Day 45 - Saturday 11 February - Clare Valley Wine Tour 2

DAY 45

SATURDAY

11 February 2017 –

Clare Valley Wine tour – take 2

It must be the fresh air here, as we were up early again today, though that being said we don’t really get going until 8. Once we had the morning routine complete and we did a laundry run, we were off in the car to Clare to check out their local market. Sadly, it wasn’t anything special, but we enjoyed the brief wander before heading to Woolies again to do a grocery run.

We returned to the van to put all the things away before venturing out on our second wine tour. This time our first stop was Eldredge. This is a small winery out on a scenic drive that we had recommended to us at the info centre, its point of difference being they make sangria. 

We started our tasting though with the Riesling and a sparkling version that was really delicious. If we had have been able to manage, we would have bought a case of cleanskin for $100, but it wasn’t to be. We did come away with a four pack of the white and red sangria though, which was also yum.

We were given further recommendations to stop at the lookout at Spring Gully and check out the winery Jeanneret for its beers.

We followed the instructions and made our first stop at the lookout, which we were told, on a clear day you can see the silos at Ardrossan on the coast, unfortunately it wasn’t quite clear enough, but still impressive.

Our next stop was the Jeanneret winery. This is another small set up, but boy was it fabulous. Richard, running the cellar door was an absolute character and made our experience one to remember. Well actually, I am surprised we can remember much at all, as his tasting pours were greater than a standard drink and there were nine on offer. Paul had them all, while I realised where this was heading and had one Riesling before nominating to be skipper. Paul was super impressed with all of the wines on offer, giving big wraps to the Shiraz and the Merlot. 

It didn’t stop there though, as they also had a cider and 4 beers on offer. I had the grape cider, which was delicious and Paul also tried the stout, which again he enjoyed. We could have really hurt the bank account here, but being sensible with our space we only bought 2 bottles of Shiraz and two six packs of mixed beer.

By now it was 1230pm and we were well in need of lunch. We opted to drive to Martindale Hall and eat our prepared rolls in their car park first. Paul took the opportunity to ring Damon and Kate while we were there and catch up on all of the gossip back home. Once finished with lunch we walked into the grounds to check out the huge stately home. The hall was used as the backdrop for the movie Picnic at Hanging Rock. It was built in the mid 1800’s for 30,000pounds and boy is it opulent.

We decided to do the self guided tour on the inside costing $12 each, but it was worth it to have the chance to wander around the various rooms laid out much as it would have been, with many original pieces still present. We completed the two floors before exiting and returning to the car and on to our next spot, The Burra Cider Company.

Paul was in his element at this spot. While it is set on an apple orchard the owner is basically a backyard brewer and inspired Paul with his no nonsense approach. The similarities between the two were quite uncanny. We were given a private tour of his brew shed, being shown equipment and talked through his process. We returned to the cellar door and Paul was able to try a cider that wasn’t there for others to taste. In the end Paul came away with five ciders and a renewed invigoration to see if he could go into small batch production when he gets home.

As we were in the town of Burra, we decided to head into the town, as we had been told it was worth checking out and it was.

We stopped in the main street after checking out the Peacock's Chimney , a remnant of the copper mining days that took hold here as well. The old buildings were beautifully crafted of various coloured stone. We walked the bridge over the Burra river and saw the old brewery cellars at Unicorn Brewery, before walking to the school building which is still used today.

Once we had completed the circle we returned to the car and set the GPS for the caravan park once again. The roads were twisty and turny and up and down, Paul was wishing he was on his bike. It was very picturesque.

We made it home by 5.15pm and it was so much cooler. We unpacked all of our purchases and then juggled around in the van trying to find other places to put everything. Paul began loading the car ready for our departure and about an hour later we were in the pool cooling off. For a change it was deserted and quiet, though it didn’t last. We stayed until we were cool and relaxed then returned to the van for dinner.

Following dinner I sat outside attempting to access the internet. This is one thing that is really bugging me on this trip. In this day all place offering accommodation should provide high quality, fast and free internet services. I am finding most are pretty rubbish and they limit your download quota. Here it is 500mb for your stay. I used that yesterday, so went back for more, luckily she didn’t realise I had already had one code.  The best place was Ceduna where you had 500mb a day on each device.