Hi again everyone Well I've had a great time here in SA so far. Staying with Jenny and Darcy has been brill and they are really spoiling me (which is nice). Anyway we hit the wine trail for the weekend on Saturday and did two regions in two days. Darcy was on chauffeur duty (a big, big thankyou from me and Jenny) and first stop was Clare Valley which is about 1 hour north of The Barossa and I'd say probably houses more boutique wineries although Taylors is one I did recognise. We visited I'd say about 8 wineries for tastings - all very, very good stuff indeed and obviously a few bottles were purchased (although it's funny that you buy more as you go along....?). Must say my favourite was Neagles Rock where I tried this stunning Sangiovese (they had to drag me out). That night we stayed in a lovely (but bloody freezing cold) cottage situated in the middle of a vineyard and ate lots of cheese and bread and obviously tried out a bottle or two of the local stuff. So Sunday was Barossa Valley which is really pretty and just vineyard after vineyard after vineyard. Once again we hit a few of the wineries but these are much better known like Jacobs Creek and Yulumbra (which I had to go to, seeing as their boxes of goon have kept me a happy traveller throughout Oz and NZ). More bottles purchased and Darcy's car started to resemble a bottle shop. Got home completely knackered but happy, drunk some more of the red stuff, fell asleep early then out of bed at 12.30am to watch England bore the pants off the rest of the world (some things never change). Well on Monday I went to "nature's playground" Kangaroo Island. I'd booked on a 3-day 4WD tour and waited at the train station for my pick up and when my guide turned up I found out I was the only person booked on for the day on the tour - everyone else was just doing 2 days starting on Tuesday. So, did I want to go on my own or wait. Well Jamie the guide seemed like a decent chap and I did really want to do 3 days so I decided to take the offer of the personalised tour. On the way to the ferry we stopped at Hahndorf which is this old, German town slap right in the middle of the Adelaide Hills (btw this part of Oz looks like the UK). Also I guess Jamie sussed me out pretty quickly (but maybe it was the box of Yulumbra tucked under my arm) and suggested that maybe we catch a later ferry and he could show me a few wineries. So with my arm well and truly twisted (ha! ha!) I sampled the stuff in Maclaren Vale before we jumped on the ferry over to KI. That night we stayed in this great little Eco hut which was lovely and warm due to having this big log burning stove right in the middle. Only thing was there was no TV and Jamie really wanted to watch the "soccer" but we did have a AM radio which at 12.30 we tuned in and tried to comprehend what the hell was happening with the Socceroos as the radio crackled and the commentary was utter rubbish - we only realised about 10 minutes after the game ended that Italy had won as we thought we were listening to extra time being played (obviously nothing to do with the wine consumed). A little tired on Tuesday we met the rest of the group and then explored KI for the next two days. Highlights for me included Seal Bay (we actually walked right among the sea lions on the beach), sand boarding at Little Sahara, and Flinders Chase national park where we saw snakes, fur seals, Kangers (obviously) and Kolas - all in the wild. We spent Tuesday night around the campfire telling bad jokes and swagging it under the stars (actually not too cold) and then I got back last night to a warm bed and yep, more wine. Well today Chris is coming down from Melbourne for a couple of nights and I'm guessing that for a change, some wine will be consumed. Oh, I've just uploaded two new albums for you all to laugh at, but for now, alcoholic signing off...