6 Wine Tour Day! Woo Hoo! Darn, they only open at 10:00 am, what will we do with ourselves until then? This is actually a really great way to see the country side. We set off with map in hand and a handheld GPS unit to back it up to find our first Cellar Door, Bird in Hand. We are pretty anxious to see this place as we have experienced some pretty good Cab Sav's by them in Canada. Sadly, we are a bit disappointed, but buy one of their tasting selections anyway maybe it will taste better when we drink it by ourselves. Our day is spent criss crossing around the area seeing the sites and tasting the wines. This part of Australia was settled by Germans and it is reflected in the style of the buildings. Petaluma Cellar Door, a beautifully refurbished, original mill building, located in a wonderous garden setting, is our choice for a delectable lunch with a pre-requisite wine tasting. After a day of 5 Cellars doors though, Bird in Hand, Nepenthe, Petaluma, The Lane and Shaw and Smith, we are wined out and even though it is early in the afternoon, we head back to the camp ground via the grocery store, to just hang out. As I have mentioned time and time again, Aussie Land has a huge variety of weird and wonderful birds so bird watching is always on our list, our new bird it the Galah. According to the Aussie couple who provided us with it's name, it is a very stupid bird and will fly right into your car - hmmmm? Anyway, it is very pretty with it's grey/green top feathers, rose colored breast and white head crest.
Because we have had such a hectic day (whew, wine testing is tough!) we support the local economy and eat out at BBQ Hill Chinese, no wine with dinner tonight, Thank you.
7 Sunday morning has us walking off to church, it is much easier to find churches here than in New Zealand, as there really is a church at the address that we find by google-ing. This community (church community anyway) is all elderly people, the Priest greeted us directly in his opening, as we really stood out in the crowd.
We're moving on to Tanunda today, but first we stop in the small town of Hahndorf. Hahndorf was settled by German immigrants in the 1850's and is very quaint and touristy with lots of old buildings still in use. We walk up and down the main street checking out all of the shops. Remember, we are still in wine country and at the end of our walking, there is a cellar door for Somerled wines. Somerled, was the name of the owner's, Grandfather's horse, who won the local steeple chase in 1908. I love horses! We had a great chat with the owner Rob, while he showcased his wines and we came away with a new favorite - Sparkling Pinot Noir - very refreshing (it is 35 degrees out today) and light, lovely clear color and great taste. We ordered some to be shipped to the boat.
It is still early afternoon when we arrive in Tanunda. This is the heart of the Barossa Valley wine making region. Hey, somebody has to do this job! On entering our camp site, Glen nearly jumps out of his seat… there are still some collector cars and rods (and their owners) hanging about the grounds. Our camp set up is swift, park, plug the unit in, roll out the awning, flip out the chairs and walk over to admire the cars. Car guys are car guys no matter what part of the world you are in. We spent the rest of the evening swapping car tales and travel stories with our 7 new friends.
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