FIVE years ago, if the right breeze was blowing in Margaret River you couldn't get a tradesman to save yourself. You might even struggle to get a dental appointment. All kinds of services were thrown out of whack. When the surf was up, say locals, nothing else mattered. Busy building sites fell eerily silent within five minutes of a fresh offshore breeze.
Telephones rang out.
Scheduled appointments were blown off. The building industry was the worst. Subcontractors were always surfers first, brickies, plasterers and painters second. They would shamelessly desert in the middle of the job, or simply not show up before 11am. As more outsiders have twigged to the virtues of the region with the burgeoning wine industry and the picturesque coastline, competition has stepped up.