A weekend in Margaret River - Part 1

As a very belated Christmas gift to each other, Craig and I had a weekend away down in Margaret River at Easter.  We left Perth early on Friday morning and arrived home on Monday evening so in all we had three nights away.  We packed loads into our time away including a wine tour, brewery visits, beaches, restaurants etc. Rather than write a long piece about each of the places we visited I am going to condense them all here into one piece.


DAY 1

We left Perth at 8am and headed south to Bussleton. This is where we had decided to stop on the way down to get some breakfast and have a walk along the jetty.  We arrived around 10.30am and parked right on the foreshore near the jetty.

The Goose

The first cafe we saw looked great and it had a fantastic view out over the jetty and the ocean, so in we went and bagged ourselves a table for breakfast.  The menu had all the usual breakfast options. Craig had poached eggs, bacon, spinach, toast an mushrooms. I had scrambled eggs, bacon, tomato, spinach and toast. The portions were huge and neither of us finished the whole lots but it was delicious and just what we needed to kick our foodie weekend off. Juice and coffee was also ordered.

After breakfast we had a walk up the jetty. Its nearly 2km long but to be honest we turned round about 3/4 of the way up and walked back. There is an underwater observatory at the end but you need to book this as its busy so we missed out this time.

Next onto our accommodation. After much Internet research we decided to book Merribrook Retreat. The retreat is set in beautiful grounds with a lake in the middle. There are only ten villas, some of which are built near the lake. We had one of these. It had everything we needed including some thoughtful little touches such as a torch for when you get back in the dark, and an umbrella for when it rains. There is no TV or internet although there is a DVD player in the room so you can watch a film.

Breakfast is eaten at the lodge overlooking the lake. Each morning the owners lay out a buffet with fruit, yogurt, muffins, toast, freshly baked cake, juice etc. Then you are given a choice from three hot dishes cooked fresh in the kitchen.

Merribrooke has a lovely pool and spa for the guests to use.

After we checked in we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, having a bubble in the spa and sitting on the veranda and watching the wildlife around the lake. The Kookaburra especially gave us hours of entertainment.

In the evening we went out for something to eat. Now as it was Good Friday we found ourselves extremely limited on choice however one of the places I had in mind was open so we were lucky. I called them earlier in the day and booked a table.

We arrived at Winos an hour early for our table so sat on one of the squashy sofas and had a drink while we waited. This gave us a chance to have a really good look at the menu and decide what we were going to eat. The menu is Tapas, and its all written up on a series of blackboards on one wall. To be honest its not that easy to read but we managed.

We hadn't eaten since breakfast so by now we were both starving and as such we probably slightly over ordered.  We had the following dishes

• Venison Chorizo
• Whole Banana Prawns with Bloody Mary flavours
• Steak with a green sauce
• Blue Crab Pate with a Lime Jelly topping and toasts
• Salt & Pepper Calamari
• Pork Crakling shards & Apple sauce
• Balls of Joy (mini doughnuts with chocolate dipping sauce)

All the food was good and the dishes came out as they were ready in the kitchen so we had a steady stream of food. Some of the combinations were a little odd, and although the prawns were good I thought it was a shame to add so many flavours to them.  The atmosphere in the place was loud and buzzing and we both really enjoyed sitting there for a few hours drinking wine and eating good food. The wine list was very good and as the place was in the middle of Margaret River and was called Winos I expected nothing less.

To be continued....................