February 3rd (Thursday) - February 10th (Thursday): The Baroosa Wine Valley

February 3rd (Thursday)

On our way to Victor Harbour we stopped at Kingston to take a picture of the "big lobster" - after I took a picture of the "big orange" we found out that Australia is known for it's "big statues".

We are enjoying the driving so far - Josh is the driver and I'm the navigator.  We always seem to have lots of fun and laughs.  Here are some of the quotes of the day - as we pass a sign asking for volunteers, Josh looks at me and says "oh look - volunteers needed, right up your alley and it pays really well too"  After a few days Josh is now looking for a pair of goggles and mouthguard for me to ride ontop :)   

Along our way to Victor Harbour we stopped at a nearby town to fill up with petro. My first coastal town learning experience - I was cleaning out the car of various remains of french fries and chips from my side of the car ;) and got attacked by the seagulls.  Josh watched from a distant as I dove into the car (laughing and not helping me).  I rolled down my window a little ways and fed them my crackers - when we arrived in Victor Harbour there are signs everywhere advising you to not feed the seagulls for your own safety. 

We arrived in Victor Harbour later in the day for our first night in the ole station wagon (it is actually great - the carvan parks all over at least this part of Australia are extremely clean and tidy and have great pools).  We toured the town and quickly walked across the bridge that attaches it to Granite Island for the dusk Penguin tour. 

One of the breakaways to stop the waves from coming into Victor Harbour:

The Whale Center in Victor Harbour:

We took two to-go mugs filled with wine to watch the sunset on the nearby beach (Maslin):

Josh making a new friend:

This is the sign that created huge debate ("unclad bathing area"):



Ahhhhh!  Now we get it (not that the few people on this side of the beach didn't help clear up the confusion):

Adelaide Central Market - It is truly an experience.  The people and the excitement - we didn't realize at the time but on Saturday's is the end of there week and they want to get rid of everything.  People start yelling "a dollar, a dollar).  Needless to say we walked out with celery, tomatoes, metwurst, etc - and we are living out of a car.  Oh well, I told Josh it only cost $1.00. 

Glenelg Beach in Adelaide - We spent two days here - it was great.  The coastal patrol sure was not like Baywatch though.  On the second day we burnt so bad we were done with staying in the car.  We booked hotel rooms for the next 4 days:

And for our great wine adventure in the Baroosa Valley, we have 20 bottles currently and can only legally take home 6 bottles per person:

Josh showing his painful burn stance :) 

This was such a neat wood carving - exactly how we felt by the end of our winery/vineyard tour ;)

And the Big Rocking Horse in Gumeracha:

Signs showing how far and direction of various cities:

Hahndorf - The Oldest German Establishment in Australia:

I was quite excited to see this candy store "Humbugs" - Josh caught me in the moment:

Hahndorf Candle Maker:

German Arms Hotel:

Oktoberfest Beer (not good at all - I horrified everyone by asking for tomato juice to add in):

Mmmmm Trio of Sausages:

Josh looking over Adelaide from Mt. Lofty:

We had a fantastic time touring around the Baroosa Valley for the past week.  We are now back in Naracoorte for the Taste Festival and the races (Saturday and Sunday).  I helped Jenn (Georgie's mom) make 200 pasties for the market today (Josh even helped by rolling out the pastry), we sold out in 1 hour.  On Monday we will be heading along the Great Ocean Road - we are quite excited for our next adventure!     

P.S.  My grand growing adventure at the Loxton farm has failed.  I forgot to say that Jock and I reckoned they needed more sun and put the trays outside - within half an hour the rabbits got all the seeds.  It was quite a sad moment with my gardening abilities.   

February 1st (Tuesday) - February 4th (Friday) - The Great Ocean Road Here We Come!!!

We are madly trying to pack and make sure our car is in tip top shape to head out on our next adventure.  I have to write about how we just live our lives daily.  At 9:00 this morning we were heading out on the Great Ocean Road (to Melbourne and then up the East Coast) but we haven't really seen much of the Barossa Valley (around Adelaide) so at last minute we (I) changed our plans.  We are going to tour around the Barossa Valley and then head back by next week-end for the horse races and taste festival in Naracoorte on Saturday.  Then we will head out on the Great Ocean Road and should be in Sydney by the end of February (just in time to meet Brent Bashutski).  Then we will hopefully head to Cairns (depending on how the clean up is going). 

Queensland got hit by terrible floods and tonight they are bracing themselves for a cyclone that is bigger than Katrina (as you can see the blogs take me a couple days - it is after the cyclone and it was not nearly as bad as first expected - it got downgraded before it hit land). 

We posted some pics of the past times here in Naracoorte area:

Pasty making with Jenn:   

Paruna farm near Loxton (Josh's spray tank):

Infra-red Spot Sprayer - Each day Josh would have to push the booms open in new fields.  It has numerous cameras about a foot apart and only will spray when it senses a green weed. 

Fill Bin - used in fields during harvest to store grain, once field is completed it is taken to grain bunkers:

Jock's House:

Spraying Station:

Josh having tons of fun fueling up in plus 42 heat (couldn't spray):

Josh's new greatest invention - the weather meter, which uses delta T (gives you the most opportune spraying times - degrees plus wind plus humidity equals delta T):

February 2nd (Wednesday) - We finally went and seen the Naracoorte Caves.  There were many different caves you could go through and it was really neat to see, especially in a smaller center. 



February 3rd (Thursday) - We are now heading out on the open road to Victor Harbour, Hahndorf, Adelaide and the Barossa Wine Valley.  We will hopefully have a new post sometime next week.   

P.S. I was informed that all dried fruit is treated with sulfur these days to keep the nice colour and it helps preserve them for longer.