Barossa and Kangaroo Island

Barossa, a famous wine producing region in South Australia, is a mere 45 minute drive from Adelaide through open countryside. It promises to be a few days of tasting local wines and making the most of the excellent food associated with the region’s cellar doors.

As we arrive in Tanunda, it reminds us strongly of our home in Streatley – only with the addition of palm trees and grape vines! It is undeniably picturesque.

Seppeltsfield is a beautiful vineyard within easy driving distance of our Airbnb and the location of our first wine tasting. We get talking to the lady next to us as we make our way through an assortment of different wines. I’m glad of the distraction, given that my knowledge of wine is pretty pathetic! She hails from Blighty and is in Australia for three weeks on holiday. Like Jenn she is studying at the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET). She’s recently failed level 3 (notoriously challenging exam involving blind tastings) and is using part of her trip to brush up on her knowledge. When it comes to wine, practical experience counts for a lot! 😉

One of the Seppeltsfield’s claims to fame is that it offers a 100 year old fortified wine. Its punchy at $1600 a bottle, but one can try a modest 10ml serving for $100 a pop. Our drinking companion has ordered a glass and in a remarkable act of kindness offers to share it with me. 10ml is enough for a decent sized mouthful each. It’s not bad, but neither of us feel it merits the price tag. Interesting to have tried it though.

Next day we opt to drive to Clare Valley for lunch at Skillogalle vineyard. Beautiful setting amid what could otherwise be an English country garden, were it not for the blue bees! Never seen them before, nor did I know such a thing existed. Slightly smaller than a honeybee and a tad more skittish. The food is excellent and the wine is pretty good too!

Our final meal in Barossa is at Hentley Farm, destination eatery and vineyard. Got to confess to not being blown away by one of the early courses. Reminded me of the offerings I used to present to my guinea pigs when I was a child. Fortunately, the food improved markedly as the meal continued, washed down by a very good wine flight. NB: Wine flight must have been pretty good judging by Jenn’s makeshift lavender moustache!

Our next stop is Kangaroo Island. Probably just as well we are leaving Barossa given the amount we’ve eaten! That said, doesn’t stop us from breaking up the journey to the ferry with a visit to Shaw + Smith for a glass of wine and some excellent tapas! Got to love the wine district!

Our Airbnb on Kangaroo island is about a 20 minute drive from the ferry. It’s immediately clear how the island got its name. A pair of roos hop across the road within minutes of leaving the ferry. Sadly we see a LOT of their less fortunate kin by the roadside as we drive on. The island is teeming with life.

Dave’s Place is in the middle of nowhere with views over scrubland towards the sea. It’s splendid in its isolation. Just in front of the balcony is a stone bird bath, that our host tells us is frequented by kangaroos. Jenn and I go for a late afternoon walk and see a number of them within spitting distance of the house. Later that evening we have a number of further guests.

Next morning we wake to a number of hoppy visitors. Lovely way to start the day…

We visit Emu Bay where ironically, we see no emus, but we do we see a Nankeen Kestrel and a Letter Winged Kite. I never seem to have my camera to hand when we see kestrels – so I’m pleased to have finally captured one.

We are slightly cynical about the proclaimed Remarkable Rocks. We’ve seen a lot of rocks, and few have ever earned the distinction of being remarkable. Nonetheless, we dutifully make our way towards the landmark. From a distance they look like Distinctly Average Rocks and we prepare to be underwhelmed. However, once in situ, the rocks are, well, pretty remarkable! 😉

The wind has sculpted the rocks into pretty cool shapes, whilst oxidation has given them a pleasing orange hue. Against a partially blue sky, the effect is impressive. They look like sculptures that have been deliberately placed. They make for great photos.  

As we drive into Flinders Chase National Park, Jenn spots an Echidna crossing the road. Super excited about seeing one. Echidnas, along with the platypus, are the only surviving monotremes (egg laying mammals). Their young are rather charmingly known as puggles. Sadly, our spikey friend doesn’t hang around long enough for me to capture it on camera.

Our next stop is to visit Kangaroo Island’s sizeable seal colony. As much as I enjoyed watching the seals, I think my favourite moment was when we overheard a conversation between a group of elderly friends. One of them was loudly declaring that there were a pair of sea eagles down below, exactly like those that they had seen at a bird park previously. Initially excited, his friends peer in the proffered direction. They then spend a few minutes debating whether what they are looking at are actually eagles. The instigator of the conversation is adamant in his identification… Not sure whether his friends were too polite to correct him, or partially sighted. Either way, the purported eagles were very definitely sea gulls! As we moved on he was proudly recounting his spotting of a koala earlier in the day. One can only assume that said koala was actually a gnarled tree branch!

The park suffered from a massive bushfire in 2019/20, decimating the flora and fauna. We wondered what state it would be in, and were prepared for the worst. As it turns out, the area has recovered miraculously well. Australian flora is well adapted to fire. Trees and plants that look to have been roasted to charcoal have a remarkable ability to regrow from the ruins, whilst others actively thrive following fires.  

As we are coming to the end of our walk, we see (or rather Jenn sees) another echidna shuffling towards us. They are notoriously shy creatures, so we stand still hoping not to spook it. Not sure that we needed to worry, our new friend is entirely unperturbed by our presence and continues to amble towards us. It finds an old log nearby and occupies itself for some minutes trying to get its’ somewhat ridiculous looking snout into the crevices in search of termites. Result is that we manage to get some decent shots and a short video. PS: Related to the platypus, apparently echidnas can swim! That I would like to see!

On the journey home I remark to Jenn about how few snakes and spiders we’ve seen in Australia. In all the time we’ve been here we have seen two python and one whip snake. Despite its’ reputation for fearsome creatures, they’ve been thin on the ground.

Sure enough. Five minutes later we pass an enormous black snake with a flared head. By the time I’ve pulled over, the snake is busy trying to escape and disappears under the car. Consequence is that I fail to get a decent picture of it before it slithers into the bush. As a result I can’t be entirely confident about the species – but fairly sure it was a highly venomous black Tiger Snake. Pretty cool and certainly the largest snake we’ve seen on our travels!

By the time we get back we are absolutely knackered, so sit and watch the roos come to drink at the water hole. Happy days.

Feel a little sad to be leaving Kangaroo Island so soon. Rarely seen so much wildlife in one place and as with so many places in Australia it’s really rather peaceful – lacking the crowds of other parts of the world. We stop at Cape Willoughby on the way to our return ferry. Nice spot and a break in the weather makes for some nice pictures by the beach, alongside the ever-present kangaroos.

Despite 20 mile an hour winds, the ferry departs, taking us back to the mainland where we continue our journey to McLaren Vale before making our way to the Great Ocean Road.