Clare Country Club

... through Waikerie, Paringa, Renmark, Balranald and Hay. We have covered 2,633kms to date. Yay!<br><br>Tomorrow is also Father's Day, which reminds me more acutely of home. Although I am enjoying the adventure, I am missing Veronica, and also the more regular contact with Pete, Kathryn and Mike. So a big hello to them, and also to all my friends and supporters.<br><br>Watch out for the next installment of Gatzby's (and Marcus Maximus's) great bike adventure.

... who said we could use them free of charge when we told him of our cycling journey - Go the Blyth-Snowtown Cats!<br><br>We are going to ride at first light tomorrow to try and claw a bit of time back.<br><br>Interesting Notes<br>No punctures today - Yeah!<br>Yesterday, Daniel managed to melt his cabon wheel under brakes in the Adelaide Hills, he'll be using one of the spares from tomorrow.<br><br>Injury Update<br>Fran has a sore achilles

... MacDonnell, where we saw some more stunning coastal scenery, just as good as the great Ocean Road, if not better (no tourists i.e. no buses-full of Asians &amp; Europeans!!) From Port MacDonnell we stayed on secondary roads through Millicent, and Beachport, to Robe. So far, the Robe Hotel has the prize for the worst meals &amp; the biggest crack-up. Three of us ordered their special of the day, Roast Pork. Later the barman comes out of the kitchen, and somehow the Pork had ...

... dia 31 de Dezembro e tinhamos que nos preparar para a passagem de ano. :-) Foi sem dúvida uma das passagens de ano mais "interessantes" que já fizémos. No dia que chegámos foi-nos dito que no parque de caravanas iria haver festa de fim de ano com barbeque, mas apenas apareceram umas 10 pessoa, metade das quais com idade para serem nossos avós. De qualquer forma fizémos novos amigos, e, depois de algumas bebidas, divertimo-nos na mesma. :-) Ainda ...

Day 8 Woke up in the morning and had breakfast at Tanunda Bakery. We read on TORB that the coffee and food here was bad ... well, I agree with him ... The drive to Clare took about an hour, since it was almost 100km away. The drive was very scenic, and offered some of the best countryside views for the trip. Oh well, that aside, back to the wine trail ... Mitchell Wines Mr Must Love Dogs was at it ... again ... Very interesting ...

... falling grain prices and one locus plague, the farmers in the immediate vicinity have not had one bad year since I have lived here (17 years). However, it is still a compulsory and necessary part of being a farmer to complain anyway. The name Hoyleton actually refers to a small settlement in the middle of the farming district of Hoyleton. The township of Hoyleton is growing steadily, some would even say booming, but I'm not quite sure why. It consists of a pub ...

... to attend in Watervale--where we met--on the 7th, and I'll be with her family for Christmas. Seldom have I looked forward more to something. Before I made this leap, before the idea even came to me, on a chilly Wednesday afternoon at the winery, I was feeling rather morose about my situation. It must be said that my experience at the winery, however unique and fortuitous, wasn't all it seemed cracked up to be. Frankly, I was feeling disappointed. Then the bombshell ...

I crashed my boss's motorcycle the other day, riding down hill on a dirt road at speed, in a gear too fast and on a bike I probably shouldn't have been on. It's a good thing I was wearing a helmet. For more than a decade it wasn't a big deal that I don't drive. I had friends with cars, lived in cities and got around on public transportation or on a bike. I couldn't hire a car for a weekend road trip, or even move a friend's car when she was about to get a ticket. But overall ...

It's just after dawn and mist rolling off the Skilly Hills drifts through the tops of eucalyptus trees and down into the back vineyard. Behind the hills and the winery kangaroos and fallow deer graze in the Spring Gully Conservation Park, the largest wooded area in the Clare Valley. Most of the valley has been given over to the vine. The top of a 15-foot high ferment tank is a great vantage point for a mundane job. Below me is 10,500 litres of South Flinders shiraz ...

I went on an amazing trip with a group of 24 teachers (the hockey club is made up almost entirely of teachers from "away:") in a bus for 4 hours à do you know how badly men aim into bus toilets after even 1 hour of alcohol?! Haha that bus stunk!! We went to the CLARE VALLEY!!! Ie. Absolutely gorgeous part of South Australia with vineyard after vineyard after....I am now a complete wine-a-holic! I shared a bed with Jo, and Layla &amp ...