Mini TR - Long Weekend in WA

[boomy]

I had a work/pleasure trip to SIN cancelled in the last minute and was left with a few days off. Now all I needed is to find somewhere to go instead which doesn't require much planing and complicated bookings.

The missus always wanted to travel to Perth where she can catch up with old friends from the time she lived there and I didn't mind staying in WA more then an overnight work trip for a change.

Our passion to food and wine led us to book a couple of nights in Margaret River. We both been there before but never together so it was existing to return this time.

To make up the most from this short trip we decided to fly in Wednesday afternoon, spend two nights in Perth, then drive to MR Friday morning for two nights and drive back, straight to the airport on Sunday night, catching the red-eye flight back to Brisbane.

In Perth we stayed at Hilton.

In MR we stayed at Empire Spa Retreat.

During our three days there we had lunch at Luween, Vasse Felix and Cullen.

I've also booked dinner at Miki's Open Kitchen. Heard some good things about this place and was keen to check it out.

 

[boomy]

Ok, let's start with the first flight BNE-PER.

Flights booked using points: 36K + $36 per pax. At time of booking it showed the new 1-2-1 config in J but I knew nothing is guaranteed until the last minute.

Boarding was very slow, both regular and premium boarding queues were about the same length but the PB queue was much slower because the scanner on that end didn't work well and scanning had to be done manually. So for every 1 pax on the PB queue, about 4-5 pax on the normal queue went through until that queue finished and we were moved there to speed the boarding process. Another QF PB fail, nothing new here.

Once onboard was very happy to see the business suites, an excellent J hard product.
Love the 'any time' recline option.



Maggie Beer non-alcoholic pre-departure drink and the dinner menu.



We selected the first two seats in the front to ensure best service on a full cabin.
For those who want to sleep I would recommend seating further back to avoid the light and noise coming from the galley.



Pre-dinner drink served with almonds. Nice extra touch to serve the almonds warm, great snack. This MR Chardonnay is very nice, maybe we will check out this winery next time.

 

[AdMEL]

Foot rest looks interesting! Do you think it would work for me at 6'9"? If I recall correctly, you're also pretty tall.

Also if I recall correctly, Robert Oatley do not have a cellar door in MR - their cellar door is in Mudgee.

 

[boomy]

First course - Prosciutto with grilled artichoke, buffalo bocconcini and basil. Nice dish, went well with sourdough bread.



My +1 had the Thai style tomato soup. I tried it and thought it was the better choice, especially for anyone who likes spicy soup.



Main course - Japanese rice salad with hot-smoked salmon, sesame soy dressing and toasted seaweed.



This dish was absolutely beautiful, definitely top 5 on QF for me so far. I would love to eat that again, even on Int F as I'm huge fan of Japanese style food.

Moving from white to red wine, the only choice tonight was Heathcote Estate Shiraz 2013. While it's very good choice I found it a bit strange there were two choices of whites and only one red.
Classic vanilla slice for dessert, yes this route is long enough to offer dessert and keep the strict QF safety protocol



The meal service was a bit too long but it was a full cabin. Seating in the front got us constant refills of our wine glasses while watching the latest Avengers movie, one of these movies that goes well with extensive alcohol consumption where there is to real plot to follow.
The cabin lights were eventually dimmed and I managed to get a nap on the fully-reclined seat. Woke up 30 min before landing, had a cup of coffee and was ready to start our long weekend trip. We landed on time to a nice evening in Perth, so far so good...

 

[boomy]

Foot rest looks interesting! Do you think it would work for me at 6'9"? If I recall correctly, you're also pretty tall.

Should be OK in recline mode but when fully flat it will not be very comfortable for you.
I'm only 6'3" and was just OK for me when lying down, also found the foot rest area a bit too narrow.

 

[boomy]

Took a taxi to Hilton, no traffic late in the evening, arrived very quick. The front desk manager was there and she knows my +1 so they started chatting for quite a while and got some useful tips on hotel selection for our next coming trips.

The hotel was full tonight so no suite upgrade but we did get a nice large room.





Olive plate as welcome gift, nice touch.



The original plan was to go sleep early and get up early for a full day in Perth tomorrow but I just found QF had decent sale going so I spent couple of hours making flight bookings.

 

[boomy]

Woke up the next morning not so early as planned and went downstairs for breakfast.
Lovely service at the restaurant, was offered complementary barista coffee and even eggs Benedict and fresh squeezed juice all made to order, great service!



After breakfast I rushed to attend a meetings in the city while +1 did some shopping.
Finished everything as fast as I could and we went to pick up our car from Hertz CBD office, just a short walk from the Hilton.



Received nice upgrade to Toyota 86. Driving all the way to MR looks much more fun now

But first we drove to Fremantle to catch the ferry going to Rottnest Island.

 

[AdMEL]

Woke up the next morning not so early as planned and went downstairs for breakfast.
Lovely service at the restaurant, was offered complementary barista coffee and even eggs Benedict and fresh squeezed juice all made to order, great service!

View attachment 52490

After breakfast I rushed to attend a meetings in the city while +1 did some shopping.
Finished everything as fast as I could and we went to pick up our car from Hertz CBD office, just a short walk from the Hilton.

View attachment 52493

Received nice upgrade to Toyota 86. Driving all the way to MR looks much more fun now

But first we drove to Fremantle to catch the ferry going to Rottnest Island.

Nice upgrade! What did you reserve and pay?

 

[boomy]

Nice upgrade! What did you reserve and pay?

I booked the three days weekend special on points over the phone (later extended for another day). I'm not sure what car they actually booked for me because I couldn't see the picture online (first time it happens).
It was only the second time ever upgraded to 86 so it was much appreciated.

Soon Hertz will receive new Renault for the Adrenaline category and also Audis (to replace the BMWs), include a convertible version. Looking forward to test some new cars soon

 

[boomy]

I've never been to Rottnest before and +1 insisted I must visit this island, especially on a beautiful day like today. She has been there before when living in Perth and by the way she described it I imagined it looks similar to Maria Island near the east coast of Tassie.

The name Rottnest was given by the Europeans who first arrived there and thought the local animals (Quokkas) are some kind of rats.
Most popular way to get there is by ferry from Fremantle. It's not cheap - two return tickets cost over $100 for a short 30 minuted ride.
The island seems to be a very popular place for families who go there to relax for a few days. We only had enough time for short day trip.



Once arrived we rented bikes and stated exploring the Island. In hindsight we should have rented the bikes before boarding the ferry to save some precious time.







Meet the locals residents - the Quokkas.

 

[boomy]

We also did a private Segway tour. First time to ride on this thing and I was surprised how incredibly easy to control it after some short practice.
Apparently it's illegal to use Segway in public areas in Australia, seems to me like typical backwards thinking by our politicians who can't approve this simple machine.
At the moment owning one can be very expensive with a price tag of $10,000 but hopefully it will change soon with proper regulation.
Our Segway was limited to 10kph but it was just fast enough to feel comfortable for first time beginners like us.



Our guide told us some of the history of the island. At first it was settled by Europeans who wanted to get away from the natives in the mainland and create an all-white community. Later, ironically, the island was used as an aboriginal prison. Now it's a peaceful place with some of the oldest buildings in the West, maintained very well and the former jail has been transformed into a hotel, keeping the original structure intact.

After the tour we checked out the local pub before taking the ferry back to the mainland.

 

[TomVexille]

The 86 looks like fun

 

[boomy]

Back to Perth we decided to have dinner at our hotel. I've stayed many times at this Hilton but never actually tried the food at restaurant Adelphi.

We used our wine and drinks vouchers (two each for 2 nights stay) for entrée and dessert so we only had to order mains. This restaurant is supposed to specialise in steaks so this is what we ordered. My +1 ordered the fillet medium-well and myself the wagyu marble score 8/9 medium-rare.

Unfortunately the service was shocking bad. It took forever to receive our wines and I had to request three times for some tap water. Our mains arrived before the entrée, my +1 fillet was over-cooked and my wagyu was medium, not medium-rare as ordered. Lucky even the chef's poor cooking skills didn't manage to destroy this high quality piece of meet.



For dessert we had deconstructed citrus meringue.



Overall the meal was OK but service very disorganised. They did apologise and said it was a very busy night although the restaurant wasn't full! I suppose the same waitresses had to serve the bar area as well but anyway this is not a valid excuse for poor service.

After the meal we had a walk in Kings Park, enjoying the night view of the city.

 

[boomy]

The drive to Margaret River was very easy, it's basically one long highway all the way from Perth. With 110kph most of the way it took us 3 hours and 3 minutes to get there.

Just as we approached the town it started to rain and we decided to go directly to Leeuwin Estate for wine tasting followed by their famous degustation lunch.







We did the Art Series tasting (skipped the cheaper labels) and found the 2014 Riesling to be very nice and also priced well bellow $30. Needless to say the highlight of the whites and of this winery is the Chardonnay. They offered 2011 & 2012 with the former ranked top 10 in the world for that year (so they say). I was clearly too exited and forgot to take a picture Both were excellent and clearly belong to a different league from most super oaky Chardonnays made in Australia. I would love to purchase some but not at $100 per bottle. Cellar door don't even offer discount for six pack while Dan's sell the 2011 (98 points) at $85 if buy six.

Moving on to reds, the Cab Sav was good but not impressive enough to make me pay $67 for it. Other reds were below average.
While doing the tasting I noticed people come in, taste one or two varieties and then order a few cases. I honestly couldn't understand why people choose to buy from the cellar door where other places sell the same label cheaper.

 

[boomy]

We were too slow with the wine tasting and by the time we sat in the restaurant it was too late for the degustation (available only until 12.30pm). Oh well, a-la-carte it is.

 

[boomy]

We shared freshly shucked oysters with a glass of Art Series Riesling.



Second entrée was char grilled octopus.



For main I ordered the farmed breaded rabbit.



I don't order rabbit dishes often so definitely not an expert but this dish was very well done, as both entrées. +1 ordered the ocean trout and loved it as well.

The restaurant was full, it's obviously popular in the area and now I can see why. Highly recommended for lunch, need to book.

 

[boomy]

After the meal we went downstairs to the gallery to admire some of the original art published on the Art Series wines over the years.

Entrance to the cellar.



There is a nice collection of artwork that was showcased on the wine bottles over the years. Interesting to read the stories of some of the local artists and see how Leeuwin contributes to local community. For example, the artworks on Art Series Sauv Blanc made by people with disabilities.

Two of my favourites:





The latter appeared on Cab Sav bottle I drank not long ago.

All the artworks in the gallery are for sale but some, like this wooden table, are just a bit overpriced





At least they offer a decent cash discount

 

[boomy]

Next winery on the list was at Voyager, which is just next door Leeuwin. Stopped there mostly to admire the beautiful Estate and elegant cellar door.



Just as we parked the car the wether suddenly improved and the sky turned from grey to blue.





The cellar door here was almost empty in contrast to the busy and crowded one next door at Leeuwin.



The place looks great, whoever designed it had good taste.

We did a limited wine tasting, I'm not a big fan of their wines but my +1 liked their Sauv Blanc Semillon and purchased a few bottles.

 

[boomy]

The private tasting room.



Most Margaret River wineries has an agreement (similar to Tamar Valley in TAS) that visitors can purchase as many bottles of wines as they wish from each winery and when they reach 12 bottles, can send the box interstate from for a fee that varies from $15-$20, depends on the winery and the destination. This is a great perk that allows visitors to purchase only 1 or 2 bottles instead of the minimum 6 pack.

 

[boomy]

Last stop for today before heading to our hotel was Xanadu.











On my previous visit I got to meet the guy who runs the place, we had a lovely chat and I also got a case of their very good Cab Sav (discounted).
This time he was not there and the lady who did our tasting wasn't very polite and it seemed all she wanted is to finish and go home (it was about 4.30pm).
It's a shame because I had good memories from this place but this time they didn't even offer their premium Cab Sav for tasting. What I did like was their fortified shiraz and got some only because it's cellar door release only ATM.