Grampians and Barossa (May 3-7)

We drove from Warrnambool for about two or so hours toward the Grampian Mountains.  We had heard from a friend they were worth a trip and frankly we were looking for a change from the coastal scenery.  The winding drive took us through rural pastures and farms.  It was an uneventful drive with me behind the wheel and Lindsay attempting to work in the front seat.  About 2/3 of the way up to our destination, the isolated mountain town Halls Gap, we entered the Grampians National Park.  We drove through some beautiful forests and saw a couple of emus just doing their thing.  Lindsay had a work call planned for  around 2PM, and at 1:45 our phone still had no bars. But luckily ten minutes later we neared Halls Gap, and the bars went quickly from 0 to 1 to 3 and finally 4.  We stopped at an aboriginal cultural center where Lindsay had her teleconference and I watched some kangaroos munch on the grass and a bunch of British schoolkids throw boomerangs.  After that, we stopped into the Halls Gap visitor's center for some info and checked into the camper van park.  Once we had checked, in Lindsay and I wandered around the park to check all the amenities.  What we found you can see below. 

Many of the parks have these large "jumping pillows," which are sort of like balloon-trampoline things primarily for children of course.  Well, us oldies spent the next hour practicing our ninja/ballet/crouching tiger hidden dragon moves on the thing.  Once we had our fill of jumping, I left my wife to work while I took the camper to McKenzie Falls for some photos.  I had a nice time at the falls, but my trip home took twice as long as the trip out because I had to drive about 15 miles per hour.  One thing I nearly learned the hard way is that in Australia, if you drive near dusk or dawn, you take your life in your hands.  This is the time that the critters, especially roos, come out to play.  Despite my ridiculously measured return to town, I still nearly ran over 4 kangaroos.  They really do appear to be dumb animals. 

As I drove into the camper van park, I thought it might be nice to surprise Lindsay by setting up the camper van, turning on the heat, and starting dinner.  I figured I would be accommodating and let her continue working in the camp kitchen while I set out hors d'oeuvres, chopped the veggies, opened the wine, and picked the perfect music for a romantic camper van dinner.  Once that was all done and I was toasty warm, I walked over to the camp kitchen to retrieve my bride.  I walked through the door and found her huddled in the corner, with her computer off.  She took one look at me and exclaimed, “Thank God you are here!  I have been so cold for the last hour I haven’t been able to type, let alone work!”   Needless to say, I felt really guilty for having left her there in the cold.  Still, we had a nice delicious dinner of salmon and garlic shrimp.

The next morning we were up and moving early.  We had a big drive ahead of us, so we decided to start the day off with a hike in the Grampian Mountains.  We drove up the road to the Pinnacles trail head through the morning mist.  By the time we started up through what they call the “Grand Canyon,” a canyon formed by volcanic rock, the mist had turned to a drizzle.  As we crossed some beautiful rocky mountain terrain and up to the top, the drizzle had turned into a downpour.  So ninety minutes later we were standing at the top of the pinnacles, soaking wet, and loving it.  The inclement weather prevented any decent view of the valley below, but we were had a great time anyway.  After briefly getting lost on the way back down, we jumped in the van, and drove into town.  We then headed northwest; we had a long haul to get up to the Barossa valley.  Google maps, which has been remarkably accurate, told us it would take about 7 hours from Halls Gap (aka Helms Deep) to our days destination, Tanunda.  This would be the first opportunity to test out Lindsay’s “Mobile Operation for Patents, Engineering and Science” or MOPES, which interestingly also describes her mood when she has to work.

Ever since we set aside this time off for travel at the end of our time in Townsville, we knew we would have to find a way for Lindsay to continue working on the road.  When planning this trip we purposely built in days for her to work, but we figured that time would still be inadequate.  So we came up with MOPES, which is basically me driving the entire time and Lindsay sitting in the front passenger seat, pillow on her lap, working on her laptop.  The one potential hiccup we considered was Lindsay's woeful lack of tolerance for motion.  In all honesty, the first three scuba dive trips we went on resulted in me being vomited on by said wife.  This situation has been greatly improved with the help of certain pharmaceuticals such as Dramamine and meclazine.  The only drawback to these meds is the resulting drowsiness that comes over Lindsay after taking them.  So in Halls Gap I came up with the solution: the meclachino.  You guessed it, one part meclazine for the motion and one double shot of espresso for the drooping eyelids.  Needless to say it worked like a charm.

The drive up to Barossa was just plain long.  The only highlight was our Bonnie and Clyde moment of lawlessness, which subsequently made me feel very Australian.  In a country founded by criminals, it would be unpatriotic not to bend the rules every now and then.  So, we were about to cross the border from Victoria to South Australia when we saw a sign for mandatory fruit and veggie quarantine.  It clearly stated that ALL fruits and veggies must be disposed of in the provided bin prior to crossing the border.  We stopped and on the side of the road scarfed down two apples and two oranges.  All we had left was half a lemon and a tomato.  Lindsay was about to toss these when I stopped her.  We were having tuna for lunch and I explained how crucial the lemon would be to create a mouthwatering tuna sandwich and how boring it would be without a fresh tomato.  Lindsay initially refused to harbor the two culinary fugitives, but when I explained that the policy probably didn’t count if the veggies didn’t leave the vehicle, she reluctantly went along with my scheme.  In all honesty, she then took the contraband and hid them back in the camper van.  The lemon went in with our toiletries and the tomato was tucked away in a secret compartment under the stove.  I couldn’t stop laughing.  About 5kms across the border, I noticed that Lindsay wasn’t talking to me.  When I asked what was wrong she said she felt very uncomfortable with our "lawbreaking.”  This uncomfortable feeling only worsened when we saw an unmarked vehicle with flashing orange lights make a u-turn and start following us down the road.  Lindsay turned to me and said, “See, here come the fruit police. I'm sure they have fruit-sniffing dogs with them.  They're gonna catch us!”  Well, the vehicle disappeared shortly thereafter so we made it to Bordertown, where we had a wonderful tuna sandwich lunch complete with a delicious sliced tomato.

We arrived in Tanunda (Barrossa valley) after dark, checked into the caravan park (5 minutes before the reception closed), and had a dinner of mac’n cheese.  The next morning we went for a run around town and then Lindsay worked.  After lunch we set out to sample some of the vino visiting Rockford, Kabminye, Peter Lehman, and finally Penfolds.  As we usually do while visiting vineyards, we had a blast.  We even made our way to a gourmet cheese shop where we picked up some local brie, blue, and goat cheese.  After a wonderfully informative last stop of the day at Penfolds, we returned to the caravan park and proceeded to eat all the cheese we had just purchased.  Later in the evening we had a nice dinner at a local Tanunda restaurant, 1918, before hitting the hay.