The last week of October for us was not exactly laborious. Having driven so far from Port Lincoln in one go we decided we deserved a good relaxing break. True to our natures however, our version of 'relaxing' invariably ends up being a little more strenuous than we set out to enjoy...
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| Glenelg Harbour |
I had a nice run on Monday morning along Henley beach followed by a longish (10km each way) long board into Glenelg with Luke. We had lunch out (what a treat!) and ice-cream and a good mooch around the surf shops - something we have been good at avoiding until now... Luke is a bad influence on me (tongue in cheek)... We made our return journey and camped up for the night in our same old spot. We were starting to feel like we were on borrowed time a little with our parking spot on the beach front, in front of all the modern sea-front mansions, but we decided to push our luck a little further!
On Tuesday we finally got around to getting our Medicare sorted. So easy to get stuff done over here. None of that British bureaucracy over here, just simple sign a form with a lady to help you, then - done. Easy. We chilled on the beach with some beers and took a nice romantic stroll down the pier in the moonlight, aggghh.
Wednesday 31st we had a bit of a shopping spree and went back for some boardies and bikinis we'd seen in Glenelg (whoops!). Later that eve we were asked to move on from our nice spot in Henley (always move on when you get the 'borrowed time' feeling), so we found a backstreet a little further along the way.
Thursday we set off for Barossa - our main reason for returning to Adelaide a second time - on our way through to Canberra. We figured that it would be a shame to have educated our palettes so well in McLaren Vale to not then put them to use in the most famous wine valleys of Australia. It would have been extremely narrow-minded of us indeed! So... with that dutiful mindset, we set off to find somewhere to camp a little nearer by.
Barossa Day 1
We arrived at a campsite in the heart of Barossa at about 10am. Luke drove us the first day and we visited a few recommended Cellar Doors: McGuigan, Ross Estate, Jacob's Creek and Langmeil. We discovered that Jacob's Creek produce fantastic wines and I never did get an answer as to why we see so much of the lower end of their produce...
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| McGuigan international winemakers |
We had stumbled upon a well kept secret at Langmeil: Barossa produces some of the finest Shiraz in Australia and indeed, worldwide but their finest produce definitely lies in their fortified wines (the real stuff!). We were speaking to a local priest who was telling us, among other things, that the larger and older wineries in Barossa had bottled their finest wines in the slower economic periods as seeing them put to waste was more than they could bare. The result is that their fortified wines are just fantastic, and rather strong - AKA: Fantastic! We did buy a bottle of 20 year old Tawny (Port) from Langmeil which we shall be enjoying on New Years with some friends of ours - lucky buggers!
Barossa Day 2
Saturday I awoke with an unlikely hangover... but after a good sunbathe and eat-up, felt well enough to soldier on with our second day of wine-tasting.
We drove to the local Farmers Market and treid all kinds of breads and home-made chocolates and olive oil blends then returned to the campsite for lunch. From there we walked to Penfolds to try some of the most lucrative wines from Australia - there you can buy bottles of wine for more than your average second-hand car! We returned to the campsite via Kaesler Wines.
Barossa Day 3
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| Petting the roos at Whistler |
We checked out of the campsite in the morning and headed straight to Whistler where we not only sampled wines but petted their hand-reared kangaroos! They are so sweet and I have decided I want one. I have promised mum I will walk it regularly and feed it (and pick up it's poo).
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| Two Hands Wines |
After Whistler we went to two-hands which had been recommended to us by a local girl at Ross Estate. We each paid $5 to sit and have our wines bought to us, a little out of the ordinary as you don't usually have to pay to test at Cellar Doors. We sat outside on the terrace and tried wine after wine, quite content with our little lot.
From Two Hands Wines we went to Seppeltsfield Wines where we were further educated on Fortified Wines. We tried all kinds of
Sherries and Ports and were introduced to some of the bottles that
aren't even available for tasting not to mention, way outside of our budget!
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| Luke with a peacock at Maggie's Farm Shop |
We finished the morning with a trip to Maggie Beer's Farm Shop (the Australian celebrity chef) for lunch. There were loads of pate and pickle samples and we each got a basket of salad and pate for lunch. Maggie's main principles are cooking with fresh produce that is in season and keeping it simple. I am very sure that most people would agree with her after sampling her yummy food!
We left Barossa with full bellies and further educated palettes and set off in the direction of Canberra.
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