Margaret River Galavanting

Wills Domain
Olio Bello
Rails To Trails
Colonial Brewing Co.

Wills Domain

Winery, Restaurant, Cellar Door, Art Gallery
Suitable for everyone, kids play area, no dogs

I can highly recommend Wills Domain. I went there (again) recently for my friends birthday lunch. The day was late winter, not a leaf on any of the tortured timbered vines. The last of the winter clouds wafting in from the sea and across the landscape, eucalypts and vines.

Looking down to the Gunyulgup Valley, the sea further on and visible on a sunny day.

The restaurant is located closer to Yallingup. So quite a drive from Margs, about 40 minutes. Or, you can fly in by helicopter, as Twiggy Forrest did when I was there this time last year. Just contacted Wild Blue Helicopters and they will fly you there..... now there's a thought! Kel's Designated Drivers are also an option.

Service with a smile, Wills Domain Cellar Door

We just love their cuisine. For starters we had Beef Tendons with Tasmanian Pepper..... yuuum, puffed up like a Chinese prawn cracker, didn't even resemble a tendon?! Im a mad kale addict... we had the Kale and Wattle chips.... that's just the starters!

Mains :)

The service at the cellar door was smiling and eloquent. Our thing is to try their wines before we order out meals. We tried them all.

As much as I love children, avoid those high traffic times in school holidays. Ask the question when booking.

This is the end of winter at the Margaret River mouth

Olio Bello

Olive Oil Producer, Cafe, Shop
Suitable for everyone, including dogs

Also one of my regular favs. It's a great place to take visitors. They have fabulous tastings of their delicious olive oils. There are many beautifully presented and packaged gift ideas. Take home sauces for an easy meal after a hard day of wine tasting and vineyard visiting.

Robin.... Olio Bello, a beautiful smile and great service

I took along little Miss Paris and she was very happy under the olive trees with us. I tied her to my chair and the cheeky monkey untied herself. I had a good look around the property and it would be a fabulous place to take a big dog with you for lunch. There are some tables out the back that are away from the main eating area. It looks like the tables have not been used in a while but its worth a think because the venues for bigger dogs is quite limited (remembering that they must all be on leads).

Paris and her thick rope tether

This is the perfect location for a big dog or two (on leads of course), there are sheep at the end of this avenue of olive trees.

At Olio Bello you can order fabulous pizzas and pasta's, I ate all of my prawn pizza when I should have only have eaten half!!! You can take along a bottle of wine of your own or  buy theirs. I tried their wine by the glass which was very pleasant. I noticed that they are also selling beer.

You can have tea, coffee, cake, ice cream. Have a little picnic with the kids and grandies, perfect.

You cant see them from here, but there are sheep down the back there.

RtTs From Gnarawary Rd going north

The Rails To Trails

This is not the Rails to Trails! But it is a walk I embarked upon a couple of weeks ago and I was only 5 mins into it before I realised that I wasnt going to be able to cross the creek (which I think is Margaret River!) So I went back to the Rails for Trails :) Was a bit boggy!

I can't walk the entire length of the trail (yet), so I have been starting on different roads that cross over it. Doing the research, the length of it varies between 13.5kms to 15kms. Basically it starts from Cowaramup, heads south through Margaret River and down to Gnarawary Rd near Leeuwin and Voyager Estates. So I walk for about 15 minutes one way and then back again. Or longer depending on the feet. You could count them all as separate walks as they are all so different. I will write more about these walks later. But some of these photos are part of a post I am compiling on walks.

RtTs From Burnside Rd, North, very boggy and note the 1080 dog poison sign!

Now..... after a walk... you need a beer :)

Yep, on RtTs you get cows :)

(Im also compiling a separate post on breweries... I love my hobby :))

So,  The Colonial Brewing Co.....
Brewery, Restaurant
Suitable for everyone, kids play area, no dogs

Yes have written about them before. And have been there twice in the last month. First was a meeting for the Creative Corner, a group that was formed by The South West Development Commission and has generated the Emergence Creative. They are forming an environment for South West 'creatives' to come together. So we had a meeting there one late afternoon.

It's about 20 minutes out of town. Summer time they have a bus to and from Margs. The beer is fabulous and I have always had what one would call... 'good pub food' there. After the meeting members were joined by their family and stayed on for pizzas. I had organised Kel to pick me up. Not wanting to drink and drive.

Our gorgeous Kara

Yep....  and then popped in one wet and windy afternoon after my walk along 'the rails for trails'. The sun had an hour before setting, it had been wild and wooly all day, just managed to dodge the rain for my walk, and as we walked in we were greeted by a lovely warm fire. As I was enjoying a glass of pale ale, I could see the tree's outside become a little more animated than they were before, I could tell we were in for a decent gust.... sure enough, in the safety of the brewery, it was blowing a gale outside, it swept through taking with it the chairs that had been neatly stacked on the tables and the gas heaters.

Night of the storm, a warm fire, note the hanging lights, its actually made from their beer bottles called 'Growlers'

I have tried to access The Colonial Brewing Co's website for over a month with no joy. Its best to give you their Facebook page as a link. Colonial Brewing Co. Margaret River