I’m so pleased I’ve joined up with a local women’s walking group. The women meet up twice a week at 8am at a local cafe near the beach path and walk for a 1/2 hour in each direction along the path overlooking beautiful Geographe Bay. There’s no better way to get to know people than walking and chatting, not to mention the hour or so after the walk spent in the local cafe having a coffee with the ladies.

Not only do the ladies walk twice a week with a coffee follow up, but they also go out to lunch at one of the eateries in the winery area at least once a month. I’m not only getting to know people in the local community, but am also getting local information on the better places to eat. There’s nothing like ‘local knowledge’.

A couple of weeks ago the walkers met at Palmers Winery , near Dunsborough. The meal, service and ambiance was superb, and not over pricey. So, today I went there again, this time, with Paul.

Paul had the fish of the day, a superbly cooked Red Emperor dish which he reported was excellent. I tried the Bento Box, something new to me. For those of you who don’t know what a Bento Box is, (I didn’t), it’s a Japanese meal served in a box with several different compartments. The compartments hold a selection of delectable Japanese morsels, including some raw scallops and raw tuna. A hot rock comes with the meal on which to cook the raw items to ones own liking. It was an intriguing meal, and one I wasn’t disappointed with.

We followed up by sharing a desert – also very nice. Then a walk around the dam and a visit to the cellar tasting area. Unfortunately, we forgot to take our camera, so we only managed one photo taken on the iPhone, which was badly in need of a clean, so the photo’s a bit hazy. There’s nothing quite like rows of vines with roses at either end, overlooking a beautiful lake to inspire fantasies of being in some romantic European country – perhaps Tuscany, or the South of France.

But then again, who needs to be in either Tuscany, or the South of France fighting through hoards of people when we have such delights on our own doorstep, only minus the crowds. It’s a real pleasure to be a tourist in our own neighbourhood, only with the comfort of our own bed to come back to at the day’s end.