The Ultimate Autumn Giveaway With Walk Talk Taste

As a long-time television reporter and producer, former ABC journalist Kellie Tannock was always in love with the human angles behind the big stories.

“When I was younger I told everyone I wanted to be a political reporter,” Kellie smiles over a late afternoon cuppa. “But what I really loved was the long form stories. I loved the colour – the stories that affected your heart in some way.”

For Kellie, moving to raise her three children in Margaret River seven years ago was a dream realised. The region itself has worked its way into her heart. The launch of her Walk Talk Taste Brunch Tour this year is Kellie’s way of sharing that love in the only way she knows how – through diligent research, intimate connection and a genuine passion for the human story that occurs within the everyday.

“I didn’t realise this until I was six months into the research and creation of the tour, but while I’ve had no experience in hospitality and no experience in food tourism, not even any experience in business, all of this tour still felt to me like the most natural thing in the world,” Kellie marvels, “and I realised I was approaching it like any other long form feature story. I was researching. I was building relationships. I was satisfying my own curiosity about certain things, creating visuals and then sharing that vision with others.”

The tour kicks off with a coffee at The Hairy Marron followed by a walk alongside the Margaret River. Kellie’s aim is to help her groups see the extraordinary in the ordinary. The archaeological story of the Wadandi is first port of call, the longevity of their presence explained alongside the Margaret River; evidence of their occupation in this area dates back over 50,000 years.

On a morning experience of the Old Settlement, tastes of Margaret River Venison Farm Coat of Arms chorizo (made from emu and kangaroo) opens a dialogue around how early Europeans developed the region we now comfortably call home.

“We now have this lovely contemporary experience of food and wine in the region, but there is a whole backstory about how this happened. It wasn’t always an idyllic place for European settlers,” Kellie says, noting many settlers had to walk off their farms, the few that made it being the exception rather than the rule. “The ones that stayed developed the farms we now benefit from. Knowing this enables locals to see their town in a new light, and for visitors it develops a further understanding.”

Often the education is edible, like the wine and cheese pairing at innovative communal artisan and coffee space, Margaret River Collaborative, where Amato Vino wine is paired with Yallingup Cheese Co. cheeses. Or at Settlers Tavern, where local marron is served paired with some of the 600 wines owners Rob and Karen have stored in their two cellars – spaces Rob is only too happy to let Kellie show off to her guests.

“This is my tour,” says an earnest Kellie. “This is the stuff I love. It is about what resonates with me and what says, ‘you’re in Margaret River’.”

Discovering an individual connection to the places, the people and the cultural aspects of the Margaret River Region is key to finding your best experience. With these giveaways, we aim to point you in the right direction.