FROM rolling down hills to birdwatching, these are the 50 activities every child should do before they turn 11 3/4. How many did you grow up doing?

More than four in five adults say their children spend less time playing outside than they did at their age, according to research by the UK’s National Trust.

So, in an effort to entice youngsters away from their TV screens, the charity asked children to name their favourite outdoor activities. As a result, 15 fresh ideas – including running barefoot in the grass, star-gazing and exploring a cave – have been added to last year’s list of ‘50 things to do before you’re 11 3/4‘.

The initiative followed a study that found if children do not form a connection with the great outdoors before they are 12, they are far less likely to later in life.

Here’s the link to print the list - 50 things to do before you turn 12

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/national-trust-releases-50-activities-every-child-must-experience/story-fnet08ui-1226633819528#ixzz2SBbkh73G

50 things to do before you turn 12

Below is a suggested itinerary to help you get the most out of your Margaret River holiday.

The Margaret River Discovery Tour and Margaret River Best of the Best Wine Tour usually sell out a few weeks in advance so I recommend booking sooner rather than later.

Feel free to download and print.

Click on the image to see at full size

Out in the vineyard and tasting fruit with the viticulturists, winemakers and owners is where I love to be. With Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz reaching optimum maturity we all have bright red smiles from over consumption of samples of red grapes and chewing skins and seeds. This is my favorite time of year in the vineyard and the best time to visit the Margaret River Wine Region… the surf and beaches are first-rate and the locals and visitors are jostling for waves within the pristine Margaret River setting. In the winery we can already savour the sweet taste of success and promise of great wines from the 2013 vintage and the cellars are requesting samples to expedite bottling of the new wine!

With the arrival of autumn weather brings sunshine, mild daytime temperatures and cool nights and our Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz vines are just loving the final stages of ripening berries. The extended period of Marri flowering (our native “red-gum” tree) has provided an alternative food supply for the marauding Silver-eyes that find the ripening fruit attractive when there is little else for them to eat. These tiny olive colored birds with silver marking around the eyes look like bandits and behave accordingly, seeking out the ripest grapes and pecking away to satisfy their appetite for liquid sugar. Want to know where the ripest grapes are in the vineyard….then listen out for the Silver-eye calling to its mates. The best way of keeping the birds from damaging fruit is to net rows of vines to protect the fruit. Some vineyards regularly get besieged and you can see the nets in place as you drive around the Margaret River wine region.

Out in the vineyard this week we are perfectly in the middle of Cabernet and Shiraz harvest. Nets are being removed from vines, hand clean up to remove any damaged bunches will further improve quality, and harvesting and transport of grapes to the winery completes the operation. Some of our smaller vineyards are harvesting by hand and everyone is watching the weather to see if there will be rain. The days are getting shorter and the time is right for harvest!

The teams out in the vineyards are all looking forward to a well earned break before pruning commences in June. The hand harvesting crews in the vineyard are mixing work and pleasure, with international visitors making the most of the best seasonal surf the region has on offer; a relief to the hours spent hand harvesting.  We can even see the grapevines responding favourably to the end of vintage with autumn colours observed,  indicating a job well done and the signal of the start of dormancy throughout winter.

For me, I enjoy a change of scenery and it’s the start of the sampling rounds that take place in the winery after vintage. Within our winemaking we have many small parcels of fruit, picked at optimal ripeness and fermented into wine. These hand-made wines are kept separate in barrels for blending into finished wines (the wine that is bottled and consumed).  Tasting our way through these samples and knowing where the fruit for these parcels has come allows us great opportunity to work within the vineyards to further enhance quality. Changing inputs such as vine nutrition, pruning, canopy management and harvesting timing can all be used to further improve the finished wines in future years. It really is a cycle of constant improvement and a great opportunity for viticulturists and winemakers to work together and share ideas.

The planning for vintage 2014 is underway and the excitement of knowing that Margaret River’s wine future is amazing and in good hands drives us forward with confidence!

Contributed by Bruce Pearse, Viticulturist

Following on from the highly successful inaugural year in 2012, the Margaret River Gourmet Escape has announced that this year’s dates will be Friday 22 November to Sunday 24 November 2013.

Once again the ultimate of culinary adventures will deliver a program showcasing the best of Margaret River and Western Australia through a lauded line up of wine and food personalities and unique festival highlights.

The 2013 list of celebrities and events is currently being finalised and we will provide you with the all the details once they are announced.

Last year all the seats on the Margaret River Discovery Tour and Margaret River Best of the Best Wine Tour sold out quickly on all the dates during and around the festival so we recommend booking early to avoid disappointment.

Harvesting of fruit is determined on the analysis results for Baume (sugar), acidity/pH relationship and most importantly; the flavour and balance of the juice. Plenty of grapes tasted in the vineyard and juice sampling at the winery determines the winemaker’s decision to harvest and then the resulting style of wine produced. I once worked out that the sugar content of grapes and juice sampled in a day by a viticulturist in a medium sized Margaret River winery could be the equivalent of 2 glasses of neat cordial, such is the dedication that we provide to ensure wine quality (I have yet to work out how to sample and spit grape juice…. It’s almost that it needs to be swallowed to be savored).

The 2013 vintage is a little different in that there is more acidity and lower pH in the fruit being harvested than what could be normally expected and we are much more aware of the need to make sure that the balance of sugar, fruit flavours and acidity is maintained. The reason that we are having this positive acid attribute is a result of variation in flowering timing on bunches resulting in some smaller berries being present in our samples. These smaller berries are less developed and contribute to higher acidity levels.

Having higher acids is beneficial from the viewpoint that additional acid does not need to be added to the wine…. It’s just natural, and how we like it in MargaretRiver!

Interesting to note also is that Margaret River has had the renowned warm days (sometimes up to maximum 38 Celsius) and then quite cool nights (down to 12 degrees) and this has helped with preserving acidity, while still increasing sugars and fruit flavour attributes. This difference in diurnal temperatures is very special and typically results in wines full of flavour and retaining natural balance.

The cool night time temperatures reduce evapotranspiration losses. Evapotranspiration is the function the plant does to move sap and water through the vine to help maintain leaf health and coolness and this loss through stems and leaves requires an energy source. Of course during the daylight hours, photosynthesis produces the energy to maintain the vascular flow in the plant….but at night time the plant uses up reserves, of which malic acid is a major contributor, and the result is generally a reduction in natural berry acidity.

*Hot nights result in lower berry acidity, thank goodness for cool nights in Margaret River.

The cool nights we have been experiencing recently are also beneficial for our night time harvesting operations and a relief for winemaking teams. Out in the vineyard at 3am harvesting Chardonnay and the chill has set in and the need for a jumper increases as the machine harvesting operation continues through to early morning. The fruit is delivered to the winery at 7am and at a temperature of around 15 degrees Celsius. The coolness of the fruit reduces the potential for oxidization of the juice as it is crushed and pressed, retaining the delicate aroma and flavour compounds through fermentation and into the bottle.

The delivery of cool white grapes to the winery results in happy winemakers, accountants and owners, as not only is the quality of wine enhanced but also the energy required in cooling juices to allow cold settling prior to fermentation is curtailed and the cost saving for electricity consumption is achieved. Of course, the whole planet benefits from this reduction in energy consumption and it’s another great reason to be growing grapes in our fantastic Margaret River wine region.

Contributed by Bruce Pearse, Viticulturist

There are proper camping facilities located in town but many will opt for swim and sunset before retiring for the evening in the comfort of a car overflowing with human bodies.