Hangin' With Liv

14/11/15 Adelaide 

11/11/15 Hahndorf 

An even bigger sleep in for Liv, and we just relaxed reading until she was ready to go out and about. We took Joanne's mum's car, and drove up into the Adelaide Hills. We stopped and took in the view from Mt Lofty, which was amazing, even if a little hazy. From there, we had a beautiful drive through the vines and hills, to Woodside, and Melbas Chocolate Factory. Oooh, lots of delicious goodies that we could sample, and buy. Which we did. Next door is Woodside Cheese Wrights, so we visited them, bought some nice cheese and chutney, then took a drive along to Hahndorf. It is Australia's oldest German settlement. It is also super touristy. The main street is all cafes and trinket shops, so we wandered up and down and stopped for a drink at the pub. It is a very pretty town, but we'd had enough. So we enjoyed the drive back down the hills to the city. We stayed in and cooked our own dinner.

Through the haze we could make out several land marks we recognised.

It's bigger than you think, and easy to get around.

Through the old turnstiles into chocolate heaven.

Making fudge, yummo!

Looks pretty disgusting......but it IS chocolate.

A world of sugar and chocolate.....mmmmmm!

Now for some local cheese.....

So many delicious choices.

Ducks in boots...German heritage is funny hey?

Stupid, but funny.

Interesting street art in Hahndorf.

It is a pretty town, but very touristy.

Shops full of German trinkets. Fun to look at.

We did have a local beer.....just one.

12/11/15 Adelaide 

The old Ross River was giving me hell today, so I was the last one up. We chilled out before heading over to Glenelg in the car. We walked along the beach, which wasn't that pretty today, with the strong westerly wind blowing, but we found a nice little Thai place for lunch, before heading over to Goodwood. We walked up and down King William street, full of designer shops and designer cafes, had a designer coffee, then had a visit with Joanne. We all went out for a "Snitty", at The Earl of Leicester pub. Famous for it's snitzels. They were bloody enormous, and we all took doggy bags. What is it about this city and snitties?

We first stopped at a little bar for lunch but the menu/prices were not good.

Just one of the many gorgeous churches turned into offices or shops.

The picture does not do it justice, looks like a whole boned out chicken.

13/11/15 Adelaide 16km

Olivia took us out for breakfast, at a cafe nearby, and we had a very relaxing morning. Then we walked down to the river, and along to the university. We found some people setting up for events on the weekend, one being the 70th anniversary for Hills Hoist, with 70 clothes lines set up, which they hope to get 70 thousand socks hanging off to raise money for pancreatic cancer. Interesting! We walked through the Uni, which was cool, then through some arcades into Rundell Mall again. We bought some groceries for dinner, then headed home. We all wanted to go for a bike ride, so we went back to Joanne's, to get the kids out of the shed, and the three of us took off. Jo wasn't up for it today, so I rode her bouncer (it has suspension), so Liv could meet Betty. Will and I worked together to remember the route Jilden took us on, to the park on the river (on our first ride together), and managed to get there and back without drama. Olivia said she really enjoyed the ride, except for her bum! Ha ha ha, it does take time to toughen that up. After that, we were all ready for home, and chilling out. It was a good day.

Looks like Glenelg, could have put this one in the wrong spot....oh well!

Blow up lounge chairs on the street. Pretty cool.

Happy Birthday Hills Hoist. We've all loved your work!

Adelaide Uni, education is key.

Where to now guys? Don't know? Me neither!

Betty doesn't seem to mind Liv, so far so good.

Gotta love these pathways through parks and back roads.

14/11/15 Barossa

We all struggled up by sevenish, so we were waiting for the bus by 8:40. Today, we were booked on a wine tour through the Barossa, with "Barossa Valley Boutique Tours", which I found through Tours to Go. Ryan was our driver and guide, and he was a very easy going guy, with lots of interesting history about the region and the wineries. Only two other ladies were on our tour, which made it a nice small group, and we were able to enjoy getting to know Nicole and Sheryl. They were conference dodging, both being Nurses, at a Vascular care conference. 

First stop was actually by the coppers. Ryan going 5kms over, got a nice fine.

Liv doesn't know what she's in for.....

Come on guys, let's do this. I'll lead the way.

First tastings for Liv, she needed some coaching from an expert, but I did what i could.

I have to say we had an awesome fun day, and bought way too many bottles of wine and port. Killeske wines was our first stop, and as a family owned and run vineyard, it was small and gorgeous, with a wonderful range of wines. Next we made a quick detour to Maggie Beers Farm, which was not scheduled, but we were all keen to stop in. We raced around tasting everything, and this time got out without a purchase. Nicole and Sheryl were not so lucky, or were they?

Super busy today at Pheasant Farm, glad we'd done it before.

A beautiful day to be out and about,

And visit the guys in the lake again. Still cute.

Then off to Artisans, which is not a winery, but a cellar door for smaller winemakers to sell their plonk. They currently have seven producers, and as they are only small producers, the wine is more exclusive and expensive. Some nice wines, we did get one. Best story of the day here, Nicole discovered her secret nickname, "Magpie". I am sure you have all seen the Windex adds on telly, with the Magpies who ring the doorbell and then fly straight into the newly cleaned glass door? Well, that is exactly what Nicole did. She went to walk outside to admire the gorgeous view more, and didn't realise the glass door was closed. Glass in hand, she walked at a good pace, straight into the door, making huge glassy tinkling smash, which made everyone look, and piss ourselves laughing. She is a good sport, and laughed more than anyone. She does now have a huge egg on her head where she came in contact with the door. The door had a huge forehead smudge on it too, so was feeling hurt too.

In we go for another round of tastings.

Nice photo bomb Sheryl, and look out for that viscous window behind you.

I think Will was liking this wine...

Our transport is not so fancy, but heaps of fun.

With much giggling and rehashing, we made our way to Tanunda for a wander, then to the Barossa Brewery for tastings and lunch. It was a great setting, with some live music, and we found it hard to carry on. As we had time, we managed another add in to Rockfords, which was fantastic, and one Olivia had been advised to visit too. They were a cellar door sales only place, that you couldn't book with either. Fantastic wines, and the port was divine. You can ring and buy wines that they will send to you. 

Lovely old pub in Tanunda.

Nicole and Sheryl enjoying the brewery tasting board. See Nicole's shiny forehead?

Will in his element, next to our guide, Ryan. The stout was nice.

Rockford was a real treat, with the best Vintage Port.

Lovely old farm buildings, and glad we stopped in.

If you come through this area, stop in. Well worth it.

Last tastings was Kies Wines, in Lyndoch, we had ridden right past it the other day. Another smaller family business, with amazing wines. We were taken through the tastings by a great Irish guy, who had us in stitches, and was a lot of fun. It was great to see you could even get an old style glass flagon of port. Their prices were great too. Last stop on our tour, was Jacobs Creek visitors centre, where we went just to relax and have a coffee. You could do tastings if you wanted, but we'd all had enough, and were content to chill out in the bean bags and chat.

This guy was a real treat. He new what he was talking about, and had a quick wit.

Nicole with her flagon. How cool is that?

We just got a cleanskin, Riesling, which was fresh and light.

Pub shot in Lyndoch, we missed on our bikes.

These two are so alike, it's crazy. Enjoying the Jacobs Creek visitors centre.

How cool, beanbags! We may all fall asleep.

Look at these two, again just chilling out!

More cheese and wine......I've had enough!

Will's artsie-fartsie shot. Not bad really.

The ride home was quiet, with a few napping, while I just admired the scenery and relaxed. I would highly recommend the tour with these guys, small, personal and great choice of boutique wineries. Now we're buggered, and happy it is Sunday tomorrow, so we can just lay around and relax. 

Our total purchases for the day.