Wine tasting in Victoria

Day 67 | 27.10.2018 | The Lakes Entrance

As we considered where to go today after our breakfast in Eden that morning, we decided to cover a longer distance by car. Julian had been experiencing back pain since the previous evening, so a quiet day without long walks or other physical activities seemed like a good idea.

He had found a free campsite associated with a tavern in the small town of Lakes Entrance, 250 km away. After nearly three hours of driving - we had left the state of New South Wales behind and entered Victoria! - we arrived at the 'Water Wheel Tavern', a popular pub located right by the water. The friendly owner showed us our camping spot, which had its own toilet, shower, and power connection. Happily and gratefully, we decided to come back for a few drinks in the evening.

Since the sun was doing its best despite the strong wind, we unpacked the table and chairs and had lunch outside. Satisfied with sandwiches, apples, and Snickers ice cream, we got back in the car to drive to a nearby winery.

The 'Wyanga Park Winery,' a family-run business, was praised in our guidebook not only for their wines but also for their delicious coffee and scones, so we were sure that a visit would be worthwhile! We entered the blue-painted wooden cabin and found ourselves immediately in the midst of the tasting room. As Julian and I looked through the products, we were promptly greeted by Jeff, the gray-haired owner who always had a joke ready. Holding two glasses in his hand, he welcomed us and asked where we were from because our language was so 'funny.' Once he had found out which type of wine we liked, our glasses were filled before we could even blink. So we got to sample many different white wines from their own vineyard, including Riesling and Gewürztraminer. We had already bought and tasted several Australian wines, but unfortunately, they had never really impressed us. These, which were actually good wines, didn't exactly blow us away either. The taste was rather flat, and all the varieties were similar in their basic flavor. Nevertheless, we had fun and lots of laughter with Jeff, who kept checking on us and spreading a good mood with his easy-going manner. The rooms became increasingly crowded as a birthday party was starting there, so we said goodbye after each buying a small item.

Back in Lakes Entrance, we took a short walk to the beach, passing a lake where many water birds and two black swans were swimming. Walking through the dune landscape, we fought our way forward against the incredibly strong wind (according to Julian, the good old 'Starkwind') and felt transported back to our last vacation on the Dutch North Sea with Kathi and Lorenz. We collected a few beautiful seashells and soon fled back to our camper van to escape the strong breeze. Now we have made ourselves comfortable and are writing the blogs for the last two days.

We will soon reheat the pasta from the day before yesterday and then stop by the 'Water Wheel Tavern' for a drink or two, where live music is supposed to start at 8:30 pm. We're excited!

Greetings,

Juli and Nina ❤️