A winter escape at pullman resort bunker bay

Last weekend we decided to jump in the car and head south for a winter escape at Pullman resort Bunker Bay. Nestled just outside Dunsborough (around 3 hours from Perth) on the edges of Bunker Bay's beach this 5 star resort offers one of the most luxurious stays in the Margaret River region. 

We checked in with the incredibly attentive and friendly staff then went to find our villa, we were allocated 412 which was right by the main resort, but still a stones throw to the beach.  The villas were beautiful and full of useful little extras such as an iPod dock and dishwasher. There's also a small hob and microwave, if you wish to cook.

A huge king size bed, ours was pretty firm, I'm not sure if they all are though- and of course that's a real personal preference.

The bathroom was incredible and featured a bath which I (at 5ft 10) could almost lay out in.

We then decided to take a wonder around the grounds and see just what the resort has to offer...

The large, heated infinity pool was an absolute winner for us and thanks to the rain we had it mainly to ourselves! 

 If you're into surfing, theres a small break to the far right of the bay.

Sadly the weather was against us all weekend, but it was obvious how beautiful the bay is in summer, I can totally imagine spending a long weekend here surfing, paddle boarding and sunbathing in the warmer months. 

That evening we head up to one of the resorts restaurants for dinner..

Which was beautiful, and again the staff were brilliant, so friendly and helpful- especially with my dietary requirements (just a heads up, theres only one vegetarian option in the main restaurant)! I went for a home made pizza, which was amazing, and Dan had the Turkish roll, again amazing. We had a few drinks and watched the fire roar before calling it a night.

After dinner we head back and I promptly took myself to the bathroom, a winter escape wouldn't be right without a long relaxing soak in the bath..

The staff had kindly left me some complimentary wine (and were sweet enough to swap the red for white when I jokingly said I'm more of a white wine girl) and a pamper box filled with body scrubs and masks, I'd also packed my favourite LUSH bath bomb (the comforter), which made for the perfect girls pamper night whilst Dan watched the formula one. I soaked until the water went cold and by the end I felt oh so relaxed. To top it off, I got to squish into a big king size bed and snooze till I woke up the next morning. 

It goes without saying that the first thing I did when I woke up was head straight to the pool, they also have a beautiful little 24 hour gym and had I packed my trainers I'd probably have squeezed in a pre-breakfast workout. After working up an appetite we head up for a buffet breakfast.

I haven't taken photos of the buffet because I'm pretty sure everyone knows what a buffet looks like. The buffet breakfast at Pullman resort bunker bay was great, a huge variety from a cooked breakfast, through to fruit salads, pancakes, muffins and meats and cheese. 

If you're headed to Pullman Resort Bunker Bay I would totally recommend booking a trip to their Vie day spa, there's a huge array of treatments available but don't be silly like me- make sure you book well in advance! 

We had an incredible stay at Bunker Bay and can't wait to head back in summer to laze about on the beach all day. We paid the usual rate for our room, however were given complimentary breakfast and I was gifted my pamper package also. 

xo

This post has been written in collaboration with sets on the Pullman resort, all views are my own.

three days in margaret river

To round off mum's trip to Australia we decided to pack the car up and drive south to Margaret River. Margs (don't you just love aussie nicknames for stuff?!) is the place to go if you live in Perth and have a few days off, I've already blogged about it twice because I love it that much. So we bundled into the car and set off on the 4 hour drive to Denmark, we wanted to show mum as much as possible so planned a jam packed itenary of some of our favourite things...

On the way we were shocked by the size of the bushfire on the high way, for around 30km the trees were charred as far as the eye could see, it's absolutely devastating to think about how much damage the fires do out here, not only impacting on the flora and fauna but also the wildlife and ultimately humans too- yet for some stupid reason a lot are started by humans.

We head straight to Greens Pool and Elephant rocks, but also decided to drive a little further down the dusty track (you'll probably want a 4WD for it) and checked out waterfall beach, the water fall was a bit of an anti-climax but the rest of the beach was beautiful. The weather was a lot better when we did the trip in 2013 with Jack and Gem.

From there we drove to the valley of the giants for the tree top walk, we were hoping this would be the highlight of mums trip. The trees in the valley of the giants are just that, giant, and the tree top walk which goes up 40m into the canopy offers amazing views. There's also an ancient giants walk which takes you around some of the oldest Karri trees in the area.


It was early evening by the time we were finished and it was starting to get really miserable, so we head into Pemberton and found a campsite for us and checked mum into her hotel. We went to the Pemberton hotel for dinner and it was the most average pub food (and service) ever, so no photos.

That morning I woke up shivering, my nose felt like an icicle and rain was hammering on the out side of our tent, oh so glam. I debated sac-racing my sleeping back to the showers to warm up but realised if I got it wet I'd be screwed so I peeled myself out and sprinted across the site. Feeling a little bit de-frosted and slightly more human we head to pick up mum.

We grabbed brekky in a local bakery and bought some giant custard and apple doughnuts for the road. Luckily our first stop wasn't far...The Gloucester tree is only a few kilometres from Pemberton town, this huge Karri tree was an old fire look out and visitors to the national park are welcome to climb it. My photos don't do it justice, it's 53metres high and there is absolutely no safety system. I'd psyched myself up to climb all the way to the top (last time I wore a dress and flip flops- not really a climbing outfit!), but I chickened out at the first turn and head down. Dan however charged to the top just before it begun to rain again.

From there we drove to Cape Leeuwin lighthouse to show mum where the two oceans meet, and then stopped in Augusta for a bit of lunch before heading on to Jewel Cave.

We then were going to head to a winery when I suggested we swung into Hamelin Bay instead. We were so glad we did, I'd heard about the sting rays which live in Hamelin Bay before but didn't expect to see them up quite so close! We spent ages sat on the beach watching them, and a pod of dolphins which swam by too (I'll never tire of seeing dolphins).


From there we head to our next campsite, which was heaps better than the last (hence not naming names!!), we had a much snugger nights sleep and mum preferred her Margaret River hotel too. The next morning we were up bright and early so Dan and I head to Woolies to buy snacks for the journey home. We grabbed mum and head to the Margaret River bakery, but despite waiting 15 minutes there was no room for us :( So we head back to Woolies grabbed some food on the go and set off home.

Margaret River beaches are incredible, I wrote a whole post about them, and I could write five more. When it's sunny they're gorgeous with calm warm seas and sparkling white sand, a tropical paradise. But when the weather bad and the swells right they're some of the best surf beaches in the world, in fact the Margaret River Pro is on from April 15th and as I post this there's been consistent 15ft + waves.

As the weather was a bit naff we made a B line for the goose in Busselton and opted against a walk along the jetty thanks to the weather. Last time we were in Busselton  the weather was heaps nicer and we sat outside sipping on our drinks watching the learner paddle boarders.

And as always from Busselton it was back on the freeway and back up to Perth, till next time Margs!
xo