Yallingup Getaway; poignant prologue: Roy’s Loan Ranger and my i-Phone PTSD; preview of Madrid 2026 with my new i-Phone Pro Max 17; massively motivated by méthode traditionelle; obsessed with Idée Fixe; wowed by wagyu on the barbie; wooed by Wise Wine, Eagle Bay; Miki’s Open Table in Margaret River town
Prologue: Down South without my phone
Have you ever spent four whole days without your phone? If you’re my age, probably not since the millennium. Well, it happened to me this very week. To shorten the story* a bit (I can see you glazing over already), while Roy and I were dropping off a flashy loan Ranger* at Titan Ford in Perth’s neighbouring port town of Fremantle on the way south to Margaret River, I managed to leave my i-Phone 14 on a ledge in the ladies’ restroom.
- Sorry, I find myself incapable of shortening the story… especially as I have this pic of Roy posing with the gaudily golden-hued Wildtrak that was parked in front of our house (top right) while Titan Ford awaited a steering-related part for Roy’s Mustang.
Yallingup getaway… and that sinking feeling
About 80km after leaving Titan Ford, I looked for my phone and realised with mounting horror what I’d done. A call to Kristian, the Mustang guru, confirmed that they had my baby… and Roy truculently refused to turn back for it. (On the positive side, it’s a good thing it wasn’t an actual, real baby.)
To be fair, this wasn’t the first time I’d left my phone somewhere… it’s a frequent occurrence. And, like my mother before him – she refused to buy me another school lunch-box after I lost mine on the first day of Grade 1 – he’s heartily sick of me leaving a trail of stuff in my wake.
Anyway, I survived to tell the traumatic tale and will no doubt be good as new after a couple of sessions of therapy… and the delivery of the new i-Phone Pro Max 17 I’ve just ordered as a means of self-soothing. It’s said to have a great camera! … and we’re off to Spain in a couple of months’ time.
AI preview of me in Madrid
Speaking of the upcoming trip to Spain, here’s a pic of me using my new i-Phone Pro Max 17 in Madrid – never mind that the phone is only being delivered next week, and I’m going to Madrid for the first time ever this coming May. Apparently, I’m in central Madrid, looking over Gran Vía and the Metropolis Building. Thanks, ChatGPT!
In the possibly over-dramatic words of my sister Dale: Yikes, it’s a murderous doll version of you. Make it go away!
Am I missing something?
Méthode in our Madness
How come we to be doing yet another Yallingup getaway, and so soon?
Well, while celebrating Christmas here in Iluka with our Yallingup friends Lynn and Kim (read more about them here), we heard that our favourite Vasse Felix wine estate was launching a special venue for its fabulous méthode traditionelle sparkling wine, Idée Fixe.
(Click here for my post on visiting Vasse Felix in August 2020, when we heard the first mysterious hints about this great project. It mentions that Idée Fixe translates from French as “obsession”.)
And, as Vasse Felix “alumni” – that’s what they call their members to make us feel like extremely clever wine snobs – we were invited to book ourselves in for a tasting session at the new venue. It would have been rude not to.
Yallingup getaway: Idée Fixe tasting
Idée Fixe is located just five minutes’ south of Margaret River town, on the Vasse Felix Karridale property. It’s in the cooler, more southern part of the Margaret River region, said to be ideal for growing Chardonnay and producing sparkling wine.
Though it’s already gorgeous, this splendid venue is still being developed. (Above is the shady courtyard.) The Bistro is at least a year from completion. In the meantime, we can revel in being some of the first visitors… it will never again be this quiet and peaceful.
Haylee – a genuine wine guru – met us on the steps of the Salon to usher us and five other lucky people (possibly also special alumni!) into the spectacular Salon.
Five Idée Fixe wines form the current collection. We tasted, in this order (from left in the pic): the Brut Rosé; the Premier Brut; two other interestingly different clones (Bernard and Davey) that are not for sale, but are used in the blending; and finally, the impressive Brut Reserve
Lunch at Vasse Felix
Fortunately, Vasse Felix estate is in Wilyabrup, a ten or 12-minute drive from Idée Fixe. You can do a tasting, and the restaurant does a lunch (only lunch, note) that is one of the best in the region. (Go here for menus and more.) Souls soothed, egos stroked and palates tickled, it was time to head to Vasse Felix Estate for lunch. For alumni, lunch always starts with a complimentary coupe of the Idée Fixe Premier Brut.
Even more fortunately – at least for Lynn, Roy and I – Kim was kindly abstaining from drinking so as to drive us. Thanks again, Kim!
Wise Wine
We (or perhaps just I) had firmly intended to lunch as recommended at Meelup Farmhouse. However, on this and every Tuesday it was closed; it opens only from Thursday to Sunday.
Around the corner and almost next door, we found ourselves at the highly rated Wise Wine. (See here for my glowing review, complete with yummy pics, after having lunch there with Lynn and Kim a year ago.)
With no immediate competition, it’s little wonder that Wise Wine was packed. They nevertheless found us a table in the leafy courtyard, perfect on such a glorious day.
With a big dinner in the offing, we ordered just the burrata and an octopus starter to share. For me, the signature G&T – delicious. For the driver, just San Pellegrino, sadly.
Miki’s Open Kitchen
This was our third visit to Miki’s Open Kitchen, an amazing Japanese restaurant tucked away off the main street in the town of Margaret River.
Do click here for my review of the very first time we came here – way back in January 2017, nine years ago! The menu was written on a chalkboard, my photos were better, taken on my old Canon SLR… and I still sported a fringe.
(It’s interesting to note that prices have more than doubled since then… but that’s happened everywhere. God knows how we’re going to be able to afford to live for another decade or two or more… if that’s even in the stars.) This time, we were armed with a generous Christmas-gift voucher from daughter Blaire, Colin and grand-sprogs Sam and Annabelle. Thank you so much, the Cartwrights!
As always, the counter that horseshoes the open kitchen is the best place to sit. It’s like dinner and a show.
Miki does a set menu ($130 pp) that was wonderful from the first bite to the last. We added on sake-pairing ($70) – a fabulous and high-end selection that started with a chilled sparkling sake and ended with a warm, nutty sake redolent of the whiskey barrel it had been aged in.
Top-notch Accommodation in Yallingup
Lucky people that we are, Lynn and Kim invited us to test-drive the new guest suite in their lovely home on 5 hectares of bushland. Here we are that first night in the kitchen, shortly before barbecuing an enormous wagyu tomahawk steak … washed down with (a) G&Ts and (b) copious quantitities of Shiraz. (After all, no one was driving.)
Out and about
It’s a great area for walking or jogging – more than usually green for the tail-end of summer and alive with birds and other animals. I love the black cockatoos, large birds with distinctive while tail feathers and an insistently rasping psittacene call. Check the slideshow below for a cockatoo pic that Lynn took, right next to the house.
Not quite phone-less in Yallingup
So, finding myself phone-less in Yallingup, how did I manage to take photos for this blog post? After the first day, the compassionate Lynn – who would never dream of abandoning her precious in a public lavatory! – took pity on my incessant weeping and kindly lent me her spare i-Phone. Thanks, Lynn!
Next up?
Probably something for my health blog, Living Long and Strong with Verne and Roy (vernemaree.com), possibly on the health benefits of strong social connections.
In the meantime, I’m flying solo to Singapore next week to pick up my new passport at the South African High Commission… nearly six months after I applied for it. And just in time for me to apply for a new Schengen visa before we head to Spain in early May.
