Weekend amongst the vines.
It was decided after the successful 2009 visit that it should be run again in 2010. So on the June long weekend club members once again congregated at Potts Reserve Langhorne Creek.
Jen and I arrived at about 4.30 pm on the Friday to find that a number had already set up camp. We were greeted by Bev and Gerry, Dean and Jan and Gtreg and Leonie. Deciding where to camp is a major decision in the Williams household, so after much changing of positions around Potts Reserve I finally decided on a site. We waited for Gary and Ruth plush their entourage (grand children) to arrive with our fire wood which was to keep us warm for the weekend. The people who manage the reserve are strict about fires and with notices either end of the reserve warning of an $8,000.00 fine if caught lighting fires our half 44 gallon drum arrived, delivered by Jack Hallam’s step son, Russell, with the sanction of the management of the reserve.
As the sun went down still no Gary and as we ate our tea he arrived with the grand children minus Ruth and the fire wood. A time later the wood arrived with Gary’s son Danny and Ruth. Everyone unloaded the utility and we soon had a blazing fire. The group expected to arrive on the Friday were there and we waited until morning for the others to arrive.
It was to be a leisurely time in the morning to get ready for our trip to Currency Creek and Balastone Wineries. As I was lying in bed thinking of rising I was disturbed by Lyn and Frank arriving and parking close by at some ungodly time. If I can remember correctly it was about 8.30am. By 9.30am George and Herma had arrived to spend the day with us.
As the opening time for Balastone wines was 10.30am, it was decided that an investigation of the dam wall at Clayton would be appropriate. This wall was built to dam the lower lake and raise the water level at Goolwa at the expense of the other towns around the lake, Milang and Meningie. From Clayton straight to Balastone, meeting up with Al and Kath at the winery, sampling their wines and a number of people purchasing some. When we arrived we found that the winery was having a sale of their wines the following weekend, so we missed the good buys by a week.
On to Currency Creek Winery with all the Antique and Collectables crowd. We were pleasantly surprised that the tasting room was not full to overflowing so Frank and Lyn purchased some bubbly and filled their own container of port. This was a salient lesson for Greg and Leonie as they also purchased the same amount of port, but without their own container. It worked out that the container supplied by the winery was valued at around $9.00. Well worth bringing your own flagon. The coffee shop at the winery was doing a great trade and as we had plenty of time until our next sampling,a freshly brewed coffee was welcomed by everyone.
Back to Potts Reserve for lunch and meeting up with Pat and Bruce which meant everyone had arrived for the weekend. Our first stop for the afternoon was Bremerton Winery, which is a favourite of mine, not only for sampling the wines but also samplintg the Horseradish spreads, olives, chilli jams and pickles. Club members came away from Bremerton with as much food as wine.
On to Cleggetts, where once again Mac and Greg chewed over their days at Roseworthy Agricultural College and their thoughts of some of the senior students which included Ian. Frank and Lyn purchased the mandatory bubbly and I picked up the last carton of Shiraz cleanskins. Mac and Anne decided to join us for dinner at the Hotel later that evening.
On to the last winery for the day, Bleasdale, a must as it is the only winery I can remember that still has open tastings. The red gum wine press is a tourist must so members who had not seem it previously (last year) made sure it was inspected during this visit. We upset the woman behind the counter as they like prior warning if ten or more people are to visit their winery. Obviously she could not cope with a few extra people as she said it upset other patrons, but really after talking to her, she became flustered. Jen had stayed back at camp to make damper, one savoury and one sweet. We had happy hour around the camp fire before off to the hotel for an inconsistent tea. Some meals were brilliant whilst others were down right disgusting and should not have been served to patrons. Our day visitors George, Herma, Al and Kath left us after the meal and we then went back to camp reminiscing about the day and looking forward to Gerry’s mystery drive on Sunday.
A leisurely day had been planned by Gerry taking us along the back roads down to the lake, then to Point Sturt and back to Potts Reserve. We started the day at 9.30am and headed down to Lake Alexandrina through Mosquito Creek to Dog Lake and eventually Tolderol Game Reserve. The roads were reasonably sticky, but that was just the beginning. From the Game Reserve we headed along the lake to Milang with Gerry trying a few tracks but wisely chickening out as it was felt the fifth car would not get through. No one wanted to get their hands muddy pulling some one out of a bog. We made Milang and the baker was open so a number of the party filled up on pies, pasties and pastries. The train station art shop was open which was a distraction for some of the party. Eventually we made our way to Point Sturt and a short break. It was time to venture back so Gerry led the group on the back wet and slippery roads. Gary had great fun in giving the grandchildren a thrill by slipping and sliding around. I firmly believe there were four children in that vehicle not three. With thick mud sticking to all parts of the vehicles we arrived back to set up barbecues for tea and a very pleasant evening talking over the events of the day. Gary after tea packed up camp and headed home.
Monday, everyone packed up and made their own way home. I would like to thank Jack Hallam for his assistance in organising the weekend and note that he had the good sense to head for warmer climes on that cold weekend. To Jacks step son Russell, for lending the group his half 44 gallon drum which we used to contain the fire and to Gary for bringing the wood so we could keep warm during the chilly evenings. A special thank you to Gerry for organising the exciting drive on Sunday in an area that many of us thought did not have any four wheel drive tracks.
Ian Williams
Trip Leader