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McLaren Vale & Victor Harbour

Woke up in the early morning and it was pouring down with rain. I wasn’t surprise as that was the forecast anyway. I did try to drive around the vineyards but it was just too wet. I made a decision to go elsewhere after an hour waiting around for the weather to clear up a little. So I went to Victor Harbour for a visit.

It was a pretty big town and there was this horse drawn tram that take you to Granite Island. The island is home to thousands of little penguins. Unfortunately they only come back to shore at dusk so I didn’t get to see them. I wandered around town for a while then came lunch time.

I drove back to McLaren Vale to try the restaurant that was recommended to me, d’Arry’s Verandah Restaurant. Boy…. was I glad I went back…. it was excellent. I had a lobster bisque for entrée, baked snapper for main and a glass of vintage red. I took a picture of the bisque but before the main was gone before I remember that I forgot to take a shot….

After lunch, just walked around the vineyard a bit then my McLaren Vale trip was over.

John @ Tintinara, S.A.

Images: 1. Beltunga; 2. Ferris Wheel at Victor Harbour; 3. Horse Drawn Tram at Victor Harbour; 4. d’Arenberg; 5. My EntrÃ©e at d’Arry’s; 6. d’Arenberg vinyard

12 years ago / Tagged: Australia, McLaren Vale, South Australia, Travel, Victor Harbour 0 1

Little Taste of Murray

I have not been to many places today so I am going to keep this post short. I wanted to see a little lit of the Murray River region today but wasn’t going to spend too much time there. A day trip kind of thing….

First I went to Murray Bridge for a coffee then moved on to Mannum. There were houseboat rentals all along the riverside and not one but 2 ferries crossing the river. This town must get busy during summer. I can see it would be a great fishing spot. There were also a couple of river cruises parked along the river. The more impressive one was the Murray Princess.

After Mannum, another thing I wanted to see was the river locks along the river. So I picked the closest one to me, Blanchetown Lock & Weir 1, and it happened to be the oldest one.

That was my little taste of Murray River. Next destination was another wine region in SA, McLaren Vale. It took me through the part of Adelaide Hills that I didn’t get to see yesterday plus Mount Pleasant, Torrens Valley.

I am going to just drive along the twenty something km winery drive here in McLaren Vale to see what’s interesting. It will probably just another day trip here. I’ll see…

John @ McLaren Vale, S.A.

PS Gregory, hope you feel better soon xox

Images: 1. Mannum Ferry; 2. Murray Princess at Mannum; 3. Murray River Lock & Weir 1 at Blanchetown

12 years ago / Tagged: Australia, Murray River, South Australia, Travel 0 0

Adelaide Hills

I slept in this morning a little bit and got up about 8:30. Hung around in the room for a bit, spoke to Greg on the phone and had my shower. Plan today was Adelaide Hills region. It was quite close to where I stay.

I drove through Mt Osmond, Stirling, Algate and then on to Hahndorf. It was as picturesque as it could be. The area has so much charm and history. In Hahndorf, I went to visit The Cedars, home to the late artist, Hans Heysen. His studio is now used to showcase some of his original works and equipments that he actually used. It sent me back into another era. There were many sculptures around the property by different artists. Not sure how long they will stay though. The walking track was great too. I found myself taking hundreds of photos of just about anything as you can see from the images today. this is the most images I have posted since I started and probably the last time as well…. it is too time consuming to get the images ready for the blog.

I stayed at the Cedars over 2 hours and was feeling hungry. I went into the Hahndorf township and got a steak and mushroom pie from a bakery there. It was so yummy. The main street has many shops and cafes. One thing you might now know about me is that I love candles and I found a candle shop in Hahndorf that I bought ‘many’ candles. Walked up and down the street…. snapped photos again at anything.

It was getting close to 5pm so I went back to the car and headed over to Mt Lofty Summit. It was only 10-15 minutes away. I wanted to see if I could get a shot of the city from up high as friend, Michelle, recommended. It was cool at first but turned freezing after the sun was set. I was happy that I got the shot that I wanted so made the freezing cold worthwhile at the end.

It’s been a long day and I better get to bed now as I will need to move on with my journey early tomorrow.

John @ Adelaide, S.A.

Images: 1-2. Algate; 3-22. The Cedars; 23-31. Hahndorf; 32-33. Mt Lofty Summit; 34. Adelaide City Skyline

12 years ago / Tagged: Adelaide, Australia, South Australia, Travel 0 0

Barossa to Adelaide

Some of you might already knew that I woke up at 3am this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. So instead of rolling and turning, I got myself up and planned for the day for a change. First I checked the locations of all 4 vineyards that I want to visit so I can map out the route. Henschke and Saltram are 2 of my favourite Barossa cellars. I just love their Reds though they are very pricey so not a regular affair. The other 2 vineyards, Chateau Tanunda and Yalumba, I picked them more because of the estates. They were the 2 most impressive I think in Barossa. After the route was set I then went online and booked myself a motel room in Adelaide also looked at things to see and do.

It was still pretty early when I was done with the planning. I wanted a coffee and was hoping the McDonald in Gawler would be 24-hour operated. So drove to Gawler from Angaston and only found that it wasn’t open yet. Bugger! So rather than wait an hour for it to open; I drove to Tanunda where I would start my cellar hopping anyway. Parked the car next to a church in Tanunda and had a little nap. I must have fallen to sleep because it was daylight when I open my eyes again. Spoke to Greg on the phone for a bit then got myself that much needed coffee and a bacon+egg toastie.

The vineyards still wouldn’t be open for another hour or two. Rather than waiting… I just went into Chateau Tanunda before its cellar door was opened. It was OK to walk around the estate and I took many photos. The building is just wonderfully ‘old’. I love the architecture style in South Australia, the German influence. Following Tanunda, I did the same for the other 3 vineyards. Since the cellar doors weren’t opened; I had not done any wine tasting… not that I want to at that time of the morning anyway. Besides, I would buy the wines from Dan Murphy anyway as the prices are quite a bit cheaper than buying direct from the cellars.

After finishing my cellar hop, it was time to move on to Adelaide. It was such a short drive and the scenery made the trip a breeze. Arrived at the motel, Granada Motor Inn, just after midday and, to my surprise, the room is much better than I expected for the price I paid. I would recommend it to anyone if looking for affordable motel in your next Adelaide trip. It is also only a few kilometres from the city…very convenient.

Once I got myself settled, I went into the city for a walkabout. I have to admit that I like the city ‘heaps’. All the old buildings and the new all live in harmony. It has a wonderful European feel if you know what I mean 🙂

I love the Central Railway Station, it is so well preserved (if that is the right word). Rundle Mall and Central Market are great places to go shop and eat. Of course, there has to be a Chinatown. It is not as well defined as the one back in Sydney but you certainly can get anything Asian here though.

Received some suggestions from Michelle on where to go for my usual night shots. I went to Glenelg as it was quite close to where I was though there was a bit of after work traffic. I went straight into shooting mode when I got there so didn’t really look around. I spent an hour or so by the beach shooting the jetty (yes..again) and a pleasant surprise… a fire juggler was juggling on the beach. I set myself up and captured many fireballs that he created.

So that was my day… I will have another night in Adelaide and will try to go to the spots that Michelle suggested.

John @ Adelaide, S.A.

Images: 1. Chateau Tanunda; 2. Saltram; 3. Yalumba; 4. Henschke; 5-11. Street Shots of Adelaide City; 12. Glenelg Jetty; 13. Fire Ball on the Beach

12 years ago / Tagged: Adelaide, Australia, City, Long Exposure, South Australia, Travel, Vineyards 0 0

Barossa

Wow..It only had taken me 17 years to finally come to the Barossa and I was overwhelmed. Although there are only about 80 vineyards here; it was almost impossible to pick which one to visit. So I just drove along and take in the scenery and walked along the streets of Gawler and Tanunda. Took some street hots which I am still not very good at.

Had a coffee at a cafe in Tanunda then decided to go to Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop since I love her cooking. After arriving the shop, I looked through all the products there and did my product shots. Then I saw the food menu… I should have thought of this before but I already had something to eat before coming here. However, how could I resist? So order the house favourite: Game Terrine with Green Salad and Cabernet Sauce. It was nice that they give a complimentary pate while waiting. It was good but OMG…. the dish itself was DELICIOUS! The pastry was perfection, the terrine was as gamey as it can be and did I mention the Cabernet Sauce?

The daily cooking class began right after my lunch, unfortunately, Maggie was in the hospital today for some procedures. It was still fun to actually sitting in the “A Cook and a Chef” set. The recipes were very simple and, of course, her products were used in everything. People were frantic when it comes to tasting time. The receipes were quite good… might try them at home sometimes. Had a walk along the farm and it was very relaxing indeed…

Before leaving, I couldn’t help myself but bought her new cookbook “Cooking with Verjuice” and a bottle of 750ml Verjuice. It looks like some fun time in the kitchen when I get home 🙂 Who’s coming for dinner?

By the time I left Maggie’s, it was already after 4pm. There was hardly enough time to visit other vineyards so I just drove along Seppeltsfield Road and took some more photos of things I find interesting.

That was it… the day was over and I haven’t even been in a single vineyard. I could be here for weeks 🙂 I have a few vineyards that I definitely will visit tomorrow…. just hope that I can restraint myself.

John @ Angaston, S.A.

Images: Random Shots around Barossa today

12 years ago / Tagged: Australia, Barossa, Food, South Australia, Travel, Vineyards, Wine 0 0

Eyre Peninsula

I have been waking up in a different spot almost every morning for over month and a half now. I sometimes have to remember where I was when I got up. Today I woke up to the sound of a rubbish truck 🙂

My destination today was Port Augusta and it was not a great distance. So I decided to head down to Elliston before going across. On the way to Elliston, I stopped at a site called Murphy’s Haystacks. It was an interesting place with these large granites standing there but was only covered a small area. So the visit lasted about 15-20 minutes.

It was another 80km to Elliston from the haystacks. I suppose all the little towns along the Eyre Peninsula coastline are mainly for fishing lovers. Elliston is one of those as well, there is not much happening there other than fishing. So just drove along the coastline and snapped some images of the cliffs.

From Elliston, I headed towards Port Augusta taking first the Birdseye Highway. I can’t say the scenery was bad or boring but it was kinda the same everywhere. I decided to just photographed whatever I find interesting to me. I like mountains, lines, shapes, dead things (tree I mean) and simple landscape…

I had a quick stop over at Kimba’s Whites Knob Lookout. It wasn’t much here neither but just wanted to get out of the car. Standing on top of the lookout was the Edward John Eyre sculptures. After Kimba, another stop today was Iron Knob. you can easily tell the iron in the mountain as its colour is just like rust.

Arrived at Port Augusta shortly after 4pm and the first thing was going to supermarket. I didn’t have much to eat all day so was kinda hungry. Made myself couple of chicken and avocado sandwiches… yum

There seems to be a few things I can’t resist taking pictures of and one of them is jetty. The first few photos I took since I arrived here were the jetty here in Port Augusta. After that, basically just sat in the car and do what I do most days… look through my images, process some for the blog and some for our (Greg and I) laptop’s wallpapers, and write this blog. It usually takes me a couple of hours to do all these things.

Now I am about done so next will be bedtime.. zzz

Nite nite all xox

John @ Port Augusta, S.A.

Images: 1. Streaky Bay Community Motel and Hotel; 2. Murphy’s Haystacks; 3. Cliffs at Little Bay, Elliston; 4-7. Random Shots on Birdseye Highway; 8-9. Edward John Eyre Sculptures at Whites Knob Lookout; 10. Iron Knob; 11. Port Augusta West Jetty

12 years ago / Tagged: Australia, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, Travel 0 0

The Nullarbor

The Nullarbor was exactly like everyone told me. I didn’t find the drive boring as such but just couldn’t really find anything interesting to take pictures of. I managed a few at the end. It took me 2 days to get across it and that was driving 900km the first day and another 500 today. I am so over driving right now 🙂 Still a long way from home… but at least I think the hardest driving of this trip are now done. From here on the distance between destinations are going to be lot more reasonable.

The first town I stopped at in South Australia was Ceduna. It was very much the first main town after the WA/SA border and was close to 500km from the border. It must be because it was weekend today; Ceduna was like a ghost town. Shops were closed and hardly anyone around. So I looked around for a little while then drove here to Streaky Bay. It is a very quiet seaside ‘village’. It does have come charms to this place though.

I found myself taking picture of every jetty in every town. Must be an addiction 🙂

John @ Streaky Bay, S.A.

ps. I am missing the dogs terribly 🙁

Images: 1. Eucla, W.A.; 2. Border Village, S.A.; 3. Cliffs at Nullarbor National Park; 4. Nullarbor Plain; 5. Ceduna; 6. Streaky Bay Jetty

12 years ago / Tagged: Australia, Nullarbor, South Australia, Travel, Western Australia 0 0

Esperance

Finally the rain has subsided a bit today. It was cool and windy but at least cleared. I only had to travel for a couple of hours from Ravensthorpe so arrived here quite early. Drove leisurelyÂ on the Great Ocean Drive here for a couple of hours. This scenic drive was quite good. It went along the Indian Ocean then turned off to Pink Lake and back to Esperance town centre. Unfortunately, Pink Lake wasn’t pink today… must be too much rain in the last few days or could be the wrong time of the year.

After the drive, I stopped at the jetty here and had a hot dog from this ‘Harry’s Cafe de Wheel’-like place called Gossips. It was yummy… Frankfurt wrapped in bacon, pineapple, onion, mustard and crusty bread roll. Might have another one for dinner after writing this blog 🙂

It started to rain a bit in the late afternoon so I retrieved to the car. Processed some images and writing this post. It is completely dark now. I guess the day is over for me. Going to get some light dinner then might have a schooner or two somewhere.

Nite all

John @ Esperance, W.A.

Images: 1-4. Great Ocean Drive; 5. Gossips Food Cart; 6. Tanker Jetty, Esperance

12 years ago / Tagged: Australia, Esperance, Seascape, Travel, Western Australia 0 0

Albany & Bremer Bay

The weather continued to be wet today throughout so not much chance even getting out of the car. Left Lake Grace early morning and it was bucketing down. Thought the weather might clear up a bit when I get to Albany. It did for about 30 minutes and I managed to get something from the supermarket and a quick walk up and down the main street. So feeling kind of deflated and thought this should be a sign of ending the W.A. part of the trip. So got in the car and drove towards the border and just stop at wherever I feel like at the time.

Bremer Bay was my side trip. It was a nice seaside holiday town and it seems like a little hidden treasure. I am sure not many people know about this place. It is a rather small town and plenty of holiday houses for sell I saw. The rain seemed to be travelling the direction that I was in. The sun shined briefly for 20-30 minutes and the rain started again. I managed to get a few shots of the birds on the beach. Nothing really excited today at all and looks like the weather is going to be a bit iffy until next week.

Maybe I should put a plastic bag on the camera and a large rubbish bag on me….. just keep taking picturesÂ 🙂

John @ Ravensthorpe, W.A.

Images: Bremer Bay

12 years ago / Tagged: Albany, Animals, Australia, Bremer Bay, Travel, Western Australia 0 1

Hyden

It rained through the night last night at Margaret River and it was fairly heavy. So naturally got woken up this morning by the sound of the rain. I wasn’t going to any vineyards because I couldn’t really taste much wine (have to drive) and it was too wet anyway; so decided to drive inland a bit to see this Wave Rock near Hyden. The rock itself was a bit disappointing. It definitely looked more impressive in photos than the real thing. I guess many places are this way so no big deal. I took some pictures of it anyway.

What I actually like was the drive up. I drove through some pretty stunning countryside like Donnybrook, Collie and many other small towns. There were many fruit farms on the way and of course vineyards. I took as many pictures as I could when I could. The rain was just bucketing down throughout the day. It finally stopped by late afternoon and that’s when I went in to see Wave Rock.

I am slowly working my way to South Australia from tomorrow. I hope the Nullarbor is not as bad as many people told me.

John @ Lake Grace, W.A.

Images: 1. Donnybrook; 2. Growing Vines; 3. Collie; 4. Wave Rock

12 years ago / Tagged: Australia, Landscape, Travel, Wave Rock, Western Australia 1 0