Travelled a very winding, hilly road along the Torrens River - beautiful scenery, but I'm glad we weren't driving - especially as we would have been drinving on the opposite side from at home. Stil not quite used to travelling on the left side of the road - not too bad while going straight - but confusing when you have to turn - or meet up with one of those dreaded roundabouts.
We stoped at the Kangaroo Creek Dam and reservoir - this is a huge high dam shaped in a semi-circle almost. If you stand by the wall at one end of the dam, you can easily talk to someone across at the far side of the dam - the dam acts like a parabolic microphone. Unbelievable how you can hear and talk in a normal voice - not yelling or anything.
We really enjoyed our visit to the Langmeil winery - it's small, old, picturesque and has the oldest vines in Australia - 164 years old, and still producing enough grapes to make about 300 bottles of wine per year. Of course they have taken cuttings of these vines and have started new vines, but the old ones keep on going.
Had lunch at another winery - Kaesler - we had kangaroo done in a wine sauce - absolutely delicious. Afterwards we had "Icky Sticky Date Pudding" with caramel sauce and cream - gave me a real sugar high, but it sure was good.
The third winery was a very modern "factory" type place - while others sampled wine, I took pictures of the flowers and a family of ducks taking thier ducklings for a swim. I was stil on a sugar high and didn't need to add wine to the mixture.
That night we met with Cheryl (Chezza R) and Lynne Elze and their husbands. They treated us to dinner, and we shared lots of conversation and lots of laughs. They are really nice people and we enjoyed their company so much. There was a lot of teasing back and forth between the six of us. We had a great time.
OUR ITINERARY **NEW, REVISED AND UP TO DATE**
- If we're going to be in your city and you want to get together for a cup of coffee, leave a message at our hotel, or send me an email ahead of time at shakos@sympatico.ca - we'll try to rendezvous with you. That would be great fun!
- Sat. Oct. 20 - Arrive in Christchurch, New Zealand and stay at the Copthorne Central Hotel, phone 03 379 5880.
- Mon. Oct. 22 - TranzAlpine Train ride to Franz Josef, staying at the Franz Josef Glacier Hotel, phone 03 752 0729.
- Tues. Oct. 23 - Queenstown, staying at the Novotel Gardens, phone 03 442 7750.
- Thurs. Oct. 25 - Te Anau, staying at the Village Inn, phone 03-249 7911.
- Fri. Oct. 26 - Dunedin, staying at the Dunedin City Hotel, phone 03 470 1470. Hope to meet Chris Davies for coffee while we're there.
- Sat. Oct. 27 - Mount Cook National Park, staying at The Hermitage Hotel, phone 03 435 1809.
- Sun. Oct. 28 - Back at the Copthorne Central Hotel in Christchurch, phone 03 379 5580 till Oct. 30th. We'll then take the ferry to the North Island and stay with Beulah from Oct. 30th, till November 5th.
- Mon. Nov. 5 - Pick up a car for a self-drive tour to Auckland. (Biting my nails as you guys drive on the wrong side of the road - giggle). Stay at the Lakeland Resort, Taupo, phone 07 378 3893 on the 5th, and at the Heritage Rotorua on the 6th and 7th, phone 07 348 1189.
- Thurs. Nov. 8 - Arrive in Auckland and stay with Lizzie and her husband John. I've promised to teach an ink and oil rouging design for Lizzie while I'm there.
- Mon. Nov. 12 - It's all over but the curtain calls. Fly from Auckland back to Los Angeles, where we will stay a week with my aunt. A good chance to shake off some of the jet lag.
- Sun. Nov. 18 - Back in Canada. All good things have to come to an end. The memories, however, will last a lifetime.
Friday, October 12, 2007
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