There was a nice buffet breakfast at the Mayfair (which we didn’t need) and we were all ready to go at 9am. The bikes were on a trailer behind the Tour de Vin van but of course the parking space was full so the driver had to go around the block several times.

It was an hour getting to the village in the middle of the Barossa Valley we passed lots of orchards and greenhouses along the way. Also new residential subdivisions with single storey homes on what looks to be highly fertile land. There are no services or amenities. Seems like an odd choice to me.

The driver took us to the Penfold’s winery where we would end up and then took us a bit further where we could start off along a cycle path. It was much cooler and perfect riding conditions. A high of 23C.

Immediately he gave us a heads up about snakes and handed Shirley the snake first aid kit. Then when we set off there was this sign that said “shared path” with a picture of a snake below. Who shares a path with a snake I ask you.

I was gratified to see a shared path sign a bit later that had a picture of a child.

We biked about 3.5 km and stopped at a farm shop called Maggie Beers and had coffee. A large flat white was $7. They don’t even have GST on food and beverages here.

Then we headed off along these roads and stopped at a winery called Langmiel which was only about 3 km down the road. They had some excellent wines, especially their reds. Pricey mind you.

We had a complimentary tasting there and then headed to St Hallets where we had another tasting and lunch. The lunch was cheeses and crackers and pickles.

After lunch we went a few kilometres down the road and did another complimentary tasting at Rockford. It’s a boutique winery where the reds are made using traditional methods and the post war machinery. We were lucky to arrive while they were unloading grapes from the truck into the machine that separates the stalks and the fruit. The tasting there was good though the wines were not as good as those at Langmiel. Mind you they weren’t the same price either.

We then biked a bit further to another vineyard called Charles Melton. They were not up for 11 people doing a tasting at 4 pm so we bought a bottle of red and a bottle of rose and shared that between us. Very nice both of them.

The ride from there to the Novotel was about 10 km and we got a bit lost. Ended up going on this cross country track that took us over sand and weeds and then had to turn back and go another way.

We eventually got to the Novotel at about 5.45 and were supposed to meet for dinner at 6pm. Mike and I actually complied but everyone else showered and took their time. I think that threw the restaurant out as they didn’t seem able to get us food or drinks. Most of us were happy just to drink water but it would have been nice to have been asked.

Eventually we were given some mozzarella cheese, some bread, some crumbed leek and some pork terrine to share. Very nice but a long time coming. We then waited over an hour and they brought out some lamb, some fish pasta, some actual fish, carrots and fries. It was all quite nice but half the group had given up by that stage and gone to bed! Certainly it wasn’t any way that we would run a hotel and/or restaurant.