Bev and I left home at around 11am on the last day of 2004, bound for a weekend stay at Mount Pleasant. We decided to travel the back roads from our place, through Meadows and Hahndorf rather than attempt the Southeast Freeway as it was quite a warm day and the initial long haul up the hill in third gear may well see things getting a little warm under the hood. It only took a couple of hours to reach our destination, but on our arrival, all calls on the radio raised no response from others, so assuming we were first to arrive, we decided to visit the bakery for some lunch. There’s a neat little park across the road from the bakery, with picnic tables and chairs and plenty of shade, so for the next half hour or so, we enjoyed our lunch and relaxed in the pleasant surroundings.

Back at the car, we heard on the radio that Stuart and Denise, together with son Andrew and grandson Harry, were just arriving so it was over to the showground to pick out our camp spots. Frank and Lyn were on the scene very soon after. Greg and Leonie, followed by Gary (alias ‘Spot’) arrived later that afternoon. Dean (poor bugger had to work…) and Jan rocked up in time to join the rest of us for happy hour.

It was a very pleasant location with powered sites and lots of green grass. Our camp encircled a large oak tree which provided excellent shade and shelter. As the evening progressed it cooled down a bit, but being New Year’s Eve, the obligatory celebratory drinks kept most of us pretty comfortable. My niece, who recently returned from a three month stay in Denmark, gave me a couple of small sample bottles of genuine Harald Jensen Akvavit (schnapps – 45%). I must say it was very, very nice, but disappeared all too quickly. However, Spot soon came to the rescue with a bottle of Johnny Walker, which was followed soon after by a bottle of Canadian Club, compliments of Andrew. The other highlight of the evening was Leonie’s cheese dip bread, cooked on the spot in the trusty Cobb – delicious!

When midnight and the New Year arrived (we had 3 clocks all showing some minutes different from each other), there was much well wishing, hugging, kissing and handshaking. Unbeknown to most of us, Andrew had recently had an operation on his hand and the vigorous handshakes were starting to show their painful effects, in spite of all the liquid refreshments consumed throughout the preceding hours. Ah well, he braved it like a true soldier and it was soon forgotten about.

Next morning, with everyone surprisingly fit and healthy (either that or they put on a very convincing show), we decided to try our hand at Geo-caching. For those not in the know, Geo-caching is where you search for hidden treasures at various, specified locations. The coordinates of these locations, as well as other specific details are obtained from a web site dedicated to geo-cachers world wide. The treasures are usually in the form of a very well hidden container filled with small toys and other trinkets. In each cache, there is a note pad, where you record your finding and stipulate what you have taken and what you have left in its place. Lyn’s talents came to the fore here with a creative short poem jotted in the notepad just to make it more interesting for those that follow. We were all pretty new to this, but we all enjoyed it immensely. Apart from the challenge of finding the cache, it actually took us to some very interesting areas which we would otherwise not have visited. I would recommend this activity to anyone – many thanks to Dean for finding out about Geo-caching and convincing us all to have a go! It’s actually surprising how many geo-caches there are all over the country as well as overseas. We found six caches all within about a 15 kilometer radius of Mt. Pleasant. We even bumped into another couple at one of the cache sites who had been doing it for about six months and were apparently quite addicted to the challenge.

Apart from lunch in the park across the road from the bakery in Mt. Pleasant and a visit to the Herbig Family Tree, searching (and finding) caches consumed most of the day’s activities. After tea that evening, temperatures started dropping quite markedly. There was not a lot of drinking going on, but lots of rugged up bodies holding mugs of coffee were noted.

Next day saw us heading towards the Barossa Valley, with the first stop at the Whispering Wall. I wonder how many people realize there is a geo-cache right at this very busy tourist attraction? With some of us at both ends of the dam, the usual whispering conversations took place, much to the amusement of Harry, who couldn’t quite work out why Nanny was nowhere to be seen, yet she was obviously so close. From there it was off to a couple of wineries – after all, if you’re in the Barossa… The first was the Kies Family Winery where tastings included frozen muscat and frozen port. Most unusual, but very nice. This was followed by a visit to Kellermeister, where most of the girls indulged in tasting desert wines and champagne. They must have been impressed as a number of bottles were seen making their way back to the cars.

Lunch was in the park at Lyndoch, would you believe across the road from the bakery – there seems to be a common theme emerging here at lunch times. After lunch we visited the Seppelts Family mausoleum, where, would you believe, there is another geo-cache nearby. This one was found by Andrew and was stashed in an ammo box – most appropriate we all thought as he opened it with a quick flick of the catch and a jerk of the lid – he’d obviously opened one of these before.

Then, it was off to Menglers Hill Lookout which looks out over the Valley. A very spectacular sight indeed. However, this was not the only reason for visiting this location was it? Yes, you guessed it – there just happens to be a geo-cache here which was duly located, trinkets swapped, notepad filled in and all without any onlookers even noticing what we were up to. I should mention here that one of the earlier caches contained a Travel Bug. This apparently relates to yet another web site which keeps track of where these ‘bugs’ move to and relies on people registering the movements as they occur.

Back at camp for the last evening and a decision was made to visit the Talunga Hotel for their $7 Sunday Roast – sure beats getting the Barbie dirty and having all those dishes to do eh? I must say, it was a most enjoyable meal, followed by a huge nut sundae and coffee. A few more drinks and nibbles under the old oak tree back at camp finished the day off beautifully.

The next morning saw everyone packing up and getting ready for the drive home. Well, except for us - we were heading over to Yorke Peninsula for a couple of weeks, much to the annoyance of Dean who commented on how much he was looking forward to returning to work the next day. A great time was had by all and Mt Pleasant certainly lives up to its name. It’s a great little spot in the middle of a very interesting part of our great State and certainly a place that I would eagerly return to.

For those interested in exploring further the challenges of geo-caching – and I can thoroughly recommend the activity to everyone, log onto www.geocaching.com and take it from there…

Gerry Paay