Went to the famous Swan Valley - a popular region of fertile land in the outskirts of Perth. The Swan Valley is popular for its wineries, vineyards, the Margaret River Chocolate Factory, honey factories and so on.
On the day we went - we visited two vineyards and the Margaret River Chocolate Factory, where I managed to get a large cup of hot chocolate. :) Didn't stay long at the chocolate factory though, as my mum was more interested in wine-tasting (she's a very big fan of wine!).
Our first stop was at a wine tasting shed next to Margaret River Chocolate Factory...
And then we visited the Lancaster vineyards. Vineyards in the Swan Valley offers wine-tasting, amongst other things, and of course, we could get wine for reasonable prices! Lancaster vineyards had quite a good variety of wine!
Since we were outside the city, the atmosphere was really calming...and if you add good weather to the picture - it's actually a pretty perfect day!
Check out the different types of wine we were offered! There was red wine, white wine and even rose wine. The rose wine was really sweet. I wasn't a really big fan of red wine, but I quite enjoyed the Shiraz (although the taste was really strong for me). I enjoyed the white wine - especially the Chenin Blanc. Chenin Blanc is my favourite white wine to date - I actually started drinking Chenin Blanc in 2010 when my piano teacher gave me a bottle after I helped out at her concert. Loved it straightaway.
It was still winter - but it was quite a warm day. The air was really fresh, and as we sipped the wine that was offered to us, we also had a really good chance to enjoy the tranquil atmosphere in the shed.
Took some time to explore the vineyards - although there wasn't much around as it was still winter. Well - the view was still pretty unique! Rows after rows of grape vines. I wonder how they'd look like in summer. Must be pretty amazing!
Our next stop was to Sitella Vineyards - another major attraction in the area. Sitella Vineyards was bigger than the previous one we visited.
It wasn't spring yet, but flowers were already in bloom. I guess it's because of the warm weather (that day). The weather has been really "bipolar" these days - especially in the spring. When I went, it was still winter so it was quite predictable.
Spotted this little mushroom right outside the main building! How cute! :)
That's the main building, and it houses the wine tasting area, a restaurant and a shop where we could get souvenirs. We had a taste of their wine - and it was so good! My mum ended up buying some wine back, and bringing them back for my dad. And she bought a bottle of white wine for us to share - it has since been finished. Best part - the white wine was Chenin Blanc (my favourite!).
I haven't had any wine ever since, though I did have a taste of Moet and Chandon champagne on one of the Friday nights. Apart from that, I have been 'alcohol-free'.
To save some cash (so that we could buy wine!), we didn't dine at the restaurant. Instead, we brought sandwiches! Ended up relaxing in this little pavilion amongst the vineyards. It was so relaxing.
There was also a small lake right next to the pavilion, and there were many ducks around. Some even had families, and the youngsters were following their parents around! So cute!
The pavilion was practically in the middle of the vineyards. I decided to take a walk around the compound while my mum and friend had their sandwiches.
Check out the lovely view! I couldn't walk along the vines (as the ground was too muddy and squishy), but I managed to go around them...
The Swan Valley is actually really near Perth Airport. And that means we'll spot a plane coming in every few minutes or so. Apart from taking pics of vineyards, I was also doing some 'plane spotting'. Here's one coming in!
The grape vines next to the main building. They used roses to label their wine varieties - white rose for white wine and red rose for red wine. Pretty awesome idea! And each variety was also labelled.
Headed back to the city after finalising our purchases and tasting more wine. Fortunately we weren't broke by then, and we were still sober! Anyway, that trip was so awesome as we got to enjoy lovely scenery and have a break from city life.
Which reminds me...I really need a break from uni work right now! I'm literally drowning in assignments and ridiculous reports...I should plan a getaway during the break or something!