Australia Take Four
So I had a chance to write out a quick blog before I head out tomorrow so thought I would so it would be a bit shorter. Adelaide has been lovely and had a few firsts here. It seems like I picked a really good time to come here because it had been a bit cooler but now the weather is getting nice and hot sitting above 25 degrees everyday. It's a neat part of Australia quite similar to Kelowna with a lot of hills that are very green. Down here you will also find a majority of the wineries and have a quite dry heat like us too.
The day I got in I was greeted at the airport by Klompy and Alicia. For those of you who don't know Klompy was my other partner in crime for the last 10 months with Loz and Alicia is our very dear friend that was up at Big White for the last two seasons. Also if you are wondering about the name Klompy it is Lauren Klomp but everybody calls her by her last. Once they got me it was straight to the beach where it was supposed to be suntanning time but we got distracted by the cafe on the shore and then by a delicious bottle of wine. Five bottles later and a tour into the hills where Klomp lives I had to come to hers to meet her parents. Talk about first impressions, "Hi there, I'm Sarah and I am absolutely pissed right now." It's a good thing that her parents are as funny as her and let it go and decided to just feed me more wine. I like it here, they love their wine!
We ventured into town the next day with Klomp's mom to an area called Norwood and did a bit of shopping and lunch. After they took me on the scenic drive up the hills and then to Mt Lofty that has stunning views of the city and the surrounding valleys. Also drove round a few of the historic buildings up in the hills and got to see where Alicia and her lovely husband to be Luke are having their wedding in less than a month. Klompy had to work a night shift at the local pub so Alicia and Luke came and got me to go hang at their house and we went by their friend Stu's for a drink that turned into a few more bottles of wine, oh dear.
Thursday had to be one of my favorite days that I've had here because we went to Cleland Wildlife Park that house all Australian wildlife. We started off our walking tour and I got to see Tasmanian Devils, dingos, Koalas, swamp birds, potoroos, wombats, emus, echindnas, wallabies and finally more kangaroos than you can ever imagine. Not only are these kangaroos everywhere you get to walk into their huge enclosures and they sell you food that you can hand feed them. This will probably be something I'll never forget! At first I was a bit timid walking up to them but after watching Klomp I was hooked and spent the next hour walking up to all of them petting and feeding them. It was a good time to go because there was a bunch of new joeys that were all sitting in their mama's pouches, pretty unbelivable that they carry them around like that.
The next morning we took Klomp's dog Taz down to Brighton beach and did a huge walk up the coast and back. After feeling a bit hungry we headed up the road to a trendy little area filled with cafes and choose this one that is dedicated to Marilyn Monroe. I could have spent hours looking at all the pics on the wall, I'm a bit Marilyn obsessed. We later went to Klomp's friend Gretchen's house for a BBQ and a movie that again involved a couple of bottles of wine. On the way there we managed to catch the sunset at Mt Lofty that was so stunning!
Saturday was a fun filled day starting early with my first lesson in horse betting. The Melbourne cup is taking place next Tuesday which is a day that pretty much the whole country stops for. At the moment they have all the races happening on the weekends in all the major cities leading up to the big day. I went with Alicia and Luke and a bunch of their friends to a pub called The Feathers that you can place your bets at. We took a break from wine this time because in true betting form we felt only beer would do in this case. After I got a break down of what everything is on the spread sheets I placed my first bet and actually won twenty four dollars on my horse. I turned out to have a bit of luck and made forty dollars in my day, not bad for a rookie. Then we met up with Klomp and since the girls had a few friends with birthday parties going on we first went to a BBQ and then into the city to a bar.
Today was Klompy's sisters birthday so the whole family went to Shaw and Smith's winery which has an amazing set up. When you walk in you are greeted at the door and taken to your table that is set up with a paper place mat and five wine glasses. Under each glass is a description of the wine you will be tasting. They then come up and set you each up with a plate of cheese and crackers that are all paired with the wines. As they fill your glasses they give you a quick run down of the wines which are pretty prestige here and have won quite a few awards. We got to sample their Reisling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. Then because they liked us so much we got to try their other Pinot Noir and did a quick walk through of the winery. Pretty good way to spend the afternoon and we left with a heap of bottles in tow, me and Klomp figured that four should be a good start for our road trip.
In the morning we are off on our trip to Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road which I hear is one of the most spectacular drives in the world so I'm off to bed, but maybe I'll have a glass of wine first!
The day I got in I was greeted at the airport by Klompy and Alicia. For those of you who don't know Klompy was my other partner in crime for the last 10 months with Loz and Alicia is our very dear friend that was up at Big White for the last two seasons. Also if you are wondering about the name Klompy it is Lauren Klomp but everybody calls her by her last. Once they got me it was straight to the beach where it was supposed to be suntanning time but we got distracted by the cafe on the shore and then by a delicious bottle of wine. Five bottles later and a tour into the hills where Klomp lives I had to come to hers to meet her parents. Talk about first impressions, "Hi there, I'm Sarah and I am absolutely pissed right now." It's a good thing that her parents are as funny as her and let it go and decided to just feed me more wine. I like it here, they love their wine!
We ventured into town the next day with Klomp's mom to an area called Norwood and did a bit of shopping and lunch. After they took me on the scenic drive up the hills and then to Mt Lofty that has stunning views of the city and the surrounding valleys. Also drove round a few of the historic buildings up in the hills and got to see where Alicia and her lovely husband to be Luke are having their wedding in less than a month. Klompy had to work a night shift at the local pub so Alicia and Luke came and got me to go hang at their house and we went by their friend Stu's for a drink that turned into a few more bottles of wine, oh dear.
Thursday had to be one of my favorite days that I've had here because we went to Cleland Wildlife Park that house all Australian wildlife. We started off our walking tour and I got to see Tasmanian Devils, dingos, Koalas, swamp birds, potoroos, wombats, emus, echindnas, wallabies and finally more kangaroos than you can ever imagine. Not only are these kangaroos everywhere you get to walk into their huge enclosures and they sell you food that you can hand feed them. This will probably be something I'll never forget! At first I was a bit timid walking up to them but after watching Klomp I was hooked and spent the next hour walking up to all of them petting and feeding them. It was a good time to go because there was a bunch of new joeys that were all sitting in their mama's pouches, pretty unbelivable that they carry them around like that.
The next morning we took Klomp's dog Taz down to Brighton beach and did a huge walk up the coast and back. After feeling a bit hungry we headed up the road to a trendy little area filled with cafes and choose this one that is dedicated to Marilyn Monroe. I could have spent hours looking at all the pics on the wall, I'm a bit Marilyn obsessed. We later went to Klomp's friend Gretchen's house for a BBQ and a movie that again involved a couple of bottles of wine. On the way there we managed to catch the sunset at Mt Lofty that was so stunning!
Saturday was a fun filled day starting early with my first lesson in horse betting. The Melbourne cup is taking place next Tuesday which is a day that pretty much the whole country stops for. At the moment they have all the races happening on the weekends in all the major cities leading up to the big day. I went with Alicia and Luke and a bunch of their friends to a pub called The Feathers that you can place your bets at. We took a break from wine this time because in true betting form we felt only beer would do in this case. After I got a break down of what everything is on the spread sheets I placed my first bet and actually won twenty four dollars on my horse. I turned out to have a bit of luck and made forty dollars in my day, not bad for a rookie. Then we met up with Klomp and since the girls had a few friends with birthday parties going on we first went to a BBQ and then into the city to a bar.
Today was Klompy's sisters birthday so the whole family went to Shaw and Smith's winery which has an amazing set up. When you walk in you are greeted at the door and taken to your table that is set up with a paper place mat and five wine glasses. Under each glass is a description of the wine you will be tasting. They then come up and set you each up with a plate of cheese and crackers that are all paired with the wines. As they fill your glasses they give you a quick run down of the wines which are pretty prestige here and have won quite a few awards. We got to sample their Reisling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. Then because they liked us so much we got to try their other Pinot Noir and did a quick walk through of the winery. Pretty good way to spend the afternoon and we left with a heap of bottles in tow, me and Klomp figured that four should be a good start for our road trip.
In the morning we are off on our trip to Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road which I hear is one of the most spectacular drives in the world so I'm off to bed, but maybe I'll have a glass of wine first!
- By Sarah Jones
- | Published 10/25/2009
