Last weekend saw Perth experience its coldest December day in over 5o years. The temperature briefly struggled to the dizzy heights of 19 degrees though for much of the day it was considerably cooler – not what we expect in sunny Perth during summertime! Since I had to hunt out my winter jumpers again for a short while, it reminded me of our late winter trip down to the South West Cape region at the end of August.
Not only does the area have a marvellous coast line with wild rugged scenery and beautiful forests, it is also renowned for its culinary delights and vineyards. The cape is dotted with gourmet restaurants and cafes all serving high quality local produce and a myriad of wineries, which leaves you spoilt for choice. Following on from last week’s afternoon tea in Hohenschwangau, this week I’m reminiscing about a lovely morning tea at the Cape Lavender tearooms.
Cape Lavender is situated at the junction of Caves Road and Canal Rocks Road near Yallingup and we stopped off for a bite to eat mid morning before heading off to walk off the excess at Canal Rocks. This charming place, as its name suggests, is a homage to lavender. You can find gourmet lavender produce in the form of jams, chutneys, honey and even teas. The well-stocked shop adjacent to the cafe also sells a wide range of lavender essential oils, soaps and all manner of lotions and potions designed to promote healing, harmony and relaxation. You can even buy a lavender dog shampoo – not that we took any home for our resident canine, Winston Le Schnoodle, on this occasion!
In the rustic setting of the cafe, we enjoyed a beautiful home-made Devonshire tea with a view out to the pretty garden, whilst watching the rain clouds roll in. Fortunately the sunshine soon made a welcome reappearance!
Copyright © 2015 Rosemary Thomas Le Chic En Rose. All rights reserved
Le Chic En Rose 
Looks lovely. That cream tea looks delicious too!
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Thanks! It’s a charming place and yes I can vouch for the cream tea it was scrumptious! 🙂
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That cream tea looks so delicious Rosemary! Sounds like my kind of place, I love browsing gift shops like this as well, I think I would have struggled to leave here empty handed. We went to the south of France at the beginning of the summer and had lavender ice-cream – very good and brought home some lavender sweets. I didn’t spy any lavender dog shampoo though – that’s a new one!!
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The cream tea was every bit as delicious as it looks Joy! Yum – lavender ice cream in the south of France sounds wonderful 🙂 There aren’t as many lavender fields as the south of France here but the South West Cape has more than a passing resemblance to France. I’m not sure Winston would have appreciated the therapeutic qualities of lavender dog shampoo but I might be tempted to try it out on him one day!!
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We are experiencing the warmest December ever or at least not seen for a long time…the climate is definitely all wacky. Lovely place and pictures. (Suzanne)
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Thanks Suzanne! Yes our daughter in London was saying it’s been quite warm there for the time of year – definitely strange things going on with the weather. Still at least you can enjoy the milder temperatures 😃
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Oh I love the lavender smell ! And this place looks fabulous, perfect for an afternoon tea 🙂
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Lavender has a lovely scent doesn’t it? This was the perfect spot – very quaint and charming and the Devonshire tea was delicious 🙂
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We dream of 19 degrees here in summer 😉
And I love visiting lavender places, even if just for the smell! A cream tea is a bonus.
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Yes I realise 19 degrees sounds quite warm to many people! When you’re used to hot summers, maximums in the teens feel rather cool though and with a strong wind chill factor too it did feel rather chilly!! Not complaining though – we’ve had a cooler than average December after a hot spring, which is really refreshing 🙂 Lavender is one of my favourite scents and with a cream tea thrown in it was a very pleasant interlude 🙂
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Oh, that’s another one for my bucket list, Rosemary. Thank you for sharing those beautiful photos. Ken
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You’re very welcome Ken – the South West is one of my favourite parts of the world! 🙂
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19 degrees! That is a perfect summer day. Lol. Enjoyed the post and photos, as always.
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We are spoilt by the weather here in Perth, Ruth! The south westerlies have been very strong recently, which means there is a wind chill factor thrown in too but of course it’s all relative. I remember when we visited Tasmania many years ago in January I dipped my feet in the sea and they turned blue with the cold! Glad you enjoyed the post 🙂
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I haven’t been swimming in the sea here yet. It does seem cold for that 🙂
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It has to be warm before I venture into water Ruth – over 35 sees me in our pool but fortunately it’s nowhere near that at present! 🙂
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A charming post, Rosemary! Love love the pix of the scones & tea setting!
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Thanks it was a lovely spot for a morning tea – very tranquil and relaxing location 😃
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You had me at Cape Lavender! This place looks like such an interesting spot..love the purple hose!
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It’s a beautiful place – very charming and the attention to detail is wonderful. Helps if you like purple too!
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That looks like a very charming place and it’s so interesting about the lavender products, I specially like the relaxing soaps!
It seems the weather is getting crazy, you had the coldest day in December in Perth and here in Barcelona we’re having the warmest December in years (nothing to complain about, of course!).
Have a very nice weekend!
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Thanks Laia – yes the soaps and indeed all the lavender products were lovely. I bought quite a few home with me, which I’ve enjoyed using. Yes the weather seems a bit crazy at present. Here in Perth and the south west of WA we’ve had a coolish December (by our usual standards) but over in the south east of Australia and especially Adelaide they’ve had incredible heatwaves. Adelaide has had a week of intense heat and by tomorrow will have had 4 consecutive days over 40 degrees. Their minimums are higher than our maximums at present! I can imagine though you’re enjoying the warmer December weather – our daughter has just come back from London for Christmas and she has noticed how mild it’s been there – I think daffodils are coming out already! Have a lovely weekend too!
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