9 epic experiences you've never heard of.
The road less travelled offers a change of pace. But the road you haven’t travelled at all? That holds a new level of adventurous possibility.
The Margaret River Region embraces shifting cultural currents and diverse experiential landscapes. Even if you’ve visited one thousand times before, the following group of new tours, tastings, and workshops will reframe the places you thought you knew.
Quokkas are so yesterday. Instead, Meet The Woylies. This family-friendly night-time adventure alongside experienced tour operator South West Eco Discoveries will get you up close and personal with the region’s “kung foo roo”: a moniker derived by the tour guides to tell the tale of the woylies’ super agile nocturnal antics. The small-group tour is limited to a dozen participants for two-hours post sunset in a private conservation sanctuary. You’ll learn about bush tucker, drink billy tea and munch biscuits, and likely spot a bunch of the woylies’ late-night mates – bandicoots, possums and kangaroos included. Enquire about accommodation pick ups.
As the wider Margaret River Region wine story becomes more established, niche cultural elements are drawing toward the surface. Local hospitality and tourism superstars Cassandra Charlick and Stepan Libricky of Earn Your Vino have picked up the Italian thread in their From Italy With Love immersion. For four nights you’ll follow in the footsteps of the region’s Italian winemakers, taking in the stories of Mr Barval, McHenry Hohnen’s head winemaker Japo Dalli Cani, and a Northern Italian campfire stew with Larry Cherubino. You’ll love the luxury Cape Lodge accommodation, and the guided hike that takes you inside the landscape.
South of the Margaret River township is an often undiscovered side of the region that speaks to smaller cellar doors, quieter country roads, and a couple of hit list experiences. Rob from MYDRIVER Margaret River will take you there with his Southbound of Margaret River adventure. Join a maximum of seven guests and uncover smaller cellar doors, sea life, and subterranean adventure. From wine and cheese boards tastings at Glenarty Road, a winery-restaurant that’s given true voice to the lauded idea of farm-to-table, you may hit up the famed stingrays of Hamelin Bay, or the jewel in the crown of caving, Jewel Cave, the biggest show cave in Western Australia. A trio of cellar doors via Si Vintners, Mr Barval, and Voyager Estate takes in the left-of-centre, traditionalist small-scale European, and establishment Margaret River Region winemaking styles in turn.
Nope, it’s not about peddle power. A Coastal Trike Tour adventure gets you on the back of a motorbike designed not for hooning but for hosting. Jump on with two friends, buckle up, and relax with your rider of 40 years experience at the helm. Tours include an experience of the bays, beaches, and townships of the Cape Naturaliste district, with a scheduled wine tour included. If you’re eight or 80 it’s a new perspective on established regional landscapes. Special needs can be accommodated, and the crew at Coastal Trikes reckon they’ve got your romantic proposal covered.
The love story of chocolate and wine gets a Northern Italian twist with Arlewood Estate’s La Bratta Wine & Chocolate Experience. The family-owned, single vineyard producer makes the wines Northern Italian Gosatti family and friends love to drink: blended, complex, and layered reds and whites that link directly to the mountain village of La Bratta – the family’s Italian origin. Teaming up with Margaret River Region’s Temper Temper chocolates puts two big-hitting foodie favourites inside the one experience. Join Paris from Arlewood in the 2020 Gourmet Traveller’s Best Small Cellar Door for an adults-only tasting experience that’s 100 percent indulgence.
High octane fly-bys are par for the course with an Eagles Heritage flight show. Bracketed by wineries and bushland, the wildlife centre offers another important view of the Margaret River Region: one focussed on conservation, preservation, and the rehabilitation of injured birds of prey. Great for kids, the twice daily flight shows get you up close and personal with the incredible aerial abilities of eagles, hawks, and falcons. Have your photo taken with a barn owl and know that the price of admission supports ongoing education and preservation of these beautiful creatures.
There’s a room with a view. And then there’s Blackwood River Houseboats. Wake up on the Blackwood River in a fully-stacked houseboat replete with off-grid power, at one of 17 swing moorings staggered along this, the longest river in Australia’s South West. With no skipper license required you can be the driver of your own family or friend-group adventure. Take up the catered option, or self-stock and make use of the galley kitchen. Everything is top spec, from the normal flush toilets, to heaters inside, and the option of taking on kayaks and paddle boards that’ll get you down to water level. Get inside the secret swim spots, fishing holes and quiet bush walks courtesy of the intel from owners Pam and James. Better than a close up river view is the one where you’re in it.
It’s the Big Cheese at the Yallingup Cheese Co that’ll be taking you through your paces with this interactive morning of cheese making. Co-owner and cheesemaker Alana Hill-Ling leads a hands-on experience allowing you to craft your very own cheese to be later enjoyed alongside Goons Tycoons wines in an in-depth cheese and wine pairing masterclass. You’ll love the location high in the Yallingup Hills overlooking garden and vineyard. And you’ll appreciate the take home recipes and take-home tools that mean a morning’s education can result in the beginning of a whole new journey exploring your own home-based cheesemaking craft.
Gralyn Estate’s cellar door has been open to the public since the Margaret River Region was barely a twinkle in the eye of the world’s wine aficionados, back in 1978. With such a long history you can bet that the showcasing of its cornerstone varietals – many from Gralyn’s museum stock – is an immersion with the premium price tag. The cost includes up to four people, so gather your fellow vinophiles and be taken through the history of the vineyard and thereby the region with each guided taste, paired with food matches at the Caves Road estate, in the lauded Wilyabrup area of the region. The best part may be the high-end wine takeaways, as Scott and Annette seal and re-cork bottles to return home with. A true Margaret River Region memory in your glass.
