Clare

Clare is warm! With the forecast for 38 degrees we abandoned the bike ride around a few wineries and retreated to the car. First stop was a village called Blyth. It's about 10km out of Clare on a barren plain. Note pic of Blyth and temperature gauge of car. The wind was like a blast furnace. Chose a couple of wineries for tastings then lunch at Sevenhills pub. 2 more tastings after lunch then back to the camp pool which of course was busy at 36 degrees. Some of the vintners were quite unique characters and of course are always happy to chat about their life stories.

28th December is a bit cooler just a paltry 31 degrees and overcast. Our determination to bike to wineries was strong so off to the first one 3km up an undulating then climbing gravel road. Regan's front tyre copped a slow leak. Has been a bad run with bike tyres. We arrived at the first tasting just before opening time. The Sussex Squire is a new small winery doing amazing things, we bought a case!

After a lot of water and wine we headed another 6km along gravel still at 31 degrees to food and another winery called Seven Hills which was initially planted by the Jesuit Brothers and still is a retreat for them. The last leg was mostly downhill so a few more tastings and headed back for a swim and well deserved rest. A few spots of rain later in the evening which was welcome even though it still 25 degreesRead more