Margaret River: Our First Anniversary

     First wedding anniversary's are very special so we thought it would be good to go somewhere appropriate for the occasion - Margaret River.  Margaret River is hugely popular with the locals.  It's the place where people go to "get away from it all" as the saying goes.  It's a very beautiful region of Western Australia known especially for it's wineries.  Many weddings are held in the Margaret River region due to all of the spectacular landscapes and photo opportunities!  The "perfect" place for us that weekend - or so we thought...

     So, off we went.    We rolled into Margaret River at around 10:30 pm on 20 January 2006. We were so excited to be there – after a long days work and an even longer drive! Time to celebrate. Well not quite yet – first we had to find our hotel. So we pulled over to the side of the road and decided we would give our hotel a quick call to ask for directions. Unfortunately, the hotel had no record of our appearance for the evening. They double checked, and even triple checked after our proclamation that this was to celebrate our first anniversary, but unfortunately they were all booked up…. Great. Now what? We called around, but unfortunately the same story – booked. Well, we had noticed a hotel on the way in that we hadn’t tried yet, and we were parked pretty much right in front of it, so we thought we would give it a try – we didn’t really have many options. Well as luck would have it they had a spot for us – the only problem the check in clerk noted was that it was right above the bar. We looked at one another with our tired eyes and said, “that’s fine – we’ll take it”. So we hauled our bags in and up the stairs we went.

     On arrival at our first anniversary suite we both heaved a huge sigh of relief before pushing the door open. I was the first one in and immediately started laughing my head off. We were going to be sleeping single for the weekend! ”Happy first anniversary” I sang out as I jumped on my bed. Michael was having trouble seeing the humour in it. I am guessing that the clerk did not hear me say that it was our “anniversary”. Anyway, that was the start to our weekend. In a way, we should be thankful for our not so perfect start, because that meant we had nowhere to go but up….

     The next morning, Michael found us the perfect spot. It was a little out of our desired price range - but it was perfect – and so it was worth it. We had our own little cabin complete with fireplace, deck, and huge Jacuzzi tub! I like to refer to it as our little piece of paradise in the hills. It was amazing. After we were all checked in we spent the day relaxing over coffee’s on the beach, strolling around vineyards (see Michael’s story on this), and checking out tons of specialty shops. We went to a pop tasting, chocolate tasting, cheese tasting, and last but definitely not least a fudge factory (oh my goodness that was good fudge)! It was so much fun. All of this food was soooooo good and it was just nice taking it all in. It was such a great way to spend a day!

     That evening, we got to get all dressed up, and treat ourselves to a session of fine dining – courtesy of my mom. The best way to fine dine if you ask me! The place was called Vat152 and it was very ritzy. Everything was beautifully presented – and all the food was locally grown (or killed as was the case with our steaks)! It was very very very good… I can still remember the taste of that steak in my mouth – it kind of melted in there – mmmmmmmmmm. When we arrived back at our cabin we had another little thrill – there were 3 kangaroos hanging around outside. They just stared at us – and we just stared back. It was very enthralling! It was the perfect way to end the evening – or at least this particular evenings story!

     Sunday was another amazing day. Our morning coffee overlooked the most amazing stretch of ocean and there were tons of people out surfing for our entertainment. We then took a drive through a Karri tree forest, which was really magnificent. They are some of the tallest trees in Australia. It was just really quiet and peaceful. It made me feel really good driving through there with the sun streaming through the trees. The sounds of the forest were also quite enchanting. One thing I will always think of when I think of Australia is the sounds of the birds. They make the oddest noises. Some of them are quite funny, some annoying, and some really beautiful – but none of them the same as things you would hear at home. I wish I could record them and take it home for you to hear!

     Anyway, Margaret River was everything that people made it sound like and more.  It was such a great weekend full of neat adventures - and an absolutely perfect way to celebrate our first anniversary!

Heather