Day two of our small retreat from reality…. a leisurely, lovely, lie in…something most definitely needed…the smell of coffee permeating the fresh morning air of our cabin …and I am awake, out of bed, dressed ready for what the day shall bring.

Well, actually, not quite in that order…or in that approach…. but yes, after a sleep-in and the coffee, and being greeted by two chickens on our front veranda as we sipped our morning coffee…we did make a start on the day. I must say here I was actually quite fascinated by the way Marc picked up the chicken and caressed it as we sat there…Marc drinking his coffee while talking quietly to the ginger headed bird on his lap. I had a different vision and feeling as all I could remember were different scenarios when my young toes would be pecked as I tried to pick up eggs from the coop, being surrounded by noisy squawking chickens pecking my ankles and toes as I ran for the coop door! Today, quite a number of years later but with memories still strong, I definitely kept my feet firmly out of the way. I sipped my coffee on my own side of the table well away from the chicken!

And we were on our way for the day’s ventures!
Where to you might say??
The wineries of course! Where else!

Grapes were first planted here in the 1860s with encouragement from the local Catholic parish priest Father Jerome Davadi to produce altar wine and with complicity from the Queensland government trying to dissuade drinkers off the more invidious rum. His Italian descent made grape growing and wine production a familiar pastime and the notion apparently caught on in the area. There were plenty of Italian settlers and wine was made for home enjoyment before it became a business. Stanthorpe actually had 21 founding Italian families who made Stanthorpe. My first mother-in-law was herself born in Stanthorpe in one of those founding families in the name of Ferrero. I was quite excited after talking with one of the original families’ granddaughter to find a plaque with the names on it, depicting those founding Italian families. The Ferrero family was on the plaque. Of course we took a photo! But back to the wineries!

Now, sipping and tasting various different red wines for approximately two hours, from four different wineries, with only one cup of coffee in your stomach…I ask you to imagine what kind of mood I was in. Oh yes, even sipping various selections of small amounts of wine certainly makes you feel ‘lightheaded.’ For those of you who know me, this is not a common occurrence! Marc of course did the right thing and swirled and tasted and spat…but not this little black duck. By 11.30am I was literally being led into a restaurant/café to get something in my stomach, only to find that the kitchen did not open till 12pm.

So what did I do….
Well what do you think…
More wine tasting!

And an extremely lightheaded happy woman sat down at around 12.15pm to savour some beautifully coiffured entre dishes which I shared with my sober husband…. A lovely morning had by all!

A gentle afternoon followed of being caught in the heavy rain venturing into another winery, but we subsequently made the most of our wet clothes by having a cup of hot chocolate at the Heavenly Chocolate factory…. a most divine experience.

A lovely day of wining, dining and of course the hour-long walk at the end of the day – “just to stretch our legs”.
Then, warm fire, a home-cooked meal and, surprise, surprise, more wine!! Warm on the inside as well as on the outside!

Oh yes…Smiles all round!