#riverina

Reverine -  Nell Kerr

British , b. ?

Rượu vang De Bortoli Sacred Hill Shiraz sở hữu nước rượu màu đỏ ruby ​​sắc nét tuyệt đẹp. Bên rìa đó, rượu còn gây ấn tượng bởi hương thơm phong phú, sắc nét của hỗn hợp trái cây đậm màu như: mâm xôi, việt quất, lý chua đen hòa quyện cùng chút gia vị tinh tế, tạo nên bó hoa tuyệt vời bung tỏa trong khứu giác. Làn hương đó nhấn nhá thêm hương trầm của gỗ nan và caramel tạo hương thơm của rượu vang De Bortoli Sacred Hill Shiraz được cân bằng một cách hoàn hảo nhất.

Crucifix frog. Location: Riverina, NSW.

Eastern hooded scaly-foot. Location: Riverina, NSW, Australia.

Day 1

We set off this morning on our fourth major road trip. The skies were grey but we only encountered light showers as we made our way out of Sydney; and traffic despite it being Monday, was relatively light. A bonus.

It wasn’t to last though. The heavens opened up just before we reached Goulburn and the rain stayed with us till we were well past Temora. At times it was really heavy, with visibility reduced to a few metres; sense dictated pulling over and stopping till at least the worst had passed; but I decided to keep on going, driving at 30 kms below the speed limit, figuring we’d eventually find our way out of the storm cells heading the other way from us.

And so it eventuated. By the time we reached Barellan, the sun was, if not completely out, at least making a decent fist at a comeback; the rain became occasional showers; and it was no longer a challenge to drive.

This was fortuitous because we’d never heard of Barellan ( neither has autocorrect because it keeps changing it to Barcelona) and we’d probably have just kept driving past in the rain.

Turns out Barellan is where Evonne Goolagong Cawley learnt to play tennis; and where she was spotted by talent scouts, persuaded to move to the Big Smoke- she went to Willoughby High School-while being coached by Vic Edwards.

Anyway the good people of Barellan - in true Aussie fashion- have decided to celebrate the town’s most famous ex resident with - what else? A Big Thing ! A giant tennis racket celebrating her achievements. Wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the biggest tennis racket in the world! lol!

After a couple of photos, we realised it was getting quite late in the day and the caravan park we were staying at tonight had already called to confirm we were coming for sure; and so we pressed on.

Soon enough we were in Griffith.. and absolutely blown away to be greeted - on either side of the road - by grape vines as far as the eye could see.

Turns out these belong to Casella wines- people who make the [yellowtail] label which I believe Americans, in particular, guzzle by the gallon. We saw dozens of shipping containers in the loading docks some loaded others awaiting their turn. So there’s tons of the stuff being exported for sure.

As we drove on we passed the de Bortoli vineyards, and then several others, interspersed with huge orchards of citrus of various description.

[No wonder-this is the largest citrus growing region in Australia; and 25% of all wine produced in Australia is produced in this region ].

Despite the long drive, we still had a little bit in reserve, so we decided to check out a couple of local attractions in Griffith that were not food and drink related, before calling it a night.

The Hermits Cave is a popular attraction in these parts; it’s where an eccentric Italian, Valeri Ricetti, way back in the 1920s decided to live on Scenic Hill in a rock shelter where he fashioned a chapel, a dwelling, a garden and a kitchen.

Interesting enough but a bit meh,if you ask me - which admittedly, no one has.

Later on we walked down Banna Lane in the city centre, where there are some really interesting murals and street art.

By this time the energy levels had started to sag, and it really was time to call it a day. Which we did

Tomorrow is another - long - day