So today we headed off to explore Margaret River. We took the scenic route and followed the coast. First stop a sleepy little beach town called Yallingup. Stopped for a surf check and it wasn't really happening so off we went to Margs (as the locals call it).
Driving along Caves Road (the main road in) we started to come across some very burnt bush and the closer we got the blacker it got. The smell of burnt timber still lingers very strong in the air. We were absolutely amazed at the devastation of the recent fires. Never before have I seen bush burnt right down to the beach, or trees burnt right up to the front fence of people's properties. We saw many a house that had been burnt down and street signs that had just melted from the heat.
We drove down to Prevelley Beach where Dave finally got his first surf in. The conditions weren't great but at least he got to get wet and thankfully for me he didn't get eaten by a shark!! The photo below is the Prevelley area but not the beach that Dave surfed at. He was surfing like a gumby so I wasn't allowed to photograph him (his words not mine!!)
The kids added another skate park to their skate across Australia tour - SK8 at Margaret River. It was Tom's turn to stack it this time - he is missing a bit of skin but sucked it up well once skating but nearly fainted afterwards. Why won't they wear their pads??
From there we headed to Lake Cave and went on a guided tour through the cave. The cave was very different to anything that I'd ever seen before and was so beautiful. We walked down 350 stairs to get down into the cave. Once inside the cave we were 62 metres underground.
The main feature of the cave is the giant column which weighs approx 5 tonnes - the equivalent of a couple of 4WDs. It is suspended above the water. Once upon a time it is believed that the column sat on the floor of the cave and that the floor of the cave has now eroded under the column leaving it suspended. There is only 2 known caves with this kind of structure in them - the other one is in France and is not a tourist cave. It was very amazing and the reflections in the water were beautiful. I'm pretty happy with the photos I managed to get in the dark too I must say.
We were all pretty hungry when we came out of the cave so we headed in search of food. We decided that since we were in the Margaret River Region and what is Margaret River famous for - wine (not surf as David believes), that we must go and check out a winery.
Now this was a very new experience for me I had never set foot inside one before and didn't really know what to expect. We used a highly technical method of selection to choose the winery we would visit - we went purely by name we agreed that which ever winery had the coolest name was the one we would visit - we chose Swings and Roundabouts. We were very excited when we drove in as they also offered woodfired pizzas and by this stage we were starving!
The winery had just hired a brand new Chef straight off the plane from Italy. His english was "under construction" but his pizza was fantastic!!
We bravely confessed our naivety to the whole wine tasting experience and the lady working their went very gently with us. Now I don't have any plans to become a wine connoisseur but I have to admit it was a bit of fun and we certainly had a good laugh with the staff. We retired to the back deck and enjoyed our pizza and the view.
The kids spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the pool and playing with some other children Corey and Matt that they have met in the park.
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