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Published: October 5th 2012
It was a long weekend in Sydney, which for me means time to explore a new destination. So I spun the wheel.....and up popped Adelaide. It's somewhere that I've wanted to visit for some time, based on the rave reviews from friends and family who've visited there.
I also fired off an email to find some friends to join me, and so it was a real treat to be joined in Adelaide by Lucy, from Wellington, and Cam, Joey, Kate and Craig who all flew in from Melbourne. In a self-congratulatory pat on the back, I can say my choice of both destination and travel companions was excellent.
Adelaide itself is a very pretty city, with lovely parks and gardens, and gracious big wide avenues and it's very easy to find your way around. In fact I think from the airport to the city centre, an easy 15 minute drive or so, there was only one turn. It's a city of about the same size as Auckland although it didn’t have a big city vibe at all, and in fact had a very small town feel to it, which made a pleasant change from the hustle and bustle of
Sydney. A less pleasant change was the weather, as Sydney had been enjoying an early summer burst and when I left was 33 degrees, in Adelaide I landed right back in the depths of winter at a miserable 14 degrees. I won’t complain at all however because it was beautifully sunny weekend and the cool crisp weather made it perfect for exploring vineyards and sipping wine.
The six of us arrived in staggered stages, a la The Amazing Race, complete with matching hire cars (quite by coincidence I must hastily add). On Saturday morning the Melbournites arrived, so we all met for a coffee in Unley, a nice part of Adelaide recommended by a work colleague. Then we were off to the destination proper - the Barossa Valley, famous for its food and wine.
It’s an easy 90 minute drive, largely on a new expressway, so almost impossible to get lost. Unless of course you happen to be following your friend’s car, and they take an unexpected turn in a different direction to “the lady” (aka my best friend, the GPS). A few frantic texts ensued and then we were back on track - turns out their GPS
Coffee time, Unley
Starting with a robust coffee, we're just about to set off for the Barossa Valleyis a an older model without the expressway on it. As the driver of our car, I then decided to put our trust in “the lady” which turned out rather well when an hour later, while still travelling in convoy, we realised that the boys in the front car had missed the turn-off to our destination. I confess a large swell of satisfaction as we indicated to the left and took the exit to Nuriootpa, while noting the brake lights and flurry of text messages from the car ahead....Winner of the Amazing Race Barossa Valley - the girls' car!
We were very fortunate to have been invited to stay at the home Kate and Craig’s friend, Sarah, who lives in a gorgeous stone cottage near Nuriootpa and just out of Angaston. We had landed on our feet, as she has a beautiful home, in a very lovely setting, surrounded by vineyards.
Over the next couple of days we explored the countryside and the local villages, sampled lots of delicious wine, ate exceptional food, and admired the pretty stone houses and the picturesque valley. There was no shortage of wineries, and we visited Krondorf, Two Hands, Artisan to name
but a few. We also visited
Maggie Beer's Farm Kitchen, a Barossa institution. Set in the countryside overlooking a little lake and with some very show-offy pheasants, it was a real treat.
On Saturday evening we were lucky to have enjoyed a truly spectacular meal at
Hentley Farm. A four course meal, plus tasters and palate cleansers, all with matching wine, in a beautiful restaurant with great company. It was a memorable night. We went back the next day to buy some of their wine; it was one of my favourite spots.
On Monday it was just Kate, Craig and me, but still time for more explorations on our way back to the city. We popped into Yalumba, one of Australia’s most well known and largest wineries, before heading to Hahndorf for lunch. Hahndorf is a very quaint village settled by Germans in the early 1800s, and is Australia’s oldest surviving German settlement. The rest of Adelaide, also enjoying a long weekend, obviously agreed with us that it was a great place to visit, as the town was packed.
It was a mighty fine weekend. But all good things must come to an end, so all too soon we were back
at the airport, and the long weekend was over. It was back to Sydney for me, and time to start planning the next break.
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
Yummy adventure
How great that with your friends, you're having such yummy adventures around your new country! Looked like great fun--cheers!