House sitting in the Clare Valley

Auburn, Clare Valley

With Australia being one of the more expensive countries to visit, we opted to mitigate our costs a little with a bit of housesitting. We managed to find a good opportunity looking after two whippets in the Clare Valley in South Australia.

The place we were staying was right on the Riesling Trail, a cycle route that passes a multitude of vineyards and wineries, many of which specialise in Riesling wines - hence the name. Our plan had been to hire bicycles for a lot of the time that we were here, but as my back still hadn't fully recovered, that wasn't really an option.

Auburn, Clare Valley

Auburn, Clare Valley

The property was a few miles out of Watervale, the nearest village, which has a population of around 300 people and the local pub. Nearby Auburn was slightly larger, but not much. It did have some nice old buildings though.

Clare, which had the comparatively large population of a bit over 3,000, was around ten miles away, and had shops, cafes and a supermarket. Thankfully, the homeowner had left her vehicle for me, so we were able to get around.

As well as the two whippets, we had a number of chickens and some geese to look after too. The gander was very protective of his two goslings, especially around Nic. The chickens could be a real nuisance to get in to their coop at night, as one in particular was especially daft and regularly ended up on the wrong side of the fence. the best thing with the chickens was that one hatched out eggs and we were able to watch the very cute little chicks.

The whippets were lovely dogs. One was a little naughty at times, and had to be gently reminded that taking our shoes wasn't allowed. They are sensitive creatures, so all I had to do was show him the shoe that I had retrieved and tell him 'no' and he would take himself off to bed in disgrace; what rather amused me is that the other one went with him. It was a rather nice moment when I saw him go to take my shoe, pause, remember he wasn't supposed to, and run off to get one of his toys instead!

They did rather like to get into bed with us - and I do mean in - so it was just as well the bed was a large one. it was OK until one of them farted really badly. So badly that the other dog had to poke his head out from under the cover to escape from the smell! But in the main, it was lovely to look after them for a month.

Annie's Lane Winery, Watervale, Clare Valley

Walking them around the trails had the added advantage of meaning that we managed to spot a few kangaroos too, although we did have to be careful as, if the dogs spotted them before us and were off the lead, they would go off chasing them. We avoided this most of the time, but there was one occasion when they got early sight of one and tore off after it. They did eventually come back when we called them, but with a kangaroo bursting through ahead of them, right in front of us.

With cycling out of the question, Nic decided to go running along the trails instead; that didn't last long either though, as he managed to bugger up his knee. So much for getting in some exercise; at least we were walking the dogs every day.

Annie's Lane Winery, Watervale, Clare Valley

We couldn't not check out the wineries though, and one of the first we went to was with two of our homeowner's friends, who we enjoyed hanging out with for the month we were there. They took us along to Annie's Lane at Quelltaler, which was having what they called a museum day. This was a fascinating visit, as they were opening up the dusty old bottles of wines that they had stored in their cellars.

Some of the wines were reds, that were more naturally suited to being kept for the thirty or so years that these wines had been cellared for, but others were whites, that you wouldn't expect to keep well beyond a few years. Indeed, some of the wines were only fit for pouring down the sink, but there were a number of rather pleasant surprises. We rather enjoyed this unique opportunity.

Skillogallee Winery, Clare Valley

Aside from that,we drove out to quite a few of the nearby wineries. Of course, for me, that meant spitting it all out again, but at least we could try them, and we ate at a couple too. We had a very nice afternoon tea at Skillogallee, with an excellent Middle Eastern Warm Orange Cake, and some decent scones that were let down only because Australia doesn't do clotted cream - whipped cream on a scone just isn't the same!

Nearby Kilikanoon was good, and we really liked Sevenhill Cellars. The little hamlet of Sevenhill was established in 1851 by a couple of Jesuit priests, who started the winery to provide sacramental wines to local catholic parishes. Jesuits are still involved in the winery today, and they still make the sacramental wines, which are similar to a sherry, which is known in Australia as Apera. They have a good range of other wines too, including more Apera and ports.

Around Watervale, we rather liked Shut The Gate, and Claymore Wines. Claymore's owners are ardent Liverpool FC fans, and have actually formed a partnership with the football club. They also name their wines after some impressive music too, with names like London Calling, Bittersweet Symphony, Purple Rain and, of course, You'll Never Walk Alone.

Another place that we ate was at the Paulett Wines and Bush DeVine Café in Penwortham. The food, the wine and the views were all great, but we especially liked the focus on traditional bush foods. They also sell bush food items, and we bought some lemon myrtle and made a rather nice cake.

Reilly'sWinery, Mintaro, Clare Valley

A little further out, in the tiny crossroads of Mintaro - which was so small that we initially drove straight out the other side before realising we'd even arrived -  we checked out Mintaro Wines and Reilly's. The latter was a very pretty, flowery setting, and had some nice food to go with the wines.

One thing we had learned about buying wine in the Clare Valley, was to seek out the blank bottles. In the bottle shops, they sell wine with very basic labels at considerably cheaper prices, but they can still be really nice wines. At the cellar doors, you can sometimes get wines that are exactly the same as the labelled ones, but sold unlabelled at much lower prices.

Martindale Hall, Mintaro, Clare Valley

Whilst out in Mintaro, we checked out Martindale Hall, which is a Georgian style place built in 1879 for Edward Bowman Jr. He only actually managed to keep the place for eleven years before huge debts caused him to have to sell it to William Tennant Mortlock. The new owner's time wasn't exactly blessed either, as he lost four of his six children, and one of those that lived went on to drown as an adult.

One of the children that died was Valentine, who had disabilities, which in those days meant that he was largely confined to his bedroom. He died at the age of eight years old, but a number of people who have stayed in the room claim to have seen his ghost.

Paranormal claims aside, the Hall is worth a visit if you are in the area. It was also the setting for the 1975 film Picnic At Hanging Rock.

Martindale Hall, Mintaro, Clare Valley

Martindale Hall, Mintaro, Clare Valley

Martindale Hall, Mintaro, Clare Valley

Martindale Hall, Mintaro, Clare Valley

Housesitting in Winnipeg (Throwback post)

Housesit Winnipeg

Winnipeg, in Manitoba, probably isn't top of most people's travel lists. It wasn't particularly on ours, but we got a housesit here, and it fitted in with our aim to see some less touristy areas and 'normal' towns.

Housesit Winnipeg

Our housesit had us looking after a lovely old Rottweiler called Jess. She was the most gentle dog you can imagine, if a little reluctant to walk at times. When she didn't want to go, she would simply lie down and refuse. Sometimes we could tempt her in to going further by playing with a stick, but occasionally there was nothing for it but to turn around and go back.

Museum of Human Rights, Winnipeg

It rather amused us that so many of the people that we met and spoke to, from neighbours at the housesit, to staff in restaurants, asked us why we had come to Winnipeg. Most seemed to find it incredibly strange that we had done so.

Museum of Human Rights, Winnipeg

And no, it still wouldn't be somewhere that we would put at the top of our list, but nonetheless, we thought Winnipeg was quite a pleasant city. One thing that we though particularly interesting, which will now be open, but was still being built during our visit, was the Canadian Museum of Human Rights.

Museum of Human Rights, Winnipeg

We did a tour of the outside while we were there, and the architecture of the building is quite interesting. The architect, Antoine Predock, has tried to represent a journey through life and to incorporate the idea of rock in the base, water in the 'cloud' that wraps around the base, and a tower that represents a beacon of hope. The metal and glass 'cloud' has also been likened to the wings of a dove or a canopy of a tree. We figured that we would have to return someday, to have a look inside too.

Winnipeg

Winnipeg

The rest of the main city area has quite a nice feel to it overall. There is quite a lot of older architecture here, and a number of buildings still have old advertising painted on the side.

Red River College, Winnipeg

But it also blends the new in with the old; Red River College is a very modern structure, but it has been very effectively blended in with the façade of old buildings along the street.

Selkirk Settlers, Winnipeg

Red River was the area where the Selkirk Settlers, a band of Scottish Immigrants, settled, after arriving on the Prince of Wales ship on 13 August 1813. They were helped by Thomas Douglas, the 5th Earl of Selkirk, hence the name. There is a memorial to these early settlers.

Closer to where we were staying, was Corydon Avenue, which had a few decent places to go out. Back downtown, there was the slightly disappointing Forks area, and the somewhat nicer Exchange District.

The Cube, Winnipeg

There is also a great little outdoor music stage in Old Market Square. We spent a while watching a couple of bands playing here at The Cube; we enjoyed it, but weren't quite as enthusiastic as one lady who was enjoying a good old boogie.

Manitoba Legislative Building, Winnipeg

St Boniface Cathedral,Winnipeg

St Boniface Cathedral,Winnipeg

St Boniface Cathedral,Winnipeg

St Boniface Cathedral,Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Housesitting in Edmonton (Throwback post)

Edmonton, Canada

Because of our hiccup with US immigration on our arrival, we flew from Chicago straight to Canada.  We had arranged a housesit in Edmonton, and arrived there with minimum fuss after a fantastically easy change at Toronto.  After some of our US airport experiences - Miami in particular - it was lovely to breeze through immigration and customs and not to have to leg it through the airport with our rucksacks to just about make the connection.

Despite being the sixth largest city in Canada, there isn't all that much to do in Edmonton, especially in April which was when we were there.  Most people that we spoke to were surprised to see visitors, and to be honest, it is not somewhere we would really recommend at this time.  We gather that there are festivals on during the summer months, but in April it is still in the second stage of winter.  It isn't freezing cold like the first part of their winter, but there was snow on the ground for the entire time we were there; we only actually saw the garden at all in the last week, when some of the snow finally melted away, revealing bare earth and barely alive shrubs.
 



Edmonton, Canada

We were there to house sit for a very nice couple while they were away in Amsterdam for five weeks.  They had a great house and a lovely, if a bit timid, cat, which we thoroughly enjoyed looking after, even if she did always try to wake us up ten minutes earlier than the alarm was set for.



Edmonton, Canada

There was a nasty surprise on our first supermarket shop though.  We were in a bit of a hurry just to pick up a few bits that we needed, and we thought we'd quickly grab a bottle of wine while we were at it.  We were somewhat disappointed to see such a tiny few shelves of beer and wine, and so hurriedly just took the one that said chardonnay.  When we drank it later, we thought it tasted like grape juice rather than wine, and looked at the bottle more carefully.  Sure enough, it was dealcoholised.  At which point we remembered that the supermarkets aren't allowed to sell alcohol in most of Canada, you have to go to the mainly government run liquor stores instead.  We didn't make that mistake again.





Edmonton, Canada

We managed to abandon the warmth and comfort of our temporary home and get out into Edmonton a few times.  We met up with some fellow couchsurfers one time and we went out with the people that we stayed with on our first night in town.  We found a lovely cupcake shop, Crave Cupcakes, and a good wine store.  We were most pleased to come across a great little cheese and wine place called Cavern that had only just opened, where I discovered a delicious nutty, caramelly Beemster XO Gouda; sadly not to be found in the UK as far as I can tell.

But in general there wasn't a lot in Edmonton at this time of the year.

A number of people have asked us why we would want to go to somewhere like that.  Well the answer is two fold.  The first reason is financial.  By doing this house sit we get five weeks of free accommodation in a great house that we only have to share with a cat. That saved money allows us a bit more to spend elsewhere, which is quite important when you are travelling in the more expensive places like North America.  After all, if someone said to you that you could work for a couple of months a year and travel the rest, wouldn't you say yes?  And this is hardly work - just simply looking after the house, shovelling a bit of snow and enjoying the company of a lovely cat.

Edmonton, Canada

The second reason is that we do want to get a feel for the countries we visit.  We don't regard what we are doing as being on holiday, so we don't have to be doing big ticket, touristy things all of the time.  And staying in somewhere like Edmonton out of season is a great insight into what it is to live in Canada, and how the country differs from the UK.  Edmonton is the 6th largest city in Canada with a population of around 1.16 million.  In the  best equivalent the  6th largest primary urban areas in the UK is Sheffield, which only has a population of 0.55 million, in a smaller area, but still has somewhat more to offer than Edmonton. Personally, when considering aspects like sights, attractions, culture, restaurants and entertainment, I would compare Edmonton more to somewhere like Wakefield, which incidentally is 46th on the UK list.

Still, we enjoyed our five weeks of relaxation and it did wonders for our budget.

Do you know anyone who needs a house sitter?

Travelling on a budget means finding less expensive ways of sleeping, preferably ones that don't involve cardboard boxes! One option is house sitting, and we have recently signed up to a couple of house sitting sites to offer our services to the many people out there who want their houses and their pets looking after while they go on holiday.  Of course Nic seems to be most interested in those that have either got labradors or something more unusual - he is already rather disappointed that we won't be around to help out the people in Hertfordshire who need someone to look after their pet racoon.

So if you know anyone who needs their home and any pets looked after while they're away, drop us a message.  We'll be back in the UK from July to mid October, but could be interested in ones further afield too, while we travel.