Clare to Adelaide

Day 262

After a cool ‘jumpers and hats’ start to the morning we decide to head off on the bikes, along the ‘Riesling trail’ and into Clare. The trail is a 30KM, purpose built cycle and walking track along the route of an old railway line which takes you past most of the regions cellar doors and gives you ample opportunity to try some of the regions speciality Riesling’s!

Our plan for the day is to head straight into town for a look around and then work our way back via a few of the wineries, having a little taste here and there. The town itself is small but pretty and we notice at least two pubs on the small high street (can’t be bad).

Call into one of the employment agencies to enquire about doing some grape picking whilst we are here but the patronising woman makes it seem far more difficult that it should be and we leave feeling more confused than when we arrived.

Chores done with we head to our first winery and the beginning of our (mini) ‘Riesling trail’ and the Knappstein winery and brewery. Now I have ever been a big Riesling drinker, my previous experience of it has been a sickly sweet wine that I wouldn’t really consider buying and so it was with some trepidation that we entered the winery and asked to taste a couple of their wines.

We started (as you do) with their range of whites and then moved on to try a couple of reds as well and finished with a taste of their beer. Well all I can say is I must have been drinking some pretty rough Rieslings in the past! These were glorious, nice and dry with a burst of citrus and a long fruity finish and we were both instant converts. The reds were lovely too and we end up buying a great Shiraz to take home with us.

On to the next winery, and the next, and the next and we took the rest of the afternoon making our way back to the campsite stopping at Mr Mick, Kirrihill, Tim Adams and Stone Bridge wineries and finally arrived, (laden down with bottles) back at the campsite where there was just time for dinner and an early night.

Day 263

We enjoyed ourselves so much yesterday we decide to stay another day and do it all again!

So we jump on the bikes and continue along the Riesling trail to the south of Clare, setting off to another gloomy start with rain macs packed just in case. First stop of the day was Sevenhill cellars complete with wonderful 150 year old cellars, which you can stroll around at your leisure (noting that most of the wine is only 1 year old!) before taste testing their range of whites and reds. A good start!

Next was perhaps one of the best stops of the day with ‘The little red grape’. This place provides a cellar door for all of the small producers in the valley who do not have a cellar door of their own and so you have wines from 6 or 7 small wineries to try. The guy was really nice and the best thing about it was that you got to try the wines side by side. We worked our way through most of the entire range (glad I’m not driving) and ended up buying a couple of bottles because that’s all we could carry!

Pulled in off the trail for lunch and sat on bales of hay overlooking the rolling hills full of grapes and despite the overcast sky (good for cycling) it was a glorious scene. The going wasn’t as easy in the afternoon with lots of hills as we worked our way along the valley but a number of stops at Skillogalee (beautiful restaurant overlooking the vines), Mitchel, Pena lane and Kilikanoon (lovely rosé) eased the journey considerably and we arrived back at the van laden down with bottles again.

Day 264

Leave Clare this morning heading into Adelaide. Do our customary lap of the city centre to orientate ourselves and head to the city caravan park in Hackney (Adelaide is full of English names) a small park only 2km from the city centre and right on the edge of botanic gardens and the zoo.

Set up and take a stroll to the local shops in Stepney (see!), a very well to do suburb which reminds Carmen of Melbourne and hop straight on the bikes when we get back to do a quick tour through the botanic gardens and around the zoo, coming back along the river which is a lovely ride.

An impressive start for Adelaide, the parks are green and quiet and the cycle paths are excellent.

Day 265

On our way to catch up with a friend we have in Adelaide today. Chris was the best man at Rob and Tracey’s wedding (might mean something to some of you) and we are heading over for a BBQ in the afternoon. It’s a sunny day and we cycle through the gardens again and into city. Adelaide is a very compact city, surrounded by a green belt of parks and with one main shopping street running east to west.

After a brief stop at the Adelaide oval for a picture we hit the main drag and walk along pretty much the entire length from the restaurants in the east end, through the shopping mall in the middle to the bars and clubs in the west end.  What great little town where you can walk through the whole gamut of offerings in a couple of hours (including browsing time!).

Find Chris’ place pretty easily and are introduced to his wife Merry and daughter Heidi and before long the BBQ is fired up, a bottle of wine is opened and we spend the rest of the afternoon chatting away like old friends. I know I say this every time but we really were treated like members of the family , we both had a really great afternoon and have promised to catch up again when we are back in a week or so for the fringe festival.

Day 266

Bit of a lie in this morning and after dragging ourselves out of bed we head into the city to take in a bit of Adelaide culture.

Start in the Art Gallery of South Australia, housed in an imposingly grand building halfway down Adelaide’s museum/university strip.

The collection is mostly Australian artists and we both spend a happy few hours getting lost in the labyrinth of galleries. Stop for a sit down outside (all that art can be tiring) and to collect our thoughts before heading the South Australian Museum next door.  

The museum has a whole floor dedicated to the Pacific Islands and if full of strange ceremonial artefacts including masks, shields and even decorated skulls. But the highlight for me was the lion exhibit that moves his tail! You just catch it out the corner of your eye and it only happens every couple of minutes. So of course I was standing there trying to convince anyone that walked past that his tail was moving. His tail did move in again and we laughed and moved on. Happy (as much for my sake as anyone else’s) I had proved I wasn’t mad.

Took a stroll back up to the mall afterwards and have a look through the shops. The mall itself is your standard pedestrianised strip with all the usual shops but it has a nice feel to it and we happily had a browse up and down at nothing in particular before heading back on the bikes, through the parks to the campsite for the night.

 Day 267

Up bright and early today and after breakfast we are off to Adelaide central railway station and on a train bound for Islington! Whilst we are waiting for the train however we decide to pop into Adelaide casino which happens to be right above the station (genius).

It’s like any other casino and it wasn’t surprising to see it was reasonably busy at 11am on a Tuesday morning. We had a walk around to suss it out and then stuck a few dollars in the ‘pokie’machines where Carmen hit the jackpot and we walked away with a cool $9.

Having broken the casino bank we were asked to leave and escorted from the building just in time for our train to Islington. A short walk from the station at the other end and we arrive at something we have both been looking forward to.

The Coopers brewery! We are on a walking tour of the brewery and are taken through the whole process from raw ingredients to the six pack you buy in the shop.

Carmen checking the brew

The brewing stuff is interesting enough but the bottling plant is amazing and I could have sat there all day watching the bottles being washed, filled, capped and labelled and going through at an incredible rate.

Onto the tasting room where we are taken through the entire Coopers range of lagers, beers, ales and a stout. (far more than I ever realised) There’s Coopers green in cans called ‘Dr Tim’ (only available in South Australia) and they do a really nice ‘vintage ale’ which is about 9%.

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Once the tasting is complete we leave with our commemorative glasses and head back to central station where we resist the temptation to go back into the casino and instead jump on the bikes for the short ride back to the campsite.