December Wrap-up - Part 2

Following from this post.

On Monday 16th at about 10am we departed to the town of Margaret River, about 270km (167miles) south of Perth. We took both cars as we were 7 people, ladies in one car, men in the other.

First stop was in Mandurah, about 1h south, where we had coffee, walked around the foreshore taking photos, found some murals, then drove across the bridge to the pretty suburbs in the man-made canals.

Mandurah foreshore, Council offices (round building), Christmas decorations

Fancy homes in the man-made canals

The red spot indicates the foreshore area, and on the left the area of the man-made canals

Another hour on the road and we reached our next stop -  Bunbury,  where we had lunch in a lovely restaurant called Mojo's in Victoria Street.
Thomas's Mother, Isabelle is celiac, so our daughter Karina was in charge of choosing restaurants whenever we ate out, making sure they had a couple of gluten free dishes.
Luckily in Australia restaurants seem to be quite clued up when it comes to the various food allergies, and there are always plenty of choices.
Mojo's was quite a good choice, being Monday the restaurant wasn't full, the food was beautifully served, delicious and the service was top notch.

Walking to the restaurant and then back to the car park after lunch I came across a few murals, which I'll post in the following Mondays.

Some of the food choices on the table

Another hour's drive and it was almost 5pm when we finally arrived in the small beach town of Gnarabup, just 10km (6 miles) from Margaret River.
We stayed in a gorgeous Airbnb double storey house, inside the Margaret River Resort, with 3 bedrooms, bathroom and a small garden on the ground floor, (or first floor for the Americans), and then a main bedroom/ensuite, lounge/dining/kitchen and a balcony with a barbecue on the first floor (or second floor for the Americans).
The complex had a small swimming pool which was just across from our house, and a bigger heated pool next to a pub/restaurant, 5 min walk away.

We unpacked, and still had time to have a quick swim in the heated pool of the complex before preparing a light meal for dinner with snacks which we had brought from home.

The airbnb house, kitchen, lounge, main bedroom, courtyard, side of house w/balcony

One of the internal roads in the resort, the small swimming pool across from our house, and Jose in the heated pool

Flowers in the resort area

The neighbour across the street had a beautifully restored 1947 Dodge Ute (pick-up) in his undercover parking.  (Thanks to Tom for the info).

The following morning after breakfast we went to the beach, just a 5 min walk away.
Because we didn't have an umbrella we stayed under the boat ramp, the only place with shade.
The white sails you see belong to the White Elephant Cafe, and there are toilet and shower facilities next to the car park.

The White elephant Cafe (with the white sails) and the boat ramp (top photo) On top of the hill there was a viewing spot

In the afternoon we drove a winery - Cape Grace - in the outskirts of Cowaramup (remember Cow Town from this post?). You can read about Cape Grace's story here.
The owner was a former journalistic photographer and had his old gear on show, and he met his Canadian wife when he worked there for a few years.

Karina was the one who chose this winery as she had at some stage drunken their wine and had enjoyed it, so wanted to visit it. We bought a bottle of dessert wine and Karina and Thomas bought a couple of bottles of red wines.

Cape Grace Winery - wine tasting, the outside of the winery, old cameras, etc

On  the way to Margaret River we stopped at the Margaret River Dairy Company for some cheese tasting. We bought a few cheeses, a creamy yogurt and we each had a delicious ice-cream.

Margaret River Dairy Company

Before going home for dinner we stopped at the Village at Margs shopping centre.
When we got home we packed away the shopping and because no one was keen to accompany me, I drove my car a about 5min to take photos of beach statues, see the mouth of the Margaret river and watch the sun-set at Surfers Beach.

Eurybia - the surfer girl, mouth of the Margaret river, Surfers Beach

Layla - the great granddaughter of the Surf God, sits on the rocks by the beach

Sunset at Surfers Beach

The barbecue was already on the go when I returned home after my photo session. We had no chillis but Jose noticed that the next door neighbour had a vegetable garden and decided to go knock on his door. Of course he had chillis and the young man proudly showed Jose his veggie garden.

Then the neighbour across the road, the one with the Dodge Ute asked if we needed lemons and threw us a few. All very friendly :)

Preparing the barbecue in the upstairs balcony

After dinner, some of us read, and others played games until bedtime.

Next week - Part 3