Our trip to the Barossa was probably the most full-on day, with us leaving early so that we would have time to go to a few wineries. The first one we went to was Wolf Blass where we sampled and purchased lots of "waaarn". Exhibit A shows some of the bottles purchased. I bought myself a bottle of Shiraz not being a big white wine drinker, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the whites, very tasty indeed, so we walked out with 7 bottles from the one winery. Off to a great start then.
The wind had started picking up by this point so we decided one more winery would do it and decided to make our way to Saltram's. One wrong turn later we stumbled upon Angaston, so decided to have some lunch at a Cafe there and then attempt to find Saltram's again. This time we succeeded. By this stage though I think we were both thinking "Oh boy we've bought a lot of bottles of wine already" so we only bought 3 more bottles I think before we headed back home. Yes, only.
We decided to check out Whispering Wall on the way back to the city as I hadn't been there since I was a kid but the wind was really cold and bitey at this stage so we got out of the car, took a couple of quick photos, dubbed it "Windy-as-fuck Wall" and got the hell out of there. Exhibit B demonstrates the windy conditions well I think.
I won't go into too much detail for the other trips or we'll be here forever, but the next piccies are ones that were taken at Waterfall Gully which I think are nice ones.
For Glen's last few days in Adelaide we had Alex over and had a mini-LAN one night. We played some Battle for Middle Earth 2 and Flatout 2, and let's just say the night was all about the stats. Unfortunately I had to work on the Monday but Glen came into town and we had lunch so that broke up the day nicely. He was inconsiderate enough to book a flight out at 6:15am on Tuesday though but I'll let that slide :D
And that is the holiday in a little more detail! If I think up any more amusing anecdotes I will post them at a later stage. Oh, and for those that might be thinking "Who is this Glen person?" the short version is he is someone Ivan and I met online during our days playing Battlefield 1942 online (he goes by the online name of Xy), we've kept in touch ever since and he is one of my closest friends. It may seem strange that we built such a good friendship via the internet but finally after all these years it was good to meet him in person. Surreal, but at the same time it was like he was here all along. Thanks for coming to visit us, Glen :)
Yeah we managed to get up to a few other things as well such as avoid the antarctic wind blasts and watch several DVD's, the most memorable of which was Clerks 2 and the Clerks animation which the end of episode 4 had all of us, Mel, Ivan, Alex and I left in tears and stitches from laughing at and I still get a chuckle out of just thinking about it, class A humour right thar!
ReplyDeleteDrinking the Waaarn! and making up deserts that a lady at the wolfblass winery described to us involving a Pinot gris Botrytis and some diced strawberries I also think went very well and many more giggles ensued as a result of our combined inebriated state :).
We also spent a day at mount lofty summit and the botanical gardens up there which was in equal parts icily windy and awesome, especially the gardens which were beautiful even if most of the flora that was labelled should have been called "Sticky Mcstick" or "Bonsey no leaves" but that didnt matter as the creeks and ponds and very steep trails were pretty cool.
We also had to take a break a few times due to the afore mentioned very steep trails to catch our breaths and in doing so got to appreciate everything around us ... and the bugs trying desperately to suck our juices from us.
Speaking of bugs we also took a walk down by the torrens which look awesome from afar but as Mel said and was readily apparent on closing with them, they are a terribly polluted set of lakes? ... the jury is still out on that one as we think its actually a river *shrugs*.
But as we sat along the shore just enjoying a pleasant afternoon we again were brutally assaulted by yet more bugs trying to suck the marrow from our collective bones which set us to flight through the nearby university whilst we discussed the viabillity of robot ninja monkeys making it into our story somehow so as to make it more interesting (no, no waaarn had been consumed at this point though it really should have been to trigger such blatherings from us).
I also managed to pick up a particularily delightful flu or something from the trip as well which i have spent the last week thoroughly enjoying as my bones ache and I dizzily stagger to and fro in a surreal mystery land filled with fairies and lollipops but thankfully it is finally passing and my sanity is now returning to a stage that is barely recognizable once more (that is to say somewhere bordering on normality).
I loved the trip and thoroughly endorse a trip to adelaide as the tap water wasnt anywhere near the sewer efluent I was brought to believe it was and nary a church was to be seen!
As always though its the company that makes the trip so i would like to thank Ivan for allowing me into his home on occasion and letting me enjoy some fantastic gaming.
Alex for entertaining me with some very interesting stories and for being my teammate as we destroyed all who opposed us (muahahahahaahhaaaa! *coughs* ahem ... anywho).
Last but not least I would also like to thank mel for being my guide and companion as we jaunted around the countryside checking out the sites and wonders and generally making me feel welcome and keeping me entertained for 10 days straight with her insightful and humerous anecdotes and crazy antics :)
Thanks for all the awesome fun guys and perhaps next time you can come to my neck of the woods and we can go whale watching or something almost out my backyard :)
Glen
Crikey man, that's the longest comment ever! *Sells the movie rights to a studio*
ReplyDeleteOh yes, as an afterword I have a short tale to relate which may be of some interest to the general public...
ReplyDeleteUpon our return from the barossa we drove through sandy creek which consisted of a pub and two houses which were outnumbered 5 to one by utes of every colour under the sun!
Was it true? had we reached the nirvana of ute existance? the fabled utey land perchance?
It was then I was told "You know, Sandy Creek is famous for its utes"
by a dead serious Mel driving along beside me without any apparent inflection of voice or subtle change of expression to let me know she was joking in any way at all, was she in fact telling the truth?
Then in the same tone and inflection she began to spin a short tale to this day which I am unsure if it was an elaborate ploy to poke fun at my gulibillity or in fact the total truth of the situation.
She began...
"Well you have heard Adelaide is the city of churches but it is a little known fact outside of SA that sandy creek is indeed the capital of australia in regards to utes and that annually ute drivers and enthusiasts from all around the country gather at this small and remote location to show off their prides and joys and to swap tall tales of their ute driving experiences".
She went into further detail about how when she was younger that one of her friends took her to a meet and that was how she first learned of this underground event of swilling alcaholic substances, blasting loud music from over priced, self installed car sound systems and of course the ever present "lapping" of the vehicles to show them off to the bystanders.
I must say if this rumour proves to be true it is indeed the most remote and unique car enthusiast meet I have to this day heard tell of, especially one revolving around what I would have considered up to that point to be just the humble utillity vehicle which had now been dressed up and sent to prom.
I shall continue my intrepid investigating of this rumour and if lucky enough I shall attempt at much personal risk to insert myself into this sub culture of australia and see if i can get an inside, undercover scoop for you the viewer/reader to report the truth!
This is Glen of CGNN, signing out.