A family trip to Perth and the Margaret River region in
Western Australia is hard to beat, says
Nicola Burke
.
C
an you imagine a trip
where you spend your
morning on a paradise
beach, before lunching at
a world-class winery? Then spending
your afternoon exploring caves and
visiting farms? Imagine finishing the
day by winding down at home with
a barbecue and an incredible bottle
of local wine. If this takes your fancy
(all with zero time difference to Hong
Kong) then you have to take a trip to
Australia’s Margaret River region!
The Margaret River region is
located in Western Australia. To
get there, you’ll need to fly to Perth,
which, with an eight-hour flying time,
makes it the perfect destination for a
week away. My husband and I took
our daughters (aged six and four) and
spent the Chinese New Year break
soaking up the charms of this beautiful
part of the world.
Summer in the city
Some people land in Perth and
head straight down to the Margaret
River. As this was our first time to
Western Australia, we wanted to
explore Perth and its surrounds. We
based ourselves in Perth’s trendy
neighbourhood, Fremantle, for
the first few nights. An ex British
penal colony, Fremantle is rich with
of western
Australia
The wonders
maritime history and has loads of
interesting attractions, including the
old prison and Shipwreck Galleries.
Held every weekend, the Fremantle
Markets are a fun place to visit for
lunch and to stock up on locally grown
produce, at a fraction of the price of
Hong Kong. We accidentally found
ourselves without a car for the first
day (be aware – the Avis office closes
at midday!) but luckily everything in
Fremantle is easily accessible by foot.
After a day roaming around ‘Freo’,
we devoted our second day to Perth.
Surprisingly, the Perth Mint was a big
hit with the whole family. Not only
can you admire the world’s largest
gold coin but you can also see a ‘gold
pour’, where gold is heated to molten
temperatures and transformed into a
gleaming solid gold bar.
As Perth was experiencing a
heatwave, we were looking for indoor
activities to seek solace from the sun,
which we found at the Perth Cultural
Centre in Northbridge. This is home
to several museums and galleries,
the highlight of which was The Art
Gallery of Western Australia, which
also had a kids’ space where they
could try their hand at life drawing.
If, however, you only have time to pick
one museum, then make a beeline for
Scitech, an interactive science museum
for kids. There are loads of interactive
displays and activities as well as a
mesmerizing planetarium. Best of all,
kids under four go free.
Meandering south
After three days in the Perth/
Fremantle area, it was time to head
south. Instead of racing down to the
Margaret River (easily do-able in a
three-hour drive), I chose to break up
the journey with a night on a farm
stay. There are multiple farms in
the region to choose from, and after
scouring the reviews I settled upon
the Ferguson Farm Stay. En route
we made a pit stop at The Miami
Bakehouse in Falcon, which had a
delicious selection of cakes and pies to
keep everyone happy on the drive.
We then continued on to Bunbury
to visit the Dolphin Discovery Centre.
The history of the centre is rooted in
the 60s, when a local resident began
feeding dolphins from the jetty. The
tradition continued and to this day
there’s a small group of dolphins that
regularly visit the ‘Interaction Zone’.
The Centre does warn that the best
time to see dolphins is first thing in
the morning and unfortunately during
our afternoon visit we didn’t manage
to see them. However, the Centre itself
is a fun way to spend an hour with a
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