WA Part II: Perth, Margaret River and Freemantle

West Australia's a HUGE state and was definitely worth a second visit. On this second trip, I joined Kate who's born and raised Australian but had never been to WA.

The Friday night I arrived (May 11), we checked out Mount Lawley's night life.  It was pretty disappointing with demographics not unlike Mudgee or any other large country town.

We did a city bus tour of Perth and checked out King's Park, the new casino that's been built and some of the towns just outside the city (Burswood, which is supposed to be the entertainment center). Then we picked up the rental car and began the several hour drive down to Margaret River. 

On the way, we stopped off at Busselton which has the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. There was a beautiful sunset over the Indian Ocean.

We had a great Margaret River Wine Tour with Margaret River Tours to:

1. Stella Bella Winery - Loved the wine labels and the wine!

2. Leeuwin Estates - They had us taste more than a dozen wines!  Their chardonnay was top notch (and the prices reflected it too). They're well known of hosting a big music concert during the Summer.

3. Voyager - We had lunch here. They're doing construction on the winery so we ate in this canopy tent. 

4. Vasse Felix - The wine was pretty average, but the winery was beautiful.

5. Moss Brothers - We did a barrel tasting here.

I was also thrilled to be able to meet up with my friend Louise for drinks and dinner in Freemantle.  We checked out this great pub that had a lot of ambiance and charm called The Norfolk Hotel.