Margaret River to Hamelin Bay

The day after the Ironman was not exactly a day of rest for Phil.  I was on vacation, which meant lots to see and no time to sleep in.  We had booked a whale watching tour in Geographe Bay in the morning, but that ended up being cancelled so we took the extra time to explore the breweries and wineries of the Margaret River region.

Our first stop was Castle Rocks Beach.  It was just another gorgeous Australia beach with crystal clear turquoise water, red rocks, and no people.  O, and a skink!
Skink
Phil on the rocks with Castle Rock in the background
Castle Rock Beach
Next up was Eagle Bay Brewery.  Phil tried the sampler paddle and we shared a really flat bread pizza with chicken, chilli flakes, pesto, buffalo mozzarella, and lime juice.
Sampler paddle at Eagle Bay Brewery
Next we stopped at House of Cards Winery and enjoyed some excellent Sparkling, Sauv Blanc, and Cab Sav.  Next door was a chocolate shop, so while Phil took his bike apart I enjoyed sampling the wares.
House of Cards Sparkling - perfect for our Christmas Eve picnic on the beach
Down the road we went to the Canal Rocks, a really striking rock formation that funnels waves into a canal-like feature.  It was amazing to see the powerful waves crash into the rocks and then calmly push through the canal.  The water was so clear that you could see heaps of sea life within the canal.
Panoramic of Canal Rocks
On down the road we continued until we got thirsty again.  We stopped at Duckstein Brewery for another tasting paddle and some churros.  Then it was time for a nana nap in the car park - that's the bonus of taking a camper van on holiday.
Tasting paddle at Duckstein Brewery
 After one more sip at Cheeky Monkey Brewery it was time to call it a day.  We stayed at the caravan park on Hamelin Bay which made for a nice evening stroll along the water.  Rays are often spotted swimming in the bay but they must have all been at happy hour when we walked around.
Sunset at Hamelin Bay

Old pier at Hamelin Bay

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baw Baw Blog

Image
A couple weeks ago Phil set out to climb Mt Baw Baw again with a couple like-minded (read: crazy) bike friends.  We drove out with Les and met John and Glenda at the primary school in Drouin to start the ride.   The crazies started on their ride while John and I headed off to explore the area by car. Phil, Glenda, and Les at the start About 10km in to the ride, as they passed the Drouin West primary school, Phil realised that that was the place he meant to start, and now an already painful 80km ride had become 90km. John and I stopped at the Noojee Trestle Bridge and took a leisurely walk across.  Then we headed on to the "town" of Noojee and saw the sights - the water wheel that no one knows the origin of.  Then we enjoyed some lamingtons while we waited for the tiers to catch up.  They arrived and took a few minutes' break, then set out again on their adventure. Noojee Trestle Bridge Noojee Water Wheel John and I then drove to Tooronga Falls and had a re
Read more

One Sleep Until Citizenship!

Image
In January of 1649, Thos Morgan, my great great ..... grandfather, signed the death warrant for King Charles I, an act that in normal times would make him guilty of treason for conspiring against the monarchy.  He ended up fleeing to America, where he changed his last name to Carrier in order to avoid being sent back to England for trial.  Of course, later he married a woman who was tried and hung for being a witch, but that's another story... Three hundred and sixty two years later, I found myself taking a new job in Australia.  In order to get my work visa, I had to pledge allegiance to the monarchy of the same country that my ancestor fled from so many years ago.  And tomorrow, I'll take the Australian Citizenship Pledge and become a dual citizen. Besides the physical move, there were a lot of little details involved in getting to this point.  We arrived on a skilled worker visa, which required providing my resume and degree in addition to the lengthy application and emp
Read more

Sneans

Image
I was introduced to a new word the other day - Sneans.  According to Urban dictionary, it is the highly attractive combination of sneakers and jeans.  Apparently it is a very American tourist thing that Aussies, Kiwis, and various forms of Irish like to give us grief for.  It has its own hash tag and Facebook page dedicated to making fun of people wearing #sneans.   My coworkers gave the typical example of a middle aged man wearing light colored jeans and white New Balance sneakers together.  I can understand, that's definitely a look.  Throw in a tucked in t-shirt and a belt with a giant Iphone strapped on and it makes quite a statement.  But they also insisted sneans extends to any form of sneakers with any form of jeans.   At first I protested - what's wrong with wearing sneakers with jeans?  Lets say you're on a long weekend in Tasmania, where you may go wine tasting and hiking all in one day.  Sneakers seem like the only appropriate foot wear to me!  They suggested w
Read more