Any Plans for Christmas

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Ian

oops, sorry for dragging my feet.  I looked for you on Skype - there are NINE Ian's on Skype in Adelaide.  Look for TerryNathan on Skype.  Terry
 
OK Ian, looks like we're going to make it!  I'ved received your e-mail, and replied to that this morning (Saturday).  I've also got your Skype registration.  We're leaving Spain tomorrow morning in the car - driving to LOondon - 1200 miles, looks like most of it in the snow!

Our train is ETA Adelaide 15.15 on the 9th, going to the Chancellowe Hotel.  How about having dinner with us that night?  If we don't get to speak on Skype I'll phone you from Sydney.

Terry
 
Just in case anybody is wondering, I managed to catch Terry on Skype about an hour after he had posted his message. We had a great voice chat and put some plans in place ready for when he arrives in Australia.

While it is a bit of a bandwidth hog, Skype voice chat is a really good way to keep in touch.

Will let you know how our visit goes.
 
Well the Nathan's have been and gone and I hope they enjoyed their stay. It is now Wednesday so by now I think they are winging their way from Darwin over to Cairns in Queensland.

Here is the first part of a report I posted in the Pacific Forum about our trip down to the wine country.Yesterday (Friday 10 Feb o6) I picked up Terry and his lovely wife Lilieth (hope I spelled that right Terry) to do some travelling and tasting in the lovely McLaren Vale wine region just South of Adelaide.

It started off as a cloudy day but as we got closer to the area the sun had come out and it turned out to be a perfect day for simple touring and sightseeing.

I came in through Clarendon and then turned off Kangarilla Road into what was laughingly signed as Douglas Gully Road. Oh boy, talk about lost. I went every which way until finally Lillith spotted that I had somehow gone a full circle and was back on the Kangarilla Road! After that I gave her the map and she did a wonderful job of keeping us pointed in the right direction. Better than his satellite Nav system says Terry, and yes, he got just the response he deserved for that one.

Once we got on the right road we made it to the Woodstock winery. I was designated driver so I only drank the water but Terry and Lillith tried some reds but not impressed enough to purchase any.
Then we entered their Coterie and had a lovely shared Regional Platter. It had a range of local goodies including several different meats, chunks of quiche, creamy cheeses, olives, sundried tomatoes, capsicums, rocket, some quite tasty turkey pate and lots of triangles of pita bread to serve it on. We all enjoyed the range of tastes and flavours. If ever you pass through there check out really lovely paintings by a local artist. wonderful details and they seemed to capture the essence of the the natural environment portrayed.

Before leaving their lovely grounds Lilith took some snaps of Terry and I in the stocks they had set up in the gardens. Boy were they heavy to lift up and lock our legs into. Oddly enough there were 5 holes for the legs of miscreants? Woodstock have a good locality map on their site at the bottom of the Contacts page.

Then it was on to Kay's Brothers Winery. Coming up their sweeping drive Lilith spotted a koala sleeping at the top of a tall gum. Surprising to our International travellers I had never seen a koala in the wild, only ever in reserves or zoos so it was a big treat for me too. Kay's Brothers was an enjoyable Winery to visit. The Cellar Door host was part of the family and we had a good chat about wines and tastes. The tasters enjoyed their tipple and bought two bottles of McLaren Vale MGM 2002. MGM stands for the Merlot - Grenache - Mataro grapes blended into this red wine. The bottle claims, "Ripe mulberry, plum, dark cherry and liquorice aromas and flavours dominate this rich full bodied fruit driven red."
More info from their great web site:
2002 KAYS AMERY MGM (MERLOT/GRENACHE/MATARO)
Vintaged from grapes grown on the Amery vineyard, our first Merlot/Grenache/Mataro was traditionally processed (open fermentation and basket pressing), then aged for 18 months in American oak casks prior to bottling under Stelvin screw caps on the 3.6.04.
June 2005 Tasting notes: Merlot is the main component of this soft, fruity, very approachable red and it has filled out wonderfully with a year in the bottle. Brick red in colour with a Grenache raspberry confection bouquet and a sweet, fruit dominant palate with an excellent balance between savoury meat and confectionery flavours. It is medium bodied with soft tannins and the Grenache/Mataro, add both weight and complexity. It is a delight to enjoy now (or over the next 3 years) - easy drinking but with plenty of character and interest. Decanting will bring out the best in this blend. 15% alc/vol.
They both remarked on the sweeping views from the Cellar Door (and I hope to have pictures to share from them as soon as they get settled and near to the Internet). With such a lovely sunny day it was simply perfect and just as good as that photo shows.

We also visited Coriole Winery and d'Arenburg Winery before calling it a day and finishing off with a visit to the McLaren Vale Information Centre and then dropping into Hardy's Reynella on the way home. This report will be continued in the next post...
 
Hi Ian, thanks for posting that. Any photos from the visit?
 
Wasn't sure to post it as part of this old thread or start a new one, feel free to shift it if you wish.

Soon as I hear from the Nathan's I hope to have some pictures to share with you. I didn't take a camera with me but I can tell you that the memory has locked in some really lovely snapshots of the trip.

I can also tell you that I was awful for getting lost. I even headed back the way we had just been after filling up with petrol. I was hopeless. Once Lilieth took over the navigation it was a breeze. She is so lovely, hope you get a chance to meet them both at some time. I certainly enjoyed the experience.
 
Ian

We are safely settled into Palm Cove, just north of Cairns in Queensland.  Liliane and I want to thank you for such an interesting day out last week ? for sure without your local knowledge we could not have covered so much ground, or learned as much as we did.  I read your report on the RV Forum, it was so good I copied it word for word into my travel diary rather than try to write it myself.  I?ll try to attach some pics to this ? not sure if I can remember how to do it though! 

Our journey north on The Ghan train was as great an experience as I had hoped.  The scenery doesn?t change much but I can look at desert all day long without getting bored.  Anyway the train was very good, the service and food excellent, the crew good fun ? hopefully you?ll see that from the pic of the train manager reclining with me ? she comes from Adelaide).  Yesterday we took the trip out to the Great Barrier Reef ? what an amazing place.  We didn?t pick a good day though ? it rained most of the day, but we still managed to get it all done. 

Thanks again Ian for all your efforts on our behalf.  Liliane was so delighted with the lovely things you said about her that she forgives you the spelling of her name.  We hope you and Margaret enjoyed that bottle of wine as much as we enjoyed ours?

Terry

 
Terry,

If you can't remember how to do something in the forum, just click the Resources button in the toolbar above and scroll down to Forum navigation tips.

Glad you got to meet Ian. Is he a descendant of Brit prisoners colonised on the island?
 
Thanks Tom, in fact I had remembered how to do it, the problem was the size of the photos.  We have hopefully made them smaller, and they are attached now.  If it doesn't happen, please let me know.  Terry
 

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It seems I have to send the others one by one, there are three of them.  Terry
 

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Tom said:
Glad you got to meet Ian. Is he a descendant of Brit prisoners colonised on the island?
I heard that!
South Australia was settled by folks who wanted to be here, no convicts! Right from the start the settlers came from different countries so we have always had a cosmopolitan society. My folks left Portsmouth in May of 1849 arriving here in September of that year so I guess that makes me a 5th generation Aussie.
 
LOL Ian,

Any truth to the rumour that the folks in Portsmouth celebrate the day the ship left?
 
terry nathan said:
We are safely settled into Palm Cove, just north of Cairns in Queensland.  Liliane and I want to thank you for such an interesting day out last week ? for sure without your local knowledge we could not have covered so much ground, or learned as much as we did.  I read your report on the RV Forum, it was so good I copied it word for word into my travel diary rather than try to write it myself.
It was my pleasure to take you both for the run. I really boosted my batteries getting out and about in such great country and with good friends.
Our journey north on The Ghan train was as great an experience as I had hoped.  The scenery doesn?t change much but I can look at desert all day long without getting bored.  Anyway the train was very good, the service and food excellent, the crew good fun ? hopefully you?ll see that from the pic of the train manager reclining with me ? she comes from Adelaide).
I see that you already had the Deluxe Cabin booked. I kept wondering about teling you about it, I knew you would have booked it if you had known of it. Great way to travel isn't it. My favourite time was both sitting having a meal as the countryside rolled past an thn late at night watching the desert and bush in themoonlight. Unbelieveable.
Yesterday we took the trip out to the Great Barrier Reef ? what an amazing place.  We didn?t pick a good day though ? it rained most of the day, but we still managed to get it all done.
Never did get that far up the coast. our honeymoon took us to Brisbane but a trainstrike stopped us going further. Hope you get a chance to meet up with Rex, he is hoping to hear from you.
Thanks again Ian for all your efforts on our behalf.  Liliane was so delighted with the lovely things you said about her that she forgives you the spelling of her name.
well that was mostly your fault, you kept calling her Satellite Navigation (ROFLMAO).
We hope you and Margaret enjoyed that bottle of wine as much as we enjoyed ours?
Was it as good as the taste suggested? I am hoping to put a dent in it one weekend soon when we fire up the barbie - no shrimps for it either  LOL

Hope you enjoy yourself on the rest of the journey. Don't forget that there are South Island folks who hang around Pacific Forum so we should be able to introduce you to some nice folk to catch up with along your journey. Even got a kindergarten in Christchurch for you to visit ;)

Cheers, Ian

PS: Thanks for the pictures. Will repost in Pacific so those folks can share in the pleasure the pictures bring.
 
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