We were supposed to cover some serious ground today, driving a little over two hours to the Yarra Valley for lunch in the vineyards before driving another two hours to the start of the Great Ocean Road. Things didn't quite go that way, and I'm so glad they didn't! We left Phillip Island bright and early, finally appreciating just how much we liked it there. The shops and people are quirky in a way that makes it stand out from an already quirky country. Combine that oddball charm with a cool, sunny breeze and ocean all around, and we already know we'd love to come back. It sure would be amazing to watch a GP race here...can you hear the gears turning? Just a couple of hours later we arrived at Yering Station Winery on the edge of the Yarra Valley. As much as we enjoy wine, neither of us have ever really been to a full-scale Winery for a tasting so our first one was a learning process and exceedingly special! A young South African man guided us through a tasting of their reserve wines, and several of them were varietals I'd never had before. We ate lunch at their onsite restaurant, which had massive glass walls and beautiful views of the surprisingly close mountains, all of them littered with jet-black cows grazing on tall brown grass. A delicious bottle of their Cabernet Sauvignon paired phenomenally with the roast lamb rump, and Brittany was in heaven when the chocolate torte and honey ice cream arrived. We had planned to leave for the Ocean Road right after lunch, but we were having such a fantastic time that we booked a five start hotel in a winery (at a bargain basement fire-sale price, I might add!) and giddily headed to another nearby estate called Yileena. Yileena was a bit smaller than Yering Station, and we were the only two there. That could've been intimidating for newbies like us, but a friendly Australian cheerfully walked us through their wines paired with smoked cheeses and plump stuffed olives. He was a traveler and told us all about the month he recently spent touring India and Sri Lanka while I sipped one of the best whites I've ever tasted, a Botrytis Semillon. Noble rot is used to give the wine a sweet but somehow simultaneously dry taste, and I'm still surprised by how much I liked it! After enjoying so much for free, we simply had no choice but to add to our ever-growing supply of Aussie bottles :) The main problem now will be figuring out how to get them all back home (or, more likely, how to drink them before our next flight). After Brittany fed Yileena's resident donkeys, Poppy and Freckles, some carrots we finished our tour at one of the valley's larger estates: TarraWarra. This one was busier and had a distinctly commercial feel, which was exactly what we were after towards the end of the day. The "cellar door", as the tasting rooms are called, was beautifully disguised in a hill and massive wine barrels rested along the walls. I felt like a hobbit in the shire! With most of the estates closing up we headed to our foodie hotel at Balgownie Estate, having barely scratched the surface of everything we could do and see here. Even that got better when the guy at reception upgraded us to a beautiful room with a jetted tub and sweeping view! I've learned that if you're willing to have a sense of humor about your country (Trump is a VERY hot topic here), they love you :) Dinner at the onsite restaurant was another home run and I dug in to a delicious kangaroo steak with a velvety Cabernet. It was a highly unusual meal, and not just because I was eating kangaroo; the meat was paired with a sweet cream, blueberries, and raspberries. I never would have put those things together in a million years but I'll never forget those flavors! And I got a kick out of seeing our little Punto in the same parking lot with an Aston Martin, Lambo and Ferrari. Yeaaaaaahhh, we were a WAY underdressed for this crowd. We watched the sun set over the rolling hills and fluttering green vines, utterly satisfied with our choice to stick around and soak in the valley. On the flip side we'll have some SERIOUS driving tomorrow, but it was oh so toooooootally worth it. Now we're off to see them twelve 'postles...