We started off our first morning of much needed time off with a run at Jacob's Ladder and Kokoda (where we already had to get a bit intrepid due to a fallen tree branch), a trip to Anaconda to replace Andrew’s broken mattress pump (and impulse bought a “Colour Changing Flames” packet), and breakfast at Chinta to tide us over for the drive.
We stopped at Bunbury Farmer's Markets to stock up on food for the trip, and also bought the biggest celeriac I've ever seen for my parents (they actually wanted two but unfortunately, we'd already left so they’ll have to make do with this beast). We bought too much as usual, but it's so hard to resist when everything looks so damn good; they had Kensington Pride mangos!
Next stop was Rocky Ridge, where we got a couple of tasting paddles, mostly to compare Rock Juice v14.1, v14.2, and v13, much to the surprise of the bartender for some reason. v14.1 was a solid Rock Juice, 14.2 was a bit more interesting and challenging, but nowhere near the v8 Betadine version from a few years back, and the last of the v13 was nice to compare with, but past its prime. My favourite of the day was Juice Box Boy, and I Love Lamp was also a winner.
After a quick stop at Simmo’s for ice cream (bee’s knees), and Yallingup Woodfire Bakery for fruit loaf, we pulled into our favourite place to stay in paradise, Bina Maya. The cheese and wine welcome pack was amazing and was the gift that kept on giving - we managed to make it last over a few days, using the capers in salads, and we even had the strawberries and grapes in a fruit salad on the last day before our Mt Toolbrunup hike!
The first morning, after a delicious breakfast with the best juice we've ever had, Andrew went for a run to Meelup beach. I drove there and went for a loop walk/jog on the coastal walk then met Andrew at the beach. I made it to Point Piquet and saw whales really close in! In the last picture in this section, there's a whale in the top right quadrant, you can just see its fin. Andrew survived his crazy run, even after getting lost in firebreaks and ending up on a golf course, which seems to be a tradition for Andrew’s runs.
Lunch on the balcony at Vasse Felix was a great way to spend an afternoon of perfect weather, and stock up a little (2021 Cab Sav, and can't go past Idee Fixe). On the way back, we stopped at Pierro (2022 Chenin, 2020 L.T.Cf) and Stormflower (2020 Cab Sav, and 2021 Silver Lining Cremant).
The next day, as is now tradition for our trips down south, we did the next section of the Cape to Cape walk - Sugarloaf Rock to Yallingup. The hike was 10km in 2.5hr of wildly different terrain starting with rock cliffs, literally being on the beach (where I found lots of abalone shells), and then into the forest. I still can't believe he did this, but after we reached Yallingup, Andrew turned right back around and this time ran back to Sugarloaf to get the car. He is just amazing, and funnily enough, he thought this run was less intrepid than the firebreak-golf-course run from the previous day!
After I watched Andrew run away, I walked into Yallingup which required getting back down to the beach. On the path down I saw a bobtail and a long brown snake (almost certainly a dugite). Seeing the snake was actually really cool, although I had no idea what to do and while I was deciding whether to try leap over it, it got sick of me and decided to slowly snake off into the bushes. I did handstands on the grass by the beach while I waited for Andrew to finish his run and drive back.
We quickly ducked back to the villa to have a shower, had a snacky lunch at Margaret River Brewing Company, and stopped at Xanadu (2020 Chardonay) and Mr. Barval (2020 Cab Sav Reserva, 2020 Cab Malbec, and a very peachy Chardonay). Mr Barval was a great recommendation from Tahlia, as a smaller winery to stop at that you wouldn't necessarily notice amongst all the bigger places, and we'll be recommending it on to friends!
Dinner was another fantastic barbeque, I'm not sure if things just taste better when you're on holiday, but I also think the Bunbury Farmer's Markets just has better produce than what you can easily find in Perth.
On our last full day (Friday), we did a wine tasting at Windows (2020 Petit Lot Syrah), had a fried pickle lunch and some paddles at Wild Hop, and then made the most of the accommodation for the rest of the afternoon.
We lit the fire downstairs and threw in the "Colour Changing Flames" packet we impulse bought from Anaconda on the first day, and I must say, it was $5 very well spent. The only flaw is that all of the information and instructions are on the packet, which you throw into the fire whole, thus losing all of the information and instructions. When it got too cold, we went and enjoyed the inside fire over a crappy movie (we’ve been watching the Alien vs. Predator movies for completeness) and dinner.
We had a lazy Saturday morning, slowly getting ready and packing to leave Bina Maya, which is always bittersweet. We stopped at Tall Timbers in Manjimup for lunch, then made the second half of the long drive to Mt Trio Caravan Park. There were so many canola fields! I'll never get used to seeing mountain ranges pop up over the horizon in WA, it's very strange after seeing never ending flatness for hours on end.
Putting up the tent was more challenging than usual due to the very hard ground (and now all our metal stick things are bent) but with the help of the Tall Timbers pale ale to keep our spirits up we managed to get the tent done, and then enjoy the camp kitchen and fire. The camp facilities were probably the best we've seen, and I'd definitely stay there again! Dinner was a simple barbeque with leftovers from Bina Maya, with the Vasse Felix cab sav, and a game of Sushi Go - Andrew won best of three, despite my best efforts and first time ever reaching the dumpling limit. We toasted a couple of marshmallows, and then had an early night. We woke up to some very light rain which really freaked me out, since Mt Toolbranup the next day would be very hard to impossible if the ground was wet, but I think it sounded worse than it was because the tent was barely damp the next day.
Hiking Mt Toolbrunup is now the hardest hike I've ever done, but at least my pants gave me confidence it was impossible for us to get too lost without someone finding us! I cannot believe it gets put in the same category as Bluff Knoll. This is a seriously difficult climb, and I feel like the signs need to do more to explain that you don't just need to be fit and nimble, you need to be prepared for about an hour of scrambling up rocks, and even a little bit of actual climbing at the end. The gloves (that my dad gave me) were really necessary for me; we had two pairs, but Andrew preferred feeling the rocks directly with his hands.
When we got to the top (a couple of panic attacks later), it was really difficult to tell where to actually go, but luckily there was another couple that we heard over the top of the rocks, and they helped reassure us that was indeed the correct way to the top. As a weird coincidence, this couple was redoing the hike again after doing it 30 years ago, which is the same situation we had at the top of Devil's Slide, where we met another couple was doing the exact same thing. In both cases, it was really reassuring, and gave me a lot of confidence for the daunting way down. The views at the top were stunning, but it was also incredibly windy and chilly, and poor Andrew was only in a shirt. We didn't stay long, and after a Carmen's bar and some water each, mentally prepared for the way down.
The way down was not as bad as we thought. The parts that were hard on the way up, were easy on the way down, and vice versa, with the rock scramble being quite doable if you sat down a lot, but the areas with the small rocks that you didn't think much of on the way up being quite tricky and slippery when going downhill. We each had a couple of slips and slides but no falls, although I managed to almost fall over once we got to the carpark which I maintain requires a special talent.
The jelly bellies and salt and vinegar chips in the car on the drive home really hit the spot, and so did the Monsterella and the Windows Syrah for dinner, which was a great way to finish a lovely and relaxing trip down south!
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