St Helens Country Cottages Clare

... set in, and we didn't fancy sharing this road at night with trucks, as courteous as they've been. Snowtown, of the bodies-in-acid fame, is a brilliant little town. The Snowtown Cats Football Club let us use their clubrooms to camp in, we had a nice meal in the local cafe and had a fairly early night. But not before getting the latest on Phil & Andy & the documentary crew's whereabouts from Neville (who by now had caught us up in his 4WD ...

... a drive to Taylors Cellar door on a cold and rainy day to find an over crowded small room where you could smell the red being devoured. The best part about going to these cellar doors now are they are catering for the children with good little play areas set up just so mum & dad can taste test happily. We have been chasing a bottle of Taylors port that was given to us a long time ago but it was not here and the girl behind the ...

... all. :-) It was certainly one of the most "interesting" new year's eves we have experienced so far. The day we arrived we were told there would be a BBQ and New Year's celebration at the caravan park, but only about 10 people attended and half of them were old enough to be our grandparents. After a few drinks we all became friends for life and had a nice time anyway. :-) We still got nicely ******, but the next morning we woke up at around 9 and were ...

... a second visit and on closer inspection I noticed a very, very large spider (later identified as a harmless Badge Huntsman) sat right beneath the lid of the toilet. Now, I am used to seeing large, hairy and maybe even slightly dangerous spiders in my day to day life, but it gives a whole new meaning to going to the loo when there is a potentially lethal animal sat less than five centimetres from your leg.

Finaly got access to email and power so I will try to update as much as I can. We left Adelaide around 2:00 in the afternoon. It took about an hour to get into North Adelaide in time for school to be let out and for construction. I was driving and survived stop and go traffic really quite well. It was a relief to leave the City. Our first stop was in ...

... the shading from of the steep valley slopes, hence very cool climate styles. They produce a very interesting range of wines, from Riesling, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon to Mataro, Primitivo, Tampranillo. Wines are unique, and not available in Singapore yet. They have been talking to some potential distirbutors so hope it all turns out and we see their wineson the shelfs here soon. Very unique vineyard, picturesque setting ...

... interesting recent history. I have met approximately five or six murderers in that pub (a couple might have to be given the benefit of the doubt). A rather startling statistic which in no way reflects on the ambiance of the place and in all fairness I had no idea that they were murderers at the time. The life of the pub seems to follow a fairly routine pattern: a new owner takes over and injects life and new ideas into the place and things boom. People travel ...

... the water heater conks out at regular intervals, forcing me to bath from a bucket of water heated by a kettle; a procedure made familiar, if not ideal, by those weeks of deprivation on the rural roads of Zambia.

I miss sidewalk cafes, brunch, bars, taxis, and the creature comforts of a big city. And as winter sets in my restless grows. Vintage is all but over, and my reasons for staying in south Australia¾love, life and work¾have either recently left or are ...

... t a great loss not having a driver's license.

That change when I was in Africa last year. I could get around Lusaka without any more difficulty than occasionally being harassed on a minibus taxi. But outside the city, and outside of Zambia, I felt increasing aware of missing out on the greater mobility that driving would have afforded me.

I missed out on driving a busload of orphans at the House of Hope centre in Palapye. Also in Botswana, I was asked to take the wheel ...

... on skins. A hose attached to a valve on the tank pumps the juice up and back into the tank, "pumping over" the wine to encourage fermentation and to keep moist the thick cap of skins floating on the top of the juice.

It's not my favourite job at the winery, tedious, messy and somewhat hazardous. Clambering up onto the tops of these tanks takes a bit of wiliness and no aversion to heights. Not all of them have catwalks, and all red wine ferments have to be pumped ...