DAY 54
MONDAY
20 February 2017 –
Wildcats 74 V Cairns 66 – Game 2 Semi-Final – WINNER. Bring on the Grand
Final
McLaren Vale
Today was spent checking out the area of McLaren Vale and
the surrounds. We were walking the road by 9.30am to the shop for supplies and
back to the reception to book in for a few extra days. We then collected the
car and began our tour.
Our first stop was only 3km from the caravan park,
d’Arenberg Winery, a place recommended to us by Cheryl and Martyn yesterday. It
certainly was one to enjoy. The views out over the valleys to the east were
well worth it alone, many covered in vineyards creating green streaking lines
over the contours. We also enjoyed the various art installations on the
property and the yet to be finalised ‘Cube’. What a great piece of architecture.
The function centre/art gallery has been created to represent a rubiks cube and
I think it does just that. I enjoyed taking it all in before we entered the
winery for a tasting.
The cellar door was quite busy, but we were well looked
after by the staff who made the experience all the more enjoyable. We enjoyed
what was on offer and came away with a couple of sticky dessert wines.
After leaving the cellar door, we sat out on the lawn chairs
checking out the view and watching Chester, the loud shirt wearing
winemaker/owner, being prepped for a TV interview. Once we had had enough of sitting around we
made our way back to the car and continued following the yellow tourist map
trail.
We stopped at a small park further down the road and had our
rolls, enjoying the quiet of the space, then it was off to find the Goodieson
Brewery. This was only a small enterprise and not really what we were
expecting. The beer tasting wasn’t served as a paddle, but run more like a wine
tasting. This didn’t suit Paul as he like to take a sip of all to compare
first. Anyway, he still enjoyed what he had and came away with a few for home.
We continued to wind our way along the road taking ourselves
out over Sellicks Hill Range and then meandering back down and through the
small town of Willunga and back to the caravan park where we sat around lazily,
before Paul figured we should get out for a walk again.
We opted to go buy oysters and scallops first from a seafood
monger we had seen just out of town, returned to Coles for the necessary bacon
and then dropped it all at home, before donning the walking shoes and heading
down Field Street to Maxwell Wines 1.5km away. Again their was a lot of art to
enjoy on the property before we wandered into the cellar door and tried some of
their selection, coming away with a couple of their meads and a “Silver Hammer”
Shiraz, a reference to the Beatles song.
Paul spoke to Jaden for a bit before we checked out the
grounds and navigated our way through the hedge maze they have on site and back
to the park to cook up our dinner. I
then worked on the photos and blog passing time before we went to the pub to
watch the Wildcats take on Cairns in game two of their semi-final clash.
We arrived at the Woodcroft Tavern by 8.45pm and were
directed into a small TAB lounge where we were able to watch the game with
volume on our own and our own private bar staff. It turned out to be a great
spot to watch and we could yell as much as we liked without causing any hassled
anyone.
The boys had a great start and never really looked hassled
by Cairns. There were the usual moments of shaking heads, but for the most part
they held it together and came away with a terrific home win, booking
themselves into the Grand Final. Yippee.
At the conclusion of the match at 11pm we made our way back
through the suburbs and on to the caravan park. It was quiet and sleepy when we
returned and we soon joined them.
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