On Saturday the 4th of October 2014 my hostfamily packed their Holden Jackaroo with all necessary things for a holiday in Exmouth. Well, they would have loved to take me with them but they ran out of space due to all the luggage they need for six people. Instead I will stay in the house alone while they are away. And I took the chance to organise a day out in the Swan Valley with three other Au Pairs, our Italian driver Veronica and two German Au pairs who live close to me, Angelina and Alicia.
I have been to the Swan Valley twice before, once on my own and then again with my friend Christine. So the other three totally relied on my knowledge and hardly informed themselves about what there is to see and do. So I took them to the places I have been before.
We started at the Sandalford Winery where we had a little walk around the vineyards before we went inside to see what is in the shop.
There were quite a few other groups tasting wine (they reminded me of my wine tours in the Barossa Valley and the Yarra Valley) and we liked the atmosphere very much. But as there were no free tastings we headed further North to the famous Margret River Chocolate Company for some free tastings.
I had a 2 for 1 voucher and with Angelina we got ourselves two coffees and two pralines. I had the Contreau Delight (the white praline) which won a price at the 2014 Perth Royal Show, Angelina chose the Hazelnut praline.
This is Veronica, our driver who came all the way from Mandurah to pick us up and spend the day in the beautiful Swan Valley with us.
Then we walked next door to the Providore and went through lots of free tastings of olive oils, jams, chocolate liqueurs and other stuff.
We crossed the very busy Great Northern Highway and walked to the tasting shed of Lancaster winery for some free wine tastings. What a beautiful setting!
Back in the car we stopped very briefly at the brewery named Elmars of the Valley to have a look inside. Then we stopped at Oggies Ice Creamery where Angelina and Alicia got themselves some ice cream and then we strolled through the Maalingup Aboriginal Art Gallery where not only art is on offer but also bush tucker tastings (for free).
By about 1pm we stopped also at the All Saints church, famous for being the spot where Captain Stirling first got the idea of the Swan River colony (now named Perth). Alicia was brave enough to pet one of the nearby grassing lamas.
For lunch at about 1:30pm we drove to the Olive Farm winery for some more free wine tastings and then went next door into the Cheese Barrel. We ordered two Australian cheeses with bread, crackers and fig and almond. It was very nice! Due to all the tastings we already had nobody felt like having a big meal.
On the way South again we stopped at the House of Honey for free tastings, at the Mondo Nougat and Nourish Nut for free tastings, at the Whistlers Chocolate company (yes, again free tastings) and then we visited the Oakover Restaurant where we could have had some free wine tasting as well. But we all passed on that one as we felt so full :-)
Veronica drove us all back to Manning and then she drove to her hostfamily. I shared some Bundaberg Ginger Beer with Angelina and Alicia before they walked home at about 5pm. It was a great day again in the Swan Valley and we were really lucky with the beautiful weather as well. The house felt so empty without my hostchildren but I didn't have much time to dwell about it. For the coming week I have gathered some more work during my gained free time.
And then? Well, I will do something apparently typical Australian:
I will make a holiday on Bali in Indonesia :-)
Yours Swan-Valley-tasting-tourguide Stefanie
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Have your say now! Would you do the same thing or would you do it differently? Do you have any travel tipps for me for my onwards travels? let me know!