The Lady of Lifestyle
West Australia’s Margaret River redefines luxury touring

Until recently, I had this recurring dream. Nothing rude, just a little decadent. It was to be chauffer-driven by a gorgeous blonde in a vintage Rolls Royce, cruising at my whim along tree-lined country lanes, hopping from winery to ocean lookout to art gallery to fancy eatery to another lip-smacking winery. A dreamy antidote to the many, many times I’ve been herded on and off a tour-bus like a mad cow.

Then a friend of mine in the travel industry, in whom I had confided, told me with a nod and a wink that he knew where I could go to ‘scratch my itch’…

Few parts of Australia are as naturally blessed as Margaret River. This sleepy capital of West Australia’s vibrant southwest, just three hours south of Perth, is three things in one: a river (naturally); a small, arty little town; and a region, which stretches for 100km between a pair of scenic lighthouses that look out over the southern Indian Ocean. And there are two reasons why it has grown to become W.A.’s jewel in the crown for domestic and foreign tourists alike.

One is the coast, where sensational white-sand beaches meet the six-shades-of-blue waters of the Indian Ocean. If the international-standard surfers don’t impress you with their dance on the waves, then maybe watching the annual migration of Right Whales that gather close to the coast might.

The other reason is wine. In the 1960s, there was not a single grapevine on the scene. Along came a government inspector to see whether this hitherto depressed and forgotten backside of Australia had any economic potential besides subsistence dairy farming.

Margaret River, he declared, could not only grow wine, but also had the perfect conditions for becoming the Bordeaux of the New World. Fast forward four decades and the region’s 80 boutique wineries now produce 25% of Australia’s premium wines, including top chardonnays and semi-finalist cabernets.

But even if you aren’t a wine buff, it’s still well worth sampling some of the wineries in the region because many of them are beautifully situated and feature some of the region’s best restaurants.

That’s all well and good, but how about my dream? One cool, sunny, autumn morning, Nola Gaebler the beautiful blonde owner of ‘Ladies of Lifestyle - Margaret River’ pulled up to my hotel in a classic Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II, with her top down (the Rolls, not Nola).