28th February 2010
More rugby this morning, it’s been so good to actually see some Six Nations and with Wales being beaten by France, I was at least happy to see that Ireland beat England too.
Then we went out for a ride to the Scenic Rim area. This is a picturesque area of South East Queensland which encompasses some small country towns. It is also a region where there are a few wineries to be explored.
We made a short stop in Boonah, the area’s commercial and tourist centre, although being Sunday it was a bit quiet about. We then passed through fields and fields of pumpkins being grown (this region is known as Queensland’s vegetable bowl) before arriving at the Kooroomba Vineyards, a lovely big building cradled by the pictureque Scenic Rim mountains and surrounded by vineyards and lavender fields. We tried a few samples of whites and reds and admired the stunning view of the mountains.
The next vineyard we stopped at was an entirely different affair. A tiny producer with just one field of vines, the owner appeared from a small cool room inside the shed next to the house and invited us in with about 6 others to try some wines. We tried about 6 wines in all ranging from a shiraz rose to a deep, bold chambourcin, a grape which thrives in this part of the world. We finished up with a delicious port. We were each getting a very generous measure to try every time. After purchasing a couple of bottles we sat at one of the picnic benches and enjoyed our lunch with one of the bottles as accompaniment.
The final stop was one of dad’s favourite pubs, the Dugandan. A small beer on the verandah to finish up. A really lovely day which we thoroughly enjoyed.
