Our last day

This will be our last post because tomorrow we return to sunny Picnic Point. On reflecting on our journey over the last two and a bit weeks we would have to say we have had a wonderful time. Having spent the last few years travelling overseas, we have enjoyed the experience of reacquainting ourselves with a landscape that, in our former lives, both of us visited over 25 years ago.

We have marvelled at the variety of landscapes, gained new found respect for farmers and for those who slog it out in unforgiving environments and isolated rural communities. We have admired the respect shown for colonial architecture, especially outside of NSW, and for the care taken to preserve our heritage. We have enjoyed the opportunity to taste the best of Australian food and wine and to meet a wide variety of people and listen to their stories. We will miss the “QLD”s at the many lovely pubs we frequented. We have cherished the time spent in the car admiring the scenery, reading the daily news to each other, composing our daily blog, reviewing the books we have shared, singing along with the sound track to Chris’ last 50 years, reflecting on the past year and sharing our hopes and dreams for the year ahead.

We have enjoyed the time spent with family and made wonderful new acquaintances and today was no different.

After an amazing home cooked brekky at our B&B, we headed off for a walk through the town and out and around the river. We visited three wineries in the district which barely scratched the surface but we were concerned about the damage done to our credit card and the lack of room left in the car. All Saints, a very old winery previously owned by a local family for over 100 years, was our first port of call. The grounds were beautiful, the wine was so so but the Indigo Cheese shop was a great find. We tasted and then purchased some great local cheeses, olives(Chris did anyway), dukah, olive oil, jam and chilli.

We then headed off to Pfeiffer wines, which was again on a lovely property. We tasted a sensational award winning riesling but I ran out of enthusiasm as the White selections also ran out. Chris bravely battled on tasting the reds which he really enjoyed. Our third and final winery, Buller, was a real find not just because if its lovely well priced wines but because of the delightful young thing behind the counter who informed us that she had only been drinking legally for two years! Despite her youth, she had a good knowledge of the wines and pointed us in the direction of the best wines on the cellar list urging us to avoid the “really cheap stuff”. Her selections were spot on and we purchased some Sav( nothing like the NZ stuff), their award winning Shiraz and Durif, a speciality of the region.

We then returned to Rutherglen and took a walk through the main street determined to find momentos of the region other than wine that we could also share with family and friends. Our first stop was “Ripe Rutherglen” a cheese and chocolate shop that offered tastings of local cheeses, olives, olive oils and even pickled cherries! We grabbed a local sheep’s Camembert and a Cajun flavoured goat’s cheese and moved on to another “taste” of Rutherglen, an art gallery.

The gallery is relatively new and provides another outlet for Melbourne artists. There were some beautiful artworks and jewellery, including some pieces made from old typewriter keys, but we (Paula really) was especially taken with some glass works done with recycled glass, which were very affordably priced. We picked up a gorgeous bowl that will take pride of place on our new buffet in the loungeroom.

We spent the rest of the afternoon before dinner, chillin’ on the verandah of our wonderful B&B, watching the storm roll in, enjoying the cool change that accompanied it and the cleansing smell of the rain, whilst savouring the last moments of our extraordinary holiday.

One of the things that Chris and I like to do is to vote for our best experiences while on holiday, he will compile his list, particularly the wineries but here is mine:

Paula’s “picks” —
• Best accommodation: Bank on Main, Rutherglen, closely followed by Reilleys’ cottages in The Clare Valley. ( I should really make special mention of my brother’s apartment in Adelaide because of its location and the fact that it was free)
• Best Accommodation facilities: McCracken Resort Victor Harbour
• Best meal: Reilleys in The Clare Valley or the Walkerville Arms.
• Best homecooked meal: Salmon, Salad and Tiramisu at Aidan and Shannon’s place.
• Best breakfast: Bank on Main at Rutherglen or the one we cooked with local produce at Reillys.