Friday 4th November

6am climbing down from upper bunk, half asleep and the ladder is very narrow - I don't need this 1st thing in the morning! However breakfast was very nice, porridge(yum), fruit juice, a full Australian (its the same as a full English, Welsh, Irish or Scottish - basically more yum, toast (with vegemite - yay!) and coffee. 9am.passing vast fields of wheat and other cereals- farming on a grand scale. Makes a difference from bush anyway!! Wow 11am! Morning coffee with cakes and pastries. I shall def be visiting op shops (charity) as they're called over here for 2nd hand BIG clothes!!! Somewhere on the outskirts of Adelaide spotted about 6 'coolies' all in hats & national dress working in a field - -not paddy as far as we could tell - - v strange & interesting - -but never followed that one through - -will research at some stage.

12.30pm Arrived Adelaide. Taxi crazy man - threw case in boot & drove with boot open with people shouting to him that boot open plus a bleeper going on his car!! Are we in Greece???

Appartment beaut! Dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer, microwave!!!! YES!!! Right in centre of town too! Toasted cheese for lunch. Free bus to Botanic gdns. Beautiful. Went to tropical house - rainforest. Lady @ desk let us in @ pensioner rate 'cos she's married to a scouser!! Did all the gardens - very warm!! Walked back along main drag - -lots of poeple enjoying a drink on pavement cafes - -lovely atmosphere - -VIBRANT city - -Uni in centre here so lots of students around - -loved it!! Went into Woolworths to replenish supplies of food & drink! Had curry, rice, Lebanese bread & in season Mangoes for tea. Then caught up on washing and ironing!!!!!!!!!!

Sat 9th November 2011

Picked up at 9am & transferred to other bus. Driver guide - Robin. Adelaide City tour for !st few minutes. Then Barrossa Valley tour visiting 4 wineries. Beautiful lilac Jacaranda trees. Lots of old churches. Mount Lofty ranges. China town. Victoria sq with statue of Queen Victoria!! Lots of beaut beaches! City founded by Colonel William Light. Very simple criss cross layout completely surrounded by parks, gardens, public open space. Out into the country - -lots of trees and lakes! Gorge with wild life park - wallabies, camels, quockers - -but didn't stop.

Stopped at Barrosa Dam & reservoir. This was a massive curved wall -- but was also a whispering wall!! We whispered to each other from opposite ends of this dam & we could hear each other as if we were sat beside each other - -- amazing!! Trees, farmland, animals and crops.

VINYARDS

Kies Family Wines

100 wineries - oldest Shiraz vinyards in the world.

Tasted Dedication Shiraz (2006) $45 a bottle

Merlot $18

Also had lovely cake & coffee!!

Older vines hand pruned and hand picked. Roses grown next to vines 'cos susceptible to same diseases but usually attack roses first & so alert that vines may be at risk. Vintage refers to Feb - April. Many vines machine picked and pruned these days. Irrigate but only 3-4 times a year - better if struggle a bit. Develop longer roots - find a range of minerals. Grapes are smaller with a more intense (concentrated) flavour. Hot dry climate best for red wines. Whites eg. Reislings grown on hills. Vines are propagated by taking cuttings from older vines with good reputation. Big wineries in this valley include Wolfblass, Jacobs Creek & Penfolds. Lots of exports from these. Passed through a village with a huge bottling plant for Jacob's Creek. Jacob Creek was one of Colonel Light's (founder of Adelaide) surveyors! White named the valley 'Barrossa'. Three main towns in the valley: Tanunda, Langmeile (Long mile) & Nuritoopa.

Langmeil

Langmeile used to be a village of German migrants - about ten families - -but LARGE families.

Actually bought a bottle here! HANGIN SNAKES!!! How could we not!! 2009/14.5% for $21.50 dollars - -v. good it was too!!

Main guy in the village was Christian Aurich- - he'd lived at the site of the present winery. He was a blacksmith - but also on site was a baker & a butcher. Christian Aurich came over from Germany in 1839 age 31. He set up the vinyard in 1842 with vines from South Africa. He bottled his first crop in 1843.He had 8 children from 2 wives. Lost one child during the crossing from Germany (Rhineland) & then wife died bearing 5th child. Remarried & ended up with 8 children. Aurich also dug the village well - -20ft by hand for community. He also farmed cattle, pigs & goats so supplying butcher's! Killed falling off a cart which then rolled over his neck killing him age 53. What a man! They don't make 'em like that these days!

At Longmeil they focus on QUALITY wine and have vines that are 164 years old. Wine made from thes vines called 'Freedom' 'cos Germans came over to OZ originally for freedom of belief. 330 cases only made every year - aged in oak & always sells out. Vines not watered at all 1 vine makes 1 bottle!!! These old vines have tap roots about 50m long & so reach interesting range of minerals in soil. They limit the no of bottles per person too.

They also grow vines for production of a white Reisling. Young vines (7) that don't lend themselves to manual pruning & picking cos v profuse. So unpopular with other growers. Used here for a good sparkling white Reisling.

Pholoxora

An APHID that attacks the ROOTS of vines. Has decimated vinyards in America, Canada & Europe. Has also been a problem in Australia but has not reached the Barrosa valley. Noknown control for it. Wild American vines appear to be immune so many vines are now grafted on to wild vine roots - - in much the same way as roses are grafted onto wild rose rooting systems.

Kaisler Wineries

Lovely lunch and some more tasting of interesting wines!! Lovely red marketting at $70 a bottle also a v interesting sparkling red!

Wolfblass Winery

In 1968 Wolfgang Blass started with a $2000 bank loan & has recently sold up to Fosters for $560 million!!!!

Structured tasting here so tried 6 altogether - -well didn't like to cause offence!! Will prob sleep all the way back now!! Well maybe not - -this driver's a bit of a maniac & a few of us felt travel sick on the way out!!!!

Scenic Drive through the valley - through Stepplesfield - another wine growing area- - wealthy family - -huge mansion with palm trees all around.

November 6th 2011

A day on Kangaroo Island

Picked up at 6.30am and down the Fleurieu Peninsula. Lots of sheep & cattle & fruit growing. Matthew Flinders apparently was the guy who sailed around this coast of Australia & mapped it out. Saw some kangaroos breakfasting!! South Australia is the driest state in the driest country in the world. 90% of Adelaides water comes from the Murray river - this now gets polluted by fertilizer as it passes through farmland tho some say that Adelaide's water is the purest in the world as it has been filtered thro' 3 sets of kidneys by the time it's drunk! There used to be 2 places in the world where ships would NOT take on water and Adelaide was one of them! Saw some Alpackers. Seem to becoming v popular. They have excellent v soft fur apparently - but some Australian farmers keep them as they will ward off foxes from attacking sheep & chickens. Apparently they give foxes a good kicking!!!! There you go Em & Jon that's your answer to Mr fox killing your chooks!! There used to be copper mining here too & many copper miners came over from Cornwall. the copper was then sent to Wales to be sme lted!

Sorry can't remember why this was mentioned but a 'must read book' is 'The Darwin Awards' which describes people (mainly men of course!!)who have managed to kill themselves doing weird & wonderful things! One to get from Amazon on our return!!

The Lutherian Prussian immigrants have had quite an effect on this region as they introduced pastries & sausage meats etc - -in fact one of the choices on the menu was a selection of German sausages, yum! Many Irish migrants came over too as a result of the potato famine.

Driver went on to talk about recent elections. Candidates from Legalize Marijuana party, one woman who ran massage parlours & a Don Dunston who stood in a pink suit with shorts shouting for the rights of Gays & Lesbians!! In response to this a religious faction responded by predicting that a tidal wave would hit the region to wash away sins. In response to this Don Dunston went down to the quay & shouted 'C'mon then' but nothing came to pass!! The religious faction were further annoyed by the sale of a Synagogue which reopened as a night club called Sin a Go Go!! Conclusion was that MP's were like Nappies - -had to be changed often & for the same reason!!!!

Eventually we got to Cape Jervis where we boarded the Ferry to Kangaroo Island (Penneshaw) to be put in charge of an equally vocal coach driver called Daniel. He said that we would travel 350 km during the day. The NE end of the island has beautiful beaches - white sand. All mapped out by Flinders again who called it Kanga Ru island. Apparently he killed enough kangaroos to feed his crew for 6 months - -not sure how he kept it fresh. He told us a bit about the industries on the island.

Extracting Eucaluptus oil from Mulga trees used to be a big thing at one time 93 distilleries supplying 95 % of Australian needs. Now import 95%. We saw the last remaining refinery. V V basic! but seemed to produce a very pure oil & the spent leaves were used for mulch. The Island is v short of water & relies on collecting rain water in tanks. There is one desalination plant on the island. At one time the island was all bush & 45% still is. There ares strict planning laws re buildings etc. V conscious of the environment and the animals that live there. At one time at a salt inlet Pelicans used to nest but the fishermen killed them all & destroyed their nests and they've never returned to that part of the island. No fishing is now allowed on that lagoon as it's become a reserve.

Prospect Hill - -the narrowest part of the island - -this is where the desal plant is. Flinders realized when he could see sea at both sides that he'd found an island. Kangaroo Island Is the 3rd largest Island off the Australian Coast - 4500 sq Km. Col Light thought of putting his city here but decided that there wasn't enough water but K I has now got status of First Settlement. All free settlers here no convicts & no subsidised passage. Mostly educated people too. Some who'd served their country in the war were given 1500 acres of land awarded by ballot. But they had to clear it themselves & this is where the clearings are now. They had to make 800 acres productive. They worked in teams moving from one farm to the next until they were all productive. They grew crops to feed cattle & sheep. There were no schools & children were put to work as soon as they were able (Quite right too!!) There was an abattoire on the island & then the meat was exported to the mainland. Easier to export wool than grain - -less weight. Then after all this work synthetics became popular & demand for wool collapsed. Farmers had to shoot their sheep & bury them. They owed the government money & that's how - - in 1991 they went into Eucalyptus refining. Used medicinally - -sinus, as penetrating oil, lifting tar off cars, put into washing as a disinfectant, for washing dogs - killed fleas & removed odours, getting make up off clothes etc

Honey is made on the island. The honey bees originally came from Italy. There is a honey bee sanctuary here - -the first in the world. Many bees now affected by a mite that the bees pick up & carry to the hive. The mite then kills the embryo bees. This is having a devastating effect in Europe & USA but not found yet in Australia.

Timber is also quite a big industry for making paper pulp but at presnt affected by transport costs of getting off the island.

Tourism also growing every year despite world recession.

There was no electricity here until 1966. It comes from the mainland.

Seal Bay

Sea Lions actually - -not seals! Larger than seals and walk on all fours. Hunted nearly to extinction and on the endangered list and numbers in this colony are still dropping. Loads on the beach & we were so close to them. Getting near the mating seasons so males were stood upright showing off their masculinity!! One chased some young ones into the water. There were some youngsters crying for their mums.Mums go fishing for about 3 days without returning & travel about 2000 km during those 3 days. Also some swimming around in the water. Great experience!

Birds of Prey Display

Friendly bearded ranger chap showed us various ferocious looking birds including Peregrine Falcon, Kestrel, Kookaburras and a Barn Owl. Demo got interesting when the Kestrel scarpered and the ranger got out the Kookaburras who were a pair of right characters - Morecombe and Wise in feathers. They were doing there bit when the Kestrel came back - the Kookaburras let go with a cacopheny of sound and the Kestrel flew off!

In one of the trees nearby somebody spotted a Koala bear. These little fellas can sleep for Olympic gold - he was fast asleep wedged in between the branches and completely ignored everybody below him.

Remarkable Rocks

Well named - they are! Geological explanation is that they were originally a granite dome thrust up to the earth's surface that was then subjected to extreme erosion by wind, rain frost, dynamite and lots of other nasty weather things. The result was a group of very weirdly shaped rocks balancing or rather teetering on a dome shaped base - remarkable!

Admirals Arch

This rock formation, also in the Chase Flinders National Park, is as stated - an arch created in the rock by weathering & erosion by the sea. Interesting thing is the New Zealand Fur Seals that have made the area their home. Why they fell out with NZ was not explained by the guide. However they were very entertaining and well worth the treacherous descent of the crumbling cliffs to see them swimming & sunbathing.

Animals native to Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo - Brown coloured sub-species of Western Grey, generally smaller but heavier in the shoulders, thicker fur and wider face.

Wallaby - Small, knee high, Tamar wallaby - not seen on mainland since 1930s but millions here.

Bush Tailed Possum -Protected here and there are many. However, hunted for fur in NZ.

Short beaked anteater- Echidnia - a Monotream egg laying mammal. Sometimes walk around in trains.

Lizard - Goanna 1.5m in length. Lots here. Eat baby snakes (Oct - -April) Rosennberg sand goanna. Not many on mainland.

Pygmy snake 0.7m grey brown with copper head

Tiger snake more aggressive 1.5m . Black - unlike the mainland one which is orange & brown. More timid than the mainland one

Fairy Penguin At sea during day & come back when it gets dark

Wedge tailed eagle Female larger tham male. Wingspan wide as coach windscreen!

Introduced animals

Koala - not a bear. Abo word meaning 'little water'! Doesn't need to drink as Eucalyptus leaves provide enough moisture.

Platapus

Cape Baron Geese

Wild PIg/boar

Ferral cats - -attack Fairy penguins as they come back at night. Estimated 5000 on island - need to be got rid of. Strict laws now regarding pet cats on Island.

Weather

Temperate, no extremes, low humidity. Thunderstorms common & electric storms caused dreadful fires & destruction in 2007. damage still evident although lots of regrowth.

Flinders Chase National Park 76,000hectacres

Remarkable rocks - -showing amazing weathering - -see photos.

Sanctuary - - koalas sleeping in trees - v solitary - -only 1 per tree unless there's a baby too!

Nov 7th 2011

V late night last night so nice lie in this morning. Took free bus to Botanic gardens. Walked through medicinal plants (V interesting) to Zoo. Great day - saw lots of interesting animals. Lunch in Cafe. Ice creams & back on free bus!!! Flight to Melbourne tomorrow.

Nov 8th 2011

Picked up at 9.15 and driven to airport. Flight delayed but arrived at Melbourne 1.45pm local time (lost 1/2 hr) Got to Travel lodge on Southbank at 2.45pm. Lovely location. Walked out & had baguettes at riverside for lunch. Walked to square in centre & had look at cathedral. Stunning stained glass & tiled floor Walked back along riverside. Quite frantic now as people try & get home from work. Memories of when we lived & worked in London. FRANTIC!!!!! Couldn't do it now!

Dinner at lovely Italian resteraunt overlooking river & sky scrapers all lit up now & reflections in river. Walked around a bit soaking up the wonderful atmosphere. Climate perfect - mild & still.