Welcome to WA, 'the best place in Australia to find real men'

SURFING, fresh food and yoga create colourful characters who stand out from other Aussie men.

Samudra, the home of raw food and yoga. Picture: Supplied

BLOKES in the west, Neil assures me as he takes a sip of his cappuccino, are real men.

Fix-your-broken-axle-in-the-middle-of-the-Nullarbor kind of fellas, who bravely surf the wild reef breaks the Indian Ocean hurls at them.

Curiosity piqued, I ask Neil how long it will take me to find one of these blokey blokes if I go down to Bunker Bay beach, close to where this conversation is taking place. "About five seconds," he says, before he bids me good day, not even pausing to wipe the chocolate sprinkle from his stubble. Now, that's hardcore.

I'm in Western Australia's Margaret River region but this is not a story about wine. Ever seen that book about Wine Dogs of Australia? The one that features those cute canine creatures you'll find in and around the wineries? Well, this is a tale about the Wine Dudes of Western Australia. Those colourful characters that only a remote corner such as Margaret River can deliver.

Neil Annison. Picture: Supplied

And at the Pullman Resort Bunker Bay, I bump into Neil Annison, whose job it is to tend the 15ha largely native gardens around the property.

"I think we are definitely different over here. It is the sparseness of the country, it definitely makes you more self-reliant. You can find a real bloke out here. The men over here are more manly," Neil says.

"Around here it is a really healthy surfing culture, which is popular with the girls as well. The guys are all pretty fit and pretty rugged as they surf the reef breaks.

"Everyone calls WA 'wait a while' because it is a long way behind the times but you can go to a surf beach and be the only person on it. I think people are a lot more friendly over here. If you are a wanker, people find out pretty quick."

Over at nearby Samudra - the home of raw food and yoga in WA - yoga instructor Mike suggests we stretch out our right arms, place our nose in our armpits, and "smell the wonders of the day".

Unfortunately, all I can detect is last night's cheeky cab sav, a hint of stubborn stubble and the stark realisation my cheap deodorant isn't working.

Director Sheridan Hammond started the Samudra concept with his business partner Laura Learer seven years ago, after he discovered a link between his love of the ocean, surfing and yoga. Samudra is named after the Indian Sanskrit word for "ocean". The couple offer yoga retreats and classes, sell eco-friendly clothes and products made from natural resources such as bamboo, and operate a cafe-cum-restaurant based on raw and plant-based food and cooking.

Their Bio-Live food line is sold in about 200 stores Australia wide.

"I started surfing a hell of a lot and needed to find a practice to slow me down and make me free of pain,'' Sheridan says.

"I was looking at how to incorporate healthy choices and to inspire and create positive change.

"You can slow down, love yourselves and find the goddess within. It is hard work to do things right and it takes a lot more effort but it is worth it.

"It's about eating 'intelligent foods' which go into your system where herbs identify and work with what your body needs. The challenge is most people's tongues have been defabricated. The more raw food you can introduce into your system, the simpler your system gets."

It's in Yallingup that I find cave man Tod Kearns, a guide at the Ngilgi Cave which is part of a Dreamtime story named after the "good spirit of the ocean" just nearby. In the early 1900s, honeymooners in the region started coming into the cave, climbing in corsets and taking some 10 hours to penetrate the mysterious depths. Remnants of their love poems to each other remain on the cave walls and there's even a Cupid's Corner where the amorous adventurers congregated.

These days, tourists can take some 700 steps to go 35m underground to see the real stars of this show, the millions of stalactites that hang from the ceiling. Tod reminds me the way to remember the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite is "if you're lucky, the tights come down".

He then instructs me to lie on the floor while he turns off the lights. When the lights come back up, neither of us "gets lucky" in the traditional sense which drew honeymooners to the cave. But I do take time to pause and wonder at the real earthiness of Mother Nature, the wild west of Australia, and the blokes who personify the Margaret River region.

And the fact there's not a wanker for miles.

The writer was a guest of Accor hotels and Australia's South West Tourism.

GO2 - WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Getting there

Virgin Australia flies to Perth three times daily from Brisbane and four times from Sydney.

Staying there

Pullman Resort Bunker Bay. Ph [phone].

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