Barossa Valley, Adelaide

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We had a fantastic time on this tour, I loved it!
We got off nice and early, picked up from different hostels around Adelaide and our first stop was to a greasy spoon to line our stomachs and see the worlds largest rocking horse.
First winery was Jacob's Creek, there's only a dried up river bed, no creek, so began our wine tasting nice and early around 10.45......
Next was Richmond Grove Winery which was in a lovely setting and we got to go around the factory, in the cellars and bought a bottle of wine to share at lunch. We had a Aussie BBQ Lunch in the grounds of the winery which was lovely, fresh kangaroo, salads, saussages, burgers, more than enough.
So feeling very merry our next stop was Tanunda to look at the sweet shop. Next was Bethany Winery and finally another which by that point I can't really remember much appart from there was about 20 wines to try and I did my best.
On the way back to Adelaide we stoped at a bottle shop and stocked up for the ride home, the driver kept us very merry throughout the trip, we were dropped off at a bar in Adelaide and carried on from there......
We got a few bars in, which I can't really remember either.
Incidently my Aunt and Uncle did this tour about a month ago, so it's not just for young backpackers.

For those who like wineries,this is the place to go. From Kies, Penfold, Jacob's creek, Rivervale, whatever that u can think of.
Not forgetting to visit the Barossa Memorial State where there are quite a number of sculptures done by various artists around the world.Absolute stunning sceneries.One also bound to see lotsa farms along the way.
Back to winery, the local tour guide took us to Kies winery tasting, and i bought a 2001 white Semillon for AUST$25.
Lunch was at Keysler's. Definitely not to miss out the grilled kangeroo meat or chicken with apricots.yum*

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Well I guess you just have to go and discover the Barossa for yourself... you can drive or do as we did and book a guided tour.
We only had a day or two in Adelaide so this was the best option for us..We are not much for wine but the wineries are worth seeing. On our way we stopped to view The Big Rocking Horse in Gumeracha....it was BIG.
In our group were visitors from UK, Hong Kong, US, and Australia. That made the group very interesting...how good was that!
We were told to try as much wine as possible as on the way home we would have more chance of hearing the Whispering Wall with a few wines in us.
If you are thinking of staying over find the Motel of Train carriages which is located near Vinecrest winery....thats where you miss out on a tour...I would love to have had a look.
For lunch we visited Vine Inn at Nuriootpa and for afternoon tea the Monkey Nut Cafe at Kies Winery.

Don't believe what you hear about the distance/time from Adelaide to the Barossa being a mere 45 minutes. It is impossible to drive there in less than 1.5 hours and stick to the speed limits.

The best way to see the Barossa is to take a tour with a wine tour specialist.
Try Cultural Tourism Professionals, they're the best!

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Barossa Valley is a wine region in South Australia. You will find a lot of vineyards and farms/factories who manufacture Australian wine. As I am not drinking wine, it is still a visit worth. You can visit one of those many farms/factories.

I went to Seppeltsfield Winery. This winery is on hour's drive from central Adelaide.
You can have a heritage tour. The tour goes through the gardens, palms and heritage buildings. The duration is 45 minutes (including tasting). It will cost you $10 per person. These tours are daily at 11.30am, 1.30pm and 3.30pm. When you are a group of 10 persons or more bookings are essential.

Fax: +61-(0)8-8562-8333; email seppeltsfield.cellardoor@seppelt.com.au
Open 7 days 10.30am - 5pm

General information about Barossa Valley, look at this website:
www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/barossa.htm

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The best way to see the Barossa valley is to take a private tour with Cultural Tourism Professionals. You'll be amazed how reasonable their prices are. They do tours of all the wine regions, and you get to choose the wineries that you visit, or leave to their local knowledge to make the selections. You will get to taste wine at a minimum 6 wineries, not to mention the great scenery and commentary. Take a look at their website: http://www.culturaltourism.com.au

Took a day-tour into the Barossa Valley via Prime Mini Tours. It was A$48 each circa 2001.

Gave new meaning to the word "Family Tree". As we reached into the town of Springton, the coach dropped us off to see an "oddity" - the Herbig Family Tree - someone had actually carved out their family history into a hollow gum tree trunk. Inside the hollow trunk, not only could you get to know the Herbig family a little better, you could also catch valuable glimpses of the lives of early settlers of the area from the many photographs.

This hollow tree trunk was actually a 'home' for Johann Friedrich and Anna Caroline Herbig and two of their 16 children until 1860 when it got too small. Being poor, living in the hollow trunk saves money. Both of them will go on to have 16 children. Somewhere along the line, Friedrich will save enough money to buy land that he could call his own and build a house to accommodate his expanding family. Friedrich died in 1886 but Caroline would live on till 1927.

The next stop was for lunch at the Barossa Junction Resort. The meal is included as part of the tour. I remembered most of the members of the tour went for the "Kakadu Trio" - Pan-fried trio of kangaroo, crocodile and burrumundi.

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Took a day-tour into the Barossa Valley via Prime Mini Tours. It was A$48 each circa 2001.

4 Winery visits were included in our itinerary. Unfortunately, none of us are wine lovers so we just went along for fun, unlike folks who were there really to sample the wines and see what they might want to buy. We opted for this cheaper tour since we aren't connoisseurs. Good wine would have been wasted on us.

The 4 wineries then (circa 2001) were:

Chateau Dorrien: Had my first pictures taken with grapes here.

Orlando Wines: Home to "Jacob's Creek".

Miranda Wines: They have this pink Shiraz that was made from red grapes that had the skin peeled off. Very novel.

Chateau Yaldara: Amazingly preened and landscaped grounds. The most pompous of them all. It really looked obstentatious - great for photography!