John Law had a taste of the wild in Western Australia and here he tells how you can, too.

Down Under is renowned these days for its exceptional food and wines. But if you enjoy a taste of the exotic, go native and get stuck into a few bush tucker delicacies.

Margaret River, a three-hour drive south of Perth, is a great area to escape the crowds. Here you can swim or surf from deserted soft-sand shores, tour some of the country’s top wineries, and feast on its finest – and some of its more unusual – cuisine.

Food and Drink

I managed to drag myself away from those fabulous beaches and paddled off in a convoy of canoes along the tranquil, gently-meandering river to enjoy a waterside picnic with a difference.

Thankfully, bush tucker out here isn’t the revolting wriggling grubs and creepy-crawlies they usually dig up to frighten tourists.

Instead, we dragged our boats up the shore, sat in the shade of a paper bark tree and sampled delicious slices of kangaroo and emu with a side salad of the curious, wild-growing equivalent of celery, olives and tomatoes. There were peach-like quongdongs and, instead of apples, we crunched on lilly pilly berries.

We clambered high up a hill and emerged through the undergrowth to stand among sweet-smelling lilies, which cost a fortune at home but grow like weeds in these wilderness forests. As we surveyed the river snaking through the trees below, our guide explained that our lunch was the kind of food the region’s earliest settlers – a farming family from Gloucestershire – were introduced to by local aboriginal people when they arrived in 1829.

Margaret River remains a great farming region, but today’s top crop is grapes and a tour of the wineries is a must for tourists who enjoy a tipple.

Wine buffs reckon it produces some of Australia’s most delicious cabernet sauvignon, merlot, shiraz, chardonnay and a winning blend of semillon and sauvignon blanc. Such is the hospitality on winery tours, you could drink yourself senseless if you swallowed everything on offer. Instead, we paced ourselves.

At the Clairault winery in Wilyabrup, the affable Irish-born owner, Bill Martin, poured a selection of his finest to taste and then ushered us into the garden to serve a splendid lunch from his dégustation menu. We ate local scallops, grilled salmon, venison, cheese, and chocolate mousse with a different wine to accompany each course. Delicious.

There’s no better time to visit Margaret River than November, when the spring wine festival is in full swing. Sixty events from vineyard tours to art exhibitions and cooking classes are held each year.