Today 13 of us headed out to the Swan Valley for an all-day wine tour that I booked using Happy Go Lucky Charters.  They are a great company that I used in 2018 for a yarn crawl.  Here was the plan: 

Swan Valley Full-Day Private Tour

Wednesday 22 February

Pickup 09:00 – 09:30 am (Fremantle Passenger Terminal)

Enjoy wine, cheese + olive tastings at Twin Hill Wines (10:45 – 11:15 am) 

Enjoy wine tastings at Lancaster (11:30 – 12:15 pm) 

Enjoy a Shared Platter Lunch with a glass of wine at Ugly Duckling Wines (12:30 – 2:00 pm) 

Enjoy wine + chocolate liqueur tastings at Providore (2:15 – 3:00 pm) 

Return drop off at Fremantle Passenger Terminal by 4:00 pm

Details: 

A lunch platter (with a glass of wine) is included in the price ($90 per person) 

The lunch platter is a combination of a cheese + meat platter consisting of vintage cheddar, brie, chilli jam dip, quiche, seasonal fruit, chicken and cognac paté, marinated olives, dried fruit, caramelized onion, smoked chicken, salamis, prosciutto, ham, Turkish bread, and flatbread.  Additional menu items are available at your own expense. 

We will get a 20/25-passenger bus 

Our group met in the Ocean Bar and headed down to wait outside the passenger terminal.  There is a large covered waiting area with plenty of seats available. 

The Bus arrived on time at 9 am.  I was notified earlier that the original 25-passenger bus was out of service so they substituted a larger “party bus” complete with dancing poles and open seating.  It worked out very well as the open seating made conversation easier.  No one tried out the dancing poles. 

This was our bus for the day

Inside the bus

Swan Valley is about 30 miles from Fremantle and will take about 45 minutes with no traffic and up to 90 minutes in rush hour.  Our trip to our first stop, Twin Hill Wines, took 1 hour and 10 minutes. 

I am not much of a wine connoisseur so you won’t get any details about the various wines we sampled. 

Robyn was our hostess at Twin Hill Wines.  She explained and poured 3 whites and 3 reds.  We also enjoyed a cheese and meat platter.  There was seating outside under a covered area, but we sampled the wines standing around the bar.  We were here for about 45 minutes.  We were the only group tasting wines while we were here. 

Robyn was our hostess at Twin Hill Wines

We enjoyed this cheese plate while sampling the wine

Our group at Twin Hill Wines

Our next stop was Lancaster Wines, about 15 minutes away.  Lancaster’s was much larger than Twin Hill Wines and had another tasting group running at the same time.  Our hostess bounced back and forth between the two groups and it worked out fine.  We chuckled when we saw a sign that said “Helicopter Parking” but we learned that they occasionally have people arrive on helicopter wine tours.  Helicopter Wine Tours can be booked  HERE – only $900 AUD per person (instead of $90 if you use a bus).  We were here for about 1 hour. 

Getting ready for the tasting at Lancaster with Katie

Our group after tasting the wine at Lancaster

Ugly Duckling Wines was our next stop where we enjoyed a lunch platter and a glass of wine.  There wasn’t any wine tasting here.  We were seated at a long table outside under a shelter and the weather was perfect.  We enjoyed our time here chatting with our friends for about 90 minutes. 

This was our lunch plate at Ugly Duckling – Our group shared 3 of these. It was plenty

Our final stop was Providore which sells wine and chocolate liqueur.  They are on the same property as the Margaret River Chocolate Company, which is next door.  We sampled some wine and chocolate liqueur, both very good, before heading over to the chocolate store.  The chocolate store is huge and stocks a wide variety of chocolates.  While we didn’t buy any wine today, we did pick up some chocolate. 

Inside Providore

Inside the Chocolate Store

We were here about 1 hour and headed back to Fremantle at about 2:30 and arrived back at the Cruise Terminal at 3:30.  All aboard was 4:30. 

Today was National Margarita Day and of course, the ship had a special Margarita (two for one) sail away.  

Two for one Margaritas during the Sail Away

The SailAway was on Deck 3 (port side) with the Dance Band providing some live music as we headed out to sea. 

The Dance Band playing on deck 3 during the Sail Away

Christel Mensink,  Henk’s wife, joined the ship here as a passenger and she will be with us through Amsterdam and maybe further.  Christel was the Guest Services Manager on our previous world cruises. 

Christel with Henk

The South Mole Lighthouse marked our departure from Fremantle