Yorke peninsula road trip (1)

Wednesday 11th February - Tanunda

Uber to airport was easy but I wish I could say the same about the car hire pick-up - very seldom is it a pleasant experience. Anyway, we were soon on the road north to Tanunda, one of the first places Kelly took us to on our first trip to Oz 15 years ago. Then there was a fairly popular brewpub at the start of the town but we knew that Barossa Brewing had since gone out of business, but on our afternoon walk up and down the main street we stumbled across a brand new place - only open four and a half months - Old Mill Brewery. Based in an old building, it had had a bit of a makeover inside:

That was a welcome respite from the heat but we moved on after we'd tried most of their beers. Across the other side of the street there was what almost looked like an antique shop, with Chesterfield sofas. Turns out it was a local wines and food sampling place:

Now it was time for proper food, so back to our hotel which had looked very quiet earlier on. We got a bit of a shock when we walked in this time - the place was mobbed. We grabbed a couple of bar stools and ordered some starters - and more wine. Now time for bed.

Thursday/Friday 12th/13th February - Wallaroo

Breakfast was had at a local cafe - Darlings - then we were off again on our travels, stopping very briefly at https://www.maggiebeersfarmshop.com.au/, another place we remember Kelly taking us to back in 2011:

Driving in to the Clare Valley brought back memories of another road trip that Kelly and Chris (and Miller) took us on in 2015 - to a former sheep station at Bungaree:

Nice memories but the actual town of Clare was a little disappointing - busy but difficult to find a nice coffee shop for a short break. Back on the road, we headed through Blyth to the north west coast of the Yorke peninsula and the town of Wallaroo.

We stayed at the fairly modern Marina Apartments there - the same place that Kelly had taken the boys not long ago. The location was good and the apartment was ok - apart from terrible wifi.

We took an orientation walk. The area is called the Copper Coast for a good reason - copper was mined nearby and huge smelters - now gone - dominated the skyline of Wallaroo. It definitely had a post-industrial feel about it - but the beaches were nice, although we stayed clear of the water due to the health warnings about the ongoing local algal bloom which was killing off marine life.

Eventually, we came across a fairly new place - https://www.bondstore.net.au/ - a microbrewery, distillery and restaurant. So we had to do a paddle again, didn't we? Which one, though? We opted for beer this time, promising ourselves a return visit the following day to do the gin one. We love an outward-looking window seat for people watching:

Dinner that evening was at the Cooper's Ale House adjacent to our hotel. We ate outside overlooking the water but had to keep a beady eye open for the ever-greedy seagulls.