Day 13: 6th Sept 2014

By now we're in the heart of the Margaret River Region, so today it's all about visiting some of the establishments the area is famous for.

First stop was at "The Margaret River Chocolate Company". Stepping through the door was the first big surprise, this place was huge! The second surprise were the three big bowls containing White, Milk and Dark chocolate pastelles that you could help yourselves to (I went back three times for more White ones). They also let you sample any of their chocolate coated delights range and the staff are only too happy to keep them coming. After making our selections and walking away with a truckload of chocolate products, we moved on to Bettenay's Nougat and Winery Company. Here, if you time it right, you can watch them making a batch of their creamy and chewy French nougat. Of course we didn't leave there empty-handed either.

Next stop was the township of Margaret River. Strangely, this place has the look and feel of a little beachside town, with surf shops, a bead shop, souvenir shops, but is kilometres from the coast. The skies opened up on us several times whilst we wandered up and down the main street, but managed to stay dry and press on.

Main street of the township of Margaret River

 

 After lunch it was on to The Berry Farm to sample some berry and fruit jams, sauces, syrups, preserves and more. They also have a Cottage Café where we decided to prop for our afternoon tea. The excellent coffee was also accompanied by a substantial sized scone with jam and cream. In the gardens surrounding the Café, we spotted our first, but very skittish, beautifully coloured, splendid Fairy Wren.
True to it's reputation, the region is full of wineries and judging by the size and grandeur of some of the establishments, there's plenty of money to be made. None of us are wine buffs and so weren't really tempted to stop in at any of the cellar doors.

By now the weather had turned pretty bad, with strong winds and rain showers. Still, Dave and I braved the elements to see what tonight's sunset would bring.