Blogs from Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia, Oceania

Its the weekend, but not for Colin and I, as today our workweek starts at Heritage Winery. Woke up disgustingly early, as we had to ride 8 ks to get to the winery, to start our first paid grape picking, as opposed to the five finger discount picking, we have done along the way. Its the 21st of march, Autumnal equinox, the days are a little shorter, nights are a little longer. mornings are getting a little more brass monkey, especially on a brisk early morning's ride to work. Yes that four letter word is one I am not used to, pen pushing hands are about to get a workout in the vineyard. The work is hard, but the pay is good, ( I think I borrowed that line from a song in a distant memory.) ... read more

After a good days rest, well laced with good food, wine and excellent company, it was time to pack our bikes and hit the road once more. Colin thought the manager of the hostel seemed very pleased to see the back of these feral bikers. Apparently we sort of didn't have the look of his usual "up market" clientele. We smiled and gave him a big cheerio as we rode off into the morning mists of the Adelaide hills. We picked up a few travelling supplies from the old fashioned general store, and headed for Williamtown. Further on up the road we hit some more wineries in the Lower Barossa at Rowland Flat. we sampled some local wines and as I went to make a purchase of a red traveller, NO Wallet, Oh Shit, this is ... read more

Well what a lovely cruisey day! A sleep in to begin with! No need to be at the bus station till 8.45! What luxury!! We had a lovely little group with a mixture of international tourists and even locals. A Scottish official in South Australia was told to gather more settlers for the state, when he heard of a group of Germans who were being persecuted for their religious beliefs in their own country. Being a Scotsman, who had his kinfolk persecuted for their Catholicism, he could sympathise. The German settlers were invited over. They brought some vines with them, and picked up more at South Africa along the way. Following a very informative and picturesque drive we arrived at a little winery called TeAro Estate, set up four generations ago by a couple of German ... read more

God Made the Wine to Gladden the Heart of Man” – psalm 104:15. I don’t know which psalmist penned that one but it gets my vote for psalm of the double millennium. Actually it doesn’t have much competition – I can’t rattle off another single psalm from The Good Book. I just zeroed in on a particular one that reflected my alcohol consuming tendencies. Regardless who was responsible, he would surely enjoy a reincarnation down Adelaide way circa 2016. His heart would be overflowing with warmth given the barrels of wine flowing out from the surrounds. Follow the Yellow Brick Road in any direction from the South Oz capital and you will stumble onto some of our most celebrated grapes being plucked from the rolling vines of Barossa, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills and Clare Valley. What ... read more

Exactly when do we consider ourselves home? Home Number 1 is when the caravan is home; safely through the gate at Kaloola. This is always a little daunting as the safest way to enter the property is from the south, but this means turning right into the driveway just over the crest of a hill which is on a significant freight route. Timing is everything. Last thing we need is a semi bearing down on us as we turn. It is not ideal but so far we are managing OK. After a cuppa with Gwen we set about unpacking. With the inside clean and polished Greg did the same on the outside. The van packed away in the shed we are ready to head for Home Number 2. Back in Adelaide, we are delighted to see ... read more