Margaret River

What a beautiful part of the country, shame about the weather we've had. On the day we drove from Perth to Margaret River it was pouring with rain, with very strong winds, so strong in fact that there was a severe weather warning. The weather warning was for the strong winds they were expecting, which struck fear into us caravan folk hearts. I was picturing the van being swept off the road in a strong gust of wind and us following, something like Dorothy when she ended up in Kansas.
So I was very relieved when Pete safely pulled the van into Margaret river, actually Cowaramup, a little place just Nort of Margaret river.The caravan park we stayed at was on a farm, we had animals around us which made us feel at home.

Harry had just fallen over, in his excitement to get to the lighthouse- that's why he's not looking too happy

On our first day we went all the way down to the most South Western tip of australia, to Cape Leeuwin light house. We had quite an entertaining tour(the only way to get through).

We visited a couple of wineries, as you do in Margaret River. The first one was Cullens, they are a lesser known winery but do organic and biodynamic wines, I was trying to be healthy, but they weren't very nice, well not the wines we could afford, and really who was I kidding if I want to be healthy just don't drink the wine.........
The next winery we visited was Vasse Felix, it was very pretty and we bought some nice wines.
Then off to the kids eqivalent of a winery, the Chocolate Factory. They loved it , there were free samples and theey just ran around very excited and eating way too many choccies.

The next day we went exploring the caves and started off with Jewel Cave. It was huge inside and very pretty. there was a great boardwalk, with lots of different platforms at different heights you could wander around.

The sun then decided to make a brief appearance so we made the most of it and went and has lunch at a winery. It was very nice sitting outside in the sun, enjoying a yummy meal while the kids played happily nearby- well not too nearby but we could see them. One of those few parenting moments when it all comes together !
After our long lunch more compromise and off to the maze at Yallingup. We spent a good amount of time in that maze (it was only supposed to take half an hour) and had lots of fun.The kids then got more playground time. They had this obstacle type route made of logs ,  horizontal trees and  wooden stepping stones, the challenge being to get around it without standing on the ground, the kids loved it and so did Pete.

On the way back to the van we passed the Cheeky monkey Brewery, because of its amazing playground(thanks Jaine) we decided to have a last play there. Well what else could Pete and I do, but enjoy a beer tasting "paddle".A good way to end a fun day.
We've really enjoyed Margaret River, even in the dodgey weather, another place we've put on our to come back to list.