June 30 - July 2: Barossa Valley Wineries

The Barossa Valley wine region is without a doubt the king of wine regions in Australia. We insisted on making the Barossa a prominent part of our two-week vacation. It is located less than two hours from Adelaide. Its close proximity makes it the perfect two-day destination. We booked the elegant Novotel Barossa and from there enjoyed scenery, wineries and wine par excellence. Our luxurious hotel was located up on a hillside, and from there we could see out over the valley onto a golf course and the Jacob Creek winery operation.

We started wine tastings the moment we checked in. Local wineries alternate tastings in the hotel lobby. For dinner that night we drove a few short miles to the neighbouring town of Tanunda. Most of the town was closed except for the local club. It was packed with local families enjoying a fine evening meal. Local colour? How about a trivia game complete with handouts and prizes? We didn't win, but the food was excellent. The next morning was July 1st, Canada Day, so we donned our Canada clothing and set forth for another great day in the Borassa Valley. We planned our attack and bright and early we headed to the town of Angaston, at the far end of the valley for breakfast and its cheese factory samplings. We then started working our way back to the Novotel. An Australian wine-distributor friend we had met in Winnipeg had kindly supplied us with his recommended wineries. We enjoyed them all and many more - 12 in total for the day. Vintners are friendly people who really enjoy their craft and meeting people. We soon found out that when bottles you purchase total 12, they'll ship them back to Melbourne for you. So we collected! We sampled small wineries, well-known large ones, old ones, modern ones...every one of them a treat to the eye and palate. Highlights included the large Wolf Blass estate

...Seppeltsfield with its gorgeous date palm tree-lined estate and mausoleum...

...Eden Valley samplings

...Penfolds and not well-known ones like The Willows, ... Whistler (named thus because the owners had friends in Whistler, Canada!) ...Rolf Binder's Veritas wines, ...Turkey Flat, Gibson and Yalumba. Each winery boasted something special, like giving tourists a chance to feed some pet kangaroos,

exhibiting beautiful artwork or bottling "green tea" wine in plastic bottles especially for export to Canada! We even had time to visit the famous Australian Cook's place..Maggie Beers Farm Shop... she's an icon in Australian cuisine. The Barossa is also well known for its scenery with verdant valleys and picturesque views. Mengler Hill Lookout and Sculpture Garden toward sunset was a nice change from the many wineries we saw.

The evening meal was a gourmet's delight at a restaurant called 1918 Bistro and Grill with perfectly matched wine and food. We slept well that night.

Next morning began with a stunning view of the mist covered valley.

We made six more winery stops at well-established wineries like Peter Lehmanns,

Chateau Tanunda,

Grant Burge,

the Burge Family and the famous Jacob's Creek winery.

We then made our way toward the town on Lyndoch and the barrel making factory. We had made a good attempt at seeing a wide cross section of wineries and ended our visit with a delicious lunch at the Kies Family Winery before wending our way back to Adelaide.

On our return trip to Adelaide we traversed the scenic Gorge area, with switch-back roads and steep cliffs alternating with meadows and heaps of kangaroos. The wildlife Gorge Sanctuary in the Adelaide Hills was a real treat. All the animals could be fed upon purchasing cookie treats! Dozens of varieties of kangaroos

...koalas

...birds including the Black Cocaktoo and others,

the Tasmanian devil and real dingoes. Karin's highlight? Cudddling a real live Koala! Rick thought it was pretty cool as well!

We returned the rental car in downtown Adelaide and our friendly hosts picked us up for the night. The next day it was up at 5:30 am to meet the tour bus going to the Red Centre!