Home

The journey back went pretty well as scheduled - no flight delays - but the hard part was the 11 hour layover at Hong Kong - that seemed interminable. We tried for an earlier flight but the only other Cathay Pacific flight to London was just one hour ahead of the one we were booked on, and it just wasn't worth the hassle with changing tickets and trying to re-direct bags etc.

As it happens, we arrived in Aberdeen just before 10 am this morning only to find that Jo's bag didn't make the last leg. It arrived on the second BA flight this afternoon so we're just waiting for the couriers to deliver it to Banchory now. I've now given our address details to 4 separate people so who knows when it will be here.

We got a taxi from the airport round to Gary's work to pick up my car and then drove back to Banchory, stopping at Tesco to pick up some groceries. We've had lunch and I've unpacked, showered and changed and, so far, we've done 4 Corrie episodes already - just 28 more to do to catch up!

Cathay Pacific were excellent but we were both a little disappointed that we only got 3-4 hours' sleep on the long haul to London. We'd stayed awake on the shorter (9 hours) daytime flight from Adelaide to HK, hoping that we'd get a good long sleep on the longer (13 hours) night-time flight from HK to LHR, but it wasn't to be. Such are the vagaries of world travel.

To be honest, I don't feel at all bad just now, so I'm wading my way through the paperwork - and blogging, of course. Assuming I stay alert for at least the next hour, then I'll pop down the pub to watch some of the early evening footy with Colin and Dave.

Tomorrow, Gary's bringing Luca out to see us and then, on Monday, I have my operation to fix my torn knee cartilage.

The Three's

So far, we haven't jinxed anything else - but Kelly ran up the hat-trick today when she suggested that we go to to Grace - The Establishment, which was one of our favourite places for coffee and/or beer a couple of years ago when Ross with with us.

She was taking Miller for his latest vaccinations and said she would meet us there, but, like the Royal Croquet Club and the Garden of Unearthly Delights on Monday, it was closed, so we had to find somewhere else to wait for her - which we did.

Miller's Doctor was late, which made us late getting to Brighton to meet David and Lorene, but we got there in the end and had a nice meal and a walk along the pier, followed by ice creams:

Jo cooked hamburgers when we got back and we had a very nice last evening together. I pointed out that we had a tradition of taking a last night of the holiday photo when we were at the Lesinas - and this had been done for 15 years now, and I wanted to start a new one with the Steeles, but there was some initial reluctance from the locals, but I finally managed to get this shot:

There's more I could tell you about tonight, but I'll save that for another time.

Jock Jinxes and G.U.D.

Best laid plans and all that. We set off south on time this morning and stopped at Henley to pick up coffees. Miller had fallen asleep in the back of the car and so I agreed to sit with him in the underground car park whilst J & K picked up the coffees for our road trip.

We left the keys in the ignition with the radio playing so as not to alert M to any changes - but, crucially, we switched the engine off. Unfortunately, the AC was still running and although J & K were only away about 5 minutes, when Kelly tried to start the car again, it wouldn't turn over.

The car has a 5 year warranty with roadside assistance, so Kelly called them, thinking it would be the usual wait of over an hour and they probably wouldn't do much when they got to us. How wrong can you be? Less than 20 minutes later the RAA van was at our side and quickly diagnosed a flat battery and then gave us a start with his jump leads.

By this time, however, Kelly had contacted Lorene and David and cancelled our lunch appointment with them, so we just went back home.

Kelly and Jo took Miller to a local playgroup for an hour and we then arranged to just swap Wednesday and Thursday over - we're meeting Chris' parents tomorrow and we met Chris in the city tonight to pay a quick visit to the Garden of Unearthly Delights and Gluttony, two of the main Fringe areas. We walked around for a while and then picked a stall to eat at. Jo had a pulled pork roll whilst Chris and I opted for the Reuben.

Here's some photos from the G.U.D.:

The washing machine and the car have broken down and they say these things come in three's, so is there something else we're going to jinx before we leave?

Narrative only

After yesterday's photo orgy in my blog post, I have absolutely none to show today. I think Tuesday was the first time this holiday that I didn't take any photographs at all.

After our exertions walking miles round the city on Monday, we both thought we would need a down day, so I cancelled the golf I'd booked at Adelaide Shores and we just hung around the house and read our books until Kelly, Miller and Chris - in that order - came home.

I finished my book - the first Jo Nesbo Harry Hole novel, The Bat. So that's 3 novels and 3 autobiographies so far, with just one (Viv Albertine) left for the journey home on Friday/Saturday. We have a very long layover at Hong Kong - 10-11 hours, I believe - so I'll need a book for that.

We're scheduled to arrive back in Aberdeen mid-late morning on Saturday. My car is at Gary's work, which is just a short taxi ride from the airport.

It was salmon for dinner last night, with salad courtesy of Jo. Today is Kelly's usual day off and we're heading south once more - down to Goolwa to have a beer at the brewpub there and then lunch with Chris' folks. The detox hasn't started yet.

Kelly is also off tomorrow (Thursday) and she's taking Miller for his injections and then we're heading off to the Fringe for a while.

Awkward holiday questions, answers and comments:

• Kelly (in jest) - "not that it's a competition or anything, but don't you agree that Australia is better than USA then?". The correct answer is, of course, "yes but". (Got to give them something to work on for the next time).
• Jo and I to Kelly - "we'll really miss Miller next week", hurriedly followed by "and you and Chris, of course".

Walking wounded

To finish off the photos from our weekend in the Clare Valley, as I said in my last posting, we walked along to the Sheep shearing station at Bungaree to have a look at what was once Australia's biggest industry.

We made a slight detour on the way home and went to Tanunda to have a couple of beers at the Barossa Valley Brewery. It was Sunday lunchtime and it was pretty busy when we got there, partly due to the fund-raiser they were running in the grounds for the victims of the recent fires around Adelaide.

The temperature had already hit 40 C before noon and we all needed cooling down. The adults could use beer of course but for little Miller all he/we could do was throw water over him and soon he was completely soaked through:

So that was our weekend. On Monday, Jo and I decided to go back in to the city, but not before I went out for a pre-breakfast 24 km cycle.

We walked to Peterhead station and caught the 10:12 train and our day then panned out as follows:

1. Got off at Bowden station and had coffee at the Loose Caboose, which is virtually on the station platform
2. Walked from there, past the Entertainment Centre, following the River Torrens towards the City Centre, passing the most beautifully prepared gardens at the South Australian Brewing Company
3. We had originally planned to leave the greenery and cross the road to head for the Wheatsheaf, but we went a little bit too far and my map reading hadn't taken account of the uncrossable railway line
4. We diverted and took a 360 degree walk round the Adelaide Oval before heading back towards our original target
5. Stopped for a refreshing coke at a pub in Hindley St. then walked from there to George St. and the Wheatsheaf
6. Beer and nibbles at the "Wheaty" then we walked back towards the city again
7. Another diversion - this time for a couple of hours walking round Adelaide Gaol
8. Walked from the Gaol back along Hindley St, looking for Kelly's recommendation of the Clever Little Tailor in Peel St., which we found through a combination of deduction and sheer luck
9. Walked from there, down King William St towards the Royal Croquet Club, one of the main centres of the Adelaide Fringe Festival, which started last weekend. (It's a bit like the Pleasance or Udderbelly, which are centres of the Ediburgh Fringe.) Unfortunately, it was Monday and everything was closed
10. Undeterred, we headed for the other main Fringe Centre, the Garden of Unearthly Delights, stopping for a quick beer and book reading at the Wakefield Hotel. The Garden was also closed!
11. Hungry now, we headed for Rundle St. and picked out Piatta, an Italian street restaurant, where we had dinner
12. Our penultimate walk was back to Adelaide Railway Station for the train back to Peterhead
13. We walked back to Derby St. from the station, creeping silently in to the house just before 9pm. Miller and Kelly fast asleep, of course, and Chris was just heading to bed.

It was a hard walking day - 24 kms, mostly on the city pavements.

Here's the story above in pictures:

Loose Caboose

Loose Caboose

Brewery gardens at River Torrens

Newly extended Oval

Wheatsheaf

Gaol

Wakefield

Piatta

Breweries & Vineyards Weekend in Clare Valley

Our accommodation for the weekend was at a former Sheep Station called Bungaree (http://www.bungareestation.com.au/) in the heart of the Clare Valley's wine country. It's still a working farm but nowhere near as grand as it used to be - a mere 7,000 acres now, compared with 180,000 in its heyday. It was a complete village in those times and the first major centre of Merino Sheep in Australia, dating back to 1841.

The original Hawker family's dependants still have a presence on site and, although the days of supplying the world with wool and lamb have long gone, a new tourism business is getting off the ground.

We stayed in the former Council Chambers, which had been beautifully restored with all mod cons:

Having checked in, we headed back to the town of Clare and popped in to Knappstein Winery, who also happen to brew a solitary beer. That was just a brief pit stop on the way to one of Kelly's and Chris' favourite spots. They'd booked a table on the patio right underneath a lovely old tree at Skillogolee's.

The temperature had climbed dramatically since we left the city in the mid 20's. We were now in to the 40's and something had to give - and it did. A proper downpour forced us all back on to the terrace behind the wind protectors:

It was very atmospheric with the rain battering down on the tin roof - and the food was excellent.

We had dessert as well - as did Miller:

Our bathroom had an old "washing machine" in it - a built-in basin with a fire underneath, which Miller took a shine to:

On Saturday morning, we had arranged to join Mark to go round and feed the animals. First we saw where he and his wife - one of the original Hawker family - lived:

There were turkeys, ducks and, of course, 'roos:

Then there were deer:

Earlier on in the holiday, Miller had displayed his liking for old tractors and there was another opportunity here:

We drove down to Clare again and bought coffees whilst Miller slept in the car and we headed further south to Auburn and the Hop & Vine Cellar Door for the Clare Valley Brewery. Miller awoke when we arrived so we roused him in the playpark there - http://youtu.be/8E1vmfBdJMA

The Cellar Door was pleasant too:

Next stop was Pike Brewery:

Then it was Paulett Winery, followed by Sevenhills, founded and run by the Jesuits. Jo and I took a trip down to their cellars:

When we got back to Bungaree, we had agreed to meet Mark again and he was going to take us up in his open Land Rover to check on the horses. It was too hot and sticky for Miller, so Kelly took him back to our accommodation, whilst Chris, Jo and I took the trip, with Jo in the front and Chris and I in the back as we rode the prairies:

There was a bit of competition for the apples Chris and Jo were trying to feed them - check this video - http://youtu.be/-a52MCc2XDE

This morning (Sunday), we all breakfasted and then strolled along to the old Sheep-shearing station, after which we had a second hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, courtesy again of Chris.

We diverted our route home slightly to go in to Tonunda and visit the Barossa Valley Brewing Company. Beer was required because it was now 42 C. Photos to follow later.