Alison

A Road Trip to Pemberton and Margaret River, Western Australia – First Day

We left Perth on a Sunday morning for an overnight stay in Pemberton. Stopping for lunch in the vibrant green Ferguson Valley and then for a look at the fabulous Wellington Dam Mural. The journey takes around 4 hours from Perth, Pemberton is located in the South Western region of Western Australia.

Lunch was at St. Aiden’s Winery, and we shared a couple of dishes. This was a beautiful winery and one that we had never visited before.

St Aiden’s Church

After lunch we headed over to the Wellington Dam Mural located just outside of Collie, WA.

The mural is called Reflections and is the largest mural in the world painted by renowned world artist Guido Van Helten. He spent three weeks talking to locals and also staying in an Aboriginal community to get a sense of what they would like to see painted. If you would like to read more of this story click on the link Reflections

Individual images of the mural. What an amazing feat this is and it was well worth the detour to look at this awesome mural.

The time was ticking on and we still had another two hours drive ahead of us, or should I say dear husband did!

I had booked a placed called Forest Lodge Resort, one because it looked nice and two as it had a restaurant attached so Anthony didn’t have to drive anymore that night and could enjoy a drink or three!

We arrived just after 5pm and it was still light so as soon as we had checked our room we went for a walk around the grounds. We got an upgrade!

Our room and view
So many kangaroos roaming freely

From our walk around the lake

So calm and serene
The setting sun on the lake
A Giant Californian Sequoia Redwood planted in 1935

By this time it was happy hour so we headed over to the bar and restaurant for a drink before dinner.

The resort is owned by a German couple. Ingo is also the cook, hence the name of the restaurant – Chef Ingo’s. Their daughter Selina seems to be receptionist/waitress/and jack of all trades. Service was impeccable and Selina was a delight.

A drink in front of a cosy fire
  • Smoked Pork Belly
  • Smoked Duck
  • Spiced Rib Eye, Red Cabbage and mash

Dinner was quite salty, so just drank more wine to quench our thirst!

We had a relaxing and very enjoyable overnight stay here, and we will definitely be back again. Tomorrow Margaret River beckons with a few stops along the way.

22 comments

  4. Hello – so happy to find you back at Teresa’s blog! Went through some blog issues, and it took me a long time to recoup and set up a new blog. My previous blog was thejeshstudio, but my present one is
    http://livingbetweentworealms.wordpress.com and also have a new user name (instead of Jesh)it is now Emille.

    The artist who made that mural on the bridge is amazing. I saw on someone’s blog the beginnings of it. Didn’t think he would pull it off this fast! He must be an extremely hard worker. Also love your story and views of the winery. Before we moved to Texas last year Aug. I lived in a winery area in the hills of North California. Still can’t forget the trees and vineyards.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. When we were in WA, I loved Pemberton, but we missed the Wellington Dam Mural. It’s now on our list for another time – or perhaps I should say another life – covid permitting.

    Liked by 1 person

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