate from melting which makes it taste a little different. Or at least that’s what I heard. Either way, it doesn’t taste the same as Hershey’s or any other chocolate back in the states. The chocolate they had at the chocolate factory however was delicious.



The three of us girls booked a hostel for the night in Margaret River since we knew we would be drinking and didn’t want to drive back. We dropped off Carla’s car after hitting up the Chocolate Factory and Candy Cow then started our tour with TV and Lloyd. The first place we went was Duckstein Brewery. It was so nice. Absolutely gorgeous and they had delicious cider. We each got a drink there to start off the tour and just chilled for a bit. Karen took some photos of the garden outback while I carved my name into one of the trees.



Since TV’s car was an automatic, and I never got the chance to learn a manual, he told me I could drive. I was sooooooo excited!! Karen and Carla were freaking out a tad because I’m “American and drive on the wrong side of the road” but I was so excited! I have been wanting to drive in Australia since I got here, but like I said most people here have manuals and driving in the city is kind of nerve racking because of all the traffic. The roads we were driving now we much less occupied and there weren’t any intersections to navigate through. I didn’t drive that far, just to two breweries, but I loved it! It was a little strange driving on the other side of the road, and car, but it wasn’t that different. I kept turning on the windshield wipers because they are reversed with the blinkers on American cars. I think that made Carla more nervous than anything.



After driving to the second brewery I decided to give up on that because I wanted to drink more wine. Most of the breweries and wineries are along Caves Road so we just drove until we found one we wanted to go to. I can’t remember the names of any of the others, but they were all very nice. Each one had a different set of wines to taste and had a different style to it. So much fun! We had this Rose at one of the wineries we went to that was absolutely delicious. We got 2 bottles because they were only $10 each, but they didn’t last us long.



We only went to one other winery after that, then TV took us to a few places around where we were. The first place we went was Sugarloaf Rock which was absolutely gorgeous. It’s these massive rocks jutting out of the sapphire blue ocean. It was magical, as was everything else about this week. We decided it was a good idea to climb the rocks, although it probably wasn’t seeing as though us girls had been drinking and were not completely balanced. The boys however didn’t care and encouraged us to do so. Thanks boys hah. Luckily none of got hurt, minus Carla who face planted while pretending she was on the Titanic haha. She’s okay though, just a few bruises.



It was loads of fun though, and gorgeous as I said. We spent quite a bit of time there, Karen taking photos, Carla nursing her wounds, me taking in the scenery, and the boys being themselves. After there we went to Meelup Beach which was gorgeous as well. Aqua blue waters and picture perfect sand. It was great. Lloyd spotted a whale on the horizon. You could only see it blowing up spouts of water every now and then but it was pretty cool. Again, it was a wonderful way to spend a day, hanging with friends, drinking free wine, and going to the beaches. Absolutely amazing.



TV took us back to his house after for a bit to jump on the trampoline and play tennis, then Lloyd drove us back down to Margaret River where we had dinner and went to Prevelley Beach to look at the stars. The stars here are absolutely amazing! You can see so many more than in the states, and of course they are different ones. But the sky looks so much clearer so much brighter and more colorful! It’s phenomenal. I could honestly sit on the beach for hours just stargazing and taking in the sights.

We ended up in bed by 9 that night and asleep by 9:30. Normally we’re up past midnight, but after our eventful day all we wanted to do was sleep. It was the first time all of us had stayed in a hostel and luckily it was a good experience. We got a double room so we had it to ourselves. We thought it was either going to have 2 twins or one queen because it was intended for only 2 people, but we ended up getting a room with a double and a twin so it was perfect. And it was clean. The pillows however had been flattened to the bone and were absolutely worthless, but with that being the only thing to complain about I’d say it wasn’t so bad.

---