Margaret River : First road trip

Margaret river (Photo by Fernando Jorge on Unsplash)

This isn’t a good start…

Departure Sunday 7:30 am, direction the airport to pick up the rental car. Arrival in front of the Europcar counter at 7.50 am, nobody. After 1:10 am, after going around the airport and all possible counters, sending a claim for reimbursement, waiting 35 minutes on the phone, the Europcar employee finally shows up. Reduced hours, because of Corona, what can I say to that, we take the car with an hour’s delay, so much the worse.

First Stop : Mandurah

It is a very small port city, 1 hour from Perth, it is already hot, we take advantage of the port where we see dolphins, a coffee and we leave.

What’s next, Bunbury, Busselton, the road…

Here, the road is …. Straight. Long straight lines, yellow signs to warn of potential kangaroo passage, deserted roads … One town every hour, we’ll stop in one of them to eat and then we’ll leave. The atmosphere in the car is good, I co-drive, Guillaume puts the music on and Coralie drives.

Beautiful beaches, rocks and a beautiful sunset…

First beach, we enjoy a turquoise water, the beach is small, and we have to share it with a few families.

The air is mild, the water is cool, but we enjoy this pleasant moment.

No question of staying for hours on this beach, other treasures of nature are waiting for us. We take the road again, more bucolic, the turns follow each other, we enjoy the views of the coast.

We arrive at a second large beach, it is almost deserted. It’s hot, we jump directly into the water. My body floats, relaxes, I find again what I left for, this aquatic essence, this happiness so simple and so essential for me.

I’ll stay long enough to get stung by a jellyfish. We have a few photo shoots, and I summon my little companions to leave, the sunset is waiting for us on the other side of the point.

Hurry up, it’s a bit rude, they would have liked to have stayed there. Then we arrive, and nobody says a word anymore, we are ecstatic in front of a magnificent sunset, not the first step the last, but a real pleasure for the eyes.

Driving on the left, the fear of kangaroos!

It’s up to me to take the wheel, left-hand drive seems simpler than I expected, the steering wheel being reversed it’s still natural. Besides, it’s an automatic, so it’s obviously easier!

Mais le soleil s’est couché et la pénombre commence, c’est le moment idéal pour voir sortir les kangourous. C’est à ces heures ci que rouler devient dangereux.

But the sun has gone down and the darkness is starting, it’s the perfect time to see the kangaroos coming out. It’s at these times of the day that driving becomes dangerous.

More fear than harm, we arrive at our destination.

Small cosy rental bungalow, small Italian restaurant, where the tables are more than two meters apart, and it’s time to reach Morphée.

Oh beautiful Sting rays!

Tomorrow, rise at dawn. We’re all in a good mood.

A little Vegemite experience before leaving, Vegemite is the spread that Australians love. It confirms my doubts about their food taste, it’s infamous, a mix of Worcester sauce and gasoline, impossible to swallow. Tested and rejected !

It’s time to get 30 minutes from Margaret River (a tiny sleepy town). To reach Hamelin Bay.

The Bay is beautiful, the water is turquoise, and the views are breathtaking. But above all, it is the bay where the rays come closest to the beach.

They’re only inches away from us. It’s wonderful to see them flying in the water, moving with such grace, their “wings” seem to caress the water so gently. One of them will get so close that it will pass over my foot, I have time to feel its viscous and fluid skin like that of other fish.

We will enjoy a few hours of this beautiful place, before leaving.

Wine tasting.

Margaret River is one of Australia’s wine-producing regions. So there’s no question of missing out on a little tasting before you leave. I’ve got a few addresses, let’s go on a vineyard tour… Aborted.

Before suffering one hell of a disappointment, we pass on the road through a sublime forest of … Well, trees, I can’t tell you what kind of trees…

In any case, they’re majestic.

Direction a first vineyard, closed because of Corona, we try a second one, the gates are open, the door too, we enter the gallery, nobody. The cellar, the barrels and the wine smell good, a smell well known by us.

Finally, after going around, a little blonde girl comes to meet us and tells us it’s closed. But that we can try a small independent vineyard 10 minutes away.

Hallelujah, it’s open! For 10 dollars, or 6 euros, we can taste 6 half glasses of wine. Let’s go for the tasting, with a visit of the cellar and cheese to make the moment even more exciting.

Most of the wines are very good, the rosé is soft and light on the palate, the first white is mineral and perfect for aperitif, the second white is a little more bitter, the first red is light, not very tannic, but soft and easy on the palate, the second is as I like it, denser, rounder, more tannic, and the third premium, is too young and too acid.

After having bought a few bottles, we leave. That’s not all but we still have a nice beach and a natural spa to see.

Indijup Bay

We arrive on a deserted beach, not a soul on the horizon. The natural spa is on the other side of the beach, we have to cross it to get there, our legs are working, the sun is beating, we struggle a little but we end up crossing people…

We didn’t choose the nearest parking lot, but the ride was fun.

After crawling through some rocks, we arrive at the natural spa. It’s nice, but not as much as I expected, we climb a bit to see a bit further. We have fun and we go back to the beach.

Game in the waves, sunset, and the weekend ends after 3 hours of driving…