Welcome to Life Images by Jill

Welcome to Life Images by Jill.........Stepping into the light and bringing together the images and stories of our world. I am a photographer, writer and multi-media artist.
Focussing mainly on Western Australia and Australia, I am seeking to preserve images and memories of the beautiful world in which we live and the people in it.

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Sunday 8 March 2015

10 things to do in Yallingup without going to the beach! - Western Australia


Some people would think it would be impossible to go to Yallingup without going to the beach. But trust me you can.

The Yallingup-Margaret River region in Western Australia's south west corner is well known internationally for the great surf.

In fact in April  "The top 32 ranked male and top 18 ranked female surfers in the world will descend upon the Margaret River Region to surf its world-class waves in April for the Drug Aware Margaret River Surf Pro. The event is expected to see thousands of spectators flock to Surfer’s Point in Prevelly to watch the world’s best surfer’s take on the famous Margaret River Mainbreak". Click here to read more -  Margaret River Surf

But what if you are not into surfing? I know I’m not. I never did master being comfortable in big waves. Give me a quiet sheltered cove like Meelup Beach any day.  

Please click on "read more" to keep reading and seeing more




We have gorgeous beaches here in Western Australia. Kilometres of white sand and clear blue water. And with most Western Australians living close to our coast it is not surprising that Western Australian’s love the beach. I’ve blogged recently about the Meelup Beaches - Australia Day on the Beach and the around the Busselton Jetty swim, but, do not stress, there is still plenty to do in this corner of our south-west without going near the beach. 



My sister and brother-in-law have been holidaying at Smith’s Beach just south of Yallingup for a couple of weeks during the summer for the last few years, and as it is only about an hour from our home we usually visit them over the weekend to do a lunch-winery-gallery day with them. 
They stay at the Canal Rocks Beachfront Apartments  It is perfectly located just across the road from Smith's Beach.  We stayed there a couple of years ago in mid winter in July.  I blogged about it here - Oceans Edge


Yes, Yallingup is great to visit in winter too!

But what can you do on a summer’s day in Yallingup without going to the beach? 





1.      Breakfast - There are lots of great places for breakfast in the Busselton, Yallingup area. This one - "The Goose" is located just off the end of the Busselton Jetty on the way to Yallingup. Don't you think this looks like a great way to start the day?
2.       Ok this one is near the beach, but the breeze was up, so after we met up with our family we took a short drive out to Canal Rocks. There is a wheel-chair friendly boardwalk so you can go out to see the surf rushing through the canal. Fantastic on a really windy day!

3.      Pre-lunch Wine tasting?  House of Cards Winery, which was new to us, is located at 1/33220 Caves Road just south of Quinninup Road.  All the grapes come from their single vineyard on Caves Road. Owners Travis and Elizabeth Wray say "Our name House of Cards was inspired by the gamble that winemakers and growers take every vintage - you have to play the hand that you are dealt".

We will certainly be adding House of Cards to our visit list next time. Check out their artisans gallery while you are there for a special gift.
As you can see the grapes are ready for the vintage pick. Don't they look delicious!

4.       While you are at House of Cards, pop next door to Gabriel Chocolate. There are a few chocolate establishments popping up around the region, and we hadn’t visited Gabriel’s before.  They have just won 7 gold medals and 4 silver medals at the Sydney Royal Chocolate Awards. I am not surprised.  Their chocolate was delicious. The chocolate pods are sourced from all around the world – PNG, Madagascar, Peru, Ecudor to name a few - each with their own unique taste.  There is a café and a cup of delicious hot chocolate would be wonderful here in winter, or buy their chocolate twirlers to take home and make your own hot chocolate. Yum!
5.      There are plenty of dining options. Our favourite is Woody Nook on Metricup Road.  This is a very friendly family owned vineyard, winery and café with a full range of great tasting wines. Our son loves their port.  I suggest you do a wine tasting first to select a wine to go with your lunch. Their rustic undercover outdoor café is a lovely place for lunch and conversation with a few wines. I find the menu is not over-pretentious or over-priced like some winery menus can be. For us they tick all the boxes.  My sister and I shared a delicious taste plate which you can see below, and we thought good value at $27 each. 

6.      Dessert – time for dessert. So off we went to Millers Ice Cream located on a dairy farm on Wirring Road near Cowaramup. Yes that’s right – Cowaramup – the place where they have cows in the main street. No kidding. Cowaramup (known as Cow Town by locals) is home to a wonderful herd of 42 lifesized fibreglass Friesian cows and calves wandering the streets, parks and shops of the town. They love their cows in Cowaramup and celebrate each year with the Deja Moo country fair. Cowaramup got its name from the cowara parrot (nothing to do with cows at all!)
 
But back to the icecream. The Millers are third generation dairy farmers. They opened their icecream shop in Wirring Road in December 2010 and have been making and scooping icecream ever since with milk fresh from their own cows.

I had the Irish Cream icecream, delicious! Check out their huge range of flavours on their website - Miller's icecream flavours.  Millers also have shops in Margaret River, Xscape at the Cape near Dunsborough, and Millers Rockingham. Don’t want icecream? You can have scones and cream from their café instead. There are picnic tables and a children’s playground to keep the children amused.
7.      By now we were looking forward to a coffee.  We had noticed that Cape Lavender had opened a Tea House on the corner of Caves and Canal Rocks Roads. So we stopped in and enjoyed a Devonshire tea and browsed through the extensive range of lavender products. I adore lavender, but the perfume of the lavender became a little overpowering after a while in the small restaurant. There are tables on the patio if you prefer.  You can try lavender scones. Yes you can eat lavender! I've made lavender Melting Moment biscuits from a recipe from my Mum. 
I had to resist buying this tea and coffee set. Don't you just love the lavender pattern.
8.      If you are in the Yallingup area with children you might like to go to the Yallingup MazeLocated on Caves Road we have taken our grand-children there a couple of times. The maze is made of wooden panels that are changed around from time to time. The challenge is to make it to the 4 numbered towers. There is a high area in the middle where you can go to check out your location or to find the way out if you get lost! In the cafe the owners have cleverly laid out puzzles and games on all the tables – a very clever marketing strategy – as it is difficult to resist buying one of their extensive range of games for your children after they have played with them.

 I wouldn’t advise going to the Yallingup Maze in summer, but it is a great place on a cooler cloudy day.


9.      And if it gets too hot in summer above ground then escape the heat underground by visiting the Ngilgi Caves.  The Caves are part of an extensive cave system along the Naturaliste-Leeuwin ridge.
10.    If you want to do something more active you can walk part of the Cape to Cape Track which runs 135km between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin. This trek takes several days so might be a stretch in mid summer, but you could easily do a day walk as there are many places along the way where you can join the track.  You will have fantastic coastal views, but choose a cooler day and make sure you wear a hat, sunscreen, sturdy walking boots and carry plenty of water.
  
Besides the surf, the Yallingup-Margaret Reiver region is famous for its wines and there are more wineries and galleries than you can ever hope to visit in only one day. So stay a week! It would take another whole blog post (or 2 or 3) to tell you all about them.

There is plenty to do in the Yallingup region without going to the beach and getting sand in your bathers. 
For more information on Yallingup, visit - Margaret River.com

You might also like -

 Yallingup and the Capes - History for me and surfing for him

I am sorry that the fonts are a bit weird on this blog. I don't know why and I can't figure out how to fix it! 
Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

Mosaic Monday
Travel Photo Mondays
Our World Tuesday
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Agent Mystery Case
What's It Wednesday
Travel Photo Thursday






35 comments:

  1. Jill, Yallingup looks like a fabulous place to visit.. The restaurants, wineries and the scenic beach all look awesome. My hubby would like to see the caves. Wonderful photos and post. Have a happy week ahead!

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  2. Oh my gosh, thank you for whisking me away to Australia again, Jill! I always feel like I'm right there with you. And we would stop somewhere and you would give me a photography lesson based on what is going to be photographed. That is fascinating on the chocolate pods being sourced from other countries. Also, I had pork belly for the very first time just recently! It was like bacon melting in my mouth. So, that sampler plate would be exactly what I would want to order. I don't know about sharing though ha, ha! :) Hey Jill, the shots you got of the ocean waves breaking on the rocks - did you use an action setting when you took those? Thank you for the wonderful mental escape and I hope you had a great weekend! :)

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    1. no action setting Mike - I should have thought of that - no, just clicked a lot!

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  3. So many nice places to go to and do things in, I'd love to stand on that boardwalk with my camera, and try out that maze! Not to mention scones and cream, hot chocolate. I've been to WA only once, visiting my brother in Fremantle and said I'd go back when I could.

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  4. My goodness there is so much doing there....the sights and food....I would love a quiet cove on the beach sometimes...

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  5. Beautiful shots of the place. There is so much to see here and enjoy.

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  6. An amazing place, especially where you had all the lavender elements. The bunches of grapes would make a good advertisement photo.
    Thanks for linking to Mosaic Monday Jill.

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  7. I love Meelup Beach - very pretty. I really enjoyed the surfing culture of Yallingup but you are right there is more to see around this area. I would love to do the Cape to Cape Walk one of these days. Your culinary tour made my mouth water and remember all the gorgeous fresh produce and wine that the area has to offer. Thanks for the memories!

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    1. Yes we are yet to do the full Cape to Cape. Just bits of it. It is on our list for next year probably if not before!

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  8. Those are nice grapes. I've been in similar caves here in the States. They sure are amazing. - Margy

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  9. So much to do and see! And the scenery is wonderful.

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  10. Wow! You have a beautiful blog with so many unique and interesting photos! Love the ocean photos and the one of the grapes is just outstanding, love it!

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  11. Haven't heard of Gabriel's before, I love a winery that grows their own grapes, yum. Fab photos especially of the waves breaking over the rocks x

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  12. Those grapes looked so ready for picking and made me hungry for some, or thirsty too. Oh the glorious beaches around the world, and these that you have shared are so warm, and inviting. I would choose a quiet cove as well, though I enjoyed the people watching as well on the beaches the kids took me to last week. I tried taking foodie photos and well, I am thinking I will not be sharing any of them, you do such a fine job with it. This looks like a marvelous place to walk the sand, plunk your toes into the water and have a nice meal, or more~ Hugs

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    1. yes I had to resist picking a bunch and smuggling it into my car!

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  13. I love the beach, but would like to check off everything on your list, as well. What a wonderful area to visit. You've done a very tempting promotion ! Thanks for sharing your beautiful area with us.

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    1. we are so lucky to live so close and truly visiting in winter is a good as summer!

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  14. As soon as hubby returns from sea at the end of the month, I'm thinking we might need to go exploring down your way. Starting with Cape Lavender tea rooms.

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    1. Yallingup area keeps reinventing itself with new places opening. Thanks for stopping by and the opportunity to link up with Mystery Case.

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  15. Oh, wow --totally makes me want to visit Yallingup!

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  16. I so want to visit! The caves look so cool.

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  17. This post is full of things we are craving for here in our sleety, slushy corner of the world! :)
    Colours, sunshine, blue sky, the sea, wonderful grapes, ice cream... Thank you for sharing!
    (I'm visiting both via Mosaic Monday and Wednesday around the World.)

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  18. That is a sure cool place to visit. I love the views, the food & everything from your narration seem to be very inviting.

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  19. Beautiful images. WE passed through this area too quickly on our great 10wk WA roadtrip in 2011.
    I long to go back.

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  20. You make me miss my surfing last summer and make me wanna ditch the cubicle and go around the world to experience these. :)

    I haven't been in a grape vineyard before but it looks like heaven.

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  21. Why I didn't discovered your blog while I was in Australia?!? I would love to see this amazing area... Next time!

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  22. What great shots! I do love the seascapes.

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  23. what an interesting post!
    Pippa

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  24. What a fantastic selection of activities - so cool that many of them involve eating!!! I love the beach, but don't always want to be there - especially in summer - so it's great to see some alternatives. Yallingup is firmly on our list for our next foray west!

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  25. Fabulous ideas - sometimes it is nice to be near, but not on the beach all day long. Looks like that could be accomplished here!

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  26. Some wonderful suggestions Jill, many of which I've been lucky enough to do or see already, but you've given me some new ideas too. Thank you! I'm feeling just a little sad that now we're one step further removed from them all though ;(

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    1. we are so lucky to be living so close to this amazing area. We can pop down for the day easily! Not so easy for you now Jo :(

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