Wine, gardens and ancestors 17 Feb 2017

It's a paradox! In some ways, some things in Australia feels very familiar whilst in others it's wildly different. I've already mentioned some driving traits, but on the familiar side they drive on the left, on the other hand distances are in Kilometres and there are the huge road trains too. I've learnt some new words too, some I can repeat in public! In the bar, beer is drunk in schooners and we've been using an 'eski' to keep our drinks cool whilst we travel! Beer is sold in stubbies, bottles to us!

In some respects though, the parts of Australia we've visited are very similar to the USA, whilst seeming very British at the same time. I think it is to do with attitudes to life, people generally seem far less stressed than back in Europe. Houses that we've looked at in the Estate Agents are very reasonably priced too, some of the lovely period bungalows with wide verandahs and large gardens are a snip compared with UK prices every with Sterling weak against the Australian Dollar.

Enough of my rambling! We headed south out of Glenelg this morning through Brighton to McClaren Vale, a major wine producing area of South Australia. We had an appointment at Shingleback Winery, one of the top producers of the region. After introductions, we got down to the serious business of tasting their entire range of wines. We started with a sparkling wine and ended up with a port-like dessert wine. Shiraz grapes are king here and it's amazing what the vintners can do with it, although some of the blends are also good. We had several favourites, but carting wine around when travelling by air can be a pain. We took the pain and purchased a couple of bottles!

We ate lunch in a small cafe in the village of McClaren Vale before heading for the hills! The hills in question were the Adelaide Hills to the east of the city. It a mix of farms, some vineyards, olive groves and cattle farms, rather pretty all in all. I can see you could spend days here visiting producers and sampling local foods and drink.

We ended up at Mount Lofty near Crafers at the Botanical Gardens. These are located on the upset reaches of the mountain and consists of steep paths in forests of eucalyptus and pine. We also saw a lot of interesting birds there. We paid for an hours parking, but didn't notice the time passing whilst we were wandering around. Luckily the place was all but deserted and no-one checking the empty car-park!

Crafers is also where a great uncle, several times removed, lived once (see below). It was impossible to find the exact house as it's changed it's name, but there are some beautiful properties there. It must have been cooler living up there, especially during the summer.

Back at the motel, it was time to pack again as we move on again tomorrow!

 John Mourilyan Snoswell (1844-1927), first son of John Snoswell and Elizabeth Holman, established himself as a saddle and harness maker in Grenfell Street. In 1873 he married Matilda Coleman who died in 1943, and around 1875 took up farming at Curramulka, returning to Adelaide after selling his property in 1909. There he acquired various real estate property and spent his retiring years at the imposing residence 'Hofwyl', Waverly Ridge, Crafers, which he purchased in 1913 when sold at auction by C.A. Horn.