Friday Dec. 29
We arrived early in the morning to Sydney, Australia. We had some
difficulties getting a room as New Years Celebrations in Sydney are
huge. After calling 10-20 budget places that were full for the entire
week, we realized we had to bite the bullet and splurge on more expensive
accommodations. We decided to use the New South Wales tourism authority
and they were able to get us one of the last rooms in the city for
New Years Eve at a real bargain! (Just kidding, all the hotels jacked
up the prices for New Years). So we ended up booking a suite in a
five star hotel, "The Merchant Court" for New Years and
spending the rest of our time in Sydney at "The Grace Hotel"
a much cheaper place (it's all relative, isn't it?) in central Sydney,
yet still a four star hotel.
When we arrived to our room at The Grace, we took a two-hour nap
and then walked to the Sydney Harbor. It was gorgeous. There were
sail boats, ferries, and cruise boats all over the Harbor and the
bridge and Opera House were amazing. It is always so strange to
see in person the things you have seen so many pictures of. We sat
and relaxed and enjoyed the view for quite a while. We walked down
to the Sydney Opera House, which reflects the sailing heritage of
the region by appearing as a number of giant sails made from white
tile. This is one of the world's most recognizable landmarks, we
couldn't believe we were here. The Harbor Bridge loomed over the
water like a giant iron-black train trestle. This is where the fireworks
would be blasting.
We knew our first evening meal in Sydney would be at one of the
many recommended places on the Harbor. Australia is much like America
in its blending of many cultures, creating a diverse cuisine. In
fact, Sydney ranks with New York and London for its local chefs
and fine dining. We then embarked on our typical two-hour restaurant
tour. This is a ritual for us. We typically walk from restaurant
to restaurant reading the menus and wine lists deciding where to
eat. After much pondering we decided upon Aqua Luna and made reservations
for 7:00. That would give us time to walk back to our hotel, get
cleaned up, dressed up, and return.
We have eaten very well this trip despite the fact we have not
had access to any kitchen facilities. I should probably interject
here for those that are unaware of this; Tony is a great cook! At
home, we eat a variety of food from many parts of the world and
we have thoroughly enjoyed the Thai and Asian foods we have eaten
these last months. We loved the variety of food we have experienced
in South East Asia, but the thought of a good "European"
meal was very appealing. The views at Aqua Luna were great, looking
right over the harbor, and we ordered a bottle of Mountadam Chardonnay
(1998) that was excellent (for those that care, it had notes of
pear and citrus, with a mint undertone and generally oaky texture).
Tony ordered a Bistecca alla Fiorentino (a 600 gram T-bone steak
done in the Florence style with a green pesto sauce). Traci had
grilled snapper with white beans, rainbow chard and balsamic vinegar.
It was wonderful. We ate and drank for over 2 hours and it was bliss.
We had to keep reminding each other to slow down and enjoy the meal.
Saturday
The next day we got up and decided to explore the museums and parks
nearby. We walked to "Speakers' Corner" in part of Hyde
Park, just six or seven blocks from our hotel. Speakers Corner was
one of my London highlights a few years ago and I was excited to
find out they had one in Sydney. This is a tradition in Britain's
Hyde Park that started long ago. It consists of small podiums -
mostly people on stepping stools speaking their mind on a myriad
of subjects. People get on their "soapbox" and will yell
to the crowds of people. In my opinion, it is one of the most exciting
and shining examples of free speech. When we arrived, the speakers
corner had been moved as the park was blocked off for setup of the
New Years Festivities planned. So we stopped and listened to "Steve"
who was reviewing the year 2001 for the audience and highlighting
the important (in his opinion) events that were left out of main
stream news. Much was related to Australian politics, the current
bush-fires occurring very near Sydney, and other newsworthy topics.
We listened for a while and as we were leaving the speaker gave
us a copy of his book titled "Soapbox Oratory" and signed
it for us. It chronicles the history of speakers' corner in Sydney
since 1878 when it began with a Baptist pastor who took his platform
there. This was followed by years of people speaking about low wages,
class and race problems, preaching of the bible, women's rights,
Aboriginal viewpoints, the violent nature of Nazism, philosophy,
aliens, or whatever! Usually there are hecklers in the audience
who try to throw the speaker off. One audience member was calling
another audience member a "fascist nut" after he suggested
that elections couldn't be held during wartime referring to the
re-election of Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Ah, freedom
of speech!
We next went to the New South Wales art gallery, which was just
off the park. As we checked in our bag, we asked the nice older
gentleman what he would recommend in the museum. He got all excited
and gave us some suggestions. There was a temporary Len Lye (New
Zealand modern artist) exhibit in the lower level that we should
not miss (kinetic sculpture). He suggested doing a quick walk through
of all the floors in the museum, then have a cup of coffee and discuss
where we wanted to spend our time. He told us to find him after
our visit and let him know what we thought. It was wonderful. We
had not had the opportunity to go to an art museum for a while and
we had a very nice time wandering around. We looked at Aboriginal
art, European, Australian paintings and sculptures - modern and
classical, including the likes of Pablo Picasso, Van Gogh, and Rodin.
After the museum, we walked through St. Mary's cathedral, but the
crypts that Tony wanted to see were closed, so we decided to return
another time. This cathedral is built in Gothic style even though
it was built in the 1800's. There are even flying buttresses. After
we left the spires of the giant church, we were surprised that it
was already 6:00 pm. So we then went to the movie that nearly prevented
us from coming on this trip. Well, not exactly, but Tony was very
depressed he was going to be gone and miss the U.S. opening of "Lord
of the Rings." We went to get tickets, but the 7:00 and 8:00
shows were sold out, so we got tickets for 9:00. We arrived early
only to be ushered to the end of the longest lines either of us
had ever been in. The line for the movie would wind us through the
whole theatre and when another person in line asked a worker how
this many people were going to fit in the theatre, she replied that
the theatre held 850 people. Wow! Luckily there were a couple of
hundred people behind us. The theater was huge and the movie was
very good. Even I, hater of fantasy and science fiction, enjoyed
it.
Sunday
We got up New Years Eve day and moved to the only room available
in the city for us that night, the Merchant Court (only about a
block away) for the night. We would move back to the Grace Hotel
the next day. It was a suite and it was very nice. It even had rooms.
ROOMS! We have been staying in bedrooms with a bathroom (sometimes
no bathroom) for 3 months and it was so exciting to have a living
room, a kitchen/bar room, a bedroom, and a huge bathroom. It is
funny the things you get excited about on a trip like this. We then
discussed how huge our house at home will feel when we return compared
to the one room living we have been doing. We relaxed and read the
magazines and books in the little library in our room while listening
to classical music. We have not had a chance to listen to much of
a variety of music. They had some issues of a magazine called Fables,
the Art of Travel, which was a great magazine. It is published by
the hotel, and it was great. I read each one cover to cover.
Later on we went to the Harbor where we watched the 9:00 fireworks
(Traci is being kind here. We walked down to the harbor at 5:30
pm so that we could get a spot. After the security tried to kick
all of us out a number of times, we successfully watched the amazingly
small fireworks show. We laughed for a long time about the lack
of fireworks. They only took ten minutes. Needless to say, we didn't
know why everyone made such a big deal about the fireworks in Sydney.).
After this, we walked to an area called "Darling Harbor"
and listened to some jazz and swing music until midnight. There
were thousands of people milling about, listening to the different
bands playing in various parts of the harbor walkway. At midnight,
a tremendous cheer was heard, and then we watched another display
of fireworks far more spectacular than the first. Even though we
were not at the Sydney Harbor (we were at Darling Harbor), we could
still see the amazing fireworks blasting from the Harbor Bridge
off in the distance. We realized that contrary to what people had
been telling us, the best show was at midnight, and we only saw
it from a distance. This ended up being the display that was replayed
on CNN a number of times. There was a fireworks display in Darling
Harbor as well, and it was pretty good by itself.
Monday
The next day we moved back to the Grace Hotel and walked to the
Royal Botanical Gardens. These were beautiful English style gardens.
As we entered there was a huge sign commanding us to "Please
Walk on the Grass." It encouraged people to veer off the nice
paths to smell and feel the flowers, have picnics, etc. The gardens
were very large, and included a rose garden, an herb garden and
a tropical forest area. The tropical forest was interesting because
above our heads there were hundreds of extremely large fruit bats
(flying foxes) sleeping in the canopy. We could see them fluttering
their wings, hanging by their feet. We walked along to Macquerie's
Point that had great views of the Opera House and the Bridge. There
was a chair at the very point carved into the limestone. This is
called Mrs. Macquerie's Chair. The chair was carved out for the
(1800's) governor's wife because she loved to sit and watch the
harbor scenery.
Tuesday
On Tuesday we took the subway to the Sydney Olympic Park. We wandered
through the park that we saw so much of during the 2000 Olympics
and saw plaques of all the metal winners that brought back to our
minds the names of Ian Thorpe, Michael Johnson, Jenny Thompson,
Marion Jones, Cathy Freeman and many others. We saw most of the
venues that held those amazing Games, like the baseball field where
the USA pulled out the Gold Medal against the likes of the mighty
Cubans and Japan. We were not able to enter the stadium where the
opening and closing ceremonies took place because it is under renovation
for the next two years. We then went swimming in the Olympic pool
where so many world records were broken. The pool in which the United
States dominated in medals, but were closely followed by the mighty
Australians with swimmers such as Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett and
Susie O'Neill. Remember USA swimmers such as Dara Torres, Lenny
Krayzelberg, Gary Hall Jr, Ed Moses, Tom Malchow, Amanda Beard,
Amy Van Dyken and Anthony Ervin? We were swimming in the same pool
as these legends. Swimming was quite a work out as the lanes are
50 meters long. It was nice because the lanes had people who were
swimmers doing laps, and not just people splashing around. There
were separate pools for that. So we both got quite a workout and
also went down a huge inflatable slide from the top diving platform
into the pool after passing our swimming test the staff gave us.
They made us swim the length of the pool and then gave us a hand
stamp that let us go down the large slide.
We ate dinner at Baia, a bistro type place on the wharf and watched
the sunset over Darling Harbor in the evening before retiring.
Wednesday
We took an explorer cruise that sailed around different parts of
Sydney Harbor and got off at Sydney's Taronga Zoo for about 6 hours
before finishing the cruise. The zoo was huge and it took Tony all
day to see the platypus, Kamodo dragon, enichda (like a porcupine),
kangaroos, koalas, and the other usual zoo fare. I managed to make
a few long-distance phone calls during some of this time. Thank
goodness! My zoo attention span is pretty short.
When we arrived back on the shores of the Central District, we
decided to do a walk that was suggested in a travel book. We walked
to an area called "The Rocks", which is just off the landing
area of the boat. This is where the first boats of convicts from
England landed in 1788. The whole area known as "The Rocks"
is the oldest in Sydney, and is where the oldest churches, buildings,
taverns and parks are located. Many people know that Australia was
in fact a penal colony for Great Britain, but most are not aware
that these convicts were given a second chance when they came to
the 'land down under.' A number of these criminals ended up becoming
leaders of the community, not to mention millionaires. Most of the
wonderful Victorian architecture was designed and built by convicts.
As we followed the path of the walk the book suggested, we began
to get a feel for how it must have been for these people. Sydney
started as a community of wooden huts, but in time grew into a great
seaport. We saw a statue of William Bligh, the infamous captain
of the HMAV Bounty (Mutiny on the Bounty). According to the true
facts, he wasn't such a bad guy. He ended up becoming governor of
Sydney and was thrown in prison by his own men (sounds familiar)
for stopping their monopoly on rum importation. He was found not
guilty by the powers that be in England. After the statue we came
upon Cadman's Cottage, which is the oldest surviving house in the
city (1816). We continued the walk by passing under the Harbor Bridge
(built in the 20's and 30's during the Great Depression) and onto
Lower Fort Street. This street has Georgian architecture all along
its sidewalks, and at the end there is the Holy Trinity Church,
also known as the Garrison Church. It is known as such because the
"redcoats" or British Soldiers would march up to the church
every morning to worship. On the way to the church, we passed a
very old pub called the "Hero of Waterloo." This is the
second oldest pub in the city, only younger than the "Lord
Nelson Hotel." The Lord Nelson Hotel is known today because
Dan Quayle once had a beer there. It is the oldest pub and hotel
in all of Australia. We took a look at the rooms and they are very
nice. The pub has a maritime feel to it. After we walked through
the pub we walked to the top of Observatory Hill. There is obviously
an observatory on top of this hill, but it is a museum now. From
the hill we could see unobstructed views of Darling Harbor and Sydney
Harbor. We continued on the walk and found ourselves going through
what seemed like a tunnel. It was actually steep living stone walls
covered by the Sydney Harbor Bridge. This area is known as Argyle
Cut. There was a sandstone ridge here prior to 1843. At that time,
the city needed a way to connect "The Rocks" to the main
part of the city easier than going all the way around the ridge.
Convict work gangs carved out the ridge for two and a half years
with hand tools. They couldn't finish it. In 1857, when explosives
and tools with modern technology were developed, they finished the
Argyle Cut. The Cut is about 200 meters long. We could see that
it was a massive undertaking. The walls of the ridge looked like
they were about 50 feet tall. We could still see the cuts made by
pickaxes along the sandstone. Soon after we walked through the Cut,
we were back near where we started. We couldn't help but feel like
this area called "The Rocks" was much like the city of
Boston or some of the seaports on the East coast of the United States.
We have never been to Boston, but the maritime feel, the way the
country of Australia started by European colonization, and the suffering
that the first colonies went through inextricably link our two countries.
Thursday
We are off for 3 weeks in a campervan bumming around the wine regions
near Melbourne and Adelaide.
D'Vine Club and other wine enthusiasts: Stay tuned for Tony's
wine commentary, suggested wines, and other wine tidbits, facts,
or whatever.
January 4, 2002
As we picked up the campervan, we were very curious about what
this would be like. This is a common vacation vehicle for Australians.
It was actually very nice and had all these great amenities to which
we had been unaccustomed to on the trip. It was a high top van so
Tony could stand up inside it. There was a bed, which converted
to a table, and the kitchen area was pretty impressive considering
the very small space. It had a deep refrigerator, a two-burner stove
with a grill underneath, which uses a fuel tank carried in a compartment
outside the van. It had a sink that draws water from a tank that
is refillable. There were cupboards with slots that hold the dishes
in place and a drop down prep area. There was a second bed on top,
which we never used. There was also a drop down table that can be
set up outside the door to eat outside with two lounge chairs. It
was a real treat to unpack our stuff for a few weeks and not have
to dig through our backpacks.
We picked up our "Shangri - La on Wheels" and got moving
right away. This was slightly stressful for Tony as it is a big
high top van, with a stick shift that is opposite what he is used
to and driving on the opposite side of the road was a real challenge.
But as he did in London he picked it up right away. Getting out
of the sprawling urban area of Sydney was like baptism by fire,
but once on the Hume Highway (the main Sydney - Melbourne highway),
it was like riding a bike; just had to get back on. Neither one
of us had driven in four months, let alone on the opposite side
of the road and a stick. Due to the bush fires, we were not able
to take the roads to the south we were hoping to. A quick word about
this. Many of you have seen on the news the terrible fires they
were having near Sydney. When we were in Sydney, we could see smoke
towards the direction of the fires, but the majority of the city
seemed quite clear. It was not until we drove away from the city
when we hit a point where everything looked crystal clear that we
realized our eyes had probably gotten used to the smoke.
So we drove, picked up some groceries, and eventually it started
to get dark. Many people told us that you could pull over wherever
to sleep and camp for the night. This was pretty awkward at first.
We pulled over near the entry of the Kuzciusco National Park (Snowy
Mountain Range). The scenic beauty of this mountainous outback was
breathtaking. Remember the movie, "The Man From Snowy River"?
It was about a man who lived here and tamed one of the wild horses
that still run through the wilderness here.
We just pulled over, pulled the shades, and Tony reveled in being
able to cook a meal, which is something he hadn't been able to do
the rest of the trip. We had something very exotic; grilled cheese
and tomato soup. Strange? I tend to crave tomato soup about once
a year. It was growing dark, and the silence grew louder (insert
contradiction joke here), when suddenly the Kookaburra began to
laugh. Remember the old song from elementary school? "Kookaburra
sits on the old gum tree, very merry king of the bush is he, laugh
Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra, gay your life must be." Well,
it's true. We read (or specifically, Tony read (because Traci isn't
a big zoo person)) at the zoo that the Kookaburra's laugh is actually
menacing to other birds and intruders and aids in family communication
(who says laughter doesn't aid in family communication?). The Kookaburras
seemed to be having a field day. Their laughter is exactly the same
sound you hear in 'B' grade movies when someone enters the jungle.
I don't know why that sound ever got transferred to jungle movies,
but if you have heard the sound, you never forget it. It is both
haunting and hysterical. We laughed along with the king of the bush.
We spoke to many Australians during our trip and made a few changes
to what we thought we would do. Australia is huge! We thought we
would go north, but many assured us the drive to Cairns is way too
long to drive in only 3 weeks. Before Sept. 11, apparently there
were regular and inexpensive flights. Australia's Ansett Airlines
also recently went bankrupt leaving very expensive flights to Cairns,
so we decided we would follow the advice of many Aussies and head
south. We were told the wine regions, the Great Ocean Road, and
the southern part is gorgeous and much better use of time than driving
like crazy to the north.
Mount Kuzciusco National Park
As we wrote earlier, we camped right outside the entrance to
the National Park. When we got up and started driving the next morning,
the scenery changed quickly. We were just in the foothills of the
Snowy Mountains when we camped the night before, but as we drove,
stony crags and coniferous forest replaced rolling hills. We were
however thoroughly confused by the way the park entrance worked.
First of all, we never actually saw an "entrance." We
just saw a sign informing us we were now entering the park. Typically
in the United States, we are used to a blocked road with guardhouse
so that we have to pay a fee. We were worried for a few hours that
we would be pulled over for not having a park pass. We saw a sign
for the "Yarangobilly Caves" and decided to check it out.
It turns out the feature is a guided tour through the mountains
stalactite and stalagmite filled caves. We didn't care to spend
money on having a guide tell us what we could see with our own eyes.
The trip down the six-kilometer winding dirt road was worth it however
to find out that the whole northern part of the park was free. They
only start charging vehicles around the actual Mt. Kuzciusco area.
So, armed with that information, we set off to find a bush camp
area. After a bit more driving, we settled in at a place called
Three-Mile Dam. This whole area was once a goldmining region. It
is totally deserted now, since the goldrush ended and the place
was declared a national park. We ended up camping in a spot with
four or five other campers. We went for a hike here on a track called
the Goldminer's Track. It was interesting because there was still
some goldmining equipment rusting out in the woods. We needed to
stop in a little town later that day, and I wouldn't even write
about it except that I swear we saw Rachel Hunter. Traci was making
a phone call to our friends Jess and Dave (we had these really good
phone cards we bought in Sydney), when a gorgeous woman passed me
in the hallway. I went into the General Store and purchased taco
supplies for Traci's surprise birthday meal, and there she was.
I know it was Rachel Hunter. She had a little kid that almost ran
into me. I made sure the child didn't fall down and then "Rachel"
smiled at me. Do supermodels travel through national parks? I would
suppose some do. I think Ms. Hunter is from Australia as well, so
it isn't super far fetched. I am 99% sure we saw Rachel Hunter.
When she smiled at me, she kept watching both Traci and I, seemingly
expecting us to say something, but I kept my mouth shut, and we
went back to our camp.
We ended up spending two nights in the park. The second night we
stayed at the "Thredboe Diggings" rest stop and campground.
This area wasn't free however, and we got our park stickers so the
fuzz didn't hunt us down. Again, the Thredboe Diggings was a former
goldmine area. This site was at the foot of Mt. Kuzciusco, the highest
point in Australia. We went on another hike, only this time the
feature of the walk was a former summer residence of a wealthy pioneer.
When we almost arrived to the historic summer home, we came across
an open yard. Suddenly, we saw kangaroos everywhere. They were nesting
on the grounds and the dominant male came out to make sure we didn't
pull any shenanigans. He just watched us while waving around his
useless hands. His powerful back legs looked menacing enough though,
so we didn't try to walk past. When we got back from the homestead,
we saw the great Grey kangaroo blocking off the open grass area,
so we couldn't even walk there. We decided that we shouldn't risk
the mighty boxing abilities of the evil creature, so we avoided
the area and got back on the path to our camp. Traci now thinks
all kangaroos are out to get her.
Wine Regions A' Plenty
While we were in Sydney, we gathered information about some of the
wine regions and found there would be too many to cover, but we
would be hitting many on our route through the states of New South
Wales (Sydney), Victoria (Melbourne) and South Australia (Adelaide).
Much time was spent driving while Traci read about the wineries
and Tony would select some of the ones he wanted to visit.
We intended to go to the Hunter Valley, which is North of Sydney,
but decided we would try to visit that at the end of our trip and
hoped the bushfires would be under control by then. So we headed
to the southern part of Australia to the state known as Victoria.
This area is vast and the scenery is gorgeous. As we had been driving
throughout Australia, we are amazed at the extreme changes in scenery.
One minute we are in outback regions with desert and red sand then
we are in green mountainous areas like Colorado, then we are along
the ocean like the West Coast, then in rainforests, then grass lands.
It is really beautiful.
We bought a special notebook just to document all the wine areas
and cellar doors we visited. We will spare you all the details and
just give you an overview of what regions we visited, what wineries,
and some of our favorite wines, tidbits, learnings, etc.
Gippsland is a vast area in eastern Victoria, close to the ocean
with rolling hills. The region is generally cool and there are not
many wineries. Produce and dairy farming are significant in these
areas. This area started out for us as soon as we left the Snowy
Mountains. There aren't too many wineries here, but we visited two
of the ten or so cellar doors that offered tastings. The two wineries
we went to were Wyanga Park and Nicholson River. The first was fairly
unremarkable, but we were both impressed with the owner of Nicholson
River Winery. Some people say he has the best Chardonnay in all
of Australia. Opinions may vary on this, but Ken Eckersley (the
owner and winemaker) definitely had opinions on the psychological
and emotional response brought on by a fine wine. He and Traci discussed
this topic in length.
The next couple of weeks were more of a blur of world-class wineries
and scenery that changed by the hour. We spent one full morning
and afternoon in one of Australia's most famous wine regions, the
Yarra Valley. This area is just north of Melbourne, and is home
to over 40 wineries. Of course we could only see a few, but they
were mostly excellent. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the grapes
this region is best known for. This region has increased in popularity
since a number of French companies have paired up with local wineries,
or overtook them. Its close proximity to Melbourne and the ever-increasing
demand of quality products has driven the whole Yarra Valley to
excellence. It also helps that the gentle rolling hills are completely
covered in grapevines. We entered the valley by coming through a
winding mountain road, so we got to see the diversity of the area.
The notable wineries are Domaine Chandon, St. Huberts, Yering Station
and Yarra Glen. We bought a bottle of a fine blend of Cabernet Sauvignon,
Merlot, Cab Franc and Malbec from Yering Station (the oldest winery
in the area dating to 1837). Hopefully we can make it home with
this bottle and it will age decently. Probably the most interesting
thing in this region was Domaine Chandon, although it was also the
most disappointing. We went to this winery with the knowledge that
it was the Australian home of the French company that makes Dom
Perignon Champagne. The Moet et Chandon company recognized this
region as a great complement to their grape-growing establishment,
and have established themselves and really put the area on the map.
There was a nice self-guided tour of the whole winery, but tastings
were not really feasible unless you planned to spend awhile here.
You had to buy a whole glass of a wine in order to even taste it.
We thought this was rather presumptuous. How are you supposed to
even know if you want to try it? The winery was beautiful and spectacular,
but the tasting area left something to be desired.
We left the Yarra Valley in order to head to Adelaide in the state
of South Australia and the Barossa Valley, the most famous wine
region (other than the Hunter Valley) of Australia. But first, we
headed through the border town of Mildura, which had its own wine
region; the Murray River Valley.
We stopped at a couple of wineries here as well. Again, they weren't
quite as impressive as the more famous areas, but had some gems.
One of those gems was a little winery called Carne Estate. This
is owned and managed by a single family that makes excellent reds.
We talked in depth to the owner and his son, who you can see a picture
of on the picture pages. They were just common joes that worked
their way up from growing grapes into owning their own winery. They
are still a small operation but with their awards for their kickbutt
Cabernet Sauvignons and their blends, they are growing all the time.
Plus, they gave us a free cookie! The one winery Tony really wanted
to see here was the Lindeman's Winery. Lindeman's is even a famous
wine label in the US, so at least we wanted to check it out. Unfortunately,
the cellar door was closed, thus igniting a string of disappointments
with the bigger named wineries. More later.
The day was the hottest we had experienced in Australia and we
were told by many people later that this year has been backwards
for the country. It was unusually cool for Australia and the one
hot day they had we were driving in the Murray Outback. We stopped
off at Mildura and went into the visitor center which was also housed
a museum, a café, the town library, and a YWCA. We took advantage
and used the refreshing pool for a few hours. It was nice, as we
had been driving quite a bit. Does anyone remember during the Olympics
when they highlighted Australia and the talk of the national affinity
toward water sports? That is absolutely true. The YWCA we swam at
had the most impressive pool complex for a smaller town. It has
6 different pools - an indoor kiddie pool with fun showers and toys,
an indoor hot tub, an indoor lap pool and a wave pool. Outside it
had an Olympic size lap pool with 8 lanes and a pool with huge diving
platforms. During our Australia visit, even the smallest towns seem
to have elaborate public pools.
Crossing borders in Australia is sometimes like crossing borders
in the United States. Not usually too complicated, however we were
warned about the precautions taken to protect the farming interests
of each region and at some border crossings any fresh fruit and/or
vegetables cannot cross the border for fear of fruitflies or other
pests. We had not run into this at the crossing of the previous
state (NSW to Victoria). As we did not realize the closeness of
the South Australia border, we bought some groceries, including
vociferous amounts of fresh fruits. We were stopped at the guard's
crossing where a nice man asked us if we had any fruit or vegetables.
We showed him our receipt for the groceries we purchased a few hours
earlier and he explained we would either need to eat it or throw
it away. We could keep our potatoes, garlic, and onions if they
were peeled. So we pulled into their picnic area and peeled onions,
potatoes, garlic, and gobbled down 2 oranges, 3 peaches, 2 apricots,
4 kiwi fruit, and 2 very large mangoes. After our vitamin C overload,
we were able to cross the border, in bloated discomfort. We couldn't
let the fruit go to waste!
Barossa Valley
We had a fairly long drive ahead of us to the Barossa Valley. We
ended up bushcamping about an hour outside of the Barossa, right
next to some vineyards. Once we reached the Barossa Valley, we realized
what the hubbub was all about. This was a very scenic area with
vineyards over the rolling hills as far as the eye can see. The
area has a great history, which you cannot help but learn about.
The whole state of South Australia was a planned free settlement.
Unlike New South Wales, which was founded by the British as a penal
colony, South Australia was established to give hardworking free
immigrants an opportunity to own some land and have better freedoms.
The Barossa Valley was mostly settled by Germans escaping religious
persecution in the 19th Century. The oldest town in the area is
called Bethany, originally a settlement of 200 dissident Lutherans.
The town is similar to many little German hamlets back home in Minnesota.
However, the grocery stores do a much better trade in Schnitzel
than we do. Go figure. The English gentry sponsored development
of a commercial wine industry and the hardworking immigrants established
the Barossa Valley.
The Barossa Valley was our first initiation into the BIG wine regions
in Australia. This is the commercial heart of Australia's wine industry.
Lest we forget that some of our bigger wine companies in the US
are owned by Australian wine companies, names like Wolf Blass (Mildara-Blass
Company, which owns Beringer in the United States), Penfolds (Southcorp,
one of the biggest wine conglomerations in the world including Lindemans,
Rosemount Estate and others), and Orlando/Jacob's Creek may remind
us. There are MANY wineries here, and just as many views and unique
valley shops. We bought an original watercolor of the region in
a gallery directly from the artist, and saw views of the valley
that made any picture we took of it look like a joke. It is difficult
to photograph an area that's vast beauty makes a mockery of our
pitiful attempts to capture it on film. But we tried, and we sampled
many of the region's ambrosia, which was mostly the Shiraz grape.
One of the things we learned here was that in the late 70's, early
80's, the government paid farmers to pull their old grapevines due
to stagnation of the industry and disease. Some of the grape growers
refused to do so, and they are now being greatly rewarded. Some
of the vines that people disposed of were close to a century old.
Wineries such as Kaesler Wines and Stanley Brothers have some of
the few Shiraz vines to survive. These old vine Shiraz's are some
of the finest in the world. Since the vines are so old, they yield
fewer grapes than a younger vine, but what they miss out in quantity,
they more than make up in quality. The grapes coming from these
vines are world-class, and the Shiraz has a long palate like a Cabernet
Sauvignon and is much more complex than a younger vine. But I digress.
We did however go to 18 wineries here. They were mostly very good.
Did we become obsessed along the way, or did we get carried away?
Come to the Barossa Valley, and you will not be able to resist such
great offerings. The most notable for both of us was the Mountadam
Winery in the Eden Valley, which is on the outskirts of the Barossa,
but a bit higher in the hills. We illegally took our campervan off
the tar road onto gravel. Our insurance did not include unsealed
roads, but we risked it. After about 10 miles, we reached the pinnacle
of the small "mountain". There was an unassuming stone
gated entrance. Perched on top of the gate on either side were two
stone eagles. We drove through rows of grapevines and down to the
dark, farm-looking building. We walked through the cellar door and
met a very nice woman who asked us what we wanted to taste. We ended
up spending well over an hour here. This winery has wines that make
one weep. Most of them are extremely excellent. The Chardonnay has
been named the world's best a couple of times. It is good stuff.
Other notable wineries are Charles Cimicky Winery, Wolf Blass and
Stanley Brothers (which I know you can find all over the Twin Cities!
(Try the John Hancock Shiraz)).
McLaren Vale
We continued our assault on the Australian wine industry by next
travelling down past Adelaide to the wine region of McLaren Vale
on the Fleurieu Peninsula. This area is in direct contrast with
the Barossa Valley. Whereas the Barossa seems like it is the wine
industry's darling, McLaren Vale seems like a sleepy farming town
which turns out some of the country's and the world's best Shiraz's
and many others. This seems like an area that is happy about its
place in the wine industry, but determined. There are big names
here too, like Hardy's Tintara (Hardy's) and Maglieri (Mildara-Blass),
but many family vineyards that just turn out excellent wines. One
of Tony's highlights here was going to a winery called Tinlin's
which filled up any bottle you may have with a pretty decent selection
of wines for very affordable prices. We walked out of there with
a liter of Shiraz-Cabernet and a liter of Tawny Port for $7.50 Australian,
which is about half that in US dollars.
John Reynell from England planted the first vines here in 1838.
Soon after, the Englishman Thomas Hardy whose name would become
synonymous with Australian wine arrived. And an English doctor named
AC Kelly who believed in the health benefits of wine was soon behind
Hardy. These three Englishmen started McLaren Vale on its way to
being one of the best wine regions in all of Australia.
We were about ten minutes from the sea here but an hour from the
lower part of the peninsula. The bay reaches far inland in this
area, and one night we decided to check out the coast. We drove
down to Victor Harbor, a city right on the southern coast of the
Flieurieu Peninsula, and walked via a bridge to a breakwater rocky
outcrop called Granite Island. We were promised the appearance of
many hundreds of "Little Penguins" but alas, we saw none.
We did see some spectacular seaviews, with waves crashing into the
rocks of Granite Island, but no real wildlife to speak of. However,
on our way back to the campervan, we spotted a Manta Ray skittering
through the shallows near the bridge.
Knowing that we were closing out the evening on this Granite Island,
we didn't make it back to McLaren Vale, we instead made our way
around the coast, and stayed two nights in this area, one in a conservation
coastal park. You wouldn't believe the views of the ocean or the
kangaroos here. The two-hour hike to the ocean was definitely worth
it, and the vast number of kangaroos was exciting for Tony (and
terrifying for Traci).
When we got back to McLaren Vale, we visited a number of the world-class
wineries. It is safe to say that our favorite winery was Chapel
Hill Winery (click here for their website). This cellar door is
located in an old Methodist church on top of a hill. The owners
renovated the old church into a cozy and beautiful cellar door.
There are cathedral windows and stained glass. It is all done inside
with dark wood. As you walk into the back room, there is a stunning
display of oak barrels (hogsheads) containing their current vintages
which are overlooked by stained glass windows. Oh, by the way, the
wines were great too. This winery is also noted for a wine called
"The Vicar", which is an unbelievable Cabernet Sauvignon
blend.
Our last night in McLaren Vale we went to a food and wine pairing
hosted by the visitor center. This was a great end to our visit.
Most of the people there were workers from local wineries that go
regularly in order to taste the wines of the host wine maker. The
facilitator was the owner of the café who talked about how
we probably all had memories of a favorite evening, and how is usually
involved the perfect meal with the perfect wine and the perfect
company. Everyone in the room was nodding their heads remembering
the evening in their minds. He talked about the art of paring wine
and food. We were able to try several of McLaren's wonderful wines
with a number of local foods such as prawns, smoked chicken, goat
cheese and sausage. It was a great way to end our great stay in
this quiet heavyweight of the Australian wine industry.
Great Ocean Road
Realizing that we didn't have tons of time left when we departed
from the McLaren Vale, we knew we would be driving a lot over the
next few days. We still wanted to see the Hunter Valley in New South
Wales (just north of Sydney) and the Great Ocean Road in southern
Victoria (just West of Melbourne). This 100-mile stretch of highway
is also known as the Shipwreck Coast due to the precarious passageway
that many ships have unfortunately foundered against. It reminded
both of us of the Oregon coastal highway, and in California like
Big Sur. We spent a full day travelling this rather short trek.
The road wound around rain forests and along sharp cliffs. There
is a famous rock formation along the coast here called the 12 Apostles.
We stopped at it and looked, but sea mists had rolled in, so we
could make out the One Apostle, we aren't sure which (j/k). Mostly
the time it took to drive it was due to so many pull over areas
of wonderful scenic or historic views, but later on we got caught
in a really bad late Sunday traffic jam. It turns out everyone was
leaving the beach towns to head back to Melbourne, and we got caught
smack in the middle of it. We did make it pretty far this day however.
By the time we pulled over in a rest area, we were already an hour
north of Melbourne.
Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley
We drove hard the next day because we only had the "Shangri-La"
for a couple more days and we still wanted to make it to the Blue
Mountains and the Hunter Valley. It was rather uneventful, but we
made it all the way to the Blue Mountains in one day. It was nine
hours of driving, but we were glad that we made it. We even got
in early enough that we decided to go to a movie! It was "Shallow
Hal." Don't go see it. It won't win the Academy Award for Best
Picture. Anyway, the next morning we entered the Blue Mountains.
The Blue Mountains are named as such because the Eucalyptus trees
that are so abundant give off a fine mist of oil, causing a blue
haze in the air. The scenery here as in much of the country is simply
amazing. We went hiking a few places during the day. We saw waterfalls,
rock formations and glorious mountain views. We saw a famous triple
rock formation called "The Three Sisters." They are three
columns of rock side by side, and huge! We hiked along a cliff and
could see for miles across the blue colored valleys below. Traci
and I had a contest throwing rocks into the valley, which was REALLY
far down. We stayed in a trailhead parking lot that night and headed
to the Hunter Valley early the next morning
In order to get to the Hunter, we had to cross through another
national park with winding roads and mountains. Only this time,
the scenery was much different. This was an area that had been burned
out by the vast Sydney bushfires. As far as the eye could see trees
were blackened and a lot of them were a blazing orange color. There
were no leaves, and it appeared like Autumn. There was no other
foliage. Maybe the orange color is what a gum tree or Eucalyptus
tree looks like when the sap burns out. It is amazing to see what
kind of devastation a fire can bring. Even on the very high hilltops
the trees were burned.
It took two hours to get through the forest, and then we were in
the Hunter Valley. This wine region is located just two hours North
of Sydney, and is arguably the most famous and most visited wine
country. Vineyards were started here back in the 1820's and it is
the longest continuously operating wine region. The father of Australian
viticulture, James Busby distributed some of his vines to other
interested settlers back in 1825. Less than ten years later, at
least 10 growers were active.
Awards came early to this wine region, and it attracted several
big names in winemaking. Currently, there are over 85 wineries in
the region. Australian wineries famous in the United States like
Tyrell's, Lindemans, Rosemount Estate and Wyndham Estates reside
here. The Hunter Valley is known mostly for two grapes: Semillon
and Shiraz (like most other wine regions of Australia).
We spent two days in the Hunter Valley, actually staying in a caravan
park! Yes, the lap of luxury. We had an electrical hookup (so we
could write some of this) and water that we could use (and showers).
The most impressive winery we went to in the Hunter Valley was Pepper
Tree Winery. The winery itself was nestled within a vineyard of
ripe Merlot grapes (which we stole a couple and ate). This winery
is most famous for its Merlot's, and was named the World's Best
Merlot in 1996. It was very good. But even better was their Cabernet
Sauvignon. It is the best wine I have ever had. The staff was friendly
and very helpful. Another winery we really enjoyed was Ivanhoe Winery.
The cellar door was situated overlooking some beautiful hills and
vineyards. The whole place had a Medieval feel about it. Even the
labels on the wine were shaped like a Crusader knight's shield.
Shrewd marketing. We had a "wine appreciation" tasting
here, where the hostess gave us a tasting of each wine they had,
told us what to look for, and gave us some history of each. We went
to several more wineries around the area, and sadly realized that
our Shangri-La winery adventure was nearly over.
The next day we drove the two hour freeway drive to Sydney, returned
the Shangri-La (luckily they didn't find out we drove it on gravel
roads), and booked a room at the Grace Hotel again (where we had
stayed when we first got to Sydney). We got the room for four nights,
and decided we would do some of the things in Sydney that we hadn't
had a chance to do the first time around. We found however, that
we sprawled around the room a lot. It is kind of nice to not be
moving all the time. We needed the down time. We of course arrived
on the eve of Australia's national holiday, like our 4th of July.
Needless to say, we were able to partake in some outdoor concerts
and kick back in Hyde Park with a nice glass of Chardonnay.
Well, it is off to New Zealand next, and we have a car rented there,
so we should be able to get around pretty good. Hope to see you
there!
Tony's top 5 wineries
5. Stanley Brothers (Barossa)
4. Chapel Hill (McLaren)
3. Pepper Tree (Hunter)
2. Charles Cimicky (Barossa)
1. Mount Adam (Eden Valley/Barossa)
Traci's top 5 wineries
5. Wolf Blass (Barossa)
4. Nicolsen River (Gippsland)
3. Chain of Ponds (Adelaide Hills)
2. Chapel Hill (McLaren)
1. Mount Adam (Eden Valley/Barossa)
Tony's top 5 Wines
5. '98 Chardonnay, Mountadam (Eden Valley/Barossa)
4. '97 Yarra Edge (Cab Sauv blend), Yering Station (Yarra Valley)
3. "The Red" (Cab Sauv blend), Mountadam (Eden Valley/Barossa)
2. "The Vicar", (Cab Sauv blend), Chapel Hill (McLaren
Vale)
1. '98 Cabernet Sauvignon, Pepper Tree (Hunter)
Traci's top 5 Wines (I want to clarify
that it is very difficult for me to say this, as I tend to prefer
Chardonnays and whites, as they are much more drinkable. However,
to be fair to the reds, which I believe are only given justice with
food, I will list a few of them which I enjoy)
5. '99 Shiraz-Cabernet, Carne Estate (Murray Valley)
4. '01 Unwooded Chardonnay, Chapel Hill (McLaren Vale)
3. '01 Unwooded Chardonnay, Chain of Ponds (Adelaide Hills)
2. Any old-vine Shiraz
1. Anything from Mountadam (especially '98 Chardonnay)
Australia Highs
Sydney Harbor - bridge and opera house
Fixed prices
The Snowy River National Park
New Years and fireworks on the Harbor
Historic buildings
Cooking our own meals in the campervan
Unpacking our stuff in the campervan
Wineries - all 48 of them
Wonderful food
Seeing many kangaroos and emus
Colorful parrots and exotic birds everywhere
Wonderful smells of Eucalyptus
Walks in rainforests
Biking to wineries in the Barossa Valley
Great ocean views and ocean towns
Great hiking in the national parks
Beautiful flowers
Good cheeses
Hunter Valley Chocolate truffles
Chipper and friendly people
Mountain streams
Australia Lows
Long drives
Sunburn
Vegemite (for Traci)
Not enough to time to see everything
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