Waroona is a little town situated 1hr 30 minutes away, south of Western Australia. AR being the sweet guy that he is, decided that we needed to get away for a few days just to recharge ourselves. While the recent trip to SG/KL was excellent, it was jam packed with activities and appointments that we barely had a rest. Thus, this trip was suppose to be a relaxing one.
1) Blue Wren Park
AR found this quint little Bed and Breakfast place. Our hosts, Geoff and Carol welcomed us with a delicious Devonshire tea. I have a soft spot for English tea like that. It's so heart warming! The scones were delicious and the tea warmed us up immediately. Everything was homemade and fresh in this place.
2) Lake Clifton Tavern
After a short rest, we headed to Lake Clifton Tavern for dinner. Thursdays are $10 steak nights so no prices for guessing what AR had. This place is owned by Geoff's son and served fairly decent price meals. I had the corn beef + baked potato. Now, the corn beef was abit too salty for my liking (but corn beef is suppose to be salty...) but I love love love the gigantic potato with cheese sauce! The steak was reasonable, nothing special but it was a good meal .
3) Preston Tea
We headed to town the next day. Well, the town consists of one street but it was fairly busy. We stopped by this tea place and had lots of fun smelling the different sorts of tea available. Too bad they didn't offer a tea service. I bought the French Earl Grey and AR wanted the Rosie Wong-which is a blend of flowers and herbs.
4) Hundt's Gallery
I can't stop raving about this place. It is a show room for small art pieces with a cafe attached to it. We had lunch there and almost didn't want to leave. AR had the vegetable lasgna-simply divine. It was chocked full of sweet potato, eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese! I had the sweet potato and pumpkin soup which was just lovely for a cold wintery day (idea for lunch one day!). My only complain was that the mocha had more chocolate than coffee in it.
5) Thrombolites
We drove to Lake Clifton and admired the view of Thrombolites.
"Thrombolites are a particular form of microbialite (rock-like structure built by micro-organisms) that have a clotted internal structure. The word thrombolite is derived from the same root as thrombosis which means clot."
Amazing stuff huh?
The only thing was that the tide was high so we could barely spot any thrombolites! LOL
A HUGE HUGE bonus though, we saw kangaroos hopping around!
6) The Cream Shed
Our highlight! We watched cows being milked and cream being made! Look at the tiny calf! Even more amazing was Frank-the farmer. He was wearing bright RED shorts on a cold winter day!!!
The calfs were so adorable! We were given a chance to help out in the farm which was really nice of Frank. He has owned the property for 35 years! Look at the view he wakes up to every day.
7) Dinner at The Mediterranean Restaurant
Fine Dining at the Mediterranean was a lovely treat at the end of the day. Lovely warm ambiance greeted us as we entered th restaurant. We were guided to our seats which was near the "fire place".
We started off with their bread + pesto butter. I do wish they could cut the bread in smaller pieces. As the bread was on the tough side, it was difficult to tear/use butter knife to cut it. The pesto taste was subtle.
Main courses of AR's lamb shanks and my duck. We agreed that our meals were tasty but it did not blow us away. One thing I was impressed was their presentation. They served AR's sweet potato mashed in a sesame coated puff pastry casing. Something that I will definately try in my little kitchen soon.
The dessert was chocolate pudding with pistachio center. The molten chocolate pudding was a delightful way to end the meal. Again, it was good but not amazing.
Something did irk me at the restaurant. They kept placing cold jugs of water on their grand piano! Why would did do that to such a beautiful piece of instrument?
8) Breakfast at the Blue Wren Park
Ah. I enjoyed waking up to a full set of breakfast and not having to do any washing up. We ate our breakie with a lovely view of the park. Fresh fruits, yogurt, 4 different sorts of cereal/muesli, toasts... seriously pampered.
9) Good hosts
Geoff and Carol are such lovely people. We wanted to purchase a small wedding certificate holder but they refused our money and offered that as a gift instead! They were really attentative throughout our stay and we had great conversation with them. From sparkling juice to chocolates in our room and even a mini tea service there...seriously... we felt pampered. Will definately be back when we need a short break.
Thank you Geoff and Carol!
It was a good feel of what the Australian bush has got to offer for us city people :) Definitely a world of a difference from Singapore! We managed to do everything we wanted to do despite it raining half the time. The stay was splendid, couldn't ask for anything more from Geoff and Carol.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely looks like a fun and relaxing trip with good food. I would love to see some wild kangaroos too!
ReplyDeleteI love B&B. The most memorable one is in Scotland and always enjoy English breakfast either it's in NZ, AU or England.
ReplyDeleteLooks like this is a more relaxing trip :)
I feel like I want to go all the way to Australia just to stay at this place...
ReplyDeleteLooks like you guys have had some awesome trips lately. :) It sounds like a great way to celebrate the end of a thesis!
ReplyDeletelove the pix you took.it's really look serene...ooossph!!so far I thought AR is kwai lo,my mistake,sorry!!.hmmm now I can see his handsome face:))
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful short trip. Sounds relaxing too. Good for a break, huh?
ReplyDeleteDaphne, finally so nice to see such wonderful pictures of you. You have a wonderful smile :)
ReplyDeleteThe snaps from your trip are wonderful , and makes me want to come to Australia so much more !
I’m enjoying reading your fantastic holiday story... that makes me wanna hit the road have some adventure trip again
ReplyDeletemooooooooooo... did you get to milk the cow?! the calf is cute and clean. not like those in msia
ReplyDeleteNice post! I love such relaxing trip....visiting farms, enjoying nature, taking it easy...ahh...now I really look forward to moving to Melbourne.
ReplyDeleteAustralia is sooo far from me! I wish to visit someday. It looks fantastic. :-)
ReplyDeletearmand-with u on that one! =)
ReplyDeletelittle corner- yes! It was such a luxury to see them hopping around.
Tigerfish- I love B&Bs too! There is an excellent sense of comfort and welcoming there.
doggbloggy-u should!
threeforks- not end yet but nearing!!
beachlover-u r not the only one! kekke.
singairishgirl-it was!
kate- thank you! u r very sweet. come over soon!
Rita-ooo..update on your trips rita!
Aiwei-hehe, didnt get to milk the cows..the used machines.
precious pea-it was very relaxing! U r moving to mel?!?!!
zen chef- u should come over! think of all the ingredients u can experiment with!