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

Napier - Hawkes Bay wines and Little Blue Penguins

Hawkes Bay Wines

Napier was definitely one of my favourite places in New Zealand. It isn't somewhere that I think I could live - it is too quiet - but it allowed me to indulge in a few of my favourite things. I've mentioned the Art Deco being one of them, but there were also the wine and the penguins.

Wine was always one of our reasons for visiting Napier. And I am so glad we did, as it turned out that these were our favourite wines of New Zealand. The plan initially was to hire bikes and cycle around the wineries, but the wet weather quickly put paid to that idea.

Hawkes Bay Wines

Of course that meant that I was driving, so had to do the unthinkable and spit out the wines. Swallowing the little tasters of wine might have been OK were we just doing one winery, but we did between four and six a day, and there were lots of wines to sample, so I would have been well over the limit.

Craggy Range Winery

Now I am not a fan of very dry wines, like Sauvignon Blanc, but I have found that the exception to that can be those from the Marlborough region of NZ. As it turns out, the one here are actually much better for me.

Craggy Range Winery

Needless to say, we ended up buying quite a few bottles, with me then having to do lots of maths to make sure that the previous night's alcohol would have fully left my system before setting out again in the car. That meant no early morning starts, but that suited us just fine!

We visited lots wineries around the area, with some of our favourites being Moana Park, Craggy Range, Black Barn and Vidal. And if you are in the area, we also found a really nice tapas and wine bar in Havelock North, called Deliciosa.

Little Blue Penguins, Napier

So on to the last of my favourite things - the penguins. This one wasn't part of the reason for going to Napier, but we were very happy to discover it when we read up on the place. Napier is home to National Aquarium of New Zealand. It isn't especially large, but it is well worth a visit.

Somewhat unexpectedly for an aquarium, they also have a couple of other famous NZ creatures - the kiwi and the tuatara. But of course the main focus is on the marine life, which is plentiful and
interesting.

Little Blue Penguins, Napier

They have one of those 'glass' tunnels that goes through the main aquarium, so that you can see the fish swimming over you. And this one is excellent for the tired or immobile, as you go through on a travelator, so you don't even have to worry about walking. It is a good way of keeping people moving when it's busy and making sure that one group doesn't get to hog a particularly good area too, which I suspect is more the intention.

Little Blue Penguins, Napier

There are also various animal encounter options available, including going in with the sharks, but of course the one we went for was the penguin. The aquarium has a small colony of Little Blue Penguins, also known as Fairy Penguins in South Australia. They are all rescue birds, that have been saved and treated, but lack the ability to be released back into the wild.

Some have lost a flipper or an eye, and one has lost half of its beak. They are well cared for here, in a safe environment, where they don't have to fend entirely for themselves.

Little Blue Penguins, Napier

The encounter is really well priced at NZD65 each, which when we went in 2015 was about £27, though it will be a bit more now. You get to go behind the scenes, find out about the penguins and help prepare their food - I left that bit to Nic, as I really dislike even the smell of fish.

Then you go inside with the keepers, and can help feed the penguins. They gave me a glove, to keep the smell off my skin, and tried to give me the easier ones to feed so that I didn't have to hold the fish for long.

Little Blue Penguins, Napier

Some penguin take the fish and gulp it down easily, but others struggle, and need you to give it a push. The one with only half a beak needs extra help, as the keepers have to mimic the action of the missing part.

After the feeding, some of the bids are happy to let you give them a little stroke, so you can feel what their feathers are like and the strength of their flippers. Depending on the mood of the penguins, there can be an option to hold one on your lap. One in particular is very friendly, actively seeking out attention like this, and as she will never be released, they are content to allow it within limits. Obviously the keepers only allow this if they are satisfied that the penguins are happy though, so it is not guaranteed at all.

If you do get to hold one, do take up the offer of the towel on your knee, and do put it up your body a bit too. On this occasion, we were lucky, no excrement was expelled, but when we have seen penguins before, we have seen the frequency - and projectile nature - of their poo.

Little Blue Penguins, Napier

What we hadn't realised beforehand was that we would have an audience for this. Feeding time attracts quite a few people to come and watch at the enclosure; later on, as we walked around, a lad came up to us and asked us what it was like feeding the penguins.

Little Blue Penguins, Napier

Little Blue Penguins, Napier

Little Blue Penguins, Napier

Granada - Town and Tapas (Throwback post)

Granada

From Malaga we were on to Granada, which is one of those places that is very famous for a particular thing, in this case the Alhambra. I always worry when something is so hyped as that, as you never know whether it will match up to the expectations. But you'll get to see what we thought of that in the next post - for now, we're looking at the rest of the city.

San Jeronimo Monastery

We did something in Granada that we don't very often do - we took one of the sightseeing buses. We wouldn't usually bother with them, because you generally have to fit more than we like to into one day, and we can happily get around on local transport.

San Jeronimo Monastery

But on this occasion, we wanted to go to a couple of places a bit further out, with fewer transport options available, and it actually wasn't a bad price. So we hopped on board and listened to the commmentary as we passed through the 'in town' section, before jumping off at the San Jeronimo Monastery.

San Jeronimo Monastery

The Monastery was built around the start of the 16th century, by the Catholic monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. It is in the Renaissance style, and has a very impressive alterpiece.

San Jeronimo Monastery

The inside is obviously good, but not particularly to my taste. I did however really like the courtyards, with their arches and orange trees.

San Jeronimo Monastery

San Jeronimo Monastery

San Jeronimo Monastery

Cartuja Monastery

Back on the bus, our next stop was another monastery, this time the Cartuja Monastery. Built around the same time as the last one, this one is in the Baroque style. Again, it is impressive inside, and again, not really my kind of thing. No photos allowed inside this one.

Cartuja Monastery

Cartuja Monastery

Cartuja Monastery

What I did love seeing here, and was allowed to take a photo of, was a peach tree in the courtyard. That is my first peach tree sighting, and little things like that can make me surprisingly happy!

Granada Bullring

At this point, our sightseeing bus let us down. We saw the one we were planning to get go past, quite a bit ahead of schedule, and there was a huge gap to the next one. Rather than just stand around in the sun for ages, we decided to walk on to the bull ring. It wasn't necessarily on our list of things to see, but it was on the bus route, so we could get on there instead.

Granada Bullring

The bull ring here is massive, built in 1928, with a capacity of 14,500. We didn't go inside though, as it is still used for bullfights, and we can't condone that. Bull fighting is one of those difficult areas where it can be hard to draw a line between respecting the culture and traditions of another country and the rights of the animal. But whilst I may not feel I can try to prevent it, I can certainly boycott anywhere that makes money from it.

St Nicholas Church, Granada

I suspect I would find it marginally less unpalatable if it were at least a fair fight, rather than them bleeding the bull first to sap its strength. At least then, the skill of the matador against a fully fit and healthy bull could be something to be admired. I still don't think I could support an event where the aim is to kill an animal for fun though. I have to admit that I was rather pleased to see in the news recently that one of the bulls had managed to turn the tables and kill the matador.

View from St Nicholas Church, Granada

Anyhow, enough of that, on with the tour. That was our final stop on the bus, but we did get a local bus up to the Saint Nicholas Church, where there is an excellent spot to get a view of the Alhambra and Generalife.

Albaycin, Granada

We walked back down through the old Arab area of Albaycin, with its multitude of little white buildings and, as you get further towards the bottom, teahouses and shops selling colourful lanterns and other Moorish souvenirs.

Albaycin, Granada

Albaycin, Granada

Albaycin, Granada

Granada Cathedral

Finally, on the tourist trail, we popped inside the Cathedral. We also took a wander around the nearby shops - when they weren't inconveniently closed for length siestas that is.

Granada Cathedral

I understand the idea of a siesta traditionally, but I can't see why it is necessary in the winter months, when it really isn't all that hot

Granada

Of course, after all of that sightseeing, we need to be fed and watered, and Granada is just the place to do that cheaply. The drinks aren't exactly expensive anyway and, if you go to the right bars, (which is most of them,) then with every drink you buy, you get a free tapa. they aren't the most exciting ones - they are often tostadas and montaditos, but they will certainly leave you well fed.

Bodegas Castenada, Granada

Unfortunately, with my tricky eating habits, I often found I couldn't eat what can, often due to a large dollop of mayonnaise being included. Many places were pretty good with that, and if I told them I couldn't eat it beforehand, then would adapt it slightly.

Bodegas Castenada, Granada

A couple were excellent, and went above and beyond to check everything and if necessary, give me something completely different, or even just me choose. But quite seriously, if you are someone who will happily eat most things, then don't bother buying meals here, just buy drinks and eat for free.

One place that sadly didn't offer anything much in the way of free tapas, but was a lovely little old style bar, with great Spanish wines served direct from the barrels, was Bodegas Castenada, close to where we were staying and not far from the Cathedral.

Bodegas Castenada, Granada

We also discovered that you could also bring along your own plastic bottle to get filled with wines for takeaway, at a ridiculously low price. We had to buy a bottle the first time, but after that we were sorted for drinks back at the flat.