Adelaide, South Australia

We arrived at Adelaide airport (Monday 28/07/2014) and once we picked up our bags we headed to jump on the bus into the CBD. The bus driver advised us where to get off near to our accommodation (now when I direct someone it would possibly get them to their intended location likewise if I didn't know I'd state that I didn't know) ..... we got a little lost and after wandering about we conceded and asked a random for directions - we eventually found our hostel 'Backpackers in Oz'. We've not stayed in a backpackers place for nearly 10 years so we were both intrigued as to what it would be like and if we'd end up checking into a hotel after the first hour or so of being there. 

We were greeted by a guy called 'Sam' on reception who spoke at about 100mph - he was very helpful. For a laugh we attempted to talk back that fast but failed miserably. He gave us directions to our room and entered our shared dorm and we got ......... bunk beds! :) whoop whoop - we're definitely staying! :) 

There wasn't anyone else yet in our dorm - but would it stay like this? We dropped our stuff in our room (it was quite nice considering - I think we were expecting the worst) locked our things away and went back to the reception and lounge area to find out a little more about Adelaide from the locals there.

We booked onto the Barossa Valley winery tour for the following day as really this is what we came to Adelaide for and headed out to discover what was on offer. The 'Lonely Planet' guides and locals' knowledge has proven invaluable in the few places we've visited so far so we had a decent idea of where to head out to. After checking out the CBD, nipping into the supermarket and with the shops all closing early we popped back to get ourselves ready for the evenings adventure. As Adelaide isn't really a massive place we found it quite easy to move around and the 'things to see' are in close proximity to each other.

Walking through the CBD at night is quite pretty - what seemed like a busy place during the day was now an extremely quiet place in comparison - where had everyone gone? Is there something happening somewhere that we're unaware of that's drawn a crowd? It just seemed a little too quiet for a CBD - that's just Adelaide for you apparently! We wandered about taking in the buildings and surroundings (which were all beautifully lit up). 

We stumbled upon Chinatown where we found one of the busiest places called 'Dumpling King' (great Chinese name) where they served freshly made 'Shanghai Cuisine' and so we ordered some random dishes (the menu wasn't in English) but it all worked out fine - we may have eaten something considered exotic but we were non the wiser and it all tasted good.

After dinner we jumped on the free city bus but as it was now night time and other than the inner CBD, we found that Adelaide isn't a very lit up place so we didn't really see very much ......... but following our map of the route we knew when we passed the Zoo, Government buildings, Botanical Garden, Adelaide Oval etc so we kind of did a City tour just a really rubbish one! - was good to let our food settle at least before a short walk back to our hostel for an early night as we had a busy day on tomorrow.

If you're still wondering ........ yes we had roommates - we shared the 4 bed dorm with a German guy called 'Jurgen' (who was surprisingly friendly given the stereotype) and a Chinese guy called ??.... Dumpling King ;) ??? hmmmm I can't remember (sorry Chinese guy if you're reading this) but we thought you were cool also.

The next day (Tuesday 29/07/2014) we were up early to head out on our Barossa Valley winery tour. We were picked up from right outside where we were staying. Our guide was called 'John' and he was top - a really pleasant bloke - we knew we were in for a good day right from the off. John was a fountain of knowledge on Adelaide and the surrounding areas - he answered loads of different questions from our group of 18 people and kept us well informed and entertained throughout the day. On our trip we went through the Adelaide Hills, Williamstown and a few other smaller places and we saw Kangaroos on the way - our first whilst on our visit in Oz.

Our first stop was at the Barossa Dam 'Whispering Wall' - an amazing feat of engineering where you could stand on one side, talk against the wall and the person on the other side of the dam could hear you clearly. The curvature of the wall (it's design) meant sound travels large distances so you didn't have to shout to pass your message across to the other side of the dam - pretty cool.

Next we passed through Lyndoch, enroute John informed us that many of the wineries here grow rose bushes adjacent to their vineyards as they are used as a good indicator against bugs, pests and other diseases that threaten the vines and these would attack the roses first so the vineyard keepers are able to keep their vines free from disease etc and generate a good yield.

The wineries employ 'growers' - small Independent farmers to have vines on their lands to supply the main wineries, however the main wineries decide when the fruit is to be harvested and it can be calculated to the exact day for harvest depending on the climate it has experienced. The Barossa Valley is a famous place for wine and it's climate is very similar to that of the Mediterranean so the vines are able to produce a good quality fruit which is turned into some of the worlds finest Shiraz. The Barossa Valley is generally known for its quality of Shiraz and the different areas across Australia would specialise in growing a different type of grape depending on the climate in that specific area. In short the vines are climate specific. We also visited areas where some of the vines were 125+ years old and although they don't produce a vast quantity of fruit, the quality is very high and this is why the producers are able to demand such a high price for a bottle of red. The older vines are harvested by hand so that it's not damaged (the rest done by machinery) and during the autumn these are cultivated by hand which is a very time consuming task yet it ensures a relatively healthy vine for the following year, again the rest would be done via machinery. During the winter other plants would be set beside the vine as to keep the soil in the correct condition for the next growing season and later destroyed so that the vines take the nutrient from the soil and not have any competition for this ........... that was boring wasn't it ;) We just learned quite a lot whilst on this trip and thought to share a snippet :)

The first winery we stopped off at was the Chateau Yaldarra within the Yaldarra Estate the home of 'McGuigan Wines' International winemaker of the year 2009, 2011, 2012 & IWC White winemaker of the year 2012 & 2013 (not a bad start to the trip) - here we had our first tasting session. 

After this first stop the group became a little more relaxed after the wine to the point where Carol was now going to drive us around the rest of the tour!...

Our next stop was 'Peter Lehmann Wines' where we had our wine tasting coordinated by a lady whose tasters were very generous. 

After several decent wine samples we had a 'Weighbridge platter' for lunch consisting of different cheeses, meats, olives, breads and dips to accompany our wine whilst sitting next to a nice log burner. It was here we discovered and enjoyed a glass of 'Black Queen' a fizzy red Shiraz with our lunch - something we've never encountered previously ....... fizzy red??? ......... but amazing - if you can find this from where you're reading from then give it a try. The locals would tend to have this on a weekend with breakfast and throughout Xmas / family time.

We passed the famous 'Jacobs Creek' (for those of you who are familiar with wine you may have heard of this brand and if you haven't then it's one of Australia's biggest wine exporters globally) anyway, the creek itself does exist but don't get excited - the 'Creek' isn't as big as you'd probably imagine - without exaggerating we drove across it in 2 seconds - if you blink you'll miss it kind of situation - disappointing given our expectation.

Our next stop was Langmeil Barossa winery where Antoni was chatting to the guy loads asking him all sorts of wine related questions - I think he's really enjoyed today and quite possibly learnt a lot about the different methods and wines available. The 5 wines we tried here probably added to his confusion ;)

Heading towards our final vineyard we stopped off at a viewpoint where we could see over the valley but as the weather was closing in, this wasn't as spectacular as maybe it could have been - great effort by 'John' to take us there as it wasn't supposed to be a stop on our tour and it was much appreciated.

So our final stop was at Murray Valley Vineyard which was a family run winery, they greeted our 18 strong very merry group and got straight to business - a great selection of wines on offer and an excellent (British) guide to talk us through them. In all honesty we tried to keep a level head throughout the day but you have to remember that when you're plied with wine for approximately 5 hours something is going to give somewhere so really this last place seemed more of a laugh then the previous yet the host played on this and made the experience memorable - thank you!

So we got back in the bus (Carol didn't drive!) and we had our 3 hour journey back towards Adelaide - I think everyone except our guide 'John' had a great power nap and we were back before we knew it.

Upon our return to Adelaide we quickly nipped to the supermarket and wandered around the shops where Carol bought a new pair of shoes and Antoni saw the new Manchester United shirt. We grabbed a Subway to help soak up all the wine we'd had. Incidentally the Australians still have 'Woolworths' but it's not as we know ......... 'Woollies' is a supermarket - not a pic 'n' mix in sight :(

Later that evening the hostel were putting on a free BBQ for its guests so we headed to that and were pleasantly surprised. We got talking to the chef who was from the UK and had moved over to Adelaide over 10 years ago. We got involved and joined in the hostels 'killer pool' competition - we both did OK considering we were all wined out - it probably helped! - but unsurprisingly we didn't win. 

Luckily whilst this was happening we located the much needed washing machine room - it was empty so got in a much needed cycle and dry whilst being entertained around the pool and bar area - the joys of having a limited number of clothes whilst travelling!

We eventually headed back up to our dorm to pack up our stuff as we had to be out early to go and pick up our Apollo camper van in the morning to take us along The Great Ocean Road towards Melbourne - this is one of those things we've always wanted to do and see and we struggled to sleep due to the excitement!

To be continued ...........