Adelaide: Wine Country

G'Day Mates...How are ya going? I find myself "home sweet home" in wine country. Yummy!

This post will probably be short and sweet as I don't have much Internet time left and I leave for Alice Springs early tomorrow morning. However, there is one thing that I ask of all of you reading this blog...I'm in need of some simple meal recipes knowing that I'm using a communal kitchen with no oven. Please consider the only tools I have are stove elements, the odd microwave a toaster and very few spices/condiments, etc. As I mentioned in my last blog...the Super Sized Joe has to go and in his place...Fit Joe. So please send me a SIMPLE (remember...I'm not the sharpest guy around) and EASY, half healthy meal ideas. That is the cost of reading my blog. Cheers... Thanks in advance.

Adelaide has spoiled me and I like it. My friend Sue set up an amazing wine tasting, tour and dinner at Penfolds Magill Estates where I was wined and dined to fabulous new tastes. I treated myself to a Penfolds Bin 707 glass of wine which cost $65. How crazy is that? And thanks to the wonderful company of Bonnie and Larry from Denver who invited me to join them at their table...I was also able to taste a 1983 Grange at a mere $95 per glass. Not bad for an Embro Boy.

And thanks to a spontaneous invite from Fiona from Adelaide and Rebecca from the UK I had a great outing at Glenelg beach just outside of Adelaide. Aussies sure know how to make you feel welcome.

I also stumbled (not literally...this time) onto a pub that between 9:00 and 11:00 played paper/rock/scissors each time you ordered a drink. If you won...the drink was free...if you lost...you had to pay the normal price for it. Nice idea!! I won two out of three. Hey...I was at a wine tasting event all day; a fairwell dinner and drinks for my new found Dutch friends Debbie/Corine/Sven and only got to the pub after 10:00. Cut me some slack.

The Barossa valley which is known for it's Shiraz and Cabarnets has vineyards and wineries everywhere. It's a winos paradise. And it just happens to be home to one of my favourite wines: Wolfblass. Oh course I went on a structured wine tasting tour. Actually I went to five wineries that day. I'm becoming quite the expert if I do say so myself. It didn't hurt that I spent some time at the National Wine Centre here in Adelaide as well. As they say...when in Rome...

Now why did I take a picture of this particular vine? Because if you want to be an expert...you have to know your history. This vine is 164 years old and the oldest vine in the world. It's found at the Langmeil Estates. I bet you didn't know that. All this culture (yes, I went to another Museum and Art Gallery) and knowledge is starting to scare me. Whatever happened to Oblivious Joe? He was pretty fun to hang around because he was simple. This Cultured Joe is getting some substance. Look out world...I've also been reading the trivia questions on the bottom of Carlton Draught and Toohey's New bottlecaps. I'm thinking about going into the National Trivial Pursuit Challenge so I guess I better go practise some more. Another round bartender. I'm in training.

Off to the Rock...