Since the start of the trip, we’ve been to Baghdad, Hahndorf, Swansea, Dudley, Newcastle and we’ll visit Perth twice, on opposite sides of the country. But there was one more town on our path, that I’m sure a lot of people will visit just purely for the opportunity to return to work on a Monday morning and tell everyone that they had coffee in Denmark on the weekend.
The attraction to this town isn’t so much in the town centre itself, it’s the lovely little liqueur and sweet factories on the outskirts of Denmark that really make this place a real treat to visit. But, we knew we had to be wise in our selection, even though both of us could very easily visit each and every one... it was the dozens of samples that we’d be desperate to purchase that would really hurt the back pocket. For me, the choice was very simple – The Denmark Chocolate Company.
The Denmark Chocolate Company was a little piece of heaven tucked away in a gorgeous homestead surrounded by freshly mowed bright green lawn and nestled right in the heart of natural greenery. Standing on the outside looking in, you’d think you were about to enter somebody’s very tastefully decorated quaint little country cottage. With a generously sized veranda sweeping around the full length of the home, you could almost visualise waking up on a Sunday morning with a cup of tea in hand and a piece of chicken in the other to take outside and feed the Kookaburras. As I stood outside in the sunshine, I took a moment to soak it all in, all that was running through my mind was ‘how on earth could there possibly be a chocolate factory through those doors?’
To my relief, there was a whole room full of delicately crafted, handmade chocolates. I was no longer in a homestead, I was definitely in a chocolate shop. We treated ourselves to $8.50 Hot Chocolates where they serve warm milk with your choice of chocolate drops which you yourself whisk together in a mug and enjoy the flavours of one of the best Hot Choccies of our lives. $22 later, we had a hot chocolate and one piece of chocolate each. While it may not be a visit your bank account would want to pay every day, it was certainly one that must be paid at least once in each lifetime.We stopped in at The Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk. The highest point above ground level is 44metres high!! Not suitable for those with a fear of heights, bad heart or in stilettos.
We were about to reach the end of the Southern Beaches of WA, at least the ones you could easily access. We decided we should set our sights on the Western Beaches to then make our way up to Perth along the coastline. As there isn’t one coastal road that you can follow to get from the South to the West of WA, we had to improvise a little.
As we were entering the Quinninup Eco Tourist Park, we drove down the long driveway towards the park. Tom and I didn’t even need to say a word to each other, as we both gazed over towards our neighbouring driveway, we both knew where we would be spending most of our night. At the Quinninup Tavern. The caretaker of the park confirmed our desire to visit the tavern when he told us that they have a “Chase The Ace” on that night and the jackpot had reached $1100. Free money!! We then realised we didn’t have any cash to pay the caretaker for our nights' stay, to which we were then told we could get cash out at the pub. All the signs where pointing in the same direction... we were off to the pub.
To win the $1100, you just had to drink more alcohol to give yourself better odds. For each drink you purchase, you get a raffle ticket. At the end of the night, the raffle is drawn and whoever has the ticket, gets to pick a number between 1 – 52 (that hasn’t already been chosen previously). The number then corresponds to a card, which is then flipped over and if it’s the Ace of Spades you win the jackpot. I knew which number it was, it was number one of course. I was determined to win, it was our god given right, we work very hard at being unemployed. We bloody well deserved that money ;)
Second round of drinks for Tommy and I, and it was my turn to leave the pool table to go to the bar. I waited patiently for the barman to finish his chat with another patron. As he approached me, the man standing next to me had also been patiently waiting to be served. The bar man walked over and did that uncomfortable ‘who’s first?’ shuffle, I, full of manners, ushered the gentleman next to me to be served first. Once he had finished ordering his two drinks and claimed his tickets, I ordered mine and was given ticket numbers D32 and D33.
Kids, whoever told you that manners will get you everywhere in life was wrong with a capital R. Don’t listen to them. Of course, the number drawn at the end of the night was D30... the number I would have got if I wasn’t so damn nice. And he chose card number 20, which like I said was the wrong number because the Ace of Spades is still face down on that wall with the number 1 written on its back.
No free money for us. Instead, we were in the negatives financially for a night on the turps at our new local. But, it was worth it cause we had a great time and we did win a few beers from our efforts on the pool table.
As we walked home that night, very ill-equipped in 3 degrees, I asked Tom if he got that $20 out to pay the caretaker in the morning. He told me he got the money out and gave it to the caretaker while we were at the pub. To which I replied... bet I know which cash register that $20 note is sitting in right now, I just hope he remembers in the morning.
As we walked home that night, very ill-equipped in 3 degrees, I asked Tom if he got that $20 out to pay the caretaker in the morning. He told me he got the money out and gave it to the caretaker while we were at the pub. To which I replied... bet I know which cash register that $20 note is sitting in right now, I just hope he remembers in the morning.
Site : Quinninup Eco Tourist Park
Rating : 6 / 20
Facilities : In a nice bushy setting. Loads of wildlife - particularly roos & birds. Good clean amenities. No fires. Picnic Tables.
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