| Frank & Lisa's Amazing Cross-Australia Adventures |
| The next morning we headed for McLaren Vale. This was our little splurge location on this trip, where we checked into an executive suite. Our first stop there ws Frank's pick (a place called Dennis of McLaren Vale) because they make mead. They also export heavily to Canada and have tailored their wines to the tastes of that market. |
| South Australia - McLaren Vale |
| on to the Great Ocean Road ...or |
| South Australia - Mount Gambier |
| On our way to Portland, we had time to stop at a place that had been recommended by several people as being worth a visit. Mt Gambier is best known for its Blue Lake. The lake sits in the mouth of an old volcano (a layer of silt blocks the cone and collects groundwater) and mysteriously turns a striking shade of cobalt blue during the summer months (pic right). |
| The region, along with its series of volcanoes, also has caves and sinkholes where the ground has sunk into old cave systems. The Umperton Sinkhole has been turned into a lovely Victorian-style garden. It is tiered and alive with insects, possums, and flowers. Even in the drought it was pretty, if less colourful than it would normally be! (pics below) |
| We then spent the day hopping around places like Wirra Wirra, Chapel Hill, Ingoldby (they also make Andrew Garrett) and D'Arenberg. It is not quite as pretty as the Barossa, but the wines, food & service were all just as good. Some joke that the only reason McLaren Vale wi'll never beat the Barossa because they are missing an "l-y". We didn't take many photos, but here is one that's indicitive of the views (pic right). |
 |
| South Australia - Coonawarra |
| That night we had a meal at a place called Cobb & Co. While the dinners were pretty ordinary, the desserts were to die for! Homemade almond and Bailey's ice creams, fresh thick creme anglaise, and real melted chocolate sauce! Yum! The next day we visited Katnook Estates and had some beautiful wines! They produce the Riddoch line of red wines that I like. Today I was looking forward to trying a couple of their whites as well. We got to try the only semillon they ever produced (a 1998) which was very good. The cool part of the visit is that I didn't know that Riddoch is actually their commercial, lower quality range of wines! The ones they make under the Katnook label are incredible! Give one a try if you can find it and afford it! We also stopped at Hollick's on the way out of town. By then Frank & I agreed that we were pretty much wine tasted out and that there was no need to be visiting any of the Victorian wineries outside of Melbourne when we got there! And with that, we headed towards Portland to begin our adventure down the Great Ocean Road! |
| From McLaren Vale we had our longest drive of this trip to get to the last wine desitnation of our Australian jouneys. As we approached Coonawarra the land flattened out and the soil developed a distinctly red tinge. Connawarra's world class Cabernet Sauvignons are attributed to this "terra rossa". The afternoon we arrived we visited their best known vineyard, Wynn's (pic below left). It boasts some of the oldest vines in the area planted by John Riddoch, founding father of Coonawarra wines, himself! If you get a chance sometime, compare this picture of the cellar door to their labels. Knock down a tree and you'll have their brand mark! They had just released their latest museum wine for cellaring and were offereing tastings of their 1993 Michael Shiraz as well. I had bought a bottle of this one previously for Frank's parents, but it didn't stop us from trying it again! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| As I hinted at earlier, our trip to Adelaide was actually pretty uneventful and not a photo was taken. Frank shopped and relaxed while I schmoozed and gave my presentation. On our last evening we met up with my PhD supervisor, Mark Spence, and his family along with a couple of former Bond colleagues (including my friend Rajeev) for dinner. |
| South Australia - Adelaide |
| Northern Territory: Red Centre , 2 / Top End , 2 NSW & ACT: Hunter Valley / Sydney / Canberra , 2 Queensland Coast: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 South Australia: Barossa Valley / Kangaroo Island / McLaren Vale & Coonawarra Victoria: Great Ocean Road , 2 , 3 / Melbourne New Zealand (North Island): Aukland / Rotorua / Tongariro / Wellington (South Island): Nelson / Westland / Queenstown / Milford / Dunedin / Mt Cook / Christchurch |