Full House in Adelaide - June 2-5, 2012

The next morning in Clare was ultra-relaxed, so we slept in, had breakfast, and packed the van for the last time.  After a nice daytime drive back to Adelaide we stopped for groceries and settled back in at home for a very enjoyable day.  I usually try not to talk too much about food on this blog, but this will be an exception for two reasons.  First, now that I don't have to cook for myself every day because of work, I absolutely love cooking when I'm home.  Second, we ate like kings, and you can too if you come to visit!

For lunch we had a delicious spread of gourmet meat, cheese, fruit, crackers, bread, quince paste, and other goodies.  Then I got straight into cooking dinner, which was cold spring rolls and green curry from scratch with cauliflower "rice".  I recruited everyone to roll the cold rolls and help with the other bits, so it was a group effort.

The next day was also all about food.  Ryan cooked a delicious breakfast of grilled eggplant with a hole cut in the centre for a fried egg.  So yummy!  The weather started to turn, so we went for a short walk by the river in the morning before the rain.  I promised everyone a variety of birds, and we saw almost all of the ones I was expecting.  I was sure we would see the shy Australian Grebe, but we didn't have any luck until right at the very end, so I kept my promise.

Everyone did their own thing for the afternoon, and I enjoyed making our delicious dinner:

Appetizer:

-shrimp cocktail

-prosciutto wrapped melon balls

Main:

-citrus, rosemary, and garlic roasted chicken

-orange roasted veggies (sweet potato, squash, carrots, oranges, rosemary)

-fennel and orange salad

-parsnip purée

Dessert:

-coconut cake (made by Ryan)

Leanna and Daniel also arrived in time for dinner, so it was a full house on our tiny table but so much fun.  Due to lack of space (and good luck), Leanna and Daniel spent the night in our guest house on wheels (we had the campervan for 7 days).  Maybe not something you should expect if you come to visit…

In the morning we had an amazing breakfast spread, and got organized and out of the house by 10am.  Leanna and Daniel had to return their rental car and pick up a campervan, I had to pick up the minivan, and the others returned our campervan.  As you can imagine, it was quite the coordination effort, but we managed to be on the road to McLaren Vale by 11:30am.

We spent awhile debating over doing a walking tour, a biking tour, or just the normal car tour, but the weather made the decision for us.  After a quick stop at the visitor centre, we drove to Lechonfield Wines.  It was one of the first wineries we had ever been to in Australia and it was where I first started liking wine, so it was a good starter place for Bryce and Leanna.  After tasting from their massive wine list, we had a scrumptious gourmet lunch.

Once everyone was a bit tipsy, we all agreed that it was a good thing we weren't on bikes!  Next we stopped at Fox Creek - another one of our absolute favourites.  We had been serving Fox Creek wine all week, so it was nice to show everyone where it came from. 

Dog Ridge was our third stop, and the only new place we went to all day.  It was really neat because it had some amazing bird art on display by Jen Wright (painted with red wine and squid ink, among other things), and they sat us down together at a nice table for tasting.

By this point we were getting short on time, so we quickly drove to Lloyd Brothers (wine, olives, and olive oil tasting) before they closed.  This is always one of my favourites, and it's nice to have something other than wine at the end of the day.

Despite the bad weather and the increasing darkness, after three attempts we found a lookout over the region.  We'll definitely go back on a nicer day to get the full effect. 

Finally, we stopped at Vale Ale for some beer tasting.  It added some nice variety to the day, but unfortunately on the way home Leanna realized she left her purse there.  Because of that the evening was a bit rough, but that story has a happy ending.

After a simple dinner of lamb, salad, and leftovers (and some wine for the designated driver), Leanna and Daniel returned to their campervan (I swear the neighbours think we're nuts) and everyone prepared for their respective departures the next day.

The entire visit was hectic, but I wouldn't change a thing.  We're so lucky to have such great family and friends to share our Australian adventures with.