May 17 ... Swan Valley

Maurn felt she would like to see more of the "traditional" Swan Valley with its vineyards and other farms, so we headed back that way this morning. Morgan had to work so it was only the three of us. First we drove to Guildford where we discovered the best second-hand bookstore EVER. It was all organized and easy to navigate. Maurn and I bought a couple of books each but I could have gotten dozens.

From here we started up the valley. It is only about a 20km circuit but it is really packed with places to stop at, and all of them involve food and drink(mostly alcohol).Our first stop was The Margaret River Chocolate Factory where there were lots of yummy things. We settled for a couple of very chocolaty mochas and Maurn bought some gifts to take home.

Excellent coffee

Before anyone asks, Garry has not technically hurt himself. He wears this muscle support because he has "golfers elbow" and apparently it gets quite sore, so he will probably continue to look like a war veteran !

From chocolate to coffee at Mago Coffee and Cape Lavender. The latter is a beautiful shop where we enjoyed all the free samples and the former had lots of delicious things, including freshly made gelati. I bought some crostolli and biscotti and Maurn also picked up a few treats. Our next stop was The House of Honey. Here I could have spent heaps as they had lots of tempting things, like honey ice cream. Before we left I bought two bottles of honey and some sparkling honey drink which I think will be perfect one hot afternoon. And then on to The Mondo Nougat shop where we had a variety of sticky, teeth challenging nougats to choose from.
 Finally we arrived at the Houghton's Vineyard where we planned to have lunch. We had been there before so we knew it was a really nice setting with tables under a vine covered pergola. We ordered the platter of mixed goodies and it was superb. There was plenty for the three of us and it was perfect with a glass of classic white burgundy. 

Linda and Maureen at the vineyard

Our delicious lunch

It had been overcast all day and by now it was about 3 pm so we picked Morgan up from the city and continued home for coffee and a movie, having spent a very pleasant four hours in the Swan River Valley.
To add to all this wonderful food, Morgan had made an excellent tiramasu and we have been enjoying this for desert these last few nights.