Adelaide

Friday 28th
Up at 5am to catch the flight to Adelaide, it was a short flight, only an hour and a half. Went up to Mount Lofty (727m high) to try and get a panoramic view of Adelaide, but weather was poor and visibility was reduced, but still managed though to get a good idea of the views. It was incredibly windy! Went to the Central Market back in the city which is a really old indoor market which dates from the1900’s and which specialises mainly in cheeses, meats and produce, but also has some clothes and other bits and pieces. Drove the 2 hour journey to Clare, along very straight roads with little traffic or signs of civilisation. Clare is a massive wine region and a fair sized town, population 5000. Everywhere you drive, you see vineyards stretching as far as the eye can see. We stayed on the outskirts of Clare in a large bungalow, set in 25 acres of land and in the middle of nowhere. It is a beautiful property with wonderful views, but I wouldn’t like to live here, way too isolated, and a total red back spider/ brown snake (both highly venomous) area.

Sat 29th
Had a leisurely morning then went out to lunch at a local winery, had lessons about the proper way to taste wine, glass that is smaller at rim than base to direct vapours up into nose, swirling wine around glass to get air into it to release vapours, only having glass half full to allow vapours to release, smelling wine first, then finally taking a sip, swilling it all around mouth before spitting it out into the spittoon provided. Visited Martindale house, which is one of the few stately homes of Australia and only 9 miles from their house. It was where “Picnic at Hanging Rock” was filmed in 1975. It is a gorgeous house that was built in 1879. The ceilings and furnishings were beautiful and the whole house had a lovely feel to it. It was very quiet and no-one followed you around to check up on you. Most of the rooms were open and you were allowed to sit down there on the original furniture. I appreciated that level of trust. The main staircase and hall/balcony was my favourite bit.

Sun 30th
The fire brigade got called out to a large fire on a neigbouring property. Apparently fires here go into the ground and can burn tree roots so trees fall over days later and also because they go into the ground they can pop up later on. This fire today was one that had been lit 3 weeks ago!!