Tuesday - February 15, 2005
Australia: Barossa Valley
Even though our port was Adelaide, this entry is really about the Barossa Valley. We had been to Adelaide before, and nice as the city is, we felt we had seen it. So we booked a car and driver to take us to one of the best wine-producing regions of Australia, the Barossa Valley, which is just north-east of Adelaide.
When we toured the Barossa Valley on our previous trip to Australia, Mike was the designated driver and I had the onerous task of being the designated drinker. Mike decided that he would like to share the burden with me on this visit, so when we were in Melbourne, we arranged for a car and driver to meet us in Port Adelaide. Two sisters from Vancouver, who are members of our trivia team, decided that they would like to join us, so we pooled our money and hired a small stretch limo to drive us around for the day. It was a great way to spend a very hot and sunny day.
It took about an hour to reach the Valley, and our first stop was the Chateau Yaldarra Winery. This was a beautiful location and the wines were very tasty. We left the winery with three bottles, after tasting about 6 different wines. Then it was off to the Bethany Estate, which we remembered from our previous visit. The tasting house is built into an old rock quarry, high on a hill with a spectacular view over the vineyards. I remembered tasting a white port there that I thought was exceptionally good. We hadn't purchased any at the time because we thought we might be able to buy it at home, but had never seen it again after leaving the estate. We didn't make the same mistake twice and came out with two bottles of port and a bottle of white wine.
By now it was was time for lunch, so our driver called ahead and booked us a table at the Hotel Tanunda in the nearby charming town of Tununda. As soon as we saw the hotel, I recognized it as the place where we had spent a night on our previous trip. Nothing fancy, just a clean, convenient place to sleep. It turned out that the restaurant shared the same attributes - nothing fancy, just a clean, convenient place to eat. I won't even bother to make a comparison with the Princess Grill, our dining room on the ship. But eating lunch reminded Mike of a small town where we had stopped into a store that specialized in dried fruit. We remembered the fruit as being the best we had ever had. The driver knew exactly the place we were talking about, so off we went. Sure enough, it was the same place. We walked out with about 6 pounds of dried fruit, a bag of glazed peanuts, and a bag of licorice allsorts - just in case we get hungry on the ship!
We still had time for another winery so, on the advice of the driver, we took off for the Sepphelt Winery, which was as different from the Bethany as it could be. This winery was huge, a big operation with steel tanks that make it look like a refinery in places. The approach was about a half mile long and the road was lined on both sides with huge palm trees. Apparently it is quite a destination place, with picnic areas, a restaurant, and gardens. Unfortunately, we were not at all impressed with the wines we tasted, which included a bubbling Shiraz! We had to try it to believe it. The lady serving us told us that it is not exported because the Australians like to keep it for themselves. All I can to that is "Thank you!"
Our departure from Adelaide was incredible. This time we were escorted out of port by a flotilla of private boats - everything from sailing yachts to catamarans and speed boats to jet skis. There must have been at least 30 to 40 boats. One brave fellow was having a great time jet skiing in the wake of the ship! There was lots of waving and hallooing back and forth, until the boats finally gave up the chase and headed back to port . Strangely enough, it was the jet skiers who were the last to pack it in. I sure hope they didn't run out of gas before they made it home.
Seeing as it was Valentine's Day, the whole ship was decorated for the Valentine's Ball that night. Almost everyone was wearing something red and all the ladies were given red roses at their dining table. The gents received glowing red hearts they could stick to their jackets. Mike's heart is now attached to the wall in our cabin to serve as a night light!