Margaret River is all about the two Ws – Wine and Waves. We will talk about Wine in a later post.The second W, waves, are in abundance on the coastline between Gnarabup and Surfer’s point at Prevelly Beach.

We stayed here in a beach hostel. The room was nice and the shared kitchen and dining area would put some restaurants to shame. It also had a wood burning fire which provided much needed heat against the winter winds coming onshore. We were the only guests for the first two nights and it felt a bit like the Bates Motel from Psycho all by ourselves in the middle of nowhere, but people starting arriving near the weekend,phew!

Next door was the Gnarabup Bar, that we scampered into at 5pm each today to avail of the Happy Hour, being the backpackers we are.

Our nearby beach was Gnarabup beach. To get here we walked through a small wilderness trail in a forest of gnarly old white trunked trees – like something out of an episode of Star Trek. When we got to the beach we did not expect to be blown away as we did – it was stunning.

And this is only our first beach in Australia.

Nearby is a small townsite called Prevelly. Named after the Preveli Monastery in Crete by a former Australian Soldier who was held up there in World War 2 and then relocated back home. Here is another beach called Surfer’s Point. Here we saw some locals taking to the waves as the sun was setting. It’s here every year that surfers gather for ‘Mainbreak’ – the Margaret River Pro. It’s even on the Surfing World Championship Tour! As you walk down the steps to the beach you can see the names of past winners etched into them.

Prevelly Beach, Australia

Margaret River was also the setting for the surfing movie ‘Drift’ starring Sam Worthington (Avatar, Terminator Salvation).

But it’s not all great waves and surf dudes. The beaches here have small memorials and plaques on benches dedicated to the departed. A sorry reminder of the beauty and the beast nature of the sea!