Trippin' - Part 1

It's a long time since I last wrote an entry thanks mainly to the first decent 'break' we've had in two years.

Both Elisa's parents and brother paid us a visit and it was a motivating factor to actually get out and look at 'stuff', eat some more 'stuff' and likewise drink too much 'stuff'.

We hired a 4WD monstrosity (there really should be a special license for these things!) so that all five could sit comfortably. It definitely was a good idea as it would eventually turn out to be a 2000 km+ (!!!) drive to 'the shops'.

On the last day of April we drove down to Margaret River after picking up some supplies at Carine Glades (as you do!). The only 'appointment' we had was at Voyager Estate for a late lunch.

Side note: I had thought about writing down everything that everyone ate (so is the bain of a food obsessed noddy!) but will keep it instead to the special moments.

This was one of our highlights on our last visit and we weren't disappointed. Three had the Seafood Assiette, I had the pork belly and another had the beef fillet. All left with smiles on their faces. We also picked up a nice bottle of wine on the way out.

We stayed that night (as well as the following) at Losari Retreat in one of their cabins.

After checking in we took a quick drive to Margaret Riviera to get some Cloverdene cheeses, oils and a few other niceties.

There was a slow start to the next day with a few winery visits culminating in a spectalular lunch at Cullens. Elisa is STILL raving about the squid she had for an entree.

We dropped into Margaret River Venison later that afternoon to play with their dog and pick up some Striploin Medallions for dinner that night. We're big fans of their stuff and picked up some Kangaroo and Venison Salami as well.

After completely smoking out the whole cabin (BBQ wasn't working) we sat down to a beautiful salad, succulent meat, homemade bread and a glass (or two) of nice red wine each.

The next day more wineries were on the schedule as well as a lunch at Watershed which lived up to our expectations. I had the beef fillet which was beautiful.

After settling our stomachs (a bit) we decided to drive through to Augusta for a quick look/walk and then back across to Pemberton where we were staying that night. It was a bit late and hairy with a few roos on the road at Donnelly River. Nowhere near hitting anything but it was enough to keep everyone on edge.

It was dark when we finally did arrive at Pumphill. We stayed in the homestead which felt all very grownup with the exposed wood, mudbrick walls and the verandah.

Each morning we got woken by the various animals hungrily waiting for their feeding which was a good thing. It also has a spectacular view which was very hard to ignore.

That night we went to Shamrock for what we thought would be a 'easy' meal. My first smoked trout of the trip turned out to be one of the best of the lot.

The next day we decided to walk up to Gloucester Wines for lunch (big seafood and cheese platters went down well) after dawdling through the town for a bit. We also paid a visit to Peter Kovacsy's studio which was a pleasant surprise.

I had to be one of the hunters the next day as we approached King Trout with regal ambitions of greatness, fresh fish, etc, etc. A trout for each was the goal but after a few hours, wet heads and some stunted pride we settled on the one that we (if I'm being honest - Edward) did manage to catch. We got them to cook it up as part of two platters which were very nice.

That's enough for now. It might give the impression that food is the centre of everything but not really. Much more to come later as my feet are still sore from all the walking that has yet to be mentioned.