Feb 6, 2012 - Barrossa Valley

Saturday 4th to Sunday 5th February. Steve blogging today so excuse the spelling. - And the grammar. And the content. And any comments of an offensive or inappropriate nature. Well, we have been hearing all about your snow at home, so to cheer you all up I should tell you all how lovely it is here. But then I thought better of it as I don’t want to be strangled next time I see you. Actually it is chilly, windy and showery today so we feel right at home. Hahndorf was lovely and there was a real holiday atmosphere to the area so a bit sad to...

Sep 27, 2011 - Day Two - Portland Vic to Tanunda SA

Up at 6am to try and reorganise our packing to make more room......3 and half hours later we hit the road, to then realise Elissa had a blonde moment and forgot the breakfast items in the esky....which we had packed around. An egg and bacon mcmuffin and latte/hot chocolate and pancakes for Bridget was on the agenda as our replacement breaky! Crossing the border Ben (so cute) saw his first wild emu, which rather impressed him until Elissa told him of stories of how they can jump straight over the car when driving so he'd better be careful!...

Sep 22, 2011 - Aus - Day 141 - Jacob’s Creek Vineyard

Jacob's Creek Vineyard is the central focal point here in Tanunda. There is a large granite arch welcoming you into Tanunda that has Jacob's Creek written on it. Large vast fields of their vineyards line the streets as you go into Tanunda. Although Wolf Blass has more vineyards, you wouldn't know it by the size of Jacob's Creek visitor and winery center. Wow, this place is massive. On the grounds it has a large park for visitors to take in the beautiful sights of Tanunda while picnicking. Plus they have their own little zoo right on the...

Sep 21, 2011 - Aus - Day 140 - Wolf Blass Winery

Barossa Valley wine country has 76 local vineyards to choose from, this valley is known for their Shiraz wines as this is the main grape grown here. Streets are lined with vineyards, there are so many to choose from but today we decided to try out three; Wolf Blass, Richmond Grove Winery and Penfold’s Wines. Richmond Grove was the first, beautiful castle style building with a quaint cellar door tasting area. We had 5 different wine tastings here, the Cabernet Shiraz 2008 was the best one. We moved on to Penfold’s which is a more premium...

Jul 25, 2011 - Barossa Valley

Yes we went to Yalumba Winery but the children got bored pretty quickly. No surprises there. Might try again in Margaret River. Got some gorgeous cheese at a small factory, which the children appreciated more. The first rainy weather gave us a chance to have a rest day, just hanging around the c'van park eating cheese and playing games and writing journals. Upon leaving the Barossa we went to the Whispering Wall-Barossa Resevoir. In the photo Liam and Erin are at the far end of the reservoir wall. They could be heard whispering loud and...

Dec 11, 2009 - Day 141 -143 – The Barossa – Too much of a good thing?????

Before leaving ‘Excitement central’ this morning we had one last stop to make, yes a South Australian Bunnings. One of our outdoor chairs had broken the other night so it proved as good an excuse as any to add another Bunnings to the collection. I only need a Victorian one now and I have the (mainland) set The better news was that this particular Bunnings, Parafield if you are playing at home, served sausage sangas every day of the week, so that looked after morning tea for the boys and I. Evan ate the bread and Aaron ate the sausage, one...

Dec 1, 2009 - Cowell to Tanunda

Wednesday 25th November Gary: I was up with the birdsong once again and on the jetty as the sun rose behind the dark clouds, crab net in hand. Sadly by 9am I was heading back to camp both wet and disappointed by the lack of success, it was on return to the campground that I found out that crabs like a good tide and this morning’s neap tide was good reason for those that knew the area and tides to stay in bed. I did get one crab, who by good fortune of my bad fortune I released to fight another day; I wonder if the crab is having the same...

Jul 31, 2009 - Barossa Days 19-22

The "thoop"sound of a cork being pulled from a fine red, the crack of an overloaded water biscuit laden with vintage cheddar....ahhh it must be the Barossa Valley. Still raining, we arrived at Tununda (ta-nun-da) Caravan park to explore the Barossa region. Arguably the premier wine making region in Australia and home to Australia's best and even perhaps the world's best red wines, the Barossa had a lot to live up to. We had heard about flat bike trails that boast little cellars door stops such as Jacob's Creek, Cockatoo Ridge, Wolf Blass...

Feb 21, 2009 - Winos

Up early and we go for a run along the Turkey Flats Vineyard on Bethany Road, Tununda. Then off to the Barossa Valley Farmers Market. Then wine tasting.. We start at a little place called Chateau Dorrien and leave with 5 bottles of wine ... a good start so far. and there are a few more vineyards to go. We stop for lunch in a town called Angaston.. at Blond Store. Then more wine.. we head back to camp.... will have to stay another night as we are enjoying our wine and the town..

Feb 20, 2009 - More Fish

Today we headed Downtown to the Adelaide market.. had a little lunch and then a walk down Rundle Market.. then a drive to The Barossa Valley... We set up camp and went Downtown for dinner... a small platter of fish.. for 2... about 20 lbs of fish.. have to get ready for Wine tasting tomorrow.

Feb 10, 2009 - Tanunda - Borassa Valley touring vineyards

Tuesday February 10, 2009 We had a full breakfast cooked by our host Lee this morning and met two young women from Germany (Katherine and Sabine) who were also staying at the B&B and travelling in Australia for 4 weeks. After breakfast, we used the mountain bikes owned by the B&B and pedalled off on our own “tour de vines”. It was a difficult start as the bike pump did not work and we had to stop about a couple of kilometres up the road to pump up the tires (tyres for those in the UK). It was also our first really cool day in a while,...

Feb 9, 2009 - Tanunda, SA

Monday February 9, 2009 A warm, sunny and a very windy day that is still causing problems for controlling bush fires in Victoria. The death toll is now up to 131 and growing; the worst bush fires in Victoria’s history and very sad to see on the TV. We left Murray Bridge and drove towards the vineyards of the Barossa Valley. The farmland en route was more hilly and stony than yesterday but everywhere is just as parched; brown and yellow are the dominant colours in the landscape. We headed for Tanunda in the heart of the Barossa Valley. This...