Hello! Sorry for the radio silence over the past weekend, but I spent the Easter holiday down in the Margaret River region for a rather chillaxing holiday and while I had my trusty WiHo wifi with me, my accommodation was in an area without any phone service, so I was mostly off the grid unless I happened to be in a more populated town area.
One thing I learned is that Easter is quite a big holiday for the Aussies – many of them take the opportunity to travel down to Margaret River during this period, so besides foreign tourists, you’ll need to contend with the many locals on a break. The roads exiting Perth were a little jammed, and all the places we visited were either quite full or fully booked – if you don’t want to leave things to chance, make sure you make phone bookings in advance. Also, practically everything is closed or closes early on Good Friday itself, so you’ll want to make sure that you’re sufficiently prepped. Saturday and Sunday aren’t usually too bad, though you may encounter places charging you an additional public holiday tax!
Flights were pretty uneventful though I did spot China air force planes in the Perth airport as we taxied in, probably involved in the MH370 hunt. it was the first time I’m flying Scoot Airlines and frankly I’m not particularly impressed that Scoot’s flights were delayed both going up and coming down. Instead of arriving in Perth at 6pm, it was close to 7pm by the time I emerged from customs, and the sky was all dark already. Going back, the 625pm flight ended up leaving at 710pm instead, and we were stuck as there were no available bays at Changi and I only made it through customs around 1am – I guess you get what you pay for since it’s a budget airline, but make sure you leave enough time for connections if you intend to fly Scoot – they do have some pretty good promotions.
I only managed to catch the sunset from the plane or airport, boo
I think I lucked out accommodation wise – the Rendezvous Grand Hotel Scarborough Perth was a pretty good stay – while we arrived at night and everything was dark, next morning we were rewarded with a pretty awesome view of the beach which was just what I needed.
Look at this magnificent view of Scarborough Beach from our balcony!
Amon-Ra on the Ibizan winery was also quite a revelation, as serene and quiet as it is made out to be. The fact that they don’t get phone reception there (i.e. no service, no internet) is a boon and a bane perhaps – I’m a little behind in my blogging, but it meant that S and I could properly relax, whether just by talking or watching inane things on TV without distraction. The little vineyard it is on is also quite stellar.
The front porch of Amon Ra taken from a little darling treehouse platform in front of the house
Everything in Margaret River revolves around wineries – the sheer number of them available is frankly mind-boggling, we visited a good many of these in our stay there, driving around on our own and popping into whatever caught our eye. I’m glad I had recommendations from friends on places to go, though it’s fun to see what each different place holds.
Probably the prettiest winery of the lot we checked out, and that’s saying a lot! Knotting Hill Winery is in the middle of it’s own pond and is an awesome place to sip wine and enjoy views in!
Wine wasn’t the only thing we got up to though, though other things we checked out though – there’s a whole range of gourmet food and breweries, as well as other activities like their fine beaches and caves that you can check out if you’re tired of boozing.
People say that Perth and Western Australia is boring, but I guess it’s what you make of it! I had a pretty relaxing time there and I am not looking forward to going back to work after these past few days where all we worried about was which winery we should check out next. I find that the Margaret River region is best for groups – families, friends or even couples and really is a great excuse to just hang out and bond over good food and great wine. Look out for upcoming posts with tips on places you should visit while in this wonderful region.
Have you been to Margaret River? Share your experience here!