Southern Vales Winery Tour - April 2003

Hosts: Bill & Carol

Guests: Sandra, Tony, Rob, Paul & Paula, Cliff & Jean, Gill & Terri, Paul & Barb, Sharon & Graeme, Ben & Sonya, Rick & Cindy, Gordon & Chris, Fred & Lyn, Bruce & Jill

Gate-crashers: Lee, Nicky & Sam

A chilly Friday night at Lakeside Caravan Park greeted the early arrivals, with an early bed-time around 10pm.

Saturday morning was the start of a brilliant, sunny autumns day. Everyone was up & waiting for the Bus to arrive. Rick & Cindy cruised in about 9.00am, deciding against setting up their tent and stayed in an on-site van. The Bus arrived on time and I had to have a second look. No it wasn’t Mr Magoo’s bus (thank gawd), but Magors. It was in the good hands of Bruce from the Toyota Club, accompanied by his lovely wife.

First stop for the day was at Maglieri Winery. After sampling some fine wines & buying some wares, we set up in the gardens for a sumptuous morning tea consisting of two humongous platters of various types of cheese, meats, greens and fruit.

Next stop was at Rosemount Winery which had huge wine barrels in the entrance hall.

During the tastings, Rob decided to play host and poured some generous samples of premium wine to anyone within reach. Some enjoyed coffee and cake sitting on a giant setting of table and chairs.

At Maxwell Winery, we were welcomed by a very attractive and extremely friendly lady who gave an interesting description of the making of Mead wines. Apparently the Vikings drank honey mead for a month following their wedding, as it was known to increase their virility. Cliff’s ears pricked and he had a grin from ear to ear as he purchased a triple bottle pack to take home.

Next stop was at Amery Winery where we had a picnic lunch on the very scenic lawned area. Bill had parked his truck here, as he had to leave us and drive to Mt Gambier to earn some money to give to his wife. Bruce the bus driver had some worrying moments as a bird roosting above him on a branch, continually lifted it’s tail as if to do a motion. Luckily for him, it must have been constipated. A roaring round of applause congratulated Rob on winning the Lucky Envelope prize. Tony had a whip around, and we presented Carol with a small gift in appreciation of her efforts in organising this great weekend.

Off to WirraWirra Winery where we came across a fence & gate made from huge tree trunks 500 - 600 years old.

At Pirramimma Winery I learnt a very valuable lesson (The Gift of the Gab) by standing alongside Rob while we went through the full range of wines available for tasting.

Between wineries, both Bill and Carol tried their hardest to strain the vocal chords of their guests, encouraging the singing of their favourite song " The Wheel’s on the Bus go Round and Round, Round and Round". Unfortunately, the group could not remember the words to this popular Saunders’ favourite.

I Spy was sabotaged by Carol by her uncanny expertise in solving the puzzles in record times, not giving others a chance.

On arrival back at camp, our bus did a tourist drive around the caravan park and encouraged a young and virile Grapepicker to flex his muscles to an admiring throng of whistling , ogling females on board. Shouldn’t mention names, but Shazza, Sonya and Cindy were happily embarrassing their hubbies with their rude remarks.

While indulging in afternoon tea (a couple of the biggest Carrot and Walnut cakes Carol has ever baked), we played a game of Mad Circles. The people out of the shade moved into the shade, but the people in the shade would not move out of the shade. This transformed the camp circle into a camp Hoctagon (is that a word?). We all eventually formed a community circle under the trees and stayed there until dusk when Graeme supplied a citronella lamp for the camp-fire.

Lee, Nicky and Sam gate-crashed the party about 5.30pm and stayed till stumps (again around 10pm) for a few drinks around the artificial camp-fire.

All agreed that this was a totally relaxing week-end, plenty to eat and drink and a stack of interesting stories told around the camp (especially Carols’ waterfall stories.)

Rick (photos by Fred)

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