The wine tour and the wheelbarrow....

Good afternoon from the Heggies pool, I am getting some afternoon sun and its the perfect time to catch up on Bank Holiday because there is a horse race Monday goings on!!

A trip to Adelaide is never complete without a little wine tour so me, Carrie and Helen were driven round by the ever patient Jenn to find some gems and try some wine!! Off to the McLaren Vale we trundled and the first stop was a new one for all of us but had come highly recommended - Beach Road Wines.  And what a gem, a real little boutique place with Brionny the owner and wine maker guiding up through their 6 wines with an enthusiastic and cheerful explanation of each, she was even happy when we were trying to work out if we could get the 6 foot antique wine rack in one of our handbags....

Thankfully we had rung ahead to book a table for lunch and we sat, overlooking the stunning countryside, and enjoyed a bottle of their pinot (a wine you could get into trouble drinking it was so lush) and a selection of nibbly bits for starters including pickled mini brains (radishes) and kumquats (that made you cough they were so pickly!!) followed by amazing wood fired pizzas and a glass of the stunning shiraz.  Heaven.  This truly was a beautiful spot and after a gorgeous lunch and a long discussion about the show that we will never forget (we are still talking about it which is the best publicity they could get) and how I should apply for a stand up comedy slot in next years Fringe (after making my blogs into a book) we headed out to our next stop, Angove.

Another stunning setting but with not so nice wine, but we did get to look as (and briefly touch the bottle of) a 40 year old brandy that retails at $750.....well it did have a 24 carat gold lid.

Our third and final stop (which was probably wise as we were starting to get a tad squiffy) was the vineyard that Mandy Walker works at, Paxtons.  We arrived to the beautiful setting to hear the strains of True by Spandau Ballet wafting through the outdoor speakers, and thankfully we were the only ones there as we waltzed in serenading Mandy in the process. This was clearly only going to end one way....So several wines later the wine tasting with wonderful Mandy went like this:

Karen into ice tongs, Mexican hat wearing, dancing to the beats, finding a wheelbarrow that Helen and I wanted to have a go in, having a go in the wheelbarrow and Helen falling out, having another go and Helen not falling out by making the sensible decision not to push her down a very large hill, more wine, more singing, Helen pushing me around in a sack barrow aka Hannibal Lecter style, laying on tables, more wine, a bit more singing and finally leaving after Mandy had locked us out....

Mandy was a star as was Jenn for driving round 3 slightly squiffy 40 somethings but we had a blast, laughing so hard our cheeks hurt and wishing we'd gone further in the wheelbarrow but grateful that we hadn't...

A quick stop back at the Heggies to pick up the boys and it was out to Fudd's a new burger joint with an unfortunate position oppostie a petrol garage but the awesome burgers made up for that, and after completing Daniels Hitler assignment whilst we ate it was back home for an extremely early night, slightly squiffy and very very full!!

And before I knew it, morning came and a chilled out day was to follow but that will be for later faithful friend.  SO just a short one for you there to make up for the essay this morning!!  Tonights will be equally as short but just as heartfelt so until then I bid you TTFN xxxx