south australia: tanunda, barossa, nurioopta

We were lucky enough to have a somewhat unplanned stay in the Barossa - at Tanunda. Our solid Land Cruiser Workmate needed a service so we stayed in Tanunda so J could take it in to Adelaide city for the day.

The CP was great for the kids with a playground in view of the caravan and a short walk in to the pretty town. We love the original stone buildings in South Australia. 

I fell in love with an antique shop in town (there are a few) and packaged up some amazing green Pyrex dishes and sent them home. 

One morning Miss P and I had a drive, mainly to see Maggie Beer's Kitchen but P insisted I pull over when she spotted these horses feeding by the road. She loves horses. I think someone will be wanting riding lessons soon! 

The samples of Maggie's peaches didn't last long! Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) I left my wallet back in the caravan so when it came time to make a few purchases I had to go through the car to find some coins. 

Dear little P decided she'd like to buy us some peaches by herself. She came back to me on the verge of tears and i could see she was upset. The tears poured down as she said the man wouldn't let her buy any peaches. 

A few weeks later it occurred to me that poor P had taken the sample bowl to the counter, rather than a packet. I assumed she didn't have enough money! 

We made the most of the beautiful weather and rode the rail trail from Anguston to Nurioopta. This is a superb ride through the wineries. There were a few stray grapes (not in the wineries but creeping on to the verge) so we tasted a few grapes along the way. 

What a great way to finish a ride! Local wine and tapas at Home of the Brave, First Drop Wine Bar. The kids loved the Brie and the olives. The prawns were delicious. 

After tapas I took the kids across the road to the local library while J Ross back to fetch the car. 

There are various roads from Nurioopta to Tanunda past big properties so we took the dirt roads back. 

south australia: fleurieu

Every day is a new adventure when you're on the road. You can plan ahead (we don't really) but you just don't know where the day will take you. 

Remember we mentioned staying at Old Mac's Farm in Launceston? It was there that we met a lovely couple who were travelling with a group of friends. They mentioned that their son loved with his family on the Fleurieu peninsula in South Australia and to drop in when we were in the neighbourhood. 

Well we got in touch with Andrew and he put us up for the night - in his olive grove! Andrew runs a small business - Seaview Grove Olive Oil - and runs a few cows on his property. When he and his wife bought the farm from the previous owner they'd initially thought they'd take out the hundreds of olive trees because they hadn't been a successful crop. 

We obviously talked about the amazing produce available in the Fleurieu and it was pleasing to hear so many small producers were getting their goods out there allowing people to buy fresh and local. It's a exciting time in the area. 

Andrew has done his research and has packaged his olive oil in casks. These casks ensures that the unused olive oil doesn't not come in to contact with air keeping it fresher anymore nutritious for longer. 

Not only that but Andrew can boast that he's selling a tasty all-rounder oil - beautiful for cooking and great for with bread and dukkah. It's also grown organically and is really reasonably priced $15 for a litre cask and is available online. Postage is free for orders over $40.  

http://www.seaviewgrove.com.au

Those gnarly old branches of the olive are beautiful. And the colour of their leaves. They aren't a showy plant for one that has so much to offer. 

It was a pretty amazing camp for the night and waking up with views to the ocean was special. Thanks again for having us!

victoria: torquay farmers markets

Another bit of serendipity lead us to Torquay. 

I'd remembered that Mamacino (food blogger extraordinare) had a stall at Torquay Farmer's Markets (which run every Saturday) so I planned around the markets. It suited us because we also needed to stock up on fresh fruit and veg, snacks for the car and a few frozen meals for when we arrive at a site in the afternoon. 

Mamacino has stopped her weekly stall but not her enthusiasm for good food and local produce so we met at the market anyway. 

With barely two dozen (lots of organic) stalls this little market is a gem! I had so much fun chatting with local farmers. And met Sarah who's running Eat Local Month in the area. They have so many fun things coming up in April so if you're in the area, look them up!

I also managed to pick up some great stuff including coriander, parsley, basil (huge branch) - all $2, the sweetest strawberries, dried bananas, hamburgers, homemade pies & pastries for the freezer, goats cheese, fresh bread, lamb shanks and lamb mince. I grabbed a big bag of apples for $5. We can't get enough after Tassie. 

Yesterday I transformed the mince, using my $2/kg tomatoes into a few pies - think moussaka/kafta filling topped with mashed potato. These will be easy to reheat and serve with salad or veggies. 

I couldn't resist these vego rice paper rolls with seaweed from the Tastes of Tibet stand. If you like this type of food you'd love these. Oh man. Smothered in house made chilli sauce. I'm still dreaming of them. She does dumplings too. 

And then I met Annette. She whips up some tasty treats for the markets. Our kids couldn't be dragged away from the samples. I don't blame them. Check out her Afghans! J and I sneaked a couple of Annette's finest homemade Monte Carlo's for the next leg of the trip. I'll be dreaming of those buttery, jammy delights for some time yet. 

It is so good to see the community getting behind local farmer's markets. I'm much happier knowing that our money went to farmers thriving to provide healthier food with safer farming practices for the long-term good of the environment. I'm pleased that our cash supports someone like Annette who bakes like a mad thing & gets to the markets early for the love of it. 

Our money was so well spent and the bottom line is that I'm pleased our $150 didn't go to either of the big two supermarkets that dominate the market. 

tasmania: bruny island in a day

If someone tells you "it's just not worth seeing Bruny if you've only got one day" don't listen! 

We didn't but we had a neat plan for the day because we wanted to make the most of our time and get back to Woodbridge for the kids' dinner. The weather was predicted to be beautiful and it was. 

This was how our day went. 

0840 leave Woodbridge. 

0900 Visit Snug Butchery to stock up on local meat - lamb for toast, vaccuum packs of roast beef & silverside for lunches, local eggs. This is why I love travelling with the car fridge! Thanks again Uncle!! 

0930 Ferry at Kettering. We had time for J to grab a take away coffee while we waited! 

The first stop after arriving at Bruny was The Neck. If you arrive earlier (at dawn) you can see the penguin march. 

Next we took the road to Adventure Bay 

and stopped at the Bruny Island Berry Farm to grab some blueberries for morning tea. The kids were also allowed to pick some strawberries from the farm. 

The walks around Adventure Bay look amazing but we can't bite off too much with three littlies. The 1km walk to Grassy Point seemed an ideal walk along the beach and through the casurina forest but we ended up stopping for morning tea a little before Grassy Point. 

We passed the remnants of two whaling stations. The history of which is fascinating. 

After our bushwalk we took the 4WD - unsealed road to Lunawanna. We were pleased to have left the caravan behind! There are two signs on the road which indicate look outs to the east and to the west. We stopped at the lookout which had the most magnificent view to the west in the direction of the most southerly point on Bruny Island. 

Lunch (which turned in to a long lunch) was tapas (& wine) at Bruny Island Premium Wines. This place was accommodating of the kids. The lunch  was delicious - seafood chowder, beef croquettes, mushrooms with haloumi, skewers - all showcasing local ingredients. The kids menu was salmon with cheese and carrot sticks - such a change from deep fried fish and chips or crappy pizza. 

It was a hop, skip and a jump back to the ferry via a quick stock up at the Bruny Island Cheese co. where we grabbed some soft and semi hard cheeses. Yum! Next door we spent $9/dozen on two dozen unopened oysters though one dozen turned out to be only ten. Get Shucked Oysters has a drive through service! Best idea ever and these oysters were meaty and so tasty. 

I'd read that the little shop on Bruny Island at the ferry terminal has fresh veg for sale so in the few minutes we had to wait for the ferry I grabbed some cherry tomatoes for the following night's dinner - grown a few metres away in the owner's small market garden. 

There's no doubt we'll be back to Bruny because we had such a memorable day on the island - combining what we love - being outdoors, food & having an adventure! One day was just enough to whet our appetite!