Watervale, Clare Valley

We pulled out of Port Augusta with a completely revised and improved opinion of the town then headed south to Watervale. We met Denise and Col in Katherine some years back. They have owned an original stone cottage on a property here for 30 odd years and in Easter of 2010 we joined them here with some other friends and did a section of the Rail Trail on hired bikes, calling in on several wineries as you would. We also caught up with Des and Leslie Menz friends from Cobram who had moved to Clare, on that visit. Much fun was had during the days and at night we sat around the firepit, entertaining each other with stories of shared experiences all extrapolated and exaggerated way beyond the truth. 

Denise and Col now live here permanently and lots of improvements have been made to the cottage, but as always when you own an older place, there are lists of things still in the pipeline. Its a work in progress. Below you can see the coat rack we helped to reinstate on the porch wall as one small contribution. One of their daughters, Ngarie, has just returned to Oz after 2 yrs working in the UK so it was lovely to catch up with her as well and she seemed happy enough to share her parents with us even though she hadn't seen them in a long time. Very generous, though she didn't really have a choice.

On that Easter visit the whole region was very dry and there was little cover on the ground at Cooinda. It was lovely to return and see so much green grass in the paddocks, the blue gums in flower and the bee keeper's bees buzzing in the top paddock.

Note the extra layers of clothing; the wind hasn't abated since we arrived and the skies are cloudy but it wasn't too chilly to go out for a drive and drop in to a couple of wineries. Denise chose Crabtree in Watervale first and we had so many samples I just knew I needed to eat next. We bought a few varieties to enjoy with dinner and another for the fire. At Jeanerret in Sevenhills they served delicious gyoza dumplings which we enjoyed with either a wine or beer-sample paddle.

The boys cooked a delicious roast lamb for dinner, complete with home made mint sauce, while the women wandered down to the old stables and shared craft patterns. When we were in Melrose a few days ago I was very impressed with the work of a local photographer who was displaying abstract photos of the gum trees so while I was at Cooinda I decided to have a go. 

This stay has been a bit of a bird watcher's paradise with lots of new sightings of rosellas and lorikeets, along with the occassional sparrowhawk, hobby and chough thrown in.  After dinner we enjoyed a fire in the pit and sampled the local muscat to keep us warm. The wind had at last dropped but there were no stars in the sky as it was cloudy and then we even had some light misty rain overnight. Next morning we made our way up the driveway, having enjoyed a lovely couple of days together, leaving Col and Ngarie to get on with the angle grinding and Denise to finish the restoration of the kitchen table. We are looking forward to seeing the progress made when we return in December as they have agreed to store our van for us once we head home from this trip and until we return for the Tassie trip in March 2020. Enjoy your stay on Kangaroo Island you lot and tell us all about it as we plan to head there after navigating the Murray.