Our last day in Adelaide started with saying goodbye to our camper ‘home’ of the last 4 weeks. Andy volunteered to drop the Mercedes van off in the north of the city and run the 12 miles back. Whilst he managed to get back in one piece, the heat and fatigue may have got the better of him, as he struggled to do the basics for the next few hours!!

Early afternoon we took the short bus trip from West Beach to the airport and checked into our flight with Jetstar to Hobart. The flight seemed relatively short at just 2hrs 15mins before we landed into the wet, but warm capital of Tasmania.

For the first time in 27 nights we had the pleasure of a hotel bed, at the centrally located Customs House Hotel in downtown Port Hobart. As it wasn’t too late when we checked in, Andy managed to treat himself to a ‘proper pint’ of Hazy Pale Ale before we settled in to watch our latest boxset find on Apple TV, Criminal Record.

Tomorrow we are off by ferry to MONA, part museum part architectural statement in Berriedale Bay, before a walking tour of the city and drinks at the quayside.

Until then…..

Today was a hot one, pushing close to 38 Celsius, so wisely we decided to stay local to West Beach and took a walk to Jetty Road in Glenelg.

We took the coastal path to Glenelg marina and took full advantage of the light breeze off the ocean which helped to cool us a little.

The start of Jetty Road, a strip of bars, restaurants and boutiques starts at Moseley Square opposite the beach. Here there are various monuments to the establishment of South Australia and to those lost in the two World Wars and it retains a sombre feel with Victorian architecture surrounding, notably in the form of the old Town Hall.

Like any tourist destination close to water, it has both a pier and a big wheel, although today it was pretty quiet with most people at work or keeping inside due to the high humidity.

We came across a heart shaped design, so Michelle positioned herself for the instagram moment!

After a round trip of almost 4 miles, the afternoon was spent relaxing at the beach and the pool side in the camp park. Every hour or so, the heat would require a dip into the pool to cool down, before being repeated a hour later!

When travelling around it’s funny how you keep bumping into the same people. We got chatting to an Irish couple who live in Manly when in the Barossa Valley at Jacobs Creek, only to see them the next day at another vineyard and then today we met them again on the beach. Such a lovely couple and despite their 40yrs in Oz, still with broad Irish accents.

Tomorrow we leave Adelaide and head to the airport for a flight to Hobart and a 8 day trip around a part of Australia neither of us have visited before.

With a cooler day in store, we took the opportunity to head by bus into central Adelaide. It’s a city we last visited some 10yrs ago and really enjoyed.

It’s a centre blessed with lots of green spaces which surround the grid of the CBD.

We were hoping to get to do a tour around the Adelaide Oval however it’s currently being used as a concert venue for Pink and so is out of action until after we leave. Instead we dipped into Northern Adelaide and to pretty Melbourne Street, where modern cafes and restaurants are a plenty.

Like many other Australian cities it’s blessed with some magnificent churches, the one below is St Peter’s Anglican cathedral, situated opposite the main hospital and close to the cricket Oval.

Sir Don Bradman the famous South Australian cricketer will always be associated with the state and the ground, however the monument below is in memory of Clem Hill, a pre-war cricketer who was one of the youngest players to ever represent his country at just 16. In truth we’d never heard of him, but do now.

Like other grounds, the Oval is home to Aussie rules as well as cricket so notable monuments on the former were lost on us!

The River Torrens meanders through the city and we took the opportunity to cross it a couple of times and take in the views back over the city and the parks.

As was the case in Melbourne there are a lot of budding restaurants in the West End of the city catering for a whole range of tastes and nationalities. A lot were to be found hidden down side roads, Leigh and Peel Streets being two notable locations.

Sadly for us, Monday proved to a day when a lot of the museums, restaurants and major attractions are closed, so we made the best of our time enjoying North Terrace and Rundle Mall & Street where the notable prestige stores and restaurants were located.

In the evening we met up with Jayne, Andy’s cousin and her boyfriend Mark and went out to a great Italian restaurant down in Glenelg. Got to say it was the best meal and the most we’ve eaten since leaving Sydney!

So great to see some Jayne again and we hope to have some further adventures with them when we return to Australia in early 2025.

Tomorrow it’s due to hit 38 Celsius so we are planning a low key day down on Jetty Road in Glenelg and explore the area given it’s within walking distance.

A quiet day all in all. We left the Barossa Valley after breakfast and within a hour or so we were in Adelaide and our last stop of this camper tour, West Beach.

It was a lovely hot and sunny day, so rather than race into the CBD, we had a relaxing afternoon on the beach with drinks and hot chips at the Adelaide Sailing Club.

Early evening was spent relaxing with an enjoyable dinner and a glass of vino in our new camp site, ‘Gday West Beach’ by far and away the largest place we’ve stayed at – it’s more a resort venue with every imaginable activity for kids and adults alike.

Tomorrow we head into Adelaide for a day of exploring, and in the evening a meal in Glenelg, at an Italian restaurant on the marina, with Andy’s cousin Jayne and her boyfriend Mark.

Early morning start with a visit to the Barossa Farmers Market in Angaston.

Such a fantastic set up with local traders selling fruit, veg, meats, bread & coffee etc. Had a really great neighbourly feel to it.

We had a lovely chat with a farmer selling figs who couldn’t have been happier and loved his life and the countryside of Barossa.

After an obligatory bacon and egg roll and coffee we drove up into the hills to Mengler Hill to take in the great views across the Barossa Valley. Within the viewing parking area we had a walk around a series of modern rock sculptures.

After a thorough workout, we returned to wine tasting and visited Yalumba winery, one of the oldest in the area and established by one Samuel Smith, an immigrant from Dorset in the Uk.

The winery was stunning with a real old English feel to it, helped by a ‘town clock’ on the tower originating from Croydon.

Wine tasting Part II was at the other extreme, a small modern winery where the cellar door building had been designed and shipped all the way from Eastern Germany. The place was stunning and next level. We spent an enjoyable hour touring around the winery with the help of a lovely German lady who let us try the 2 day old Rose wine from the vat. At this early stage it had yet to ferment and was essentially a sweet juice.

After drinking a lovely glass of rose in the sunshine looking over the old vines of this small but thriving estate, we took a small detour to visit the farm shop owned by the famous Australian chef Maggie Beer. For anyone who enjoys cooking programmes, she regularly appears on Masterchef Australia – one of Michelle’s favourite tv shows!

After another coffee and a date and caramel ice cream, we had an enjoyable walk across the farm in the 30 Celsius heat, taking note of the sign regarding snakes and what to do if we saw one…..

Our next stop was to a young winery called David Franz where Andy tried his first wheat beer wine. An interesting combination, although not one for the purists.

After that it was back to the Semillon wines which is slowly turning into Andy’s favourite along within Cab Sav.

Our final wine tasting stop of the day was at an English owned winery called Michael Hall. By a twist of fate, the owner was in and he took us through his favourite wines and as it turned out he used to be a near neighbour having previously lived on the Cowley Road in Oxford.

After all that wine, it was only to be expected that we would have a little more at dinner as we chatted to an Australian couple staying in the campsite opposite us. Meeting people is one of the best things about this trip, as you share and discover new experiences and get recommendations for places to visit.

Tomorrow we head to Adelaide for the last few days of this camper trip before we fly off to Hobart on Wednesday. Until then we plan to relax at West Beach before exploring central Adelaide.

Another wino day in the Barossa Valley.

First stop was the iconic Jacobs Creek vineyard. Wow, what a place, not just wine tasting venue, but a whole day out. Walking through the vineyard viewing the different grapes and tasting them was a stand out.

Each of the wineries is trying to stand apart from the others by coming up with a quirky blend. Today we tasting orange Prosecco, which reminded us both of Aperol Spritz.

Having completed our first tour by 11.30am, we headed to the next at Seppeltsfield, which like Jacobs Creek included a restaurant, shops and design and craft areas. Think big garden centres in the Uk and just replace the plants for wine!

Our third wine tasting stop was at Barossa Valley Estate which has a real instagram feel to it, with stunning manicured gardens in amongst the vineyards.

After a relaxing walk around the gardens, the hard work began with a further 5 reds to try. Despite the effort, they were quickly consumed and Andy is know a fully fledged expert in differing red varieties and blends (well he should be given the amount he’s consumed today).

Our final tasting experience was not of wine, but chocolate and ice cream combinations. White, red, milk and dark chocolates with various gelato flavours. This proved to be a great way to finish the day and regain our taste buds.

Michelle then went to try out more chocolates and the colour combinations that were on offer.

After a day like this, we had no option but to try out the local Barossa Brewery where we were amused to come across our daughter’s left over barrel with Amelia written across it!

Tomorrow we hit the weekend farmers market in Angaston and intend to finish off our tour of the Barrosa Valley and take in a final few vineyards, perhaps with the odd cellar door wine tasting time permitting.

A Germanic day in South Australia.

We said goodbye today to Moana and the beach and made our first stop at Hahndorf at the foothills of the Adelaide Hills.

Hahndorf is a picturesque town with a strong Germanic history dating back to the 1830’s when the ship Zebra docked in Adelaide and the passengers from Prussia headed to the then uninhabited hills.

Every other shop on the Main Street in Hahndorf has a German theme or product. It’s somewhat surreal, but equally it means they have some great pilsner beers and cured meats.

After leaving Hahndorf we moved further up the hillside to the summit of Mount Lofty, where we had magnificent views over Adelaide.

After parking up at the peak, we walked down through the bush to Cleland Wildlife park, a round trip of 7k miles which included views of koala’s in the wild and gum trees as far as the eye could see.

After working up a sweat we drove on to Tanunda, one of the key towns in the Barossa Valley where we snared a late afternoon’s wine tasting in a converted old wheat mill.

Not a bad way to finish the day and made more special by the friendly chat with Paul our wine guide, a young guy who gave us an insight into wine, the local area and his families business shearing alpacas!

Tomorrow we plan to visit a number of the cellar door wineries, starting with the most famous, Jacobs Creek.

Woke to a beautiful sunny day so we decided to follow the scenic Route 31 and visit the various beaches along the coast, close to where we are camping.

We drove up to the most northerly point of Route 31 and visited Christie beach. Like other sections of the coast it has limestone and clay cliffs, meaning a notably colour variation in the exposed rocks.

The beach was almost deserted and we were blessed with a white sandy beach and a warm ocean almost to ourselves. It was beautiful and meant we went into immediate relaxation mode and spent the next couple of hours dipping in and out of the water to keep cool.

We meandered down the coast line and on to the next beach at Port Noarlunga where it got a little busier and we were able to grab lunch at a cafe looking out across the beach.

Lunch was a proper indulgence with bacon and egg sandwich’s & chips, with a healthy smoothy to balance things out.

We idled the afternoon away with a couple of walks along the beach and a pier before returning to Moana beach and catching sunset.

Wow – the sunset was stunning and one of the best as it reflected against the ocean with nothing insight apart from the locals in their 4WD’s going up and down the beach also watching the sunset and enjoying bbqs and late evening swims.

Tomorrow we head up to the Adelaide hills and on to the Barossa Valley for some more wine tasting!!!

Today was all about the wine tasting in McLaren Vale. We started early at the Cube Dali exhibition in the d’Arenberg winery arriving as the doors opened at 10.30am. You know the day is going to be interesting when alcohol is being consumed so early in the day.

The Dalí Cube was incredible and oddly felt in place within its winery settling. As for the wine, well this was equally impressive and we had an excellent hour or so trying various wines from the 50+ varieties that they sell from this amazing winery.

The exterior to the winery and restaurant is not what you’d expect to see, but that’s the point, it draws you in with the usual and eye catching architectural pieces and great views of the valley and vineyards all around.

The eclectic furniture & pieces of art make this such a great place to visit and a standout in the McLaren Vale area.

After the success of the first wine tasting, we headed to the next at Oliver’s Taranga. This is a smaller family owned winery which has been in the same family for 6 generations.

Not only did they do great wines, they’ve branched out into olive oil, so we ended up having food and dips with the vino, again all before lunch time. The hospitality at these places is excellent. They know heaps about the wine and are keen to engage and chat about everything and anything. Andy even managed a 5min chat about football with an Arsenal loving winery guide!

Our third and final wine tasting stop was Maxwell’s vineyard, set within a stunning bar/restaurant which would rival any high class place in London in our view. Plus the views are to die for.

After a tough morning of drinking for Andy, Michelle took the driving reins and we headed to Moana beach to enjoy the late afternoon sunshine.

The beach has the most incredible cliffs looking down on the beach and once we got on the sand the ocean proved so inviting. Helped mostly by the fact at 5.30pm it was still over 30 Celsius.

The evening was spent organising and booking our forthcoming stay at Easter in Bali. We see being joined by our daughter Amelia and her friend Meg who are heading out from the Uk for 2 weeks in a villa – no doubt they will be checking out the night life as we enjoy a glass of vino and an early night!!

After 3 days in Victor Harbor we are now going north to Sellick’s beach and up along Route 31 before coming in land to the wine growing area of McClaren Vale.

Before this, we arranged to meet up again with Andy’s cousin and family who live close to Inman.

On the way we dropped into to see some glacial rocks that sit along the riverbeds of the Inman’s River.

The scenery along the Inman River is spectacular and more hilly, following the Flinders Ridge that runs along this coast.

A further 5 miles on we reached Sue & Paul’s house that sits on a hill side looking down into the valley. It’s an incredible place, in part due to the fact that 25yrs ago there was nothing there but an electric pylon. In the intervening years they have built a Roman themed villa from scratch and cultivated the land in order to live the ‘good life’.

We had a really enjoyable few hours chatting with the family, whilst making tomato soup for lunch and having a tour of the house and grounds. This will be the last time we see it, as the house is soon to be sold as Paul and Sue ‘downsize’ and move to their latest project house down in Yankalilla.

Paul & Sue kindly took us on a tour of their new place – it’ll be exciting to see how they get on with all the changes they want to make, both internally and externally over the coming months. Certainly the gardens offer great potential to get them back to producing lots of fruit and veggies.

After saying our goodbyes to Paul & Sue (we will be seeing Jayne again in Adelaide in a week) we drove up to Maslin Beach in readiness for tomorrow’s tour of the beaches and the wine growing area around McClaren Vale.