After a very fancy breakfast at our Guesthouse, Mick and I were collected by Edward in his Jimney so he could drive us back to collect our car, which had been safely parked at the winery overnight. We then said our farewells – unsure when we will next catch up with him and Lucy as he departs for the UK in less than 10 days time.

First winery visit of the day was to Leeuwin Estate. Probably one of the most well known wineries in Western Australia. The setting is absolutely beautiful, and the wine was very good too. (So I’m told).

Edward had suggested that they pay the $10 each to taste the premium chardonnay here. He says its an excellent wine, and at $135 per bottle it would need to be. But he also wanted the three amigos to notice that it was not as good as the one he inisted that we buy from Rockcliffe (in Denmark). They agreed.

We left here empty handed – happy to pay the tasting fees and to have expanded our knowledge of the wines made by this winery.

Almost next door to Leeuwin is Voyager Estate; another large commercial winery with beautiful, yet different, gardens, to Leeuwin.

One thing that we noticed here that set this wine tasting experience apart from others is that there were small tasting notes printed on individual cards that you could refer to as you tasted the wine.

Mick and Derek chose a bottle of the Coastal Cabernet Sauvignon for us all to share before we head home.

Mick and I then decided to take Derek and Helen to a smaller winery we have enjoyed before – Mr Barval. Mr stands for Margaret River. It is a small, family run winery where the wine maker uses his knowledge and experience of making wine in Italy to make his wines. The fruit is hand picked, hand sorted and basket pressed.

The tasting flight comprised 5 different wines – and the servings were generous. We decided to add a small cheese platter to the tasting, so it almost turned in to a light lunch. Sitting outside was beautiful.

The first wine – Acqu Pazza – was not voted the best wine of the day. It is a Pet Nat wine (Pétillant Naturel) – fermented in the bottle and very low in alcohol. But after that – the other wines all got the thumbs up from the tasters.

The final wine – a Cabernet Malbec was voted the favourite on the ‘flight’. We didn’t leave here empty handed.

We enjoyed a glass of wine on the balcony of our guest house before walking into town to dine out at Elkamo – a BYO restaurant in the main street that only charges $1.50 per person corkage fees. This meant we were able to enjoy our Mr Barval wines there.

Tomorrow we drive to Perth for our flight to Brisbane on Sunday. It will take us two days to get home, which highlights the massive distances involved in travelling across Australia. But it has been worth it. We have loved our time in Western Australia.

Thank you for joining us on this adventure.