South Australia: Chocolate-Covered Coffee Beans − 7 April, 2001
We packed the car and had a quick continental breakfast before checking out of the hotel this morning. Man, the hotel couldn't even get a simple thing like a continental breakfast right. Honestly, how the fuck can you screw up a continental breakfast? Leaving the same food sit out for several days, apparently.
It was a short, leisurely drive back to Penneshaw. Once there, we had about an hour until the ferry started loading so we went looking for the local dive shop to see what equipment they had. None. They were strictly a tour operator.
Our remaining time on the island was spent hiking a trail along the rocky coast. We saw a lot of fairy penguin burrows along the trail; some of the burrows were man-made. One part of the trail, in particular, struck us with the comparatively luxurious man-made burrows -- this must be the "ritzy" part of fairy penguin town. I wonder how they decide who gets the nice burrows...
Most of the penguins were already out to sea fishing for the day, even though the weather was threatening to turn real ugly and the sea looked pretty rough. Even so, we did spot two penguins hunkered down in a burrow. I'm guessing they took one look at the sea this morning and thought, "Fuck that!" They looked a little bored, though. Probably just waiting for us to leave so they could get back to business. If the burrow's a rockin', don't come a knockin'!
The ferry ride back to Cape Jervis was a little rough. Not so bad that it had people lined up to puke over the railing, but enough that I was feeling a bit green.
Once back on land we started off for Tanunda and the Barossa Valley. We had gone over our maps on the ferry and decided to take a potentially more scenic route by turning off the main road at Myponga. Lots of winding, hilly roads, lush forests, and quaint villages greeted us. Some of the villages looked like they were lifted right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. We even saw a few stands of pine trees that reminded us of Colorado. It was an absolutely beautiful drive. My wife wasn't completely enamored with it, though. The rollercoaster-like roads had her feeling a bit queasy. She drove for a while, hoping that would help; but it didn't.
As we were driving through the town of Woodside, we saw signs for Melba's Chocolate Factory. Of course we had to hunt this place down and check it out. It was a pretty small operation, and they didn't have much of a tour. But, oh man! The chocolates! They may have been a small factory, but they had it all. We went a little psycho buying chocolates: a huge Easter basket of chocolates, a second huge bag of mixed chocolates, and a bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans. I had never heard of chocolate-covered coffee beans before, but they sure sounded good.
We continued on from the chocolate factory and eventually started seeing vineyards and wineries along the road. All the while I'm popping chocolate-covered coffee beans like an addict. Damn, those things are good! By the time we reached Tanunda, I was so hopped-up on caffeine I had a phenomenal case of the shakes.
Just outside of Tanunda we stopped at the Novotel Resort to check in. Very nice place. We were there just long enough to throw our bags in our room, then it was off to find the Keg Factory. A few of our friends in Alice Springs had awesome port kegs they bought from this place. We're really not port drinkers, but the kegs are incredible. They're hand-crafted out of old wine barrels; you can choose the size, shape (round or oval), and any wording or artwork on the face. We were stopping to pick a few up our friends had ordered, but they weren't done yet. We placed an order for ourselves, though -- a 9-liter oval keg with some wood-burned art on the face. The total only came to $190 (US dollars). I am loving the exchange rate right now.
We cleaned up back at the hotel and walked over to the hotel restaurant for dinner. It sure looked nice, but that's about the only good thing I have to say about it. Well, my wife said her steak was good and it's pretty hard to fuck up a bottle of wine. My food, though, was beyond nasty. For the entire time we sat there, we were never asked once if we needed refills of water, or more wine, or how the food was. It took the waiter over an HOUR after we were finished eating to even come and clear our plates (and he didn't ask if we wanted coffee or dessert). I asked for the check while he was there clearing the plates. Fifteen minutes later, we still didn't have the check, so we just got up and went to the cashier to work it out ourselves. Even my wife, who is generous to a fault, was pissed-off enough to make sure I wasn't going to leave a tip. Apparently we weren't the only ones being ignored by the wait-staff; several other couples saw us at the cashier and got in line behind us.
Though we missed having dessert, we had our chocolates from Melba's and our room had a coffee maker. The rest of the night we discussed tomorrow's plans while a Vietnam documentary and Towering Inferno played on the TV.
It was a short, leisurely drive back to Penneshaw. Once there, we had about an hour until the ferry started loading so we went looking for the local dive shop to see what equipment they had. None. They were strictly a tour operator.
Our remaining time on the island was spent hiking a trail along the rocky coast. We saw a lot of fairy penguin burrows along the trail; some of the burrows were man-made. One part of the trail, in particular, struck us with the comparatively luxurious man-made burrows -- this must be the "ritzy" part of fairy penguin town. I wonder how they decide who gets the nice burrows...
Most of the penguins were already out to sea fishing for the day, even though the weather was threatening to turn real ugly and the sea looked pretty rough. Even so, we did spot two penguins hunkered down in a burrow. I'm guessing they took one look at the sea this morning and thought, "Fuck that!" They looked a little bored, though. Probably just waiting for us to leave so they could get back to business. If the burrow's a rockin', don't come a knockin'!
The ferry ride back to Cape Jervis was a little rough. Not so bad that it had people lined up to puke over the railing, but enough that I was feeling a bit green.
Once back on land we started off for Tanunda and the Barossa Valley. We had gone over our maps on the ferry and decided to take a potentially more scenic route by turning off the main road at Myponga. Lots of winding, hilly roads, lush forests, and quaint villages greeted us. Some of the villages looked like they were lifted right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. We even saw a few stands of pine trees that reminded us of Colorado. It was an absolutely beautiful drive. My wife wasn't completely enamored with it, though. The rollercoaster-like roads had her feeling a bit queasy. She drove for a while, hoping that would help; but it didn't.
As we were driving through the town of Woodside, we saw signs for Melba's Chocolate Factory. Of course we had to hunt this place down and check it out. It was a pretty small operation, and they didn't have much of a tour. But, oh man! The chocolates! They may have been a small factory, but they had it all. We went a little psycho buying chocolates: a huge Easter basket of chocolates, a second huge bag of mixed chocolates, and a bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans. I had never heard of chocolate-covered coffee beans before, but they sure sounded good.
We continued on from the chocolate factory and eventually started seeing vineyards and wineries along the road. All the while I'm popping chocolate-covered coffee beans like an addict. Damn, those things are good! By the time we reached Tanunda, I was so hopped-up on caffeine I had a phenomenal case of the shakes.
Just outside of Tanunda we stopped at the Novotel Resort to check in. Very nice place. We were there just long enough to throw our bags in our room, then it was off to find the Keg Factory. A few of our friends in Alice Springs had awesome port kegs they bought from this place. We're really not port drinkers, but the kegs are incredible. They're hand-crafted out of old wine barrels; you can choose the size, shape (round or oval), and any wording or artwork on the face. We were stopping to pick a few up our friends had ordered, but they weren't done yet. We placed an order for ourselves, though -- a 9-liter oval keg with some wood-burned art on the face. The total only came to $190 (US dollars). I am loving the exchange rate right now.
We cleaned up back at the hotel and walked over to the hotel restaurant for dinner. It sure looked nice, but that's about the only good thing I have to say about it. Well, my wife said her steak was good and it's pretty hard to fuck up a bottle of wine. My food, though, was beyond nasty. For the entire time we sat there, we were never asked once if we needed refills of water, or more wine, or how the food was. It took the waiter over an HOUR after we were finished eating to even come and clear our plates (and he didn't ask if we wanted coffee or dessert). I asked for the check while he was there clearing the plates. Fifteen minutes later, we still didn't have the check, so we just got up and went to the cashier to work it out ourselves. Even my wife, who is generous to a fault, was pissed-off enough to make sure I wasn't going to leave a tip. Apparently we weren't the only ones being ignored by the wait-staff; several other couples saw us at the cashier and got in line behind us.
Though we missed having dessert, we had our chocolates from Melba's and our room had a coffee maker. The rest of the night we discussed tomorrow's plans while a Vietnam documentary and Towering Inferno played on the TV.
penneshaw overlook
hiking penneshaw coast 2
penguin burrow
hiking penneshaw coast 1
a little green on the...
port keg certificate
