The Grampians

The next part of our adventure begins in the Grampians.  We were told it was not a common stop for international tourists but was highly recommended by one of our newly acquired Aussie friends (also by the research Derek came across). We landed in Halls Gap which appeared to be a lively little village. Quaint with a few cafés and ice cream parlours. The boys are equating the quality of the villages/towns by the quantity of ice cream they get!  I'm not sure if they have gone a day without a scoop or two and when the little ladies meet them, they are quick to offer them more:-)


As we entered Halls Gap, we see a footy field filled with 20-30 Roos lazing around in the afternoon sun.   This got our excitement started after the four hour drive we just experienced. We made way to the  Kookaburra cottage only to find a dozen cockatoos sitting on our front porch. Braden, being the bird whisperer, exited from the car in a stealth manner and began talking to these beautiful white birds.  All of a sudden, 2 beautiful rosella birds joined them. He was so excited and so was I.  We had a lovely cottage.  As we settled in, Carter found roo poop right outside his window and door.  He was super excited and announced that maybe he will wake up to a roo staring at him through the window.  Well that was pretty close to the truth.  We had wallabies and Roos in our yard at all times of the day and evening. We even saw wild emus walking around as well as all these different birds, including Braden's favourite new bird the laughing kookaburras .  We considered this a real treat.

We spent the next few days hiking along the Pinnacles which were like canyons and gorges. We squeezed through tiny crevices and jumped along many rocks and boulders.  The boys tried a little rock climbing in spots but mostly they charged ahead of us and called for us to try and keep the pace!  As we passed other hikers, many made note that we were falling behind the boys! Oh to be young and resilient:-)

We figured Halls Gap was the roo capital of Australia. They were everywhere.  Young and old, big and small, popping out of bushes as we walked along the trails.  They even hung out at the playground as the kids ran around.  They seemed to not mind people but we were warned they can give a good kick if we got to close to them.

We decided to make our way to Adelaide to visit Elle Noack in Gawler which is part of the Barossa Valley wine region. This was a 7 hour drive through the flatlands or wastelands as Derek called them.  It wasn't the most scenic route at the beginning.  The boys couldn't believe that when they looked out their window they could see nothing but dry, brown dirt for miles, with the odd tumbleweed rolling around. Derek and I mentioned that at times it reminded us of old ghost towns, which in hindsight may not have been the best thing to say as it spooked the kids for a minute or two:-)

As we neared Elle's, the land got a bit more green and hilly.  We arrived at this beautiful large farm house which we had heard a lot about from Judy and Evan back home.  It reminded me of the Spanish villas we stayed at in Europe.  Elle greeted us at her door with open arms and a dinner awaiting us.  Once again, we have been blessed with meeting wonderful and gracious people in our travels.

Elle had arranged that we begin our next day traveling to Victor Harbour, in the Fleurieu peninsula.  Here we visited with her friends, Janet and Tino who put on a lovely roast of lamb luncheon for us.  Braden said that was the best meat he has ever had! Tino is a musician and plays many instruments.  He took Braden into his recording studio and plugged him in to some pretty cool electric guitars.  Braden was super excited.  They jammed, playing and singing, for two hours.  We left and enjoyed a relaxing walk along Granite island before heading back to Gawler that evening.  Before bed, the boys insisted that they feed Elle's 40+ Year old cockatoo and the 20 year old tortoise that resided in her tranquil backyard. They took a fine liking to these pets and talked and played with them throughout our stay. Carter even drew a picture of the tortoise to go along with the one he drew of the cricket player earlier on this trip.

Elle planned another amazing day for us.  After a tasty breakfast, we went to the whispering wall which is a reservoir with amazing acoustic qualities. It is 150 meters long.  Braden would stand at one end and whisper to Carter at the other and they could hear each other loud and clear.  How is this possible? The curve of the wall allowed for this to be possible. Everyone was quite intrigued by this architectural design.

It was now one for some adult fun.  We drove to Jacob's Creek winery for lunch where Elle and I enjoyed some wine tasting before settling on a bottle to go with lunch.  We had a beautiful view overlooking the vineyards while enjoying the sun on the patio. Once we got back to Elle's, we had a visit from her nephew Thomas whose hobby involves racing cars.  He recently broke the Australian speed record In his class ( about 320 km/h). He brought his race car over to show the boys which were amazed with how fast he drives.

The next day we travelled to Auburn in the Clare Valley to visit Elle's sister Miriam which is where we stayed for the next few days. Miriam greeted us     like a great aunt whom we hadn't seen in a million years (very warm and welcoming). She arranged for us to visit the O'Leary Walker winery for lunch.  Another wine tasting before we agreed to a bottle of sparkling red.  It was so delicious. It is amazing to see the price of all my favourite Australian wines that I buy back home in these wine stores.  I could buy three bottles of the best for the price on one back home. Crazy!

A little exercise was in order after all the wines and good food we had been experiencing so we decided to rent bikes for the day. The four of us went  on a 30 km ride along the Riesling bike trails.  To note, Derek heroically pulling Carter on the trail bike across this unforgiving land. It was stunningly beautiful as we rode between vineyards. The first 15 km had a steady incline with the wind blowing in our faces.  It was a slower pace than Derek originally thought but we were happy and didn't complain. However, the decent back reminded me why I hate riding a bicycle. Even though I didn't have to do much peddling with the wind at our backs, my buttocks was screaming a different story.  I announced that when we do this again,  I'm buying myself a pair of sexy bike shorts beforehand.

When we got back to Miriam's, she had champagne, cheese and olives waiting for us.  Mmm. What a treat after a fun afternoon.  The boys wanted to go mini putting and since Miriam had never done this, we asked her to join us.  What a hoot! I got a hole in one, but she was the strength in our team and the boys still won by a lot.

After dinner we sat outside enjoying some red until Derek calmly told me not to move. Not to move?? What on earth does that mean???  I immediately thought of the large brown snakes and jumped up off my chair plummaging through he and Miriam. She froze, I screamed and Derek started dancing around.  He truly did or atleast that is what it looked like.  Lol!  It wasn't a snake but instead a huge Huntsman spider (which she called it a Daddy Longlegs but it is nothing like the daddy Longlegs we know!) It appeared to be jumping as it ran across the patio. GROSS!!!! That was it. The party moved inside:)