Saturday is always a good sleep in day and being
on holidays is no different. So it was sleep and those annoying admin tasks
like washing. Why is it that it doesn’t matter when you choose to do your
washing in a hotel laundry, someone has commandeered both the washing machines?
In this case the hotel staff to wash the towels! Laundry done, we headed to
breakfast to what claimed to be the original Pancake Parlour.  It was a bit of a ma and pa operation in a
back laneway) but the pancakes were pretty good – I of course went for the
Canadian style (served with eggs here) and TC had a pancake stack.

After breakfast we went to check out a
couple of comic book stores in the area around the hotel. The funny thing about
comic book stores in Adelaide is that they just sell comic books – no
figurines, no games, and no other merch of any kind. We wandered through a few
laneways filled with (closed) vintage stores and had a look through a map shop.
The problem with South Australia is that quite a few of the smaller boutique
stores aren’t open at all on Saturdays and almost none were open in the
afternoon. Almost nothing was open on Sunday. After a short wander we caught a
tram to Adelaide central market, the most impressive market I’d seen since
Barcelona. All the delectable delights we had sampled throughout the Barossa
were there and more. Every third store was a deli with locally produced cheeses
and smallgoods. There were baked goods too, gourmet coffee and, although less
extensive than Barcelona, a range of unusual glace fruits. We mused about
picking up some additional supplies but quickly decided there was no more room
in the car fridge. We left this smallgoods paradise and headed into the wild
lands of Adelaide’s suburbs. TC was in search of a map shop to find his holy
grail – a full set of GPS maps of Australia. He wasn’t too keen on the fact
that my phone had better maps. He estimated that we could get a tram to Glenelg
and hop off on the way to find said map shop. We wandered through the3 Adelaide
suburbs, a leafy area, full of bluestone cottages and wondered about what it
would be like to live in Adelaide and what one of these bluestone cottages
would cost. The answer was less than a house in north Canberra but not by
enough. The cottages, an architectural hallmark of Adelaide’s inner suburbs are
quite spectacular, with loads of character. We meandere3d through streets of
them until we came to what looked like a suburban centre. TC found his map shop
and I wandered along the road to find some op shops and charity stores. While
there were plenty of both I didn’t come across any worthwhile finds. We entered
the local small scale shopping mall and despite signs and two sets of directions,
it took quite a while before we found a bathroom. They were strangely located
in the centre of the mall through a long corridor. Call of nature answered and
we wandered back through the suburbs to the tram stop and waited patiently for
a tram to take us to Glenelg. Well, one of us was patient. We arrived in
Glenelg a little late for the rumoured shopping experience so we took a wander
along the beach to see if we could find a restaurant for dinner that evening. We
had brought swimming attire but it was quite gusty (and surprisingly cool). There
was some light rain too but mostly the problem was the wind. Sadly most of the
restaurants along the promenade faced east towards the marina rather than west
toward the ocean and sunset. Living in the east, we were looking forward to
dinner watching the sun set over the ocean.
Eventually we found one restaurant at the end of the promenade with
outdoor seating overlooking the ocean. Alas, it was a seafood restaurant. Good
for me, not so great for TC. We considered drinks at one of the bars watching
the sunset and then dinner overlooking the marina. It wasn’t quite what we were
after but we were ready to settle. Then we found the cocktail/tapas bar at the
marina. We decided to have some lunch on the main promenade to mull it over. I
had fish and chips which was passable but not spectacular. The best part was
the salad dressing which took advantage of the local vino cotto instead of a
much sharper balsamic. We decided the tapas bar was the best choice. It
appeared to be newly refurbished and they were quite attentive when we agreed
to a booking. We requested a table on the outdoor terrace for sunset viewing
(and quiet) purposes. [Starlings – Elbow. My little sis introduced me to elbow
a few years ago – the grown up sound of Manchester]

After a few hours chilling out in the hotel
– I was blogging as TC snoozed – we got dressed up and headed back to Glenelg
for a tapas extravaganza. We were on holidays and we went crazy – with the
cocktail menu as well as the tapas. Well I went crazy with the cocktail menu. A
couple of capiroskas a few margaritas, a beautiful sunset, and a smorgasbord of
tapas, including a delectable twice cooked pork belly, some stuffed zucchini
flowers , local oysters, chorizo. The standout – the pork belly. The let down –
the local olives. The Murray River offerings were far superior.  After dinner we wandered over to catch the
last tram back to town and we weren’t the only ones. Lots of drunken teenagers,
a hen’s night and assorted other late night crazies were the recipe for a long,
noisy and quite packed journey back to town.

Model shops and pawn shops – 6, Big Things
– 12

water by the road

The Big Guitar

Yes it’s a tank – Wagga Wagga for TC

Montes in Wagga

Wagga Train station

We headed out from Hay and after passing
more vineyards and orchards passed the turns to Griffith and Leeton, which
meant home wasn’t far away. This area of western NSW was familiar to us – we
had ventured out here for day trips. And the two afore-mentioned towns were
designed by a little known American town planner – Walter Burley Griffin., the
planner of our own little hamlet. We have a lake named after him. They have a
highway. We followed the Murumbidgee and its plentiful residual flooding. In
fact our entire journey through the Riverina – Murray from Mildura had featured
intermittent riverside and in some case roadside flooding.

We left the highway at Nerrandera to get a
pic of the Big Guitar. Housed in the town’s tourist centre, our last attempt to
photograph it was hampered by its position in the back room as well as the
glare from the glass. Being the middle of a weekday, we thought it would be the
perfect opportunity. Of course I couldn’t resist a few more local produce treats
– I picked up some delicious homemade Worcestershire sauce as well as some
spectacular chocolate bullets, from the chocolate company in Leeton.

We left Nerrandera and headed east to Wagga
Wagga. On our way in, I spied a model shop. A quick trip around the block and
TC took a quick look. Then we ventured past another of TC’s favourite things –
a mini tank on the side of the road. A quick search for second hand stores and
TC was in his element, checking for bargains. We made our way up towards the
train station end of town, a familiar scene to me. I had travelled to Wagga
quite a few times in years past to visit friends and had slept in the train
station on more than one occasion. I look for a bit more comfort these days
(and have enough cash to at least shell out for a room in a pub.  TC found a toy shop from his youth and then
another couple of pawn shops. Quite predictably, I found the most expensive
pair of shoes I had seen since I ventured into the boutiques of NYC or London.
Old worldly and spectacular, they were simply beautiful. A kind of 19^th
century lace-up boot with pretty bows. But at more than $3200 and after my
extreme shopping pursuits in village after village, I decided they were best
left in the store. We couldn’t find anything we really felt like for lunch but after
some wandering slipped into a pie shop that declared they served the best ever
pies. A claim we come across at almost every pie shop we find. In this
instance, however, it was an accurate assessment. We were just going to have a
simple pie for lunch but couldn’t help ourselves from sampling the sweet pies
as well. [Shelter – Xavier Rudd – This album (Solace) was on high rotation in
my CD player when I lived in Kiama and came back to town each fortnight – a great
blues and roots number complete with stomp box].

With full bellies and tired heads, we
headed east until we hit the familiarity of the Hume highway , then the
Highway, and finally our front door. Home sweet home with a delectable bounty
and for the first time ever no shoes (pity about the model kits).

Model shops and pawn shops – 10, Big Things
– 14

The not so big orange

Just in case the locked gate wasn’t a giveaway

Don’t they have these things on race tracks?

Roadside flooding near Mildura

more floods

Sunset on the Hay Plains

We packed up early and bid farewell to
Adelaide. We had a long journey ahead of us – Adelaide to Hay. Our first stop
was for breakfast. We thought Nurioopta would be a good choice. It was Sunday
right. The Barossa would be filled with tourists, ready to partake of a hearty
German breakfast or at the very least enjoy some fresh German baked goods. Apparently
not. The thriving metropolis of Nurioopta, quick to turn on the charm and overflowing
with produce only a few days ago, was virtually shut down. Our hearty traveler’s
breakfast had quickly turned into a bacon and egg roll from the local takeaway.
It was OK but wasn’t quite what I had in mind. And a dare, even an espresso
dare is no substitute for proper coffee.

We left the Barossa, heading out on the
highway through South Australia’s riverland and our next destination, The Big
orange. All the guide books and websites suggest a magnificent example of a big
thing with three floors, a gift shop, a conference centre and a viewing platform.
We left the main freeway through the region and headed towards the home of the
orange at Berri, funnily enough home of a berry warehouse outlet. Unable to
spot the orange as we drove toward town, a frantic internet search confirmed my
worst fears. The orange had been sold some years ago to a developer. There were
musings about moving it north to join some other Big Thing relics. And then
hope – a local had decided to purchase it and bring it back to life. We decided
the best tack was to visit the town’s tourist bureau and ask. They were very
helpful and even gave us a map. Alas they also confirmed the orange was
non-operational, purchased by local landholders for the water rights that
accompanied it. .  The orange was,
however, still there, if only behind a padlocked gate. We visited the orange
and although much larger than the portable juice bars it resembled, it was hard
to believe it could house three levels – and the functions centre must have
been pretty small. [Suck my Kiss – Red Hot Chili Peppers – vintage Red Hot
Chili Peppers – reminds me of the early 90-s, probably even more than Nirvana.
I think everyone I know owned this album.]

After leaving Berri, we rejoined the
freeway and not long after crossed the border and arrived at Mildura. The
flooding we had encountered at Swan Hill had made its way downstream and
combined with heavy rain the night before, the outskirts of Mildura were
flooded. It was an unusual picture driving through rows of vineyard that almost
looked as if they had been planted in a riverbed. From the outskirts of town we
headed into the centre and it was easy to tell Mildura was a crossroads where
highways and rivers met. It was a western NSW town on steroids – wide streets,
lined with hundreds of cheap motels. Old school 70s style motels with neon vacancy
lights and swimming pools. It’s clear it’s a town where travelers and truckers
stop for respite and where travel is the main industry. We pulled into town and
found a pub restaurant with an Italian menu that was still willing to serve
lunch. It was about 3 or 4pm by now. We rang the motel in Hay and let them know
we were likely to arrive late. They agreed to leave the room open for us.

As we headed out of Mildura, there was time
for just one more big thing. Like the big wine bottle in Rutherglen, the Big
Wine Cask was a recycled big thing, taking an existing object, in this case a
square concrete building, and adding something (an oversized tap).  Alas though, we took the wrong road out of
town and missed it. Next time I guess. We could have gone back but by that
stage we were just keen to make it to Hay.

We left Mildura and headed out along the
Hay Plains. Friends of ours had commented that the Hay Plains were, well plain
but for us they were one of the more interesting parts of the trip. The big
skies went on forever, the open plains made for a much wider vista than the Mallee
scrub which was a feature of so much of our journey. And the plains came alive
with wildlife and plants following the recent flooding rains (with apologies to
Dorothy Parker).

We stopped just before sunset at a roadside
amenities stop to enjoy the spectacle. Between us we must have taken 1000
photographs but it was well worth it. The expansive sky had just enough cloud
cover to produce some vibrant results. It was one of the most spectacular
sunsets I had seen in some time. As the light faded, we hit the road, heading past
Balranald and directly for the motel. We put in our breakfast order and turned
in for the night. The refurbished hotel was very comfortable and featured one
of my favourite things – a sizable shower. Not sure when the current obsession
with brown and grey will stop though. You can’t walk into a refurbished hotel
in this country and find a colour scheme other than brown or slate grey.
Usually the main room is brown with a slate grey bathroom. A little bit of
individuality goes a long way. [Wide Open Road – The Triffids – The Hay Plains
are the ultimate backdrop for this song – well if you haven’t quite made it to
the Nullabor. It invokes travelling in the Australian landscape and I’ts hard
to believe it was recorded in the mid 80s. Easier to believe is that it was produced
by Gil Norton who went on to produce a swag of Throwing Muses and Pixies
albums.]

A yummy breakfast arrived the next morning
on a tray with real plates and napkins. After this hearty meal, we packed up
our bags and headed home.

Model shops and pawn shops – 6, Big Things
– 13

For the old folks

It’s a quokka

Which is my best side?

The main attraction

Before we headed to Adelaide, we had a tip
from friends that the morning was the best time to see Adelaide Zoo’s pandas (the
only giant pandas in Australia). We pre-booked the tickets for the first
session at 9.45am and made sure we were there on time. The pandas are really
worth the effort (and they were really active in the morning). The Adelaide zoo
is an older style zoo and most of its residents have clearly been there a long
time. I’m pretty sure the giraffes, meerkats and penguins were posing for
photos. The zoo is not that big and you can see most of the animals in a couple
of hours. The best thing is that the zoo is shady and pleasant to walk around
on a hot summer’s day. There was also a big surprise. The zoo has two
flamingoes which are more than 100 years old. As they are now a protected
species, once these two die, it’s unlikely you will be able to see flamingoes in
Australia after that. They live for about a hundred years and although these
two aren’t at the mercy of predators, they are going to die at some stage. Once
we had a walk around the zoo – seals, penguins, lions, flamingoes, cassowary –
we had to go to the panda shop, where I purchased (for my tacky traveling
collection) a Japanese-style furry panda purse and a panda cube – a rubik’s cube
with pics of the pandas on it. [Real Wild Child – Iggy Pop & the Stooges –
another cover (and the rage soundtrack for about 20 years) – Iggy didn’t play
it at the Big Day Out – may have been an education for some of the youngsters
if he had.]

After the zoo, it was time for brunch. We
took a stroll through the business district and came across a really simple
takeaway that did bacon and eggs with coffee for about $10. After brunch I
headed back to the hotel to do some blogging and chill while TC hit the shops.
He found an awesome anime shop – Shin Tokyo, which stocked model kits and other
assorted wares. As the mercury was going to hit close to 40, we decided there
was no one we really wanted to spend 12 hours in the heat to watch at the Big
Day Out. Our plan was to go about 4.30pm. TC came back from shopping and had a
siesta. The problem with our plan was that we weren’t really organized beyond
leaving about 4.30pm.

We ventured out about 5.30 to catch a bus
to the showground. TC went past the car to get his smaller camera, except he
realised once we got to the carpark that he didn’t have the car keys. Of course
at this point I realised I didn’t have the Big Day Out tickets either.
Fortunately we could retrieve both from our hotel room. We then wandered up
towards Rundle Mall to catch a bus to the showground, which was a) packed and
b) dropped us off at the side of the showground. We wandered 10 minutes in the
wrong direction but fortunately changed direction before we did an entire lap
of the showground. We made it in time to see (most of) Iggy’s set.  He got panned in Sydney but I thought he and
the Stooges were great. Loads of energy and chaos – just how you expect old
skool punk rockers to be. The years have not been kind to Iggy and he probably
should have reconsidered having himself shown 50 foot tall on a video screen
next to the stage. From a distance, far back in the crowd, he looks pretty fit.
On the screen, it’s clear he is old and scraggy and his skin is sagging off his
bones. The only saving grace was that it wasn’t in high def.

The Adelaide Showground is a great Big Day
Out venue, a lot like the old Sydney Showground at Moore Par4k, only smaller
and with way less people. Plenty of pavilions, ways to escape from the sun and
most importantly, character. There was even a highlight for the oldies (apart
from the roster of pre-2000 bands). There was an express wristbanding queue for
the over 30s. About time. The first time you get carded when you are old enough
to have kids who can legally drink is a compliment. The fifth, it’s just
completely annoying. Thanks BDO for recognising that those of us that attended
the first few might still want to come occasionally. Paradoxically, and in
contrast to my BDO attendance in the 90s, this was my only alcohol-free day on
our holiday. I guess when you get used to the good stuff, you just can’t face
going back to VB or UDLs. There was a cocktail bar but they appeared to be of
the slushy variety.

After Iggy, we witnessed the spectacle that
is Rammstein. Well known for their pyrotechnics, they are also play a fiercely
pounding industrial set that’s not for the feint hearted. They were very tight,
fully flamed and played my two faves (possibly predictably) Du Hast and Links
234. Not wanting to miss Tool (my main reason for buying tix) we headed to the
food stalls. Unlike the Sydney BDO which is awash with multicultural fare (like
the city itself, the choices at Adelaide were limited. Burgers, baked potatoes,
hot dogs, and of course Vili dogs. I made like the locals and grabbed a Vili
dog and a coleslaw baked potato.

We headed back the main arena and settled
in the stands for Tool. You don’t need to stand for Tool, you just need to be
immersed – immersed in the spectacular visual display so the shy and retiring
Maynard Keenan can be silhouetted on stage, immersed in the all encompassing,
multi-layered soundscape. The only problem was there was a really pissed couple
in front of us who just wouldn’t shut up. Admittedly, I’m not too keen an
jibber-jabber at gigs at the best of times (or for that matter out of tune
warblers) but when it comes to artist like Tool or the doves where losing
yourself in the soundscape is the only way to experience it properly, it’s just
downright rude. [Stinkfist – Tool. I still remember the first time I saw them.
A sweaty winter’s night at the ANU bar – where even the refectory couldn’t make
them sound bad.]

We took a break from Tool to check out
Grinderman, a Nick Cave Project which actually includes most of the Bad Seeds.
It’s Cave at his shambolic and chaotic best – part punk, part art school, part
grunge. It’s like The Birthday Party with more speed and bottom end. It’s what
Nick the Stripper would have sounded like if it had have come after speed
metal, hardcore punk rock and grunge. I loved the chaos of it. TC didn’t.

After a good dose of Nick, we headed back
to the main stage for the end of Tool’s set and the encore. Somewhat
predictably the set closed with Stinkfist. Although admittedly it did manage to
create the perfect crescendo. On the way out, we stopped for T-Shirts. I had to
have the Iggy one (with wings on the front and a map of Australia shaped flag
on the back. TC, who swore he’d never own a Tool T-shirt was so impressed, he
bought one that (pun intended) doesn’t make him look like a tool.

As we left the main arena, heaps of guys
were pulling out counterfeit Tool tour t-shirts to sell. It was kind of satisfying
to see them get arrested. Not that I don’t support the entrepeneurial spirit but
all bands should be allowed to make money from their work, whether that’s
through their CDs, live shows or merch. Many mid size bands make more from
their merch than anything else. [Nick The Stripper – The Birthday Party – avant
garde chaotic Nick. Not my first introduction to Nick but one of my faves.]

Model shops and pawn shops – 6, Big Things
– 12

Nurioopta, the Barossa

Institute of what?

The Big Miner

Kaessler Wines

Grapes on the vines

A view across the valley

Seppetsfield winery

Barrels at Seppetsfield

Seppetsfield

Nurioopta

First stop of the day was the Lyndoch Bakery for breakfast. It was another German-themed establishment replete with opine furniture. They did look like they served hearty German food though so we stopped in for breakfast. It was a really good decision. TC had the German pancakes with apple (sort of a strudel style apple filling poured over the pancakes) and I had the German omlette with ham. It was scrumptious, filled with wonderful local ham, parmesan cheese and flavoured with tarragon. It came with a cheese topped tomato and toasted freshly baked wholemeal bread with butter. The coffee was pretty good too. Nice and German strong.

As predicted, TC was keen to check out the cash converters in Gawler so that was stop two. I stayed in the car and programmed the GPS. Our first stop in the Barossa was Truro, on the far reaches of the valley, to stop at the Barossa Valley Olives store. We tasted a few olives and oils and settled on a locally produced oil, some ground chilllies in oil and a really unusual kalamata olive, marinated Thai style with lemongrass by Marne River Olives. Delicious.

From there we headed to Angaston where we got out and took a stroll among the locusts. When you walked on the grass, they were everywhere. It just moved with every step you took. There were literally millions of them. We visited the birthstone store. My birthstone is aquamarine, not a stone you find very often. Unfortunately all the settings were all pretty boring. Just up the road we found a cellar door specializing in the wares of local boutique wineries. It was our first tasting and we found a phenomenon we hadn’t experienced before. Many of the wineries charge a $5 fee for tastings that is redeemable when you purchase a bottle. TC left the wine tasting to me – he isn’t much of a wine drinker and he was driving anyway. I tasted a couple of light reds and a couple of Rieslings. Obviously used to people who are happy to get a little bit drunk on a winery tour, the girl hosting the tasting poured quite substantial amounts. Fortunately, they  give you a spittoon to pour out the wine you don’t want to drink. I wonder how much wine they waste each year from these tastings (or maybe I’m the only one who empties the contents of the glass). I purchased two bottles of local plonk here – a nice dry Eden Springs Riesling (2008 High Eden Riesling)a light Poonawatta Shiraz (The Four Corners of Eden Valley 2008).

We wandered further along the main street – more bakeries and purveyors of small goods (including Schultz’s small goods). There was also a charity shop which I couldn’t go past. Unlike Canberra, which has a big vintage culture, where the good stuff is bought up by market stall holders and the rest is way over=priced, charity shops in South Australia are a bargain. I found a gorgeous stretch cotton skirt with embroidery that looked like it had never been worn for $3. Considering we had spent three times that on a brie wheel, it was an even bigger bargain.  [You’re just too hip Baby – Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes – he of the bad safari suit, Dave Graney was the king of cool in the mid 90s and probably the reason safari suits moved from op shops to vintage stores.]

Of course just past the charity shop was the Barossa Valley Cheese Co. shop we had come in search of. We sampled some more cheeses and purchased a really deep flavoured Washington and some locally produced haloumi. The Barossa produces a lot of goat’s cheese and while it still doesn’t rank as my favourite type of cheese, there were some that were nicer than an average home brand brie or camembert and much better than that sharp creamy cottage-cheese style goats cheese every café put all over everything a few years ago.

On the way to Angaston we spotted a crafts and quilt shop attached to a winery but missed it as we headed back towards Nurioopta. We got out and took a look around – more bakeries and cellar doors of course, a toyworld and a smallgoods store. The aroma when we walked past the Linke’s smallgoods store was just too good so we stopped to buy some schinken (smoked pork loin), locally made pepperoni and some locally pickled dill cucumbers. The jovial butcher was both helpful and pleasant.

Next door there was a second hand shop that was more chaotic than your average garage sale. In fact the back of it was a garage. The place looked like someone with a hoarding obsession has opened up their house to customers. Next we visited the Toyworld so TC could try to catch up in the daily tally. He also found some model kit bargains. I found my next lego kit – the new lego game – creations. It’s kind of like Pictionary but you have to make lego things. We decided we would be able to easily purchase this at home (of course that’s what TC said about the architecture lego kit of Falling Water which took him almost a year to be able to order from the US,  but we are in the same country and Toyworld is a chain store). I also want the other architecture lego kits as well. I am pretty sure the Guggenheim will be easier to build than Falling Water.

Just outside of Nurioopta, we found the Kaessler winery, a boutique winery that has been producing its own, non-commercial wines since the 1800s. The cellar door and the restaurant here are in old stone buildings. The cellar door, in particular, is impressive – a really high ceilinged stone room with a dark wood bar and a really friendly hostess. We sampled a really good cab sav with chocolate notes (2008 vintage), a sparkling NV shiraz made from 1998 vintage (from 1893 vines), a straight shiraz form a vineyard in McClarenvale and a spectacular 2008 Viognier. They were so good, we purchased everything but the McClarenvale shiraz. It was good too, the others were just a bit better and we were mindful of how much good plonk we were buying, against how often we actually drink wine. [Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2. I haven’t ever owned a copy of Under a Blood Red Sky, despite the fact that it contains two of my three fave U2 songs. This album reminds me of high school and is probably responsible for me researching more about politics in general.]

TC asked the hostess how long the vines last for. Apparently in France they need to pull them up and replant every 10 or 15 years. It turns out the soil in France isn’t all that great for wine grapes. In Australia some of the vines are still producing fruit 100 years on. And, it turns out, rich full-bodied wine. Probably one of the reasons Australian wine is so prized.

Just outside of Nurioopta, on Pheasant Farm Road was the trip highlight I was looking forward to… Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop. Set amongst the bushland, next to an impressive looking function centre, the farm shop was a culinary delight. You could sample pretty much everything except the ice cream. I went crazy. I bought so much, I had to get a basket. It was a treasure trove with flavours and products I had not seen before and at prices well below our local supermarket. (note: our local supermarket is not at all cheap). For the uninitiated, Magge Beer, a cook who rose to fame on the ABC series The cook and the Chef, makes a range of delicious preserves, pickles, sugos, vinegars, verjuice (a particular favourite of hers), pates, ice creams, pastes for cheeses, biscuits. I left with three shopping bags – the products she makes really are that good. For the record my haul included beetroot jam, dill pickle relish, spiced pear paste, Seville orange marmalade, chicken and rosemary pate,

From Maggie Beer’s shop, we headed to Greenock to a local brewery so TC could get a chance to do a beer tasting. Unfortunately they were only open on the weekends.  We then headed towards Seppetsfield, to a picturesque 100-year-old vineyard that is the home of Para Port and which specialized in fortified wines. My dad bought my Grandmother a bottle of 1929 Tawny Port as a present (probably in the 50s). Unfortunately, my uncle opened it in a drunken stupor some time in the 70s. That port today, unopened, would be worth close to $1000. I felt the need to sample the a Para Port (which was really rich and smooth) and also a couple of muscats (as I am partial to these over port). I settled on the Sppeltsfield Grand Muscat (2008 Rutherglen)- a really delicate and smooth drop – the best muscat I have ever tasted. The cellar door also housed yet another chocolate shop. TC had been craving chocolate frogs which he found here in a number of guises. We also purchased some filled chocolates, filled with the locally produced liquers as well as some filled with Maggie Beer’s quince paste.

Cellar-doored out, we headed to Tanunda, possibly the oldest Barossa town, to the Tanunda bakery, which had been a tip from a number of sources on our travels. One lady had told us to look out for the big pretzel. She clearly wasn’t an experienced big things hunter. What she had meant was that there was a picture of a pretzel on the shop sign. Luckily we noticed it. I had been waiting to have a Vili dog, a south Australian delicacy that is really hard to find at home. Vili dogs are commercially produced – a kransky cooked by baking in puff pastry. The Tanunda bakery does their own and it’s delicious. TC had a pie and cheesecake strudel. I followed my cheese dog with a forestberry strudel. It was good but forestberry just isn’t as good as a traditional apple strudel.

After lunch, which we ate at 3pm, I convinced TC to make a detour so we could see Kapunda’s big thing – Map the Miner, a big miner in homage to the Cornish miners who first came to Kapunda. While most big things are either in rural areas or at the cetre of town (usually in a park. Map the miner is my first suburban big thing. Just beyond the big miner is a row of relatively new suburban rooves. In the centre of town, you can find the original mining site. It was still blisteringly hot and we were tired so we tried to just do a lap of the site. You can’t really see anything that way. There are spots where you can get out and walk down to the site but I would recommend doing this on a much cooler day. Adelaide does get incredibly hot in summer. TC and I decided our next trip to South Australia should be in the autumn when the weather is cooler, the leaves on the vines are turning and the fires are burning. [Planet Earth – the Mavis’s. Undone is an album of Duran Duran covers from a clutch of 90s Australian bands such as Pollyanna, Jebediah and Something for Kate. I love a good cover and this is my fave Duran Duran track – it was on my first compilation LP – 1981 The Sound. The Kylie Minogue/Ben Lee cover of The Reflex isn’t bad either.]

Once we had had finished in Kapunda, it was quite late in the afternoon so we pointed the GPS to our Adelaide hotel and set off south. On our way, we discovered the new freeway into town from the north-east. Every bridge over the freeway was named after a famous Australian battle. We headed into Adelaide through the new northern suburbs that look like Gungahlin in Canberra (with slightly larger backyards).  Further on we came in via North Adelaide, littered with bluestone terraces and duplexes, set amongst tree lined streets. Looks like the perfect place to live if you wanted to live in Adelaide proper. The thing that immediately strikes you about Adelaide is the parks and gardens surrounding the city centre. The river Torrens runs to the north and there are heaps of manicured gardens, including the botanic gardens, and lots of walking and cycle paths.

Our hotel, the Grand Chancellor on Currie is a renovated old bank building. Tastefully decorated with comfortable beds (albeit with an old school analogue telly), it was a great deal on expedia – three nights for less than $300. Once we unpacked the car, we headed down Adelaide’s Rundle mall. Much like Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall, Rundle Mall is littered with chain stores, buskers, and some ordinary looking cafes. We wandered a bit further down the street to the café district. We stopped in what looked like a pretty decent café. South Australia has a different approach to cafes than the usual practice in the eastern states. In South Australia, the table service only extends to bringing your food. You find a table when you first arrive and then go to the counter to order and pay for your food. Paying at the end really only seems to extend to restaurants rather than cafes – those places that encourage the use of a visa card. This method of café service (which is the way things are done in my local café at home) does have its advantages. You usually get your food quicker and you don’t have to wait at the end of your meal for the bill. After the rich food we had been enjoying, we had something simple – TC a schnitzel and chips and me the biggest chicken Caesar salad I have ever seen. After dinner, we wandered back to the hotel and crashed. [A Message to you Rudi – The Allniters, another cover – this one from the album Spare Shells.]

Model shops and pawn shops – 4, Big Things – 12, food tastings – 5, wine tastings -3

Heysen House

Heysen studio

Bird in Hand (Woodside, South Australia)

The (other) Big Wine Bottle

Up close and personal – made of corks!

The Big Rocking Horse

Just outside of Hahndorf, is the house of early 20^th century artist Hans Heysen, renowned for his paintings of rural scenes in the Adelaide hills. We had a look around the outside of the buildings and his studio. It was a beautiful area in which to paint although, as TC pointed out, there were no large windows in the studio. The place is run by a group of older ladies and it’s a veritable fortress. There are security cameras everywhere and once you walk up the hill to the studio, you have to ring the bell for the ladies to let you in remotely. While we were standing there in the baking sun, I’m pretty sure they must have been off making a cup of tea. Still worth the $5 entry though.

We continued on to Woodside where we visited an olive grower’s farm door. Unimpressed with their wares, we left and headed into town in search of the Woodside Cheese Wrights shop and Melba Chocolate Factory. A haul of chocolate and lollies later – they had sour gummi rainbows – we ventured to the cheese room next door for our second tasting. We bought two more cheeses, some crackers and this interesting Lamb jam – mint and rosemary and a lot more impressive than mint jelly. We also spied the Woodside Bakery which looked fabulous but it was clearly too early for lunch.

It was at this point that I convinced TC to make a massive detour to McLarenvale for another big thing, another Big Wine Bottle. This one, made entirely of wine corks, stood in front of Wirra Wirra wines Church Block Vineyard and was plastered with their wine label. On our way back through Rutherglen we pulled into a roadside bakery. It looked pretty rough from the outside which meant it was either going to be a well kept secret or somewhere you really didn’t want to eat. There were a couple of really dried up specimens in a bain marie so we just grabbed a couple of drinks and fled. Somewhere on this detour (probably after the disappointing bakery) we decided it would be a good idea to have a picnic in our hotel in the Barossa with all the produce we had bought. We decided to return to the German Pantry in Hahndorf to pick up some of the best pastrami I have ever had, some gypsy ham and then a loaf of bread from the bakery in Woodside. We made it to both just before closing.

Next stop was another big thing – the Big Rocking Horse at Gumeracha. The gift shop was closed by the time we arrived and the rocking horse was locked behind a fence but it was so big, neither of these things really interfered with the photo opportunity. [Nothing with you – Descendents – yes more Descendents . This is my fave song off this album. Probably because it’s a love song about lazing around and watching the telly.]

We ploughed on to Lyndoch, where we checked in to the Lyndoch Hill Retreat. While it was probably once a thriving retreat, now it just looks like a very old 70s motel that needs updating. It is set amongst acres of rose gardens but most look like they are badly in need of pruning. We paid for a garden view room but what we got was a landscaping construction site room. There was a pile of rubble and some gardening implements outside our back door. Lucky it was way too hot to sit on the patio. The hotel is built in the round with an inviting pool in the middle. While it was quite a bit cooler than our Echuca experience, it was full of bugs. There was what looked like a modern designed bar on one side of the hotel – probably used for functions more than guests – but it wasn’t open. The room itself was clean but with décor and beds that hadn’t been updated since the 70s. I had the worst night’s sleep I’ve endured in ages because the beds were so uncomfortable. And there was an old school telly, without Foxtel which meant about 4 channels (we couldn’t find SBS either).

We realised we had no knives or chopping board for our gourmet picnic so we headed into Gawler to visit the supermarket there. Of course we forgot that they banned plastic bags in South Australia a couple of years ago, and the store had run out of cloth bags, so we had to carry our purchases to the car. I can feel a purchase of several cloth bags coming.  On our travels TC spied a Cash Converters so a return trip to Gawler will likely feature in tomorrow’s travels through the Barossa. We had run out of time to visit a cellar door so we managed to find a locally produced sav blanc (and some Coopers,  also produced locally, for TC) at the local bottle shop. The hotel room picnic turned out to be a wonderful idea. The produce we bought was exquisite (and the wine wasn’t too bad either). [Beverly Kills – Dance Hall Crashers – the Dance Hall Crashers remind me of rolling ska and punk gigs about town in the late 90s and this song has the best title ever.]

Model shops and pawn shops – 2, Big Things – 11, food tastings – 3

The streets of Hahndorf

Historic Hahndorf

Australia’s New Hope

The German Arms

Hahndorf used to be a German town, and somewhere along the way it became like a twee German tourist trap. While some of its German heritage and tourist trappings remain, it has revived itself as a crafts, local boutique produce and alternative lifestyle mecca. Filled with artisan shops, local producer’s cellar doors and farm gate outlets and a wealth of cafes, it reminds me a lot of New Hope Pennsylvania, a weekend destination for Adelaide residents, rather than New Yorkers. We checked in at the Hahndorf Inn Motel, resplendent in 1970s chalet architecture but with a modern decorator’s touch on the inside, and good aircon and comfy beds. First stop, a German beer at the Hahndorf Inn, just a few metres from the motel.

TC had a tip from a few different sources that the German Arms hotel was the place to eat. It was an interesting place – a heritage stone building, serving German beers and food but with rows of poker machines scattered throughout. A cool change had blown through so we sat on the verandah, with some more German beers – I tried a dark beer which was more sour than I was used to (as a regular drinker of Guinness). We decided on a German antipasto platter as the starter and I highly recommend it. A plate full of locally produced small goods, including local gyspy ham, schinken, salami, cheeses, pickled herring on pumpernickel, cornichons, mustard and a warm pretzel. TC followed with a foot long kransky roll and chips and I had the Bavarian mixed grill – A bratwurst, a weisswurst a Kassler chop (a smoked pork chop – better than the best bacon I have ever tasted), Munich potatoes (potatoes in their jacket with a warm mayonnaise based sauce) and red cabbage. Hearty (and I couldn’t finish it) but delicious. We went for a bit of an after dinner stroll and returned to sample the apple strudel (and in my case apple schnaps).

We awoke to a pleasant morning that felt like it was going to get hot pretty quickly. The hotel had a menu for local café Die Haus so we decided to give it a go. It had bubble and squeak on the menu – one of my favourite breakfasts as a child. Despite the heat, I gave it a try (with the locally produced bacon on the side). The bubble and squeak, full of all manner of local veges – squash, pumpkin zucchini and potatoes was wonderful, dressed in a delicious tangy sauce and topped with a great free range egg. I couldn’t eat all the potatoes but it was wonderful. So was the bacon. TC opted for the Belgian waffles with a wonderful burnt orange sauce. I had a taste – I would recommend this too. We wandered along the streets, stopping at stores that interested us (and were open). Lots opened after 10 or 11 and many didn’t open often during the week. First stop was a really good leather store where there were some quite stylish handbags and belts amongst the gear designed for bikers and flower children. There was also a quite hilarious bumper sticker – vineyards – the cane toads of South Australia. You can probably add bakeries to that. Every tiny village has at least one bakery, if not two. Living in Adelaide would make it very difficult to curb a carb obsession. Next we walked into a shop carrying my sort of jewelry amongst the scarves, beads and other assorted wares. I found a stunningly pretty necklace – a little bit floral but just enough for me – and a fantastic statement ring which TC bought for me.  [Song to Woody – Bob Dylan – while this isn’t my favourite Bob song, the fact that it is written by one troubadour to another – Woody Guthrie gives it an extra layer.]

Our next purchase was the first of many food items. TC and I, while not huge wine connoisseurs, love great cheese and gourmet small goods. At Udder Delights we did our first cheese tasting and we were so impressed we bought three of the eight cheeses we tasted (as well as some other assorted crackers and produce). Next up was another gourmet store where we purchased the most divine merlot jelly and a Cajun spice rub. Then it was on to heaven – the German Pantry – where we found the kassler chops and salami we had the night before, imported cornichons and the beer stein TC had promised himself. One more stop – Harris Smokehouse who produce really good oak-smoked seafood and assured me I could order on the internet and they would ship to my door. I bought some smoked trout just In case they were fibbing.

Model shops and pawn shops – 2, Big Things – 9

The port of Moulamein – closed since 1922

The mighty

The Big Perch

The Big Mallee Root

The Big Olive

The Big Wheat

The Big Yabbie

Welcome to SA

Roadside fughi

water by the road, victoria

Flood waters near Swan Hill

We gave ourselves a good rest and hit the Beechworth Bakery for sustenance before our lengthy drive to South Australia. We the perfect toasted sandwich – thickly cut fresh white bread filled with good quality ham, cheese and tomato, buttered on the outside and toasted. The coffee wasn’t bad either. A quick trip to coles for some bottled water and we were off on our way across the Mallee. With a bit of a detour back into NSW first. We had done the drive along the Murray once before – I had a job interview in Swan Hill many years ago. TC was looking forward to a return visit to the local toystore and I a return for a photo of the Big Cod. Alas, the Victorian floods meant that the folks of Swan hill had better things to do than cater for tourists. Vic Roads sent us on a detour through Koondrook, Barham, Moulamein and Kyalite in NSW. And you really had no choice. There was a poor sweltering (it was 40+ degrees) Vicroads person stationed at the entrance to every road leading to Kerrang or Swan Hill to make sure you couldn’t drive down them.

As we drove through Cohuna, we found another unexpected Big Thing. A Big Nile Perch, sitting in the pond in the town centre. Once again maintained by the local community. We headed north into NSW and stopped for a drink and toilet break in Moulemein. Moulemein has a pretend big thing – a yabbie crafted out of two logs by a local artists – that sits in the local park. Apparently Moulemein was a thriving metropolis when it was a river port but unlike Echuca, has never recovered since the railway went through in the 1920s. Our detour done and we met the Mallee Highway (one of the few totally open highways in western Victoria) and headed out across the Mallee. When I planned this route, I thought the Mallee might prove a more interesting drive than the hay Plains. It didn’t. When poets wrote about the Mallee scrub, it was because there wasn’t much else to write. It was clear this was part of Australia’s wheat belt. The most common man-made sight across the plains was the massive circular hay bales. You could see the reason that half of Vi8ctoria was flooded too. Every culvert or ditch was full of water. Ground too sodden to hold any moisture had resulted in run-off that collected in every culvert and ditch and which once it eventually reached the river system poured into the Murray. While the higher ground was dry, the roadside water remained. [Beds are Burning – Midnight Oil – we listened to a couple of Oils albums as we crossed the Mallee. For some reason, a Sydney Surf band is the band that best captures the feel of the Australian bush and outback in their music.]

We decided Ouyen would be a good point to stop for lunch – home of the Big Mallee Root, it seemed like it would be the sort of place you could get a good sandwich. Wrong. We pulled in to see the Big Mallee Root – a tree stump that so far holds the title as the biggest. Next to it there is a clock atop three wheat stalks. Over-zealous big things hunters have called it the big Wheat but I’m not sure it qualifies. Given it’s on most of the lists, we’ll let it in but in no way does it rate as a proper big Thing. Same thing goes for the Mallee Root. And don’t even get me started on the sandwich. There are two bakery cafes in town and at 2pm all we had to choose from was pre-made salad sandwiches. I think we must have chosen the worst option because not only was the sandwich soggy, the bread was stale. The other bakery purports to make the best vanilla slice in Australia (the competition is held in Ouyen and they’ve won a few times). Of course we had to sample their wares. It was pretty good. Can’t vouch for their sandwiches though. [It must be love – Madness – despite the fact they didn’t write it and it is now a nappy ad, this is one of the best simple love songs ever and the Madness version, with its brass contingent, rocks. This would be the perfect wedding waltz (if your guests weren’t up for Dropkick Murphys’ Forever).]

As we travelled further across the Mallee, the water disappeared, the earth became redder and we saw these weird looking, what we assume were fungi. As we walked from the car to the fence line for a better look, TC warned me to be careful of snakes. I was careful alright, carefully stepping back to the safety of the car. I figured a snake would take the same route as our hitchhiking spider had earlier. The other thing littered across the Mallee are lots of tiny towns or localities,  with names like Boinka – some with just a grain silo near the railway line, others with one or two houses. Occasionally you find one with a couple of houses and a pub.

A short while later we crossed the South Australian border and stopped for the obligatory photo. Ten minutes further on we saw our first camera on a stick. The South Australians, obviously keen for a share of the tourist market have put a little sign with a camera on it near everything they think you should take a snap of. Often you ask – is that it? Our first was an old piece of farm machinery, the type of thing I had played on at my uncle’s farm when I was growing up, or that I had found in the shed on pretty much every property I had ever visited. Hardly a photo op.

After what seemed like hours of driving, we hit Tailem Bend, home of the Big Olive, which resides behind a wire fence. One of the new breed of big things, the big Olive was constructed purely to draw attention to a commercial olive producer at Tailem Bend and draw customers to their store. Erected only four or five years ago, it s really just a big sign for the olive company, which was closed by the time we arrived. We got the photo but the business owners missed out on our cash. Tailem Bend is also the place where you hit the dual lane highway into Adelaide. Our destination, Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills was now within reach. [A whole lotta Rosie – ACDC. We listened to this when we set out across the Mallee – one of my fave acca dacca tracks. They had a blow up version of rosie when they played in Canberra about 10 years ago. It still ranks as one of the best shows I’ve been to.]

Model shops and pawn shops – 2, Big Things – 9

Big Murray Cod, Tocumwal

Big Wine Bottle, Rutherglen

The Historic Port of Echuca

Echuca Christmas Shop – closed

Dinner by the Murray River, Echuca

Big Rolling Pin, Wodonga

Big Strawberry, northern Victoria

Day one of our adventure to the garden state or festival state or whatever pointless slogan adorns South Australian number plates these days began early. Too early for a holiday. We packed in the dark and hit the road as the sun was just peeking through the mountains on what would be a very hot Canberra day. A very hot north-western Victoria day too, as it turned out. As we drove out through Canberra’s wine regions on the well beaten path south, we passed the convoy of those new Yass residents prepared to sacrifice over an hour a day to driving in order to purchase a slightly cheaper abode. The Hume is a way of life for Canberrans. To get almost anywhere, you endure its constancy. Except that over the past few years I have joined the fly over club, opting for the one-hour flight to Melbourne rather than endure the seven hour drive. In that time, the Hume has become even more boring (although definitely safer). The dual carriageway now extends well past Gundagai, with only a couple of short sections to go – most notably south of Tarcutta and Holbrook. A flyover now even takes you into Albury.

The early morning departure after just two hours sleep had me searching for the Golden arches – as roadside coffees go, McCafe, sadly, actually hits the mark. No Maccas at the Dog on the Tuckerbox – just Colonel Sanders there – so South Gundagai it was for our dual carriageway traveller’s breakfast. One day the roadside stops on the Hume will throw up some variety. I hope.

Second stop, conveniently just after 9am, was a model shop in Albury. TC promised a quick run through and stuck to his word. Then it was over the border to satisfy one of my fetishes – tracking down Australia’s big things. Wodonga’s big thing is a giant rolling pin atop a bakery. It’s the first animated big thing I’ve come across. After a few laps of the street we realized it was on the side of the building facing the municipal carpark. The rolling pin which stretches across the top of the building also spins. We purchased a couple of quite impressive looking apple turnovers to sturdy us for the trip west. Sadly though, I can’t review their quality – there were so many other food choices that we never got around to eating them. Fittingly the laneway near the big rolling pin was called sesame Street. Alas there was no Big Bird or Mr Snuffleupagus. Around the corner, TC spied a Cashies – a quick visit but there were no bargains to be had. Our cross country trips are a competition between TC’s need to check out model shops and pawn brokers (yes p-a-w-n stores where you find random stuff people have sold to get some quick cash, not p-o-r-n stores where you find x-rated videos and random plastic implements with a not immediately apparent use) and my obsession to catalogue Australia’s Big Things (big plastic homage’s to fruit and animals mainly – also not  double entendre). So far on this trip models and pawn shops 2, Big Things – 1) [Ruby Soho – Rancid – I had an urge to listen to this album – …And Out Come the Wolves – in the car. TC wasn’t that keen but did admit he really liked this track].

As we got back in the car, I had my first wildlife freak out. A huge spider ran from the inside of the door across the outside. When we stopped, TC couldn’t see it anywhere on the outside of the door and we assumed it had fallen off. A few hours later we would find it almost dead under my handbag. Eep.

Shortly after leaving Wodonga, we left the Hume and onto the Murray valley Highway, travelling along the end of the Murray that wasn’t in flood. We headed through the first of many wine growing districts on our trip – at Rutherglen, which purports to be Australia’s oldest wine growing region. It’s also the home of one of a number of big wine bottle. You can see it as you head into town but it’s much less impressive up close – essentially it’s a water tower with a bottle top (constructed from chicken wire, sitting on top. We also decided to take a stroll through Rutherglen. There are plenty of antiques and old wares stores and a village feel. I was looking for tea cup and while there were plenty, I didn’t find any that really jumped at me. I did find a wonderful cake serving set, with a cake server, cake forks and teaspoons. It didn’t look like it had ever been used. It will match my silver tea service. Now all I need is the cups (and some dessert cooking skills and I can invite guests for tea! I told one of the shop owners about the cup search. He suggested Beechworth. As it was in the wrong direction, we vowed to return to Victoria for a long weekend and continued west.

TC had agreed to further indulge my big things obsession and drive across the border to one of two big Murray cod. This one at Tocumwal. The other at Swan Hill should have been on our hit list but recent flooding has isolated Swan Hill.  So we headed off to Tocumwal. On the way, purely by chance, we found a proper big thing. The Big Strawberry. Now while the strawberry in no way rivaled the pineapple or even banana in size, what makes it a proper big thing is the attached restaurant and gift shop replete with tacky big strawberry souvenirs. I purchased a pot of jam (strawberry of course) and a timer shaped like a strawberry with the big strawberry name and address stamped on the side. We also sampled the café wares – chocolate coated strawberries – the chocolate covered some overly rip specimens and tasted like they had been made a couple of days before. Not like my memory of the pineapple parfait I enjoyed at the Big Pineapple in my youth. I remember thinking it was the best thing ever. That may just have been because my parents were pretty lousy in the gastronomy department.

From here it was off to our other intended destination – Tocumwal – to take a picture of the Big Murray Cod – what I call the real big things. No gift shop attached but a big replica of something common to the area, paid for and maintained by the local community, usually through some kind of friends of the big thing committee. Apparently the Murray cod, which had spent most of its life in the wrong livery has been restored and repainted as nature intended. This was our first detour back across the NSW border on the Murray but wouldn’t be our last.

Our next stop, and our destination for the day, was the Port of Echuca. We arrived at about 3pm. The heat was stifling – 45 degrees in the shade – but our room was beautifully air-conditioned so we chilled out for a while before having a look around town. We ventured out about 4.15pm to find that most of the shops in the tourist area (i.e. the historic port) were either shut on Mondays, or had closed early due to the heat and a lack of patronage. This included a model shop and a Christmas Shop. It has become a tradition that when we travel, we pick up an item for our Christmas tree from some random Christmas Shop we come across – so far I have collected Christmas ornaments from Santa’s village in Rovaniemi, Finland,  Christmas shops in Edinburgh, Scotland and New Hope, Pennsylvania, and the Bredbo Christmas Barn, NSW Australia. I wasn’t expecting to find a Christmas shop in Echuca but was bitterly disappointed it was closed. Even the tacky souvenir shop was shut – no Echuca snow dome either. In fact the only two stores of any interest that were open were the sweet shop (where we made a few purchases) and the Beechworth Bakery. We had an enjoyable pie each there. Notr sure why the ’Historic’  Beechworth Bakery is in Echuca though – sounds like it really should be in Beechworth. We spent the next half an hour doing what you really need to do after a long, hot drive, sinking a lager in the local pub. During our stroll, we did a reccy for a restaurant for dinner. There was a place housed in the Old Port building with a great view of the Murray that we vowed to come back and try. In the interim, we headed back to the motel – the Nirebo- for a swim in the now shady outdoor pool. Not really that refreshing. It was solar heated and was like swimming in the hot springs of western NSW and Queensland. The only refreshing part was standing out of the water wet. [-The Descendents – I had wanted to play this in the car but due to some technical difficulties, on our journey westwards only the music on my MP3 player was available. We saw the descendents for the first time just before Christmas and that gave me a renewed enthusiasm for their music].

After cooling down in the zircon once more, we headed out for dinner. The Restaurant, Oscar W’s, specialized in tapas so we decided to give that a go. It was pricey but highly recommended. We sat at a window table, overlooking the Murray and a clutch of paddle steamers that looked like they had seen several better days. We chose the Murray Cod cakes (scrumptious), calamari salad (really light batter, cooked just right), gourmet local cold meats platter (also very yummy) some local olives – a mix of Kalamata and wild olives (the wild olives, marinated in orange, were really good) and my favourite – spiced pork belly with an appleslaw dressing (delicate yet a fantastic cacophony of flavours). We supplemented this with a refreshing garden salad and handcut chips with the best aioli I think I have ever tasted.  A couple of beers and a nice NZ pinot later and it was time to check out the dessert and cocktail menus. TC opted for a delicious chocolate pudding while I went with the experimental yet strangely delicious pavlova (it came with balsamic strawberries and fairy floss) and a paddle steamer themed cocktail with baileys, Tia Maria, and chocolate liqueur, as well as rosewater and rose petals. Delish and just a little bit like an alcoholic milkshake. Now that I was thoroughly drunk, we headed back to the refreshingly air conditioned room.

Model shops and pawn shops – 2, Big Things – 4