With the weather much improved today we started our Margaret River tour in earnest. Lots of km to cover so it's in the truck. The winery region alone has over 200 vineyards spread over a huge area. Not counting the breweries, chocolate factories, nougat places, providores and butchers of all description. We didn't intend to do them all. The main concentration of attractions is in the vicinity of Cowaramup, 20 mins north of MR. However, first we headed south to Mammoth Cave, a natural time capsule which offers an extraordinary insight into this areas ancient past. Not only is this cave enormous (30m high by 80m long), it also has a diverse range of spectacular features. Over 10,000 fossils have been located in the cave, many of extinct megafauna. We both agreed that it is the most stunning cave we have ever seen. The bush walk back to the entrance was also very interesting as this area is one of the most diverse regions in the country for flora. The giant Karri (can grow up to 90m tall) and Marri were prominent together with a whole range of flowering trees and shrubs that we had never seen before.
By the time we'd finished it was time for coffee so we headed north. Along the road a bit we visited a venison farm with a farm shop. Wendy couldn't resist the venison biltong and pate, and Greg got some venison sausages to try later. It was then on to the lovely little town of Cowaramup where there just happens to be a great bakery that serves superb coffee. We shared an almond scroll; we could see that this was going to be a day of forbidden "fruit". The bread rolls looked so good we got a couple for ron (later on).A brewery was next; "The Grove Experience" where you can have both wine and beer. For $10 we got 3 beers and 1 cider on a paddle to taste. The cider tasted off (only because it is made with champagne yeast, but the beers were all good.
Next stop was MR Chocolate Factory, with free tasting; but we were very good, really; we only tasted a wee morsel! We were a bit lighter in the wallet when we walked out though.
Another brewery was next, Cheeky Monkey Brewery and Cidery, which was co-located with a winery and restaurant, a very fancy and slick operation. Here we tried 4 beers and two ciders on a rack for $16. All good, although Wendy preferred the wine tastings in the winery next door to the extent that she got some to go. The last one for the day was Howard Park & Mad Fish Wines that happened to be on the way home. As Mad Fish is one of Wendy's favourites there were some take-aways from here too.
