Adelaide - wine, cricket, wine, wine and wine !

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Monday 29th November - We finally arrived in Adelaide after our road trip, tired and weary and soon settled into a chill out at Vicky's Auntie Susan and Uncle David's in Woodside in the Adelaide Hills.

Vicky had mentioned that David did some home made wine so John went straight out to the garden investigate and after two hours still hadn't returned ! Vicky went to find out what was going on and found David and John having obviously supped a few glasses waxing lyrical about David's tempranillo cabernet mix in amongst the bottles and barrels of David's Cellar Door ! This was a different level of home brew with somne 1,600 litres of red wine on tap and so began John's education on wines of the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, but more of that later....

Wednesday 1st December - we took at trip to Glenelg and chilled out on the beach, drove back through the McLaren Vale and back to Woodside for another night on the home brew !

Thursday 2nd December - David's birthday, we went to Handhorf - a German town in the Adelaide Hills.
Hahndorf's first settlement took place in 1839 when Prussian Lutheran families arrived. The name "Hahndorf" was derived from Captain Dirk Hahn of the ship named 'Zebra', which arrived in Adelaide in 1838 with a party of immigrants from the Eastern Provinces of Prussia. Captain Hahn stayed on to see the new arrivals were settled, after having survived a horrendous journey by sea. He eventually selected an area near Mt Barker which his passengers named after him in recognition of his efforts.

The German influence iIs still visible today in the architecture of the old buildings, many of which still stand as homes and shops.

We spent the evening at The Haus we had a lovely meal and sampled more local wine. John said he would order a ful bodied red to go with the cheese board for dessert but we ended up with a sparklink rose ! John still has a lot to learn.

Friday 3rd December - The Ashes ! Up bright and early to make sure we got there for the start ! We looked the part kitted out in our England shirts and caps, it was 30 degrees plus and we didn't have any shade though a few trips to the bar cooled us down ! Fantastic day, we were sitting near to the Barmy Army who entertained us with their singing ! England had a great day rolling the Aussie's overfor 240 putting us ina great position to win the test ! Back to Woodside for more red wine.....

Saturday 4th December - we arranged for a chauffeur to drive the four of us through the Barossa Valley for a treat for David and Susan's birthday. Equipped with David's vast knowledge of the local wineries and our knowledgeable and friendly driver we embarked on a great day out visiting various wineries including Jacob's Creek, Peter Lehmann's (where we had lunch), and other smaller family concerns/ The format is that you can try as many wines as you like from their tasting menu and they give you the background on the wine and the vine. David was sticking to the reds, Susan and Vicky liked the whites and John was drinking the lot ! By 4pm we had purchased various bottles of wine and were iniberated and our driver produced a birthday cake and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to David.
The Barossa Valley is a beautiful place with some fantastic old buildings with character and amazing landscape. It is the wine capital of Australia, and relaxed and friendly and we shared a drink (or two!) with the people who actually make the region's world class wines.

Sunday 5th December - Christmas shopping in Adelaide in the heat in our shorts ! (weird). BBQ at Susan and David's - more red wine !

Monday 6th December - We hit the beaches today - Southport and Brighton, home from home !

We fly to Melbourne tomorrow.

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