Ideas for Australian Vacation

[Bob Allen]

On Friday, April 9, wife and I arrive in Adelaide, South Australia, where we spend four nights. We will rent a car and drive southeast to Mt. Gambier, then Ballarat in Victoria, Melbourne, Rutherglen, Canberra, Cessnock in Hunter Valley and Sydney.

On Valentine's Day at Garibaldi's Restaurant in San Francisco, we enjoyed a bottle of Tim Adams '97 Fergus Grenache (from the Clare Valley). I know the Biennial Barossa Vintage Festival concludes on April 11. From Adelaide, we are well situated to check out Clare Valley, Barossa, McLaren Vale and Langhorne. We will drive through Coonawarra. In Victoria, we could choose among Mornington Peninsula, Yarra Valley, Macedon, Ballarat, the Pyrenees and Rutherglen. In New South Wales, there is Riverina and the Lower and Upper Hunter Valley.

What are your suggestions for visiting wineries, restaurants, and purchasing wines to bring home? We wouldn't want to buy wines there that we can find in California (even though the Tim Adams at Beverages and More is $20 (US) compared with $15 (AUS) or about twice as expensive in the USA).

I would appreciate any suggestions you might make.

Bob