Heathcote

A weekend away to Heathcote. Officially it's only 1.5 hrs from home but a Friday afternoon with traffic slowed us down a lot. Arrived at the campground about 5.45pm and almost dark. Camp manager reminds us that there's a sausage sizzle still on. Unfortunately we really need to use the last of the available daylight to set up including the awning. We did have to wear headlights though. As we drive in a family of kangaroos are grazing on the campsites. This still amazes us. These Roos are big fellas. I wouldn't test their friendliness. After setup we walked to see the camp movie night on their big screen. A few hardy souls are rugged up with their camp chairs watching "Crackerjack". We headed back to our warm caravan to start our books. The coolness of late autumn is prevalent.
The magpies start chattering by 6am. This woke the crows by 6.20. Then finally the kookaburras finally woke all life-forms by 6.45am! Still too chilly to leave the bed though. We walked the very short distance to the Saturday market. Two bus loads of retirees had arrived and the town was humming. We had breakfast from the bakery then walked the town. Our afternoon was biking the rail trail towards Bendigo. A few gentle inclines kept us working hard. Some more very large kangaroos along the way. These animals sure can move fast. There were more in the camp later- fast thumping shadows hopping between the caravans.
Heathcote is a big wine area so we walked the main street tasting at 3 of the cellar doors. Shiraz is the grape of the area but there are a lot of other varieties that we had to try. A good selection will be travelling home with us after that walk. Had a meal at the very local pub. I think we were the only non-locals. Basic food in an old style pub. Looks like it's last renovation was in the late 50's.
Once again the magpies did their thing on Sunday morning making sure their mates were following the process. A cool foggy start. The camp manager cooked up pancakes for the whole population. Such a lovely atmosphere at this camp and very well maintained.
A quick stopover to pick up our purchased wines that we couldn't carry last night, then on to Merindoc winery for an early tasting. Lunch at Lancefield on the way home. A very small village and typical of Australian townships with a large grassed median strip down the main street. An easy drive home from there being home early afternoon.Read more