Travel blog

Every trip we've shared since 2011—filter by where we went, when we traveled, or what we explored.

Showing 2 of 236 posts

The kangaroos at Anglesea Golf Club, Victoria, Australia

February 27, 20153 min read2015

Dateline February 27, 2015, Anglesea Golf Club

We drove out from our motel in Apollo Bay with a planned stop for breakfast at the Wye Cafe, about twenty minutes up the coast. John and Janice noticed on arriving that it was the same cafe they had stopped at on a previous Melbourne to Adelaide drive — a small coincidence to start the day. Then on to Anglesea Golf Club for the round we had been waiting for. Anglesea is famous for the kangaroos who share the fairways with the golfers. Looking out from the clubhouse before our 1:15 tee time, we couldn't see a single one. The pro told us they sleep in the heat of the day and start feeding as it cools. We started on the 10th hole. By the 11th green, our first mob. From there, it was constant. Many of the kangaroos wore collars with names — permanent members of the club, we figured. The course was a good test of golf, except for the part where there are kangaroos everywhere and you cannot stop taking pictures of them. The pictures tell the story.

#australia #victoria #anglesea

Read story

Australia

February 13, 20157 min read2015

Dateline February 13, 2015, Lambert Estate, the Barossa Valley

From New Zealand to Australia. We left Queenstown on an evening flight, with an overnight at the Auckland airport, then on through Melbourne to Adelaide, landing about 11 a.m. We picked up the rental car and pointed it at the Barossa Valley to visit Jim and Pam Lambert at Lambert Estate. We had met Jim and Pam about eight years before through a small online wine company we ran with partners, specializing in boutique wines from around the world, and visiting their winery had been one of the highlights of our last Australia trip in 2009. A great change this time around was meeting their son Kirk and his new wife Vanessa, who is from Peru. The two met in the University of Adelaide's wine science program and are now the winemakers at Lambert Estate. Over two evenings at the property we worked through about thirteen bottles between the four of us and the Lamberts and their friends Kingsley and Kathy, including the flagship Silent Partner Cabernet Sauvignon and the Family Tree Shiraz, which once beat Penfolds Grange nine-to-ten in a Milwaukee blind tasting. We chased kangaroos through the vineyard, dined at the Wanera Wine Bar in Angaston, played pokies (Bunny cleaned up), and slept gratefully in the Lambert Estate Retreat. A wonderful welcome to Australia.

#australia #south-australia #barossa-valley

Read story