Rainy Day in Yallingup or Dunsborough? The Indoor Itinerary

Autumn. It's when the region exhales. Rain is part of that.

The South West does rainy days well. I'd argue this is actually when the place is at its best. The bush smells different, the wineries light their fires, the cave temperature is suddenly the most comfortable place to be all day, and the crowds thin out to almost nothing. Drawn a wet weekend out of the calendar? Don't panic. There's plenty to do.

What follows is the indoor day I'd plan if it was bucketing down and I wasn't allowed in my workshop.

Photo: Lasthib, CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Start at Ngilgi. The cave runs around 18 degrees year-round, so on a 13-degree winter morning it'll feel warmer underground than it does above. The self-guided walk takes around 25 minutes: stairs down, ramps and platforms through the chambers, stairs back up. They've staged the lighting through the cave well; some of the formations look genuinely otherworldly when you stop and let your eyes adjust.

Older kids or teenagers? Look at the adventure tours. You go off the formed paths into the wilder sections of the cave with a guide. Two to three hours, a bit of climbing, headlamps. Books out fast in school holidays.

Photo: SeanMack, CC BY 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

which cave is right for you

the Ngilgi half-day write-up

From Ngilgi it's twelve to thirteen minutes to my gallery on Blythe Rd. The viewing window into the workshop is a good place to be on a wet morning — you watch hand tools shaping a piece of jarrah or marri, smell the oil finish, and stay out of the weather. Pamela's usually got the kettle on. Google Maps sometimes misdirects via Wildwood Rd; stay on Bussell Hwy, turn at the Carbunup store, then Blythe Rd.

It's not a long stop. Forty minutes. But it slots into a rainy day better than almost anything else around here, because it slows you down in exactly the right way.

I'd send you to Vasse Felix on a wet day. The restaurant has been the standard for South West cellar door lunches for as long as I can remember, and on a cold afternoon the dining room with the open fires feels exactly right. The chef's selection menu is the easy call. It pairs with the wines and you don't have to think.

Photo: Vasse Felix, CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Book ahead. Even on a rainy Saturday they fill up. The art gallery upstairs at Vasse Felix is also worth half an hour if you finish lunch with time to spare. The Holmes à Court collection rotates through and there's almost always something good up.

If Vasse Felix is booked, try Clairault Streicker. The tasting room is more intimate, the kitchen punches well above its weight, and the staff have the time to talk you through the wines in detail. Quieter on a wet day than Vasse Felix.

Want to stay in town rather than out at a cellar door?, Yarri or Drift in Dunsborough are both strong calls. Yarri is the more ambitious kitchen; Drift is the easier hang. Both have proper indoor dining and the kind of room that feels right when there's weather outside.

After lunch you have choices, depending on who you're travelling with.

The Maze on Wildwood Rd has indoor games, the café, mini golf, and the hedge maze itself which kids will do in light rain without complaint. Best option if you've got kids and you need to wear them out before dinner. Check current hours on their website before driving over. They sometimes close mid-week outside school holidays.

Without kids, do a second cellar door. Cullen Wines has good indoor tasting space and an excellent food menu. Voyager Estate runs a degustation when you're up for a long afternoon. Aravina Estate has a small museum of vintage cars and motorcycles inside the cellar door building. Strange combination, but on a rainy day it works.

The town of Margaret River has decent bookshops if you want an hour in the dry. The Margaret River Distilling Co. does gin and whisky tastings. The Yallingup Cheese Company and Margaret River Dairy Co. both have indoor cheese tastings. Eagle Bay Brewing Co. has a big indoor room with a fire. If you've got an afternoon to fill, that's not a bad place to fill it.

Photo: Calistemon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Watch the weather. Rain in the South West usually moves through in bands, with breaks of an hour or two between the heavier sets. If the sky clears around 5pm, drive to Canal Rocks and look at the ocean. Wet rocks, dark sky, white spray. It's a different version of the place than the tourist-brochure summer version, and frankly it's the more honest one.

Photo: Lasthib, CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

the wet-weather list

the Dunsborough day-trip notes

I'll be honest with you. Most of the visitors I see in my gallery who time their trip for sunshine and get a wet weekend instead are disappointed for about three hours. By Saturday afternoon they've worked it out. The region is more itself in the cooler weather. The wineries feel like they're sitting in their own light. The forest smells right.

Autumn is my favourite season because of exactly this. Don't fight the weather. Plan a slower day, book a good lunch, and let the South West do what it does.

Forty years on Blythe Rd and I'll still take a wet autumn Saturday over a hot January one. The wood works better in the cooler months. The crowds thin out. And the rain on the workshop roof is one of the better sounds in the world.