As privileged as we are to travel the world and compete it is very rare that we get the opportunity to go away on an actual holiday. Last weekend I had a friend over from Melbourne so we took the chance to go away for the 36 hours I had off training over the weekend. 
It’s not much I know but you take what you can get. Anyway, we packed the car and set out on our three hour road trip down to Western Australia’s magnificent wine region, Margaret River. An easy drive and we were down there early afternoon with only one pit stop for snacks.
Our accommodation at Margaret River Hotel was lovely. A nice big room with large beds and chilled wine glasses ready for our first taste. We went for a stroll through the town before retiring for a quick nap in preparation for a big night out on the town. Sadly Margaret River is a very small town and so our night consisted of eating local bread, dips and cheese and listening to a band perform in the hotel then heading home with dessert in hand. As always, food ended up being the highlight of the day.
On the Sunday morning we were picked up by a mini bus and taken on a tour of the wine region. We shared the bus we two great guys from Sydney who were true wine lovers and certainly made the most of the free tastings. We spent the morning at three different wineries, Leeuwin estate, Stella Bella, and Voyager estate. All very unique and all having a beautiful range of wine and fantastic views. They all seemed to differ in the size of your taste tester also. Some gave very generous pours and others being more considerate to our wellbeing later on and just sharing a drop. I was driving so sadly missed out on a lot of the tasting. After a three course lunch we were off to the cheese factory followed by the Margaret river chocolate factory. So much food!!! We were very lucky that it was a cold day as it meant we could hold more free choc bits in our hands without them melting. 
Our last three stops were Moss Brothers winery, The Watershed and Pierro for some final tastings and purchases to finish of our day. Both living up to their reputations and providing a great atmosphere and some lovely wines. The weather was terrible all day and yet we managed to time each stop perfectly in the sunny breaks between downpours.
A really great day all round and a nice relaxing trip away. If you get the chance, I would highly recommend you head down and check out one of my favourite places Margaret River.
Sounds fantastic. Glad to hear the chocolate didn’t melt!!!!! Hope you didn’t eat all the profits??? What a great way to spend a couple of days with a wonderful friend. You deserve some “time out”.
So nice to hear that you enjoyed your time in Margaret River. The night life is small but we have some great bands that come through. Cold Chisel for example on November the 26th. Glad you picked up on the stunning food and wine and made the most of it, even with some true Margaret River weather. Thanks for sharing and I hope all your friends now come with you next visit.
Oh don’t worry, all my friends will be coming down next time. Maybe we should try and convince our coach to have a training camp down there. Very exciting about Cold Chisel!
I’m glad to hear that you love our wine region. You’ve defined the margaret river wines very well. “lovely” really much defines it. Would you agree that it’s one of the best tasting wines?
The Margaret river region does have some amazing wines but I have been to a few wineries in South America which are also very beautiful. It’s a great attraction to have in WA though!