Barossa Valley Wine Tasting. mmmmmm........

Despite my experience with the Great Ocean Road tour (recall meatball review) I signed us up for a full day van (not giant double decker bus) tour of the Barossa valley and I am SO GLAD I did! Barossa is one of the many famous wine regions outside of Adelaide; in addition to Clare Valley, MacLaren Vale, and several others. We chose to do a tour so that we could have two active wine tasters...and chose this particular tour because it also stopped at Addi-friendly sites including "the Big Rocking Horse" (the largest in the world! Addi and I climbed ladders 35' to the saddle, but rain and fear kept us from climbing 60' to the top of the head), the Herbig family home (a family of five lived in the trunk of this tree for five years!), and the Whispering Wall (a dam with unintentional acoustic properties that allows you to whisper at one end and be clearly heard at the other end 100m away).

We tasted more than 18 wines at four vineyards: Wolf Blass (including a $130/bottle black label) Simpatico (grapes sourced from Stonewall Vineyards), Grant Burge on Krondorf and Kies Family (a small 6th generation vineyard). We bought at three of the stops. We had a 3 course lunch at The Vine Inn where Addi got a paper peacock in her ice cream- apparently, a dream come true.

Everyone on the bus, with the exception of Addi, Jim and I, snoozed on the hour drive home from the valley. That should give you a sense of quantities of wine 'tasted' if the number 18+ didn't. It was perfect.

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Tadika and Opals

Addi and I went to the Aboriginal Cultural Institute aka Tardanya ("the place of the red kangaroo") today. We saw some amazing Aboriginal artwork, a didgeridoo performance, and a historical documentary on the instrument. It was fantastic. I attached a link to a youtube didgeridoo song in the entry below...I couldn't figure out how to add it to this entry. Worth a listen if you've never heard it before!

As it turns out, most Aboriginal tribes have never used a didgeridoo. This instrument is only used for tribal storytelling purposes in a tiny section of the very far north of Australia. I also learned that westerners are the only people to call the instrument a didgeridoo. Its real name is Tadika! The wood is hollowed naturally by termites and then trained Tadika masters find the 'perfect' hollowed tree, cut it and decorate it.

There is an opal mine about 525 miles into the southern outback that produces 90% of the worlds opals. Unfortunately, it is too far for us to go on this trip (boo!) but we found an opal store that has a small replica of an opal mine. Addi was in heaven and we spent almost two hours there! In the name of frugality, I resisted my urge to buy opals...I hope I don't regret it! Hmmm....I already do.

So, we did not make it to the zoo or the botanical gardens today, but the Tardanya and opal store were all we needed.

I hear you east coasters are going to get more snow. Oh dear- its a white one this year, eh?

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Didgeridoo (Tadika) sample clip

Per the preceding entry! Take a listen!

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Kanga Tastes Like.....

Today was basically an all-day travel to Adelaide day, so not much to report. My first impression is that this city of 1.1M doesn't have the character and charm of Melbourne, Sydney, or anyplace else, but I will keep an open mind tomorrow as we head to the zoo, the Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Botanical Gardens. South Australia is also famous for its wines....so we will probably do a wine tasting tour in Barossa Valley or MacLaren Vale during our stay!

We had dinner at a korean barbecue where kangaroo was not only on the menu, but was raw- we had to cook it ourselves! I am proud to say that I not only tried it, but I had seconds! It looks like beef....and tastes like it too! Truth be told, we grilled the kanga and beef next to each other and I couldn't tell the difference. Adelaide is known for its "bush tucker" - game meats, so we should also have luck finding emu and crocodile while we are here!

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Sinister Sevens- 7 minutes, 7 days a week for 70 days- are you in?

We are 14 days into this amazing adventure with 70 days remaining. I am having the time of my life...but miss my Crossfit! ...so I made up my own crossfit challenge and am seeking comraderie! It takes 7 minutes and you can do it without any equipment and without leaving your room.

2 min as many push-ups as possible
20 second rest
2 min as many sit ups as possible
20 second rest
2 min as many squats as possible
20 sec as many burpees as possible

*Rotate which exercise you start with each day (eg: day 1: push ups, sit ups, squats; day 2: sit ups, squats, push ups; day 3: squats, push ups, sit ups; repeat). Burpees are always at the end
*journal how many you do each day to track improvement.
*Starts tomorrow and ends March 16! This shouldn't have to interfere with anything you may already be doing...so...Who is in? Jimbo says he's in! Anyone else? Just 7 minutes!

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Sherpa to Wine Glass Bay and Farewell, Tassie

Wine Glass Bay is in Freyicnet Nat'l Park and is rated one of the top ten beaches is the world. It is a two hour steep and rugged hike each way, but worth the work. Views from the top and the bottom are attached. Turquoise blue waters, giant surf, sugar white sands, and nearly desolate. We were greeted at the beach by a wallaby that disagreed with my earlier description ("big hopping rats"). This one really looked like a little kangaroo! Apparently there are several different kinds of wallabies. Who knew!?

One of the many benes of traveling with a 3 year old is that, at 30ish pounds, she is light enough to carry on any hike she can't do on her own. Jim was a first class Sherpa carrying Addi 70% of the way!

While on the topic, there are several other benefits to traveling with a three year old. I highly recommend it.
*In Aussie, they are always free- for everything.
*At the same time, they are old enough to do, and enjoy, almost everything
*They are easily excited by the prospect of seeing an animal, finding other kids, finding a playground, or any kind of imagination game. These elements are easily woven into any activity by crafty parents
*an 8:00 bed time forces grown-ups to enjoy necessary down time and offers time to plan the next day.
*They see everything through a completely different lens. This greatly magnifies the experience at hand.

We leave Tasmania tomorrow morning and head to Adelaide. I am not ready to leave. It is a nature lovers paradise with extensive hiking trails, National Park systems, untouched beaches and wild life. I think you'd need three weeks to do it right (there is so much we didn't get to!). Rented camper vans are big here and campgrounds looked nice. There are back country backpacking opportunities at every park that take you to the most gorgeous spots. Hmmm... maybe when Addi is a teenager and needs to be weaned from her electronics!

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Sleepy Bay and the Bacon Thief

Last night we drove 4 hours to the east coast of Tasmania. We are at Freycinet National Park for the next two days and will explore the beaches.

This morning, Addi and I had a little girl time at Sleepy Bay Beach while Jim wrapped up some work. This little beach was gorgeous and secluded. Crystal clear waters enclosed by red boulders overlooking the sea and mountains. The sand was more like tiny stones- reds, oranges, greens, greys and whites. What make this spot extra special is that there were lichens of similar colors growing on the surrounding boulders...I've never seen anything like it. A cluster of rocks covered in light green lichen beside a cluster in bright yellow or light yellow beside a cluster in rust red or blue-grey.

Addi mostly spent the time collecting shells and stones, but also investigated a hollowed boulder. The ensuing conversation went like this:
Addi: mommy, how did this rock get empty?
Jen: at one time, the ocean was much higher here and the waves wore the rock away.
Addi: how did the ocean get so much higher?
Jen: um....well...a long time ago, the oceans were in different places! It has something to do with the moon and gravity.
Addi: mom, I think you need to look it up.
This is not the first time she has told me to check my facts on this trip but is a poignant example!!

We picked up Jim in the early afternoon and went to Cole's Bay. This beach is named after the convict who discovered it. This poor 22 year old brit was banished to 10 years in Aussie for stealing 28 pounds of bacon and some apples! He founded this bay after release. It is Carribean-like with turquoise blue waters, calm and child-friendly with soft sand. Addi practiced putting her new mask in the drink, and Jim snorkeled around a bit. I relaxed on the sand. Ahhhh......

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