Drinking Margaret River dry.

We left our friends Grant & Kelly in Narrogin and headed off to stay at a lovely farm in the Margaret River region called Big Valley Farmstay for a week.

On the way (just before Busselton) we called into the ‘South West Museum’ (which really isn’t anything more than an elderly ladies big garage), but it was full of display tables of all different types of gems and minerals her and her late husband had collected over the years.  Alex was in his element, and came away with a bag full of different coloured polished gemstones.

Alex's nirvana

When we got to Big Valley we ran into a couple of families we’d met along the way; Paul & Linda and Mark & Megan and had a catch up with them and swapped stories of the places we’d all visited.

Big Valley is a ‘working’ farm and the kids enjoyed feeding the sheep and holding the cute baby goat.  The camping area was a little cramped given it’s a 600acre farm, but the camp kitchen was well equipped nonetheless and had a fireplace that was the evening meeting place. 

The view from our camp

Do you like Alex's marshmallow 'stick'

Alex, Josh & Zac

Amongst the many campers there were 3 Italians, and they made for interesting conversations with their flailing arms and ‘their-a talking-a like-a that-a’. One of the guys (who is apparently a Michelin chef back home), came out of the showers one morning parading through the camp ground in his saggy undies, telling (shouting) anyone who would listen ‘there’s-a no-a hot-a water’.  Quite a funny spectacle. (Sorry no photos!)

There’s plenty to see and do in Margaret River and surrounds, and our guide map got a good working over.  We visited some beautiful wineries in the area up and down the infamous ‘Caves rd’.  It would’ve been rude of us to visit the area and not partake in their wines, so we enjoyed plenty of wine tasting and meals while the kids played on their playgrounds and gardens.  Killerby wines/Cheeky Monkey brewery was definitely one of our favourites.

Killerby/Cheeky Monkey

Laurance Winery



Table for 1...

When we didn’t have a wine glass in our hand, we did some sight-seeing around the area.  Down near Augusta at the south end is Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, where we did the lighthouse tour with Mark & Megan and their two boys.  It is situated where the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean crash together.  We all enjoyed the history and stories of the lighthouse and being able to go up to the top with its views.

Cape Leeuwin lighthouse

Right hand side - Indian Ocean, left hand side - Southern ocean, front - Boofhead

Ben the 'cow whisperer'

We also went to Calgardup Cave which was a fantastic experience.  It’s one of many along this coast as it has something to do with the limestone and erosion.  We headed underground down the ladders with hard hats on and torches at the ready to enjoy the wonders of the caves.  There were thousands of stalactites hanging from the roof and a bit of water around, usually a lot more during the wetter months.  At one end point we tried turning the torches off and sitting in silence to hear only dripping water.  That lasted only 5 seconds before one of the kids starting giggling.  Mission impossible...!

Calgardup Cave

Mission Impossible (both for silence and camera focus)

Up at the northern end, near Dunsborough at Cape Naturaliste we also visited the beaches which were very pretty (but had a lot of flies at one of them; Bunker Bay) and spent a day at Yallingup maze.

Bunker Bay

Yallingup Maze

Canal Rocks

Canal Rocks

After nearly a week and all the nougat tasting, cheese tasting and more wine tasting we thought it was best to move on before we drank the place dry... lots more places to see along the South Coast of WA.  Our next destination is Walpole and the Big Hair Shop!!