P.S. How many stamps do you need :) ?
Now for the next part of our adventure :)
January 15 (Saturday)
We were just heading out to the Loxton farm when Josh's boss rang and told us to come up to their newly purchased vacation/retirement home on the Murray River for the week-end.
Here we go on the road again:
And for the start of our trip we had no tunes - FINALLY we found a station and it was opera. Josh seriously said it was the kind of music to listen to when driving through this kind of country. After a few minutes passed Josh said "who needs a radio - mock" and I followed with (ing) etc. (Dumb and Dumber movie). We stopped shortly and decided silence was better (definately brought me back home though - it's mine and Jenn's theme song).
Normally I nap or read a book while on the road but fortunately I was awake at this point. Thank goodness I was because our expert navigator missed the turn off and I caught it.
Maybe it would have helped if we had a better map than this drawn map via Josh's artistic talent to find the vaction home:
Akuna Station (previous owner was Peter Teakle who designed the labels for Jim Bean Bourbon Whiskey and Johnny Walker Scotch along with many wine labels). Further down you will see pictures of the entrance to the station (took them when we left - by then we didn't feel so out of place :)
The Murray River (really murky brown, not sure if it's from the floods or if it's always like this):
Jock, the boss's son showing Josh his skills:
Josh getting excited for his turn (on the wakeboard though). As Ian put it - Josh was trying to be a Canadian submarine:
And ...Jane and I sat on the grass having a glass of wine. When they were here a few weeks ago they still had a dock - now you can see it is underwater.
From the hills overlooking part of the station:
One of the sheds:
Josh and his prized possessions - crayfish (they call them "yubbies")
Baiting the Pod:
The kitchen in the main house:
Lightswitch:
Yummmmy:
The cellar (this is the last of the wine to get made here - Ian and Jane are going to sell the grapes to other producers):
The rosebush in front of the other house:
The kitchen/dining room in the other house:
A painting in the cold room (the wine bottle is an Akuna station one):
This painting was in the dining room and we think it's from a famous Australian painter. When Jane and I were going through the photo albums we seen this painting and a few others displayed on the riverbank with a bunch of TV crews.
One of the many statues throughout the property:
Jane and I went to pick fresh fruit from the orchard - I was soo excited when I found these ripe grapefruits. The orchid also has lemons, limes, apricots, nectarines, apples, plums and some sort of a black berry.
The vineyard grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Semillon and Merlot grapes. The previous owner developed this vineyard for only to make his own wine (there were photo albums in one of the houses and it looked like he hosted alot of gatherings). Jane gave us two bottles from the cellar to take home - we will definately be saving them.
As Jane and I were driving back to the house from our orchid picking we seen tons of kangaroos. There was at least one down each row.
Just before we left to the farm I wanted to go down to the river one last time. Here was me and my companion of the week-end - Pip. The station not only came with all the furniture and other belongings; it came with a golf cart, boat and yute - all with the Akuna label.
On the way down to the river this sign shows what the riverside is known for and it has a map of the layout.
This pole shows the various flood levels of the river over the years:
On the hill overlooking Akuna station:
The vineyard:
The driveway:
We were very sad to leave - we wish we could afford a place like this ;). I am now currently sitting with my feet up at the farm, not for leisure but for the threat of mice. You would not believe the numbers - I'm so used to hearing the traps close that I don't even jump anymore. And the rabbits are also terrible - Josh and I were driving through the yard to the back paddock and I had to stop counting (literally hundreds - eased my mind because it must mean there aren't alot of snakes).
I have now started making daily trips to Loxton to break up the day. There is no cell service here so they do heavily rely on the radios. Today I am going to pick up a whiteboard so that in the morning the guys can write what paddock they will be in - it is a very diverse 20,000 acres and if something did happen to someone it would take a long time to find them. A thank you to mama Iris for emailing me recipes - I was at a loss of what to make for meals.
We love hearing from everyone. We weren't sure how to respond (if people would recheck the comments section) - so now if you post something we will try to write a comment right after below yours (hope this makes sense).
We miss everyone and hope everything is going well! Take care and lots of love from down under!!
