[Region]
The Quiet Magic of Yallingup in Winter
*The crowds leave, the rain comes, and the place exhales. Here's what I do down here between June and August, when the South West stops performing and starts being itself.*
Autumn is my favourite. The rain comes, the crowds leave, and I have the beaches back to myself.
That was meant to be a line about autumn. But autumn slides into winter down here without much warning. What people don't realise, what I want to tell you about, is that winter in Yallingup is the secret the locals keep. Not because we're being precious. Because nobody asks.
Photo: Lasthib, CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
What winter is actually like
June, July, August. Daytime temperatures usually 13 to 17 degrees. Mornings cooler, sometimes down to 5 or 6. Rain about half the days, but rarely all day. Big fronts come through from the Indian Ocean, dump for a few hours, then move on. The sky between fronts is the clearest light of the year. The bush goes from dust to green in three weeks.
The ocean is colder, around 16 to 17 degrees. Swell is bigger and more consistent. The Cape to Cape walk turns from a summer activity into a winter one if you're prepared. Fewer flies, fewer hot afternoons, and the wildflowers start coming in late July.
That's the weather. Here's what we do.
The surf
I still surf in winter. So does most of Yallingup. The crowds at Smiths Beach and Yallingup Reef thin out completely by late June, and the swell gets honest. Long-period groundswells out of the Roaring Forties, lining up on the reefs in a way they don't in summer's mixed wind chop.
You wear a 4/3 wetsuit and a hood on the colder mornings. The water bites for the first three minutes and then your hands forget the cold. You come out, you change into dry clothes in the carpark, you drive home with the heater on. There's nobody in your way.
For non-surfers, the headlands at the back of the beach are the best place in the South West to watch winter swell from. Stand on the rocks above Yallingup Reef on a 4-metre swell day. You won't talk much.
Smiths Beach the way locals do it
The walks
The Cape to Cape walk is better in winter. Cooler, quieter, more dramatic. The Yallingup-to-Smiths section takes about three hours and includes some of the best coastline on the track. I do bits of it most weeks. Never the whole 135km in one go, but a couple of hours here and there with a flask in the car for afterwards.
Wear proper boots. Some sections get muddy after rain. The wildflowers start showing in late July. First the early acacias, then the donkey orchids, then the kangaroo paw and everything else through spring.
Stand on the rocks above Yallingup Reef on a 4-metre swell day. You won't talk much.
The wineries (and which ones are actually open)
This is the question I get most in winter. Some cellar doors close for parts of June and July; most stay open, but check before you drive.
The ones I'd send you to in winter, off the top of my head:
- Vasse Felix: open all year, the gallery upstairs is worth seeing on its own, and the restaurant in winter is one of the best lunches in the South West. You can book lunch at Vasse Felix ahead.
- Cullen: biodynamic, beautiful in winter when the vines are bare.
- Voyager: gardens look different in the rain. The cellar door is warm.
- Clairault Streicker: a quieter option. Fewer tour buses.
- Aravina Estate: good for a long winter lunch.
Lamonts in Smiths Beach is also open through winter and has a wood fire. So does Wills Domain. The Studio at Vasse Felix is one of the best places to spend a wet afternoon in the region.
The food
Winter is when the South West cooks. The chefs have time. The dining rooms are quieter. You can walk into restaurants on a Friday night that would have a three-week waiting list in January.
Margaret River Farmers Market still runs Saturday mornings through winter. Different produce: citrus, leafy greens, slow-grown lamb, mushrooms. The market is smaller in winter but the people who turn up are the ones who really know what they're growing. Worth the trip.
The galleries (the obvious recommendation)
Look, I have to mention it. The gallery is open six days through winter, the wood fire is on, and the workshop viewing window is the warmest seat in the building because the workshop heats up from the machines.
Winter is genuinely my favourite season in the gallery. The visitors who come through in winter are the ones who came for the South West and not for the weather. Different conversations. Slower ones. Pamela has time to walk people through pieces in a way she doesn't in summer.
Gallery is open six days a week through winter. Wood fire from June. Workshop viewing window is the warmest spot in the building.
A short list of the other places I'd send you on a wet afternoon:
- Alan Fox glassblowing: sometimes you can watch him work.
- Julia Carter painting studio: phone ahead.
- Margaret River Open Studios runs across spring rather than winter, but the year-round galleries are mostly open through July.
The caves
The caves are at their best in winter. They're a constant temperature year-round, about 19 degrees in Ngilgi and similar in the others, so on a 14-degree rainy day they feel warm. Ngilgi is the closest to me, about ten minutes up the hill at Yallingup, and the self-guided tour is a good hour out of the weather.
a Ngilgi Cave morning, done properly
What to wear
This is the bit nobody tells you. Layers. A rain shell that you can stuff in a daypack. Boots that you don't mind getting muddy. A beanie. A second pair of socks in the car. You don't need to dress for the Antarctic. It's not that cold. But you do need to be ready for a front to come through in twenty minutes.
A flask of something hot. Always.
A rough winter day, the way I'd do it
- 8am
Yallingup or Smiths
Walk the headland. Watch the swell. Surfers have already been in for two hours. - 10am
Margaret River Farmers Market
Saturday only. Citrus, lamb, coffee, sourdough. Indoors and out. - 11:30am
John Streater Fine Furniture
Blythe Rd, Yallingup. Wood fire, workshop viewing window, the pieces look different in winter light. - 1pm
Vasse Felix
Lunch. Indoor dining room. A glass of cab sav while the rain comes through. - 3pm
Ngilgi Cave or the Studio at Vasse Felix
Indoor option. Out of the weather without leaving the region. - 5pm
Yallingup Reef carpark
Sunset from the headland. Even on a grey day the last fifteen minutes can be silver. - 7pm
Lamonts Smiths Beach
Dinner. Wood fire. The drive home is dark and quiet.
Photo: Lasthib, CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
What I'd skip
Outdoor swimming. Long beach picnics. Any plan that requires sun all day. The lookouts that don't have shelter (you can wait for the rain to stop, but not for two hours in the open).
Don't try to do a full Cape to Cape day in driving rain without proper kit. There's no shame in turning back to the car.
The honest summary
The reason locals don't talk about winter is that there's nothing performative about it. You can't sell winter the way the marketing people sell summer. The light is grey and silver instead of gold. The beaches are empty. The town is quiet.
That's the whole point. For the South West with the volume turned down, this is when. The galleries are warm, the wineries have time for you, and the surfers have the reefs to themselves.
a rainy Yallingup day, with options
Photo: David Stanley, CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
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