Category Archives: Slow Travel

A few days in the Coonawarra – Day two wine tastings and lunch

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This post follows on from A few days in the Coonawarra – Day one tastings and lunch

Eric’s Shed, the old tasting room – Brands Laira

We decided that a reward for looking after our grandchildren would be a second day’s wine tasting and lunch.

So after farewelling our daughter and family it was into the car for the 30 minute or so drive back to Penola. We made a quick stop to pick up a takeaway coffee from Bricks and Mortar which over our short stay in Mt Gambier had become a favourite.

Our second day in the Coonawarra was again with Coonawarra Experiences. When we arrived, Simon was there to greet us.  He had put our first day’s purchases in our apartment and with that, we were ready to start the day.

Our Sunday tastings were arranged to be a little less hectic than our first day to allow us to recharge from the couple of days looking after our wonderful grandchildren.

Our first stop was at Patrick’s , a second generation family winery whose grapes are sourced from within the Coonawarra and the nearby Wrattonbully region.  Continue reading →

A few days in the Coonawarra – Day one tastings and lunch

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Our apartment in Penola

This post follows on from A few days in the Coonawarra – getting there 

Our day started with a check of the weather. 

Despite it being the middle of Summer, it seemed the weather was going to be mild, so I was glad I’d packed for both hot and mild weather. With a decision on suitable attire for the day made, the next decision was where in Penola would we find the best coffee?

Penola offered 2 choices for coffee as well as 2 bakeries. We chose Moss and Wild, which was on the list of recommendations from our tour host. The coffee was excellent; however, the food choices were toasties or baked goods, which didn’t fit our needs. They did, however, look tasty. 

With a coffee under our belts, we headed back to our apartment and met Simon, the co-owner of  Coonawarra Experiences. Consistent with our earlier dealings in arranging our tour Simon was ready to answer all our questions, including a last-minute request to visit Penley Estate.

Unfortunately, Penley closed their tasting room during Covid and not reopened it. It seemed I would have to settle with a purchase of a couple of bottles of their Cab Sav from the Royal Oak Hotel. Penley is the family wine business of the Tolley sisters, a famous South Australian wine family. I’d been a fan of their wines for a while, so I was disappointed that we couldn’t make a visit. Penley offers a range of traditional varieties made in a contemporary style.

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A few days in the Coonawarra – getting there

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Our daughter’s involvement in a wedding in the South East of South Australia and our offer to look after her children while she and her husband were at the wedding and surrounding events gave us just the excuse to visit The Coonawarra, one of Australia’s most famous wine regions. In my case, it had been about a decade since I had visited and, for my favourite person, much longer.

The Coonawarra is about 400kms from Adelaide, making it about a 4 hour 30 trip assuming a short break somewhere like Tintinarra or Keith.

Tintinara

The road to Keith is well travelled as it’s the main highway to Melbourne, and just short of Keith, there is a turn-off for the Riddoch Highway that took us through Padthaway past Naracoorte and onto our destination of Penola in the heart of The Coonawarra.

The Coonawarra is a designated wine region that was hard fought for in the late 1990s, finally getting its own designation in 2003 as part of the Limestone Coast Region. There are just over 20 wineries in the region. It is a mix of the big corporates such as Penfolds, Treasury (owner of Wynns) and large family wine companies such as Casella (owner of Brands Laira) and Yalumba, along with smaller concerns such as Whistle Stop and Raidis.

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Brisbane – a week in the city

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We had arranged a trip to Brisbane to coincide with the end of Winter. A chance to escape the cold and wet. However, our late August trip had to be postponed due to illness. No matter our rescheduled trip in late October achieved the same result. We still flew out of Adelaide in dreary wet cold weather. So much for Spring!

Airport security remains a shambles but my years of flying while working gave me lifetime membership of one of the higher frequent flyer higher categories, allowing us priority access and jumping the queue. Those long over and back day trips to Perth had there advantages.

We arrived late morning in Brisbane. As we didn’t know where the airport express train would stop in relation to our accommodation, we caught a cab. It was more expensive but convenient. Our accommodation was private overlooking the botanic gardens.

Other than a day with my favourite person’s sister and her son’s family we had no plans for our week in Brisbane. We’d made some bookings at a few restaurants and downloaded some “things to do” via https://www.visitbrisbane.com.au/ . It gave us an outline for a week that fitted within our Slow Travel mantra.

We hadn’t lined up dinner for night one, although I’d given some thought to The Prawnster. The reviews were so polarised that I wasn’t sure, but after the Ok from my favourite person, we gave it a go.

As the picture shows it’s a boat and as the website says it does seafood and nothing else, except for wine and beer! If you want chips, a salad or dessert the advice on the website is to bring them. It was fabulous! Very casual, with the waiter in shorts and a tee shirt, happy to serve a drink when needed and ready to plonk the food in front of you. We had a mountain of prawns and bugs which came with a couple of disposable wood forks, tartare sauce, a finger bowl, serviettes and a bucket for the shells. We loved it, but as one of the reviews said make sure you’ve read the FAQs before you go so you know what you’ll get.

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Lecce, Puglia – my it was hot!

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As I wind down from completing my thesis, I have been reviewing my WordPress Draft Folder, as I have many posts that were nearing completion but weren’t in my desire to complete my PhD.

This post did not make it past draft while travelling through Italy.

Lecce was wonderful, and it was hot. Afternoons when the town closed allowed me to work on the book chapter I was writing based on my research. It was also a time when I could participate in the “Shut Up and Write” sessions with my study buddy. We were early adopters of Zoom!

With nearly two weeks in Lecce, we could take it easy and live our slow travel mantra.

Our Airbnb apartment was delightful with a superb host. It was more B&B than Airbnb, with the traditional home-baked goodies our host provided an added benefit. Our apartment was ideally located near the train station, a bus stop, and a short walk to the old town. The entrance to our apartment was through a small door that did not indicate what was inside. Of course, our apartment was up multiple stairs, which is always a challenge with suitcases. At least it was well lit. The apartment had been our host’s home until she and her husband had children, at which time they moved to a farm just outside the town. We were the beneficiaries of the farm with fresh produce each morning, along with those baked goodies.

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