Margaret River

Ruthie and I planned to check out Margaret River today. Finally, I'll be going to Margaret River! I'm one of the few people in WA who hasn't been yet, and I've been itching to see how lovely it is. 

We went to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory first up. The store was seriously so much bigger than I thought it was. There were just tables, walls and shelves of everything chocolate. Heaven. There was a cafe which had a bunch of tasty treats, both sweet and savoury. At the very back of the factory was a window where you could observe all the chocolate being made. I thought this was a nice touch.

We picked up a few chocolates for our loved ones at home. Along with this, I bought myself some chocolate tea! Chocolate tea? How intriguing. I was a bit unsure of how it would taste, but when we brewed some up later today I really enjoyed it. The tea had the leafy flavour from the black tea leaves, but also a subtle earthy chocolate flavour from the cocoa nibs which were mixed in with the tea leaves. I served mine up with soy milk. Delicious. 

Bottles of different flavoured chocolate sauce. Pretty much all of them were vegan friendly!!

Bars of chocolate!

Chocolatiers working hard, making the world a better place by putting chocolate in it :)

Right next door to the Chocolate Factory was a place called Providore. They did wines, liqueurs and condiments. Most of the products had taste testers and we pretty much tried everything. The owner of the store even commented that we had been there the longest out of all the customers that day. But c'mon man, if there's free tastings, I'll try everything...twice. I have no shame in admitting that! :)

We walked away with some delicious hazelnut mousse chocolate liqueur, marinated olives, and balsamic dressings. Everything was so tasty! It was so difficult to choose only a few to buy. 

After going nuts in Providore, we headed off to The Berry Farm. It sounded cool, so we wanted to check it out. There was a lovely cafe and winery there, and even though we didn't stay to try some of the tasty food on the menu, we tried some wines and cider which was a lot of fun. I've never done wine tastings before, and because I'm not a huge fan of alcohol, I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it. Despite this, I'm always keen for new things and I found that I enjoyed the experience. It was fun reading all the names of the wines available and picking and choosing which ones we wanted to try. Ruth walked out with a lovely bottle of apple and vanilla port. For someone who doesn't drink much wine, I really enjoyed this one. It was sweet and it went down so smoothly. I've never tasted anything like it. Very delightful. Indeed it was definitely a girls drink :)

I love when glassware is used to decorate lights :)

Ruth and I also headed out to Lake cave and did the tour there. You don't have to book in advance or anything which was good. I've never done a cave tour before so I didn't really have any expectations, but wow I was so blown away by the natural beauty.

One of the rarest cave formations in the whole world. It's suspended from the cave roof and hanging over the water!

Our final stop today was Rivermouth along the coast. This is where Margaret River opens into the ocean. Even though it was a chilly and windy day, it didn't stop us from taking off our shoes and having a stroll along the beach and riverbed. I seriously love the Australian coastal line. It's just so well preserved and so gorgeous. The seas were very rough, but it was nice to see and hear the sight and sound of the waves crashing on the rocks. Just gorgeous :)

Margaret River lived up to my expectations :) I had such a great time and I know I will be back for more good times in the future.