We were awake by the crack of dawn today (6 am), and ventured wayward east of Perth city; headed towards Margaret River and Caversham Wildlife Park. It was a 40 minutes journey from where we lived. Thanks to my sister and Sebastian for allocating time for us, this trip out there was made possible. Above is a picture taken during our travels in my sister’s newly possessed Toyota Yaris.
Our first stop was at the Margaret River Chocolate Company. They manufacture and package their own home brand chocolates at this very outfit here. What I loved most about this place was free chocolate tasting!
Upon entry into the chocolate company (I’m always tempted to say chocolate factory), the above picture was clearly visible through the observatory glass. The worker was stuffing big blobs of chocolate into the machine; and what came out were small little cubes.
The picture above is a close up shot of the processed chocolate cubes. I still wonder why were the chocolates still appear to be in an assortment of odd sizes.
Now, this is what I call a real chocolate fountain. Here, chocolate coatings are put to encase different fillings to produce a unique blend of flavours. Perhaps, this should be called a chocolate Ferris wheel?
Our next stop was the vinery. Here, they would harvest their own planted crops (ie grapes), and send them to a partner brewing company to brew their home brand wine – Lancaster. Above is a picture of the wine in the setting of the vinery.
We were then invited to a wine tasting session. The “bar tender” was really serviceable and entertained us really well. The after taste of the wines were heaps good. Eventually 3 wine bottles were made purchased by us.
After wine tasting, we also had the chance to do some cheese tasting. Apparently, wine is suppose to go well with cheese? I honestly never associated wine to cheese or vice versa. Seen above is a picture of different types of cheeses. I enjoyed the chilli cheese (the one in the middle of the picture, with red spots on it).
Our biological clocks set our tummy to rumble at noon, and demanded we make our way for lunch at a restaurant. We then aimlessly ended up at this small barn like restaurant. As we sat down at our table, their home made wines were given to us as complimentary.
This restaurant offered a huge variety of really healthy and interesting dishes (based on description). Seen above is their Today’s Specials. AUD 32 for a Sweet Lip Snapper? Nah, I couldn’t bite the chip! However, my mom had that dish made for order while I had a vegetable sandwich instead which cost AUD 12.
Below are some shots of our lunch meal.
Above: Fruits, cheese, asparagus, quiche, pepperoni and Turkish bread platter
Above: Today’s Special! – Sweet Lip Snapper
Above: Mediterranean Vegetable Sandwich
Above: Shrimp and Asparagus Fettuccine
Our next and final stop for the day was the Caversham Wildlife Park. Visitors to Perth would usually not miss the opportunity to drop by the park to grab hold of the chance to meet the famous Aussie animals – Koala, Possum, Wombats, Kangaroo etc. Above is a picture of my mother and sister with the park staff having the Wombat cradled in his arms.
It was very pleasing to me, having the chance to actually be able to be at this park in person. I used to harbor hopes, wanting to meet the koalas and kangaroos in person when I was really young; as then, all these hopes seemed imaginary and only viewable through photographs sent home by my brother (Kris), while he was still studying in uni back then here at Perth. Above is a shot of me, and the baby kangaroo.
One thing I found exciting about this park is that, the caretakers of the animals are actually really experienced. They know the behavior of the animals really well. Some of them even have pretty heavy accents, (very cow-boyish). I guess that they must have come from the suburbs where these animals are apart of their everyday lives. Seen above is a picture of the goats’ feeding time. They actually eat Wholemeal Bread!
Posted below are more shots at the Caversham Park. Enjoy!
Above: Koala Bear – We were told Koala Bears sleep alot as their diet only consist of water and eucalyptus leaf. Therefore, they are generally energy deprived and hence have to preserve it by sleeping.
Above: Possum
Above: Baby kangaroo inching its way into it’s mother’s pouch.
Above: Black ostrich
Above: Bark Birds – I guess they were named after tree barks, as they camouflaged very well with tree barks.
Above: Cattle Egret
Above: Iguana
Above: Parrot
Above: Dingo
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