No rain today, just clouds and around 16 degrees. We headed off to the nearby town of Merbein for the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Bake Off. The Main Street in town was blocked to cars and there were lots of street stalls selling local produce, a brass band, vocal group and a band playing on the main stage, as well as cooking demonstrations throughout the day with celebrity chefs including ambassador and pastry chef, Darren Purchese.
But the number one drawcard today were the vanilla slices from far and wide that were on display being judged, and of course there were lots of vanilla slices to buy.
It wasn't until I got up close that I realised how different they could all be. The icing, the pastry, even the custard itself had huge variations from creamy white through to bright yellow.
It was fun to see the display in the creative section of the competition, from cute little piggies, to slices that included Kahlua, sticky dates, strawberries and other non traditional delights.
Of course I just had to buy a couple of French vanilla slices just to see what all the fuss was about, Delicious, especially the super flaky pastry. Gadi satisfied his sweet tooth with some yummy gluten-free brownies. Winner of this year's vanilla slice bake off went to Sharp's Bakery, Birchip.
After all the sweetness overload we decided to drive to Red Cliffs and check out a campsite on the Murray at Psyche Pump and King's Billabong where we free camped a couple of years ago. The road into the pump station was pretty ordinary after the rain and was especially bad in the camping area, so we had to drive out. The billabong itself was lower this year and had a strange algae colour to the water - nowhere near as pretty as when we were here last time.
We then went to see Red Cliffs, quite off the beaten track. The cliffs themselves were quite impressive but the area is not really set up well for tourists. Surprising, as the cliffs feature in local brochures.
Came back to our campsite late in the day and enjoyed sitting by the river, savouring the tranquility and the last rays of sunshine for the day - always a magic time to sit outside and contemplate...anything!
Simple dinner tonight of delicious defrosted home made (thank you Esther) Moroccan chicken with figs and rice.
Night night xx