Blogs from South Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 278

Adelaide to Darwin over 2 weeks... read more

I spent one day on another of those mini-bus based back-packer tours, this time round one of South Australia's wine growing regions, the Barossa Valley. This region was originally settled by Germans and the German influences are still very strong (the buses run on time, everyone is well organised and efficient etc. etc.). As well as seeing the area, visiting vine yards, seeing how wine is made etc., there was also the chance for some wine tasting. Oh, and some brandy tasting, and some port tasting, and some sherry tasting, and some champagne tasting. The Australians obviously didn't care that the Spanish and French tend to get a bit stroppy about those names being used elsewhere. Afterwards we also visited a Whispering Wall (although I assume that it's not the one in the bible) which will ... read more

There was a great crowd on the bus south, except for the fact that the Japanese guy beside me had a bit of a personal hygiene problem. Luckily, he got off the bus at 2.00am literally in the middle of nowhere, which had the added bonus that I had two seats and was able to lie down to sleep. After a while travelling on the buses, you learn that they tend to fill the bus from the front, so if you ask for a seat at the back, there is a good chance that you will get two seats and hence a more comfortable night's sleep. No matter how comfortable it may be, getting a good night's sleep on a single seat is not easy. Once the bus starts moving, people from the front will check ... read more