So we headed down to Injidup Spa Retreat for a winter weekend get away (cheaper due to winter). We started with a stop at the Crooked Carrot Cafe for lunch. This was our first visit and I can see the attraction for families as it is half way, lots of play equipment and fairly quick food – 20 min wait at a busy time. The food was quite average though.
After the Crooked Carrot we stopped at Gabriel’s chocolates for some snacks and then checked in. There is no on site food here so we brought lots of snacks, sausages, steak, salads etc ourselves to make the most of the gorgeous views from the deck and heated pool. They also gift you an arrival platter!
We spent the Saturday of our long weekend visiting the day spa for an amazing massage.
Then, we walked a section of the cape to cape track down to the Injidup natural spa. You can access the track from the accomodation and it’s only a 1km or so walk along the trail. So we did 2kms return and it was gorgeous!
We had a late lunch at Swings and Roundabouts (very busy but if you go at 3pm it’s possible to get in without a booking) and had delicious pizza and wine. Then another gorgeous sunset while floating in the heated plunge pool followed by wine by the fire.
On the last full day of our stay we had booked the degustation lunch at Voyager Estate. So both of us could join in with paired wines, I ended up booking a taxi each way with south west taxis who were on time and very reasonably priced. I did book ahead though as a long weekend means they are verrrry busy and needed a lot of notice! They arrived exactly as scheduled both ways. The lunch was DELICIOUS and we highly recommend this place for another visit!
Day 3 was Bs actual birthday! Woohoo! We started with a lovely breakfast view from the accomodation.
It was time then for yet another birthday present for him – a surprise surfing lesson with Crystal Wallace (and her husband Tim) at Yallingup Surf School. I supervised from the beach haha. Unfortunately surfing triggered Bs motion sickness so it was a very short lesson followed by a long nap – the company were great though and I recommend them.
We had a 90 min couple massage at the Empire Spa Retreat in the afternoon. You have to book quite far ahead to get into their only couples room but they were fantastic – super accomodating for some unexpected injuries I had as well.
Bs birthday dinner was at Lamont’s at Smiths Beach with a (allegedly) a lovely beach view and some amazing food choices. I arranged a 6pm booking for sunset. Unfortunately while the restaurant is on the beach, it does not have a view once you are inside. Food was okay – not terrible, not amazing. The pavlova dessert was HUGE!
On day 4 we did a self checkout (which meant we got a delicious breakfast hamper pictured below!) and then drove 3hrs back to Perth. We would definitely stay at this accomodation again, we both really liked the bush/privacy vibes.
On the way home our halfway stop was at Myalup Miami Bakehouse to admire all the kangaroo art.
Okay so forewarning I’ve been drinking a lot of expensive Margaret River wine before writing this!
We checked out of our accomodation (air bnb escape hatch in Margaret river – would stay again) before we 10am and headed to the chocolate factory for delicious fresh waffles for breakfast. There are lots of in town options if you prefer! Brumby’s, the town bakery, the other town bakery, the mosaic cafe to name a few!
We then drove another 25ish kms to Ngilgi (pronounced Ni-lgi) cave. This came up in my research as a hidden gem – not as big as the main show caves but lots of hidden pathways and you can go the whole way to the bottom! We pre-booked. B says “pretty cool, I was impressed”. I say that I was not expecting to be able to do the 370 steps up and back but I managed it due to the number of rest points!
After Ngilgi Cave we headed to Cape Naturaliste with a stop off at Sugarloaf Rock sightseeing point (best at sunset apparently). It was still cool to look at in the day time and less busy.
After visiting the rock we paid $15 each to do the lighthouse tour. This was prebooked which turned out to be lucky as it filled up. We were able to learn the history of the area and climb up to the viewing platform (approx (59 very narrow and steep steps). Everyone went very slow up the stairs so it was not obvious I was limping at this point!
At 2:15pm we left Cape Naturliste and headed to Injidup Spa and Resort about 25 mins back towards Yallingup. This is an ADULT ONLY resort (they take that seriously) with 10 private villas that all have ocean view decks and plunge pools. Ummm it’s a bit amazing! We are so far very impressed. You are near other villas (shared walls) but you can’t really tell.
We checked in at 3pm, had a massage from 3:30-5pm then had a grazing platter and complimentary bottle of wine while watching the sunset in our private pool and deck.
Today we started the day by attempting to visit Gnarabup Beach. That was an epic fail as both the car park and over flow car park were totally full and people were illegally parking everywhere. Apparently 35C heat + a mask mandate means everyone goes to the beach! We gave up and went to Cheeky Monkey Brewing Company for lunch. Our review was basically visit for the beer, not the food. We had a quesadilla and fried chicken and both were below average.
After the brewery we visited the Margaret River Chocolate Company again to try out truffles. Then we also visited their attached cellar door and and the well known Providore shop where we sampled some delicious wine and chocolate liquer as well as purchasing some tasty looking meat rubs and candied nuts.
After a nap, we headed off to Arc of Iris for dinner which comes highly recommended on all the food review sites. I was glad we booked as even though they weren’t very busy, only bookings got to sit inside. Even with the aircon on (2 split systems) the number of people and the open kitchen meant it was very warm in the restaurant. We ended up skipping dessert and another drink as it was so hot. B had the ribs and I had the steak, both were very good.
Tomorrow we check out of our air bnb and then have a day off sightseeing before we check into the next accomodation. I have booked Ngilgi Cave and Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse but may not be able to do either with how bruised and swollen my knee is from my tumble the other day. Either way, B can tourist for both of us!
Today initially intended to have breakfast at the Margaret River Bakery (directly opposite our accomodation) however the line was literally in the car park and I wasn’t waiting that long. We went next door to the very cute Mosaic Cafe which had perfectly good breakfast snacks and coffee….and no line!
The we headed off for a 30 min drive to Canal Rocks. Now, Canal Rocks was not on my original list of things to do as it has been closed for long periods over the last few years due to extensive storm damage. I saw on a travel page late last night some recent photos and it seems open so I thought we could try! Thousands of years of the Indian Ocean surging and crashing against this section of granite coastline has chiselled out a narrow channel between the granite rocks. A short boardwalk has been built to cross on to the rocks and you can climb around on them.
We got there around 10:40am so it was fairly quiet but by the time we climbed back an hour later it was getting busy and passing people on the boardwalk was squishy.
B went full mountain goat and climbed all the way out, I took it a lot slower (and utilised the help of a dad who was getting his 5yo daughter across) but made it most of the way! Well, until literally the last 5 metres back to the boardwalk when I slipped and bashed my knee.
Suggestions for Canal Rocks:
⁃ wear sneakers rather than thongs. You can do it in thongs but once you get to the end you will feel more comfortable on the rocks in sneakers. There is nowhere to swim here (just a little bit of an area to paddle around the rocks) so we left our thongs in the car and bath swapped shoes in the car park
⁃ If you are not willing to climb on the rocks the boardwalk is very short and you’ll end up sort of standing on a small rock, blocking everyone’s way. So be prepared to either climb on then or go back to avoid bottle necks
⁃ Be prepared for sun. So much sun. Haha this is Australia in summer so slip, slop, slap!
⁃ There is a public toilet here and a fairly large car park so lots of space
Canal Rocks is only a 4 min drive past iconic Smith’s Beach so we stopped there for a dip on the way back. It was a very nice looking beach but we both agreed we preferred Hamelin Bay yesterday.
Driving back towards Margaret River along Caves Road there were a few wineries so we stopped in at Vasse Felix (the oldest winery in the region) for a cellar door tasting. B liked the wine so much he bought a whole bunch to take home! It’s a beautiful venue and one day we will have to return to try their award winning restaurant.
We snuck into the Margaret River Bakery before it shut at 2pm for a snack – the bacon toastie was pretty good but we agreed not worth waiting an hour in the crazy line from this morning.
We then got changed and headed off to Passel Estate, a small family owned winery who also dedicate part of their land to western ringtail possum rehabilitation after bushfires. We paid for an experience where we got to your the vineyard, see the possum rehab area, have cheese and wine and recorded a complimentary bottle as well as donating a chunk of the ticket to their possum rehabilitation program. We got a bonus extended tour further into the bush to see some 200+ year old grass trees as well!
Dinner tonight was some chocolate from Margaret river chocolate company and B ate some cheese from the dairy farm. I was full from the delicious cheese platter at Passel Estate!
P.S. The mask mandate is back as of last night and applies to us so we have been wearing those indoors (as required) but they are not required outside.
A note before we get started: CARRY YOUR SUNSCREEN WITH YOU IN WA SUMMERS. I am so very sunburnt today.
We started out at 8am to ensure we beat the traffic and had time to wander around Busselton foreshore before our jetty train trip to the underwater observatory. We have both been to Busselton before but don’t really remember it as it was many years ago….and we had never been on the jetty train!
The drive from Perth was about 2hrs 40 mins and we arrived with plenty of time so had some nibbles and drinks at the Shelter Brewing Company. It did seem very decadent to enjoy a cider and a beer at 10:30am. Normal people would sit there and “people watch” but I dog watched instead….so many dogs! The views around the brewery and foreshore are lovely. We didn’t go in the water (a bit cold) but there were lots of kids swimming in the enclosed beach net and jumping off the platforms.
The jetty train (return trip) and underwater observatory tour cost was $36 each to prebook online. The trips going out there still had a few tickets left when we arrived but as it’s school holidays and summer, they were very close to full. The train is electric and solar powered – very cool. It takes you the length of the jetty (1.8kms) with a little commentary about the local area as you travel. At the other end of the jetty is the underwater observatory which is one of only six in the world.
When you get off the train you head inside for your observatory tour. I felt this part was a bit unorganised while we were there – the guide kept telling everyone to be quiet and stay with her as we circled down but there wasn’t enough space on each landing as the tour had so many people so neither kids or adults were listening to her. We ended up staying at the back of the group and just coming down one level at a time behind them. It is very interesting to learn about the artificial reef and how it attracts the fish, you also get to see the fish swimming around and how they change as the levels change while looking through viewing windows. They told us there is a “special needs” seal who sometimes comes and says hello but we didn’t get to see her.
They give you an hour at the observatory but even if you stop at every level and look at each window it won’t take that long. We ended up with 40 mins left so walked up to the end of the jetty for some photos and then waited to catch the train back. Quite a few people from our train opted to walk back the 1.8kms rather than wait ages but I had forgotten sunscreen so we just waited in the shade instead.
We then headed onwards to Margaret River! We stopped at Candy Cow in Cowamarup (a town which embraces its name through the placement of SO MANY GIANT COW STATUES around the place) and bought some snacks while cow-spotting just a few of the 42 life sized fibreglass cows in the local herd.
We are spending the first few nights at an air bnb at Margaret’s Forest Holiday Apartments right in the centre of town. Even though it’s in the town centre, it’s surrounded by bush and is very quiet. There are two balconies we can sit on to enjoy nature (and wine) as well as a fully self contained kitchen. The pricing was very reasonable at $149 a night.
Dinner tonight was prebooked at “Morries” which came highly recommended for their tapas selection and cocktails. Morrie’s was about a 9 min walk from our accomodation at the “other end” of the town strip. They were full (Saturday night) so I was glad we had booked and they also have a 2hr window to be aware of. We tried 4 of their cocktails between us and they were all very good – properly made and no “glossing over” the alcohol amounts. We also tried 4 different tapas dishes and our thoughts are below. We give this place an 8/10 and would return. Bs only issue was the pork belly and mine was the same issue at every place down here – which is they are seriously understaffed so service is a bit of a disaster.
Croquettes: mmmm cheesey melty goodness
Pork belly: the sauce was nice but the pork belly bites were a little dry
Beef cheeks: this dish was melt in your mouth delicious
White chocolate brownie dessert: even with a GF brownie this was still pretty good
Mel's Travel Blog 