The Story Thus Far:

Wining, Dining.. Margaret River

G’day Mate! Margaret River Adventures.. Day 1 & 2

Margaret River – Day 3 & Day 4

Dirty mountain biking at Margaret River

Margaret River, the Adventure Continues – Day 5

Early the next Tuesday morning, we check out of Vintages Accommodation and headed out to Margaret River Providore. Margaret River Providore combines vineyards, olive groves, organic vegetable gardens and gourmet foods from the region, Australia and around the world in a one‐stop sales and tasting facility. We were taken on a guided tour of their organic vegetable gardens. Located on a working farm in the heart of Wilyabrup, the stunning new manufacturing and tasting centre provides visitors with an opportunity to stroll through kitchen gardens, watch products being made in the kitchens, sample wines, olive oils and fresh produce and then purchase from a huge selection of gourmet foods and gift items.

But then Margaret River Providore and Coward and Black Vineyards are much more than just a cellar door – the visitor centre combines a working farm, vineyard and olive grove, with dozens of organic vegetable gardens to create a comprehensive “paddock to plate” experience.

the organic garden

Inside the stunning new rammed earth manufacturing and sales facility you can sample premium wines from the Coward and Black range, estate grown olive oils as well as taste  the most delicious Jams and Preserves all made in the farm kitchens. There is even a artisan kitchenware section.

The Margaret River Providore café provides light meals, coffee and snacks or just a drink on the verandah overlooking the vines. From Genuine French baguettes, pastas and dips, to teas, spices, fine cheeses and meats smoked on the premises. the cafe is an ideal stop for breakfast.

So many delectable things to sample..

Just like a providore should be, the shelves are loaded with jars of goodies and the fridges are overflowing with cured meats and alluring fresh food. The Margaret River Providore is the finest in what is already a fairly fine gourmet region. 

A smiling Canadian offers us wine tasting at Providore

After Providore, we had a slew of Vineyards to visit, the first of them being Vasse Felix.  Planted by Dr Tom Cullity in 1967, Vasse Felix was the first commercial vineyard and winery to be established in the Margaret River region and is family owned and operated by the Holmes a Court family. Vasse Felix is one of the region’s most welcoming estates with its contemporary cellar door, nationally‐acclaimed restaurant and art gallery. Within the original underground cellar lives an archive of Vasse Felix and Margaret River wine history. We then went on a behind the scenes tour and tasting compliments of Vasse Felix.

An interesting part of the Vasse Felix, is the art found on  its grounds. Created by famous artists from around the world, the works of art adds a different experience to visitors. Children, of course, loves the unusual structures.

modern art by a Japanese artist – apparently when the river’s water level comes up, the structure on the bottom right becomes partially submerged in water, looking like a boat. Very clever indeed!

Cellar Door – Vasse Felix

Every Vasse Felix wine is crafted with individual attention and a focus on expressing the distinct regional characteristics of Margaret River varieties. The finest grape is selected from specific vineyard sites and fermented in parcels with the greatest care. All winemaking from vine to bottle is controlled within the Estate, where every decision is made in reflection of the vintage and journey of the individual barrique.

Our wine expert tells us that the best performing varieties from Margaret River are Cabernet Sauvignon (and Cabernet blends), Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon blends, many of which are recognised amongst the most outstanding of their kind in the world. These regional strengths are reflected in the Vasse Felix Heytesbury and Estate tiers, while popular Australian blends are embodied within the Vasse Felix Classics.

Right from the word go, we are totally taken in with the Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay. It’s signature flavours matched our palate and we decided take one home!

With the Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay, a selection of individual barrels from the finest sections and clones, of the best  vineyards are selected. The wine is fermented entirely with wild yeasts and matured in new and one year old French oak barriques with battonage for nine months. The style has developed significantly over recent years with complex vineyard character coming from less clarified juice and natural yeast. Heytesbury Chardonnay is so easy to drink and it was by far our favourite wine of the lot.

Our next stop on the winery tour was Cullen. It is a family owned business which adopts a biodynamic practise in their vineyards. What is biodynamics? According to Cullen’s website, biodynamics, “involves adopting a collective approach to working with the soil, the plants and the cosmos, has two underlying philosophies. The first recognises that it is important to maintain sustainable soil fertility, as is also the case with organic farming, while the second takes into account the link that exists between plant growth and the rhythms of the cosmos. The adoption of these philosophies in concert, results in the production of healthier plants and livestock.”

Pretty amazing, right? We were given a tour around the wine making section as well as part of the fertilizer making section.

Most of us will probably know that human and animal waste provides a good source of fertiliser. At one section of the tour, we were shown the female cow horns which would be buried in soil over winter together with cow manure. Further natural ingredients such as fish emulsion and seaweed are added to the manure to make a a ground fertilizer spray which will be sprayed on the vineyard soil three times a year when the moon is in the opposition to Saturn. This fertilizer is only one part of the biodynamic process performed by Cullens in its quest to make the best wines. You can read more about their farming methods here.

Female cow horns

 Contraption for making the ground fertilizer

Wines fermentation section

Wines being filled into oak barrels for aging

All the walking made us thirsty and we were glad it was time to taste the wines.

The biodynamic approach at Cullens gave their wines a distinctive taste. Wines here tasted sharper, possibly with higher acidity. These wines seemed to have a less flowery bouquet on the nose. Cullens have their own restaurant. Though eager to try out their dishes made from their own biodynamic produce, we were running late and had to rush to our next destination…

With our heads in a spin from all that accumulated wine tasting, it was time for lunch. Knee Deep produce small parcels of fine wine from a single vineyard in Wilyabrupthe heart of the Margaret River Wine region. The name reflects a passionate commitment to premium winemaking and the laid back Margaret River state of mind in which you can always immerse yourself. They also offer high quality chef prepared food in a friendly and relaxed vineyard environment.

We were definitely most impressed with the contemporary Australian cuisine served in such beautiful vineyard settings. We actually got a chance to chat with the Chef of Knee Deep restaurant – the award winning Executive Chef Michelle Babb. Since opening the restaurant in late 2008 Knee Deep has been awarded Two Chefs Hats by the Australian Good Food (both 2012 & 2011), as well as being ranked best restaurant in regional WA. Knee Deep has also received an AGE good food guide star, a Gourmet Traveller Star (2012 & 2011) and had it’s risotto in Gourmet Traveller 2010 best dishes in Australia.

Thanks to Chef Michelle Babb, we got to sample some terrific lunch degustation menu, paired exquisitely well with different wines from the Knee Deep Vineyard. I have to say that the food and wines were really impressive. For a small vineyard, they have to potential to go far, as the wines and food were top notch.

Chef Babb’s work is compared to that of Napa Valley’s French Laundry and we soon learned that she was born and raised in Busselton. “Food tourism isn’t about just what you put on the plate, but creating special moments in people’s lives,” the bubbly chef said as she came in to meet us up on her day off. A five-course “Trust-the-Chef” degustation menu with a view overlooking the winery’s gorgeous property was an unforgettable experience.

The degustation menu was so well paired with the wines, we were truly impressed with the Chef’s cooking!

The degustation menu, focuses on fresh seasonal ingredients, sourced from local producers and suppliers wherever possible started off with a beautifully plated house-cured salmon gravalax, lemon and herb sour cream, rosé pearls and micro greens, and accompanied by the young, vibrant and crisp 2011 Rosé.

This was soon followed by a savoury and velvety confit pork belly, with pearls of Israeli cous cous, and a fig and pine nut salad.  This was brilliantly paired with a sweet yet the well-rounded melon and honey flavoured 2009 Chardonnay.

Up next was the carbo heavy pink snapper and salmon tortellini, served along with slow cooked fennel, local asparagus and coconut foam. Carbo lovers would love this – great texture on the tortellini which was cooked al dente.

The next dish was my absolute favourite – the MSA beef tenderloin, potato galette, zucchini, eggplants and balsamic reduction course was a perfect medium rare. The capsicum pearls were a vibrant touch, which complemented the intense ruby red glass of 2008 Kelsea’s Reserved Cabernet Sauvignon that had an oak-y aroma and a bouquet of summer cherries and plums.

As the grand finale, we indulged in a beautifully plated dessert of raspberry bavarios, illawarra plum puree, decorated with a translucent shaving of air-dried nashi pear, braised saffron apple and slices of peppermint.

What a fabulous lunch! One of the most memorable on this trip to Margaret River.

Yes, with lunch safely in our stomachs, we headed out to our next stop in Busselton Jetty. Stretching 1.8 kilometres across Geographe Bay, Busselton Jetty is the longest timber‐piled jetty in the southern hemisphere. It is renowned world‐wide for its spectacular Underwater Observatory, Jetty Train and myriad of recreational uses. A unique experience situated in Western Australia’s favourite playground! We then had some time to explore the underwater depths of the Underwater Observatory and take some photos of the marine life.

It was cold and windy but people still loved to frolick on the beach. In the background, Busselton Jetty ticket office

See how far the jetty stretches..

it takes 30 minutes to walk out there to the end, maybe 15 minutes if you run fast.

A water theme park! Sadly.. it wasn’t open when we were there

which direction is the wind blowing?

Seagulls scavenged prizes! Fishes lay drying in the sun and the wind on an old platform separated from the main jetty

The boatshed style Interpretive Centre, opened in April 2001, is located 50 metres offshore, at the end of the jetty. The Interpretive Centre gives visitors a glimpse into the Jetty’s rich past and its exciting future. It houses the eco-museum, which showcases the jetty’s history, ticket office as well as an exciting array of beautiful giftware and mementos.

 

Baby wanted his picture taken too

Each year during autumn and winter, the Leeuwin Current brings a narrow band of warm water down the Western Australian coastline. This warm southerly current is responsible for the incredibly diverse array of tropical and sub-tropical species in Geographe Bay including coralgrowth at a latitude of 33 degrees south. The west coasts of other southern hemisphere continents such as Africa and South America have no coral growth below 5 degrees south.

The Busselton Jetty Underwater Observatory, with more than 300 individual marine species, is host to an awe inspiring “forest” of vividly-coloured tropical and sub-tropical corals, sponges, fish and invertebrates. It is sometimes described as Australia’s greatest artificial reef. We spent an hour here marvelling at the corals and trying to spot marine life over the observatory guide’s voice  explaining the rich eco-system found here.

As we drove out to our final destination for this entire trip, we looked back and marvelled at how much distance and different experiences we had covered. It was now time to depart from the Margaret River region and drive to Perth. That night, we stayed at the Novotel Langley, courtesy of Tourism WA.

 Stay tuned for the final installment.. PERTH!

The Story Thus Far:

Wining, Dining.. Margaret River

G’day Mate! Margaret River Adventures.. Day 1 & 2

Margaret River – Day 3 & Day 4

Dirty mountain biking at Margaret River

Margaret River, the Adventure Continues – Day 5

(For our previous posts:

Wining, Dining.. Margaret River, 

G’day Mate! Margaret River Adventures.. Day 1 & 2,

Margaret River – Day 3 & Day 4, and

Dirty mountain biking at Margaret River)

Talk about enjoying breakfast with a view of the stunning Gnarabup Beach! This little cafe had terrific views to the north of the world‐famous Surfers Point. It was here that our friends, Cory and Jasmine from Augusta Margaret River Tourism Association, joined us for a scrumptious breakfast. Beachfront dining in the Margaret River region does not get any better than this popular local hotspot.

 Gnarabup Beach

Gnarabup Beach is a well protected beach that provides a safe swimming area for all the family and there are spectacular rocky outcrops and some long stretches of white sand. This is a picturesque area where varying surf breaks form depending on weather conditions. Located 12 kilometres from the town of Margaret River, Gnarabup Beach is only four hours drive south west of Perth.

The first diners this nice morning at White Elephant together with Cory and Jasmine

Set at the end of a beach along the cerulean blue shores of Gnarabup Bay, this charming community cafe is the hangout place of the locals. We see many early risers, some jogging along the pedestrian path and some on the beach, and others already in the sea getting a full body workout!

Run by the same owners as Margaret River’s renowned Gnarabar, White Elephant Beach Cafe keeps the standard high with its gourmet breakfast and lunch menus. This place serves everything from buttermilk pancakes, bagels with egg and bacon, to open-style omelettes, antipasto plates, Asian inspired salads, beef burgers and much more.

surfer’s paradise

joggers

snorkeling in the cold water.. brrrr ! We were told that to the locals, this time of year is considered warm!

another swimmer done with his workout

A cold morning, hot cooked food with natural Aussie produce and great company provides a breakfast of champions with champions. Looking at the pictures below just makes me want to return back to the cafe right now.

When dining near seagulls, you have to watch over your food. A diner sitting near us almost lost his breakfast to a scavenging seagull when he got up to get coffee at the cafe counter. Fortunately, the rest of the diners around who were already watching the opportunistic seagulls had chased away the one who almost got the prize.

Beware opportunistic seagull.. cute but a lightning fast scavenger! Watch your food or it will be gone in a flash!

A beautiful morning, delicious breakfast, wonderful beach.. hmm.. we could live here

Cute pugs waiting for their master to get back from buying coffee

Once we were done with breakfast we headed back to Vintages Motel, to meet our masseuses for our Body Bliss Massage experience. This trip had been rush everywhere and having the opportunity rub away the aches was definitely welcomed.

Cumi needing his workout, gets some exercise with Dirty Detours after breakfast.

My massage session turned out to be the ultimate in spa indulgence – there is an extensive range of therapies available, all of which are superb, so you can just take your pick. The spa totally de-stressed me and this form of natural pampering and holistic treatments in the privacy of your own room is really just so good, for lazy people like me. After experiencing a Body Bliss massage or treatment you will feel completely relaxed, rejuvenated and radiating from the inside out.

After the spa, we were off to feed the animals at Sunflowers Animal Farm. At the farm, a huge selection of both farm and native animals could be seen, patted and fed – you just needed to purchase the animal feed from the main entrance on your way in. The animals were lovely – really friendly and all just wanting to be petted and fed! Sunflowers Animal Farm also provided the option for a Farm-stay for those who absolutely love animals and want to stay in amongst the ‘ action’.

hewo lil wabbit!

ciki-dolittle, feeds and talks to the animals! 

If not for the hood, the pony might have been freaked out by this overly overjoyed lil fat munkey

We scoffed down a quick lunch, and then it was time to head on out to do some hardcore caving and trekking.  Cape to Cape Explorer Tours is relatively a new business but it is certainly making its mark having already won a swag of tourism awards. These Margaret River‐based nature specialists provide a wide range of services for hikers on the Cape to Cape Track – highly regarded as one of the best hiking experiences in Australia.

We met our first guide, Drew McKenzie, who was a biologist turned tourism operator. He led us on a short coastal walk along the magnificent Contos Ridge where we were greeted by this amazing view of the coast (ok, all the beaches here have amazing views and this one no less). While we marveled, Drew prepared a platter of grapes, cheese and crackers plus some fresh orange juice to wash it down. At this point, Drew briefed us on the ecology of the bushland and the afternoon’s program.

As you walk along the coast, the views are of alternating rugged granite headlands, sheer limestone cliffs and long stretches of wild, sandy beaches backed by extensive dune systems. The two main rock types of which the ridge is made are vastly different in form and age. The basement of the Ridge is a combination of granite, gneiss and other hard, metamorphic rocks, which are between 150 – 600 million years old.

photo moment!

We backtracked then began our tour into the scenic bush in the direction to Giants Cave.

One of the delights of walking the Cape to Cape Track is the variety of vegetation through which you pass. Rather than simply following the coast all the way, the Track loops inland in several places, taking you over the ridge and through different types of woodland and forest. Dense coastal heath dominates the windswept, western slopes. Pink pimelea, yellow buttercups (Hibbertia sp.) and wattles (Acacia sp.), blue fan-flower (Scaevola sp.), white beard-heaths (Leucopogon sp.) and red cockies’ tongues (Templetonia retusa) are just a few of the common flowers of the heathland. Woody species such as Rottnest tea-tree (Melaleuca lanceolata) and peppermint (Agonis flexuosa) may be pruned to less than a metre on exposed sites, but grow into tall shrubs or trees in gullies and sheltered locations.

On the sheltered, eastern side of the ridge, the country is more wooded with jarrah-marri(Eucalyptus marginata and Corymbia calophylla) mixed with sheoak (Allocasuarina fraseriana) woodland common in the northern half, and magnificent karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor) forest in the south. Sandy heathland on the east side of the ridge may be dominated by holly-leaved banksia (B. ilicifolia) or candle banksia (B. attenuata) and sheoak. Peppermint forms thickets or open groves all along the ridge, while bullich (Eucalyptus megacarpa) and yate (E. cornuta) are plentiful in some areas. Drew shows us a certain peppermint plant that can keep the bugs away if you rub it on your body.

The entire trek and caving runs would run for about 4 hours however 40 minutes into our walk, the overcast weather turned gloomy and soon began to drizzle. It was starting to get fun.. however for our safety and comfort from a heavier rainfall and lightning, Drew decided we should head back to the car to be transported to the cave.

After the track, it is time to meet our next guide, Gene Hardy, who will lead us into the depths of a legendary cave, known as Giants Cave.

There are over 300 known caves in our southwest. One of these is the amazing Giants Cave. This cave is found in the Boranup Forest, near Witchcliffe. It is located on Caves Road, and has been on records going back to the year 1900. Giants cave is one of the largest and deepest caves on the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge at 575 meters long and 86 meters deep. The Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge, is a belt of granite and limestone.

At the beginning of the cave you enter into a large 100 meter wide doline, a large crater formed by the collapse of the cave roof. Giants Cave’s doline (entrance) is very impressive with two large Karri trees growing inside this bowl like structure.

Gene comes over to meet us and to start the caving expedition with us

Deep, deep down we go, into the cave’s jaws we go. Will we come out alive? Gene says, it depends on our survival skills and how good we are, getting through “tight” spots. We are not quite sure what he means, but we nod our heads anyway.

The cave is approached via a spectacular doline entrance with a diameter of approximately 100 m. A doline is a crater formed by the collapse of a cave roof. The doline at Giants Cave was formed thousands of years ago. Entry from the doline into the cave proper is via a long, steep flight of steps. On the descent into this “twilight zone”, the effect of water and light can be seen on the ceiling above, where the combination of algal growth and calcite deposits has created natural sculptures of various colours and textures.

As you can imagine there are thousands of breathtakingly beautiful stalagmites, stalagmites, straws, and shawls. Unlike the Jewel cave, this one was really for the true cavers – no fancy lightings nor pristine platforms/railings to keep you from falling. Way more hardcore.

Strange markings on the ground resulting from bacteria?

Yet deeper we go..

Soon after entering the cave the path goes deep underneath Caves Road. The marked trail negotiates a rockpile and descends to the ‘Ballroom’ — a spectacular chamber, 40 metres long and with a flat sandy floor. This was once a stream bed, and when the water diverted away from the cave, the floor was coated with a fine layer of calcite deposit. Unfortunately, it was so fragile that it could not withstand the careless stomping of decades of thoughtless adventurers, and this delicate dusting of fine crystals has now been obliterated.

Here is the “Ballroom”, a large 70 meter chamber with sand for it’s floor. We sat in darkness when Gene, killed the lights for 10 minutes. He told us to just listen to the sound of “nothingness”. Many of us could not, and kept chatting to fill the uncomfortable silence. Kind of like in life, I suppose. Which of us is truly at ease with silence?

Ciki leads the way..

After the Ballroom you must climb vertical ladders and squeeze through some narrow space to lead you into the next area, “Arborite Chamber”, where you can easily see large calcified tree roots suspended from the roof. Then the serious adventure begins. The passages narrow substantially, and we end up having to squeeze through narrow spaces and go up ladders which were narrow and steep. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place. But even the largest of us, managed to pull through without turning back. We got dusty and dirty and enjoyed every minute of it. Caving is exhilarating! You must try it!

Large tyke on a bike manages to squeeze through the tiniest holes.. amazingly nibble for his size and height!

Down the rope she goes.. 

and up through the smallest opening..

Till at last, we emerge victorious!

Giants Cave is, for many people, the most exciting and challenging cave they will experience. The sense of adventure is matched only by the sense of achievement on emerging at the other end. Thanks Gene and Drew for a most amazing adventure!

 Next up, we near the end of our road trip in Margaret River, but not before we visit,  Margaret River Providore, the lush vineyards of of Vasse Felix, Cullen wines, Knee Deep wines, and our last stop before Perth, Busselton Jetty! 

The Story Thus Far:

Wining, Dining.. Margaret River

G’day Mate! Margaret River Adventures.. Day 1 & 2

Margaret River – Day 3 & Day 4

Dirty mountain biking at Margaret River

Rob Oostdam, the co-owner and lead guide for Dirty Detours met me at 9am sharp at the Margaret River Visitor Centre to show me what’s on offer for outdoor thrill seekers (or those just tired of the wineries and shopping) on Margaret River’s off-road mountain bike trails. Originally from Albany, Rob and his wife had been travelling the world for over a decade, and had worked on mountain biking and rafting tours in Canada for a while, gaining vast experience in outdoor hospitality. Rob even had some muay thai (Thai kick boxing) fighting experience in Thailand, under his belt. You don’t want to mess with this dude. Having returned back to Western Australia over 3 years ago, they decided to start a boutique mountain bike tour business in Margaret River realizing an opportunity to share the diverse biking trails with domestic and international travellers as well as schools and businesses.

Our initial plans to head-out to Boranup Forest, popular for its tall hardwood Karri trees were cancelled as some trail sections of the forest were still damaged from the recent bush fire. Instead, we went to the Pine Forest Trails located only a few minutes drive from town center. Labelled with such names as Brown Falcon, Bear Grylls (!) and Double Espresso, any rider with different competence levels will be able to enjoy their ride here in Margaret River. Rob and local mountain bike enthusiasts from the Margaret River Mountain Biking Club (MRORCA) volunteer to create and upkeep the trails here.

The trails zig zag across the apex of the hill with a variety of man-made and natural obstacles (the hardwood karri and pine trees!) providing sufficient challenges, which range from easy ride to hardcore extreme. Needless to say, being an absolute beginner, Rob warmed me up on several beginner trails before increasing the intensity to intermediate downhill runs. I’ve only had a single day of practise in Kuala Lumpur’s renowned technical mountain bike trails in Kiara Hill before the flight here. Even then, it was mostly on tar roads with a short detour down a 150m wet clay patch. Enough practice? Not really.

Throughout my 3 hour ordeal with Rob, I crashed 3 times including a ludicrous head-on collision with a tree trunk which would have garnered a million views on YouTube. As I write this, I look upon my battle scars healing on my right elbow and left leg. A special mention goes out to my Cullman 600 backpack which carried my precious camera, lenses and various other gadgets – not only was the bag comfortable to wear and had a rain cover, it cushioned each one of my hard tumbles on the dirt trail. None of my electronic equipment would have survived without it!

While the Pine trail circuit is open to public to ride, whether you are a professional or an amateur rider, you will need someone familiar with the trails, to show you the entries and exits plus prepare you for the course obstacles ahead. Obstacles may change without notice. A wrong turn or being unfamiliar with the traps on the courses may lead you to the infirmary. Rob with his vast experience in mountain bike riding had been very accommodating to a beginner like myself. Patient, calm and observant he had the right qualities of a guide to share knowledge on handling a bike, preparing you for every unique trail, and was able to design a tour just sufficient for my experience level in short notice.

I had a good workout and got to immerse myself in nature. Get in-touch with Dirty Detours for any sort of mountain biking programs in and around Margaret River – from gentle rides through vineyards, farmlands to hardcore trails!

Do enquire about the Cape to Cape multi-day program, and Railway Heritage trail which is a new circuit on the old railway line built during the timber boom here.

Contact Dirty Detours (Rob or Tam)
Mobile: +61 422 343 341
Landline: +618 9758 8312)

The top ten romantic experiences in Western Australia for a Valentine’s Day getaway are..

1. Toast each other at an extraordinary sunset at one of Western Australia’s many stunning beaches. Perth’s Cottesloe Beach is iconic, Broome’s Cable Beach is unforgettable  for its camel rides and Esperance’s Lucky Bay has been scientifically proven as Australia’s whitest beach.

2.  Get to know each other better over a meal or a cocktail at new trendy outlets in  Perth’s inner city precincts such as Five Bar and Clarences in Mt Lawley; The Garden and Kitch in Leederville; Beluga and The Duchess in Claremont ;and the Venn Gallery, XO and The Sentinel in Perth city.

3. Lock yourselves away in award winning boutique retreats  such as   Cape Lodge or  Stonebarn   in the South West region and experience luxury like you’ve never experienced before.

4. Hit the new Indian Ocean Drive in a convertible to Cervantes where the Pinnacles are located,  with a collection of your favourite songs and soak up Western Australia’s unique landscape with the wind in your hair.

photo credit – Cervantes Pinnacles by Gouldy99

5.  Go cycling on a tandem bike for two on Rottnest Island(half an hour ferry ride from Perth) and spot a quokka,  a pint-sized kangaroo-like creature  unique to Western Australia

6. Show how much your significant other means to you by presenting him or her with a Western Australian treasure  – a Broome pearl, a Kimberley diamond or a piece of Kalgoorlie gold.

7. Stroll hand in hand through the vineyards with a glass of local wine in the Swan Valley, WA’s oldest wine region or the Margaret River wine region with over 200 vineyards.

8. Reach new heights together at the 600-metre long Walpole’s Tree Top Walk perched at 40 metres above the ground in the South West region, the first of its kind in the world.

9. Pack a picnic for two and admire Perth’s skyline and the Swan River from Kings Park, one of the world’s largest inner city parks or join a tour to learn about the indigenous culture .

10. Immerse yourselves in the port of Fremantle, just 30 minutes from the city, with its quaint Victorian charm – historic buildings, lively weekend markets, Fishing Boat Harbour  for great fish & chips and microbrews.

For more information, visit www.westernaustralia.com

Five years ago, I met Xian when he first visited Malaysia together with his team of air traffic controllers. They were in Malaysia and Singapore for courses related to their profession. For some of them it was their first time to Malaysia and probably first time out of Mauritius Maldives (Oops..). They were an eager bunch wanting to explore a tropical rainforest land which also happened to be one of Maldive’s largest trading partners. They wanted to go into a jungle, hike up a hill, raft down a river and go to a fast food joint – things which they had only seen on satellite television. Nevermind the costs involved, they just wanted to experience things they weren’t sure they’d get the chance to experience again, once they walked back into the departure hall. They wanted to do anything except eat fish (including sushi), curry, rice, coconut, ride a boat, or see the beach. They succeeded in pursuing their adventures in Malaysia and I had the opportunity to  join them on their exploration. Needless to say, they had fun here and so did I, with them.

Amongst them and in no particular order.. Xian, Hamid, Dhonu, Tata, Afshal, Shaheen

My first impression of Maldivians were that they were a very shy bunch. The shyness came -  I assumed – from their concern on how others looked at them. It wasn’t that they didn’t speak English. It’s their second language. It wasn’t that Malaysia didn’t welcome Muslims. Islam is the national religion. It wasn’t that Malaysia was a country of deep religious fanatics or a country of terrorist groups breeding. Hey, we’re pretty safe just like any country not plagued with civil unrest. You could point out that I had been a stranger to them and they rightfully should be weary of me. I found out later that besides being weary of me, they were concerned about creating the right impression. They were polite. They were well groomed. They smiled a lot. Xian was their senior in age and rank – he was their unofficial leader and planner. They were collective in their thoughts and decisions. They were a united lot.  Their unity could have stemmed from the close living proximity due to the limited livable land and space in their nation. Their happiness and desire to enjoy the best, could have been the result of knowing at the back of their minds about scientific projections, that predicted that their country might sink in the near future. Their moto was to live now to the fullest, because they would not know, what might happen tomorrow.

Crowd outside a political party office in Malé

Xian and his motley crew opened my eyes to their world. It’s easier for them to imagine living in a large country than for me to picture living in a crowded populace within a living area less than 5 square kilometers surrounded by the sea. Malé people also reside in many surrounding islands in crowded homes. What is a public bus ride for us is their boat taxis. Xian shared that his family and parents, making up 7 persons, live in an apartment that’s less than 1000 square feet. So crowded is Malé that there is a constant hive of activities in the city even after working hours. Its inhabitants just can’t hangout at home to watch a movie or to have some peace. People go out to play football, have tea, play chess and window shop. There are no alcoholic bars because a Maldivians Islamic religion prohibits alcoholic consumption although some of them might drink when the opportunity comes. There aren’t any cinemas because there isn’t a large enough populace to meet the cinema’s bottom line. As an alternative, satellite television provide the dream-scape for those that can afford it.

Apparently there are drug fueled rave parties at uninhabited islands plaguing the authorities. You can’t snuff the rebellious teen spirit, even with religion.

Xian and the group once shared with me that there wasn’t anything else to do in Maldives except the sip cocktails, lookout into the great wide ocean, and do some water sports. They were absolutely right. Maldives is a rest and relax haven, and a deep sea fishing, and scuba diving majesty, as I had finally a first hand experience on a recent trip. I once told them I didn’t think I’d ever make it to Maldives because the mentioned activities were never of big interest to me. They replied that if I ever did visit, they would show me the other parts of Maldives which they were sure I would love. So when I was finally in their ‘waters’, Xian and a few of them put together a short itinerary for our group to visit the flight control tower and see a little bit of the rest of Malé before I departed from their country in the vast Indian Ocean.

Just like an episode of Hawaii-Five-O we were whisked away by the “Malé Five-O” upon returning from W Resort

Always give way to planes!

We were on the way to the airport control tower. This picture obviously taken much later.

Manual operations from the past requiring excellent mathematical skills to calculate the routes.

Modern operations and convenience with computers. No more manual calculations. I imagine you could even play Spider Solitaire and check out Facebook as well!

Up the elevator.

We make it up to the airport control tower with 360 view. Polo Ciki always well dressed for the occasion.

A lady in control.

In case of disaster, a first aid kit is available.

Xian showing us the flight path.

We continued our tour with a cruise into the new district of Hulumalé.

Construction of a new place to stay. Things are a moving here in busy Malé.

More living spaces are being made available with reclaimed land. The residents have a new government that is making big changes.

Bigger and better things to come in Hulumalé.

The streets are wider and plenty more space for all.

A beach for residents

Tata buses providing public transport for the new township.

We watch fishermen returning home after selling their day’s catch.

We headed to Malé on speedboat.

Headed for a snack cum dinner. Yes, its ‘nice food one’ coincidentally resembling Malaysian and Singaporean’s street-speak. How was it?

Residents enjoying an intellectually stimulating game of chess seated in Maldivian netted steel benches.

After our ‘short eats’, we jumped into Xian’s brother’s Suzuki compact, cruising the small streets of Malé in our final minutes for a city tour – against traffic too. There isn’t much space in Malé but residents still dream of owning a car.

With only 20 minutes to spare for flight check-in and we still needed to catch the boat taxi back to airport, Ciki who is always a stickler for punctuality, looks at me with great discomfort. We drive fast but there is heavy traffic. At the pier, we miss the express boat. Ciki looks even more worried but luckily, there was the slow boat/dhoni, that we managed to catch and she was a little more relieved, but still kept giving me the evil eye. The boat disembarks, we reach the airport jetty and rush to the check-in counter. Ciki finally heaves a sigh a relief. We made it.

Given more time, I would have liked to visit more islands inhabited only by locals.

The kindness of strangers is rare. Even more difficult is letting our defenses down to receive a stranger, or to help one. We are always weary of strangers and their motives. Desperation to attain success and wealth leads many to unscrupulous means. We have all fallen for some kind of confidence trick, at least once in our lives. It is much more convenient to build a wall to shield ourselves from being waylaid. Better to be safe than sorry, the saying goes. When you travel you sometimes meet the oddest strangers,  and under even stranger circumstances. Be it a good or bad outcome, it still provides a great story to tell. The experience of crossing paths with Xian and his gang years ago in Malaysia, was certainly a blessed one. They reinforced within me the faith that there are genuinely kind, thoughtful and wonderful souls in the unlikeliest of places, and it is for me and you to discover them and continue to extend the goodwill of mankind.

Malé and me weren’t always friends but today we are more than friends.  Thanks for the memories. I will return one day to a more modern Malé but I will always remember the one I first walked on.

If you find this post fascinating and would like to know more about Malé and the Maldives, here are some of our other posts:

1. Maldives, Hello!

2. Chef in the Spotlight, Chef Sven Cepon of the Sheraton Maldives, Part 1

3. Malé and Hulhumalé, Maldives

4. Chef in the Spotlight – Chef Sven Cepon and the Beef Tartare, Part 2 & 3

5. 13 Reasons the stay at the W Resort and Spa, Maldives 

6. Meeting Rock Star Executive Chef Mauro Gomez of W