Blogs from Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 4

As we travel around we are becoming more and more aware of how ignorant we really are about the variety of magnificent scenery Australia has to offer. This was certainly proved on our quick trip from the ferry wharf at Port Melbourne to Inverloch, a small town on the South Gippsland coast. At one point the road passes along a ridge, with fantastic views of the rolling hills from each side, country scenery as good as you would find anywhere. Not far north however, is the “Latrine” Valley, including a long section of condemned freeway caused by floods and mine subsidence. We were here for the Inverloch Jazz Festival, spending 4 days in a house with our friends Grant and Jeanette Clayton. The jazz was good, the weather (generally) good and the company good fun. Highlights ... read more

The Big Red Full Bodied Barossa Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin…….. Arriving at our caravan park in Nuriootpa on 23 December we set up camp and off we go to stock up for the long weekend and see what’s going down over the holidays..not much by all accounts! Anyway, undeterred we thought that 2 days before xmas would be a great time for some wine tastings so off we popped. Out first port of call was Chateau Tanunda, great place, great reds, unlike Saltrams, our second stop. Sorry for the short delay, we had to consult the diary to jog the memory for the rest of the week. Please do not judge us as it becomes a winery crawl. OK, Xmas Eve. Going to be a big evening (it’s our 10th Anniversary) so the ... read more

What a fantastic day (again!). Today we drove to Barossa Valley to check out some wineries. We had a newspaper section reviewing Australian wines but managed to leave it in our room. Probably worked out even better for us without it because we happened upon some amazing wineries and some great people we might not have otherwise encountered. We arrived in the town of Lyndoch with the hope of finding an area winery map. A beautiful little place with many restaurants and roses everywhere but no visitor center. So we went into the Post Office to ask where we could find information. The woman there sent us to the Kies Family Winery for a map. At the Kies winery we found a charming Cellar Door (tasting room) and a very friendly tasting hostess. Tastings are usually ... read more

Monday 17th May 2010 After leaving Mount Gambier we headed north for 50kms and came to the town of Penola. We drove into a near deserted town, most places being closed on Mondays. It became apparent that it was a very touristy town with many cafes, wine houses and B&Bs. Even so, we were disappointed not to see it at its best. Another 50kms up the road was Naracoorte, where some people we had met in Wangarratta lived. As we had their card we sent an sms, had no reply, knocked on their door, no reply, so guessed we wouldn't get our cup of tea! As this was to be the last bigger town we expected to go through for a few days we took the opportunity to restock at the local Woolies. Before shopping we ... read more

Well, we were a little groggy this morning to say the least - the steaming heat only dwindled about 4am, when it was beginning to feel slightly chilly - I draped a thin sheet over me while John hunkered down under the duvet. We feel we’ve been caught out yet again - in Western Australia we had to get used to driving for miles before coming across ‘a sight’ - whereas here there seems to be more to do in smaller areas (still big obviously) - so we’re having to replan our routes. So, today we’re ‘doing’ the Barossa Valley! Yesterday we drove past some of the big names in South Australian wine - including Wolfblass and Jacobs Creek - in fact, we even saw Jacobs Creek - the Creek that gave the wine the name! ... read more