SA is supposed to be the driest state on the driest continent (don’t talk to me about Antarctica right now thanks, I’m dejected enough) but we have encountered an absolute beaut of a rain situation. We’re stuck in the Barossa at the Nuriootpa Caravan Park that was idyllic two days ago but fairly sodden now. There’s nothing more forlorn than a caravan park on a rainy day. It’s too wet for us to de-camp the camper (it’s all that canvas you know) so we opted for another day here. Actually, we had a good day although we did discover that most of the Barossa is closed on a Wednesday. We went out along a wet bush track through winding hills to see the local lavender farm (closed – til September!), but went on to the little town of Lyndoch for a coffee and a cake (nice warm German feel about the cafe). We had heard about an antique collection and found the Chateau Barossa – not well known I suspect but well worth a visit - a fabulous collection of 18th century German porcelain pieces amongst other treasures. There was an elderly gent hovering around there in an old safari suit and the lady at the counter said in hushed tones “David Ruston is here today” like we should be impressed (and him in a safari suit). Our idiot expressions pressed her on, “He’s the doyen in roses! Wrote a book about them!” (showed us the book – mercifully it wasn’t called Ruston Roses – I know, steer clear of the puns!) “He’s met the Queen, several times!” (still not getting anything) “He’s quite eccentric but he’d be pleased to show you around!” We responded that we would be honoured to have an audience with such a famous person.
As it turned out, David spent all of two minutes explaining very little to us before he rushed off to attend to other more pressing matters (didn’t mean that flower joke! Sorry about that) – my only impression, apart from the eccentricity was that his personal distance was much shorter than ours and consequently we found ourselves backing off a little as he spoke (I wonder if Her Majesty’s comfort zone was likewise intruded upon in those meetings). Anyway the collection was truly impressive and we left an hour or so later – in the rain!
It was lunch time so we thought we would try the Barossa Brewery in Tanunda (closed). We parked in the main street and saw the Zinfandel Cafe – authentic German food – sounded great - closed! Some place called Nosh railed against the trend and saved us from certain starvation. We drove home in the rain and we’re staying dry and cosy, wondering if this infernal rainfall will ever stop!!
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