swan valley

began with a breakfast run to yelo, a charming cafe on along the coast. i've never had such yummy wraps. my chicken wrap with banana chutney was insane...

and after we filled our bellies, it was off to the swan valley for some wine.

at this vineyard, A$2.50 was all it took to have a full tasting of over 10 different wines. 

and after savouring the gorgeous wines (well, more misses than hits but what can one expect for A$2.50?!) we went on to support local farms by stocking up on freshly plucked strawberries, more wine (this time with complementing cheese), chocolate from the margaret river chocolate factory and local ice cream. we ate our way through the valley, then again, quite embarrassingly, we seem to eat our way through everywhere.

and after a little too much free wine, we started to take flying photos over the vineyard. do note that A is too tall to fit the camera frame.

A brought us on a scenic drive around the swan river in the city and we passed the governor's boatshed that is the most popular wedding photo spot. takes a bit of imagination, doesn't it.

A went to work in the evening and simon fetched us from casa mcfaull and brought us to grill'd. grill'd serves the best burgers ever, and believe it if you will, they are healthy. healthy burger sounds a bit oxymoronic until you take a bite of these babies and i suddenly understood why they're promoted to be 95% fat free. well, the patty at least. it felt like i was eating good quality steak, albeit in ground form. in fact, i even deconstructed my burger and ate it layer by layer so as to enjoy each aroma and sensation individually. the avocado and bun made a nice avocado sandwich, the veggie tasted like a salad and the patty like high-grade beef. mhmm :) did attract strange looks though but i maintain that my mouth and hands are too tiny for the monsters they served up. so there!

and we rolled out of grill'd and into helvetica, a bar named after the font. one of the nicest bars i've been into, crowded but not packed on a saturday night and with a great selection of whiskey for the whiskey fans out there.

as if helvetica wasn't enough, we'd a toss up between going to green's (?) for cake or the wembley to see A. of course we picked A over dessert and swung by to watch the bar pro at work. was fun to go, 'hi A, i'd like a sweet cocktail please.' and watch the cogs in his mind turn as he went to work concocting something special. i'd 'the A special' and if i tell you what went into it, i'd have to kill you. but i felt special all right :) and my +1 had some export quality tiger from the tap which left us swearing never to have tiger back home. not like he drinks tiger, anyway.