Bunbury: Surprisingly Beautiful

When Richard, our destination lecturer, presented his port talk about Bunbury, he told us that there are ports where we will probably wonder, "Why did we come here?" Bunbury could be one of them. The advertising geniuses bill this large town/small city of 50,000 people as the "Cosmopolitan Center of Western Australia's South West"--way too many modifiers. The attractions that are cited include the lighthouse, St. Marks Church, King Cottage, Regional Art Gallery Arts Complex, the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, Big Swamp Wildlife Park, the Dolphin Discovery Centre and the wine region--the last being what we came to see.

Thanks to Richard and Joan from Cruise Critic, we had signed on to tour two wineries and one brewery. In fact, their private tour became so popular through word of mouth, that Bush Tucker Tour Company accommodated our very thirsty fellow passengers with a second van and tour guide. The company's motto is "Eat. Drink. Be Merry." We were told to expect to be spoiled today, and the tour surpassed that promise.

As we drove through Bunbury, we thought that this pretty town could be transported to Florida and fit right in with its palm trees, well-manicured lawns and tile roofs. Our guide told us that the newspaper is only printed three times a week because nothing ever happens in Bunbury. When we stopped at the first winery, the owner told us that its hard to keep them down on the farm after they've seen Perth. Four of his five children now live in Perth.

The staff at Ferguson Falls Winery offered genuine hospitality, tasty canapes and delicious wines. We and three other couples purchased a case of its 2006 Tempranillo wine, a soft, smooth shiraz. After the wine tasting, our tour guide treated us to a luncheon that included emu (very salty), kangaroo (a red meat) and wild turkey (a white meat). We passed on tasting the slugs. The owner entertained us by reading lessons he had learned. Sara's favorite was, "Women like to marry silent men. They think they are listening."

St. Aidan Winery is located near the small St. Aidan Church, a fully functioning church complete with a graveyard. Here we learned that the wineries in the Ferguson Valley grow the grapes in the area but ship them away to be processed into wine. This winery has named many of its wines with the names of the elder sisters in the family.

Our next stop was the Moody Cow Brewery where Ken was in Heaven on Earth. For him, a beer tasting is much more enjoyable than a wine tasting. We all appreciated sitting out on the porch overlooking the beautiful countryside. Ken took a picture of Yvonne, who takes one segment of the world cruise every year and then follows the blogs from Cruise Critic. Sara said the weather and the setting reminded her of the country club setting of cousin Jessica (Paula and Don's daughter) last October in Harrisburg, where everything had been picture perfect. At both places, we could have been on a movie set.

Before returning us to town, our tour guide took us to Gnomeville, which was established in 1992 and has grown rapidly since then. When a new highway was being constructed, someone had placed a gnome to watch over the workers to see that they were doing the job right, and the tradition took off. Families have gnomes in honor of everyone in their clan. The gnomes, or town folks, cover an incredibly large tract of land. While the concept sounds hokey, it is unbelievably charming. Punxsutawney Phil wants a gnome in Gnomeville in honor of him. This could be another great location for the 2012 weather prediction by the Seer of Seers.

We were all extremely impressed by this tour when the tour guide provided us with the grand finale. He drove unto an extremely bumpy dirt road and stopped the van. We were treated to viewing more kangaroos in the wild than we could easily count--mamas, papas and babies--as the sun began to set. This was truly a magical day!