After work on Friday, Shane arrived at our place in Woolloongabba, Brisbane at 6pm. The traffic apparently was a nightmare due to the All Star Twenty20 cricket match at the Gabba Cricket Grounds. More Brisbane traffic problems were encountered on Ipswich Road between Darra and the Cunningham Highway turn off. Nicole and Dylan had better luck and despite us leaving probably earlier, they managed to get ahead using the Logan Motorway to enter Ipswich Rd.

Our rendezvous was at Warwick where we ate pizza outside in the chilly night. By 10pm we had all safely arrived at Girraween National Park. We chose the Castle Rock campground as opposed to the Bald Rock camp site as it is much more open and we were more familiar with the facilities. The full moon and clear skies enabled to setup a campsite within 10 minutes.

The next morning, we all had a cooked breakfast and decided to go for a hike up Mt Castle Rock. The 2 hour hike was mostly uphill but rather easy going until you hit the rocky mountain proper. At this point, a little rock scrambling is required which can be overcome with less difficulty by following the white painted lines dotted on the granite rock. The lines lead into a cave where you exit out the other site and continue right and then up to the summit. Notable park features can be seen on the 360 degree summit views: The First and Second Pyramids, the campsites right below the mountain, Bald Rock, Mt Norman and Sphinx and Turtle Rocks. The walk back is thankfully downhill all the way back to camp. The weather today was perfect with clear blue skies. Any rock scrambling should not be attempted in the wet where the mix of granite and moss make the textured rocks very slippery.

Beak Vs Knife

Bird 1, Campers 0

Nicole and Dylan decided on having an early lunch ahead of our planned Winery tours around the Granite Belt in Stanthorpe. Little did we know that flies would be least of their problems. The friendly looking birds decided to swoop and dive at us while Nicole and Dylan prepared and ate their lunch. Nicole armed herself with a bread knife to fend off the Kookaburra that swooped her multiple times. A short time later, a Kookaburra hops up on the picnic table bench right next to her, unafraid of the knife or Nicole. Another bird, a female Satin Bower bird joins the attack. This bird comes from a far and is super stealthy and fast. I later found out that the female is attracted to the colour blue, which was the colour of Nicole’s cutlery and dishes.

Tora! Tora! Tora!

Bird 2, Campers 0

Meanwhile, Jenesse returns from her shower and wonders what all the commotion is about. Just then the Kookaburra swoops down flying between Nicole and Dylan. Instinctively Dylan pulls back his sandwich from the birds flight path but over balances and falls backwards, landing on his butt.

Under the Radar

Bird 3, Campers 0

Shane arrives also from the showers and despite the news of attacking birds, he decides to make an early lunch too. He does quite well making the sandwich without any bird approaching or diving at him. But, half way into eating his sandwich a Kookaburra swoops through the middle of all us at the picnic table and snatches the half eaten sandwich straight out of Shane’s hand!

The Granite Belt winery tour

After securing the campsite from foraging wildlife we all piled into Dylan’s car where our driver Nicole chauffeured us to the first winery at Glen Aplin. We aimed to visit the wineries over two days and split the tour based on their locality. We noticed during our visits that most wineries are most renown for their whites as opposed to the reds. Also, if a winery had a dog it was a good sign.

Harrington Glen Estate, Glen Aplin

The white or red wines here didn’t stand out at me, but we did purchase the White Port which was very nice. During the tastings, the very informative and sometimes over the top wine connoisseur told Nicole to slurp the wine to obtain the full taste as she was the designated driver. This prompted Shane to warn Nicole not to expel the wine through her nose (re: the Noodle incident at the Kokoda Challenge this year).

There was no dog present.

Meltaxa rating: **

Felsberg, Glen Aplin

Right next to Harrington’s is the Felsberg Winery situated on top of a hill overlooking their vineyards. Our past experience with Felsberg has always been good. We recently learnt that the winery had been sold and were now wondering about the current state and future of this fine little winery.

Upon entering we saw that a huge tour group “Filippo’s Tour” had invaded the cellar door. We had to wait a little while before the crowd moved on. The new owner introduced himself, telling us this was his second day of trading since the handover. Luckily, he had inherited the previous wines which included the white and red Mead’s which was our main reason for visiting Felsberg. The new owner, previously from the Hunter Valley explained to us his plans for accommodation, a cafe for lunches and a new label which we gave the thumbs up despite our limited marketing experience. As thanks for liking the new labels, the owner threw in a complimentary bottle.

Felsberg’s new family includes a dog.

Meltaxa rating: ****1/2

Wild Soul, Glen Aplin

Recommended by Jenesse’s work colleague, this winery only does Red varieties and is made organically and on site. The owner is self taught and was honest about the quality of his wines which was refreshing. The wines are a tad expensive but seems reasonable considering he does everything himself with passion. We picked up a couple of 2005 Shiraz bottles for $26 each.

Wild Soul has two dogs.

Meltaxa rating: ***

Bungawarra Wines, Ballandean

Part of the recently formed Alternative Wine Trail, we came to Bungawarra to sample their Gewurztraminer which is recommended with Asian cuisine. We weren’t disappointed and purchased a bottle.

Bungawarra has 2 dogs.

Meltaxa rating: ***

Ballandean Estate, Ballandean

Last year, we did a very good and informative tour by one of the owners. This year, we knew exactly what we wanted, the Summertime semi sweet white wine. We also purchased their White Pearl semi sweet.

By now the day was hot and humid. Dylan, Jenesse and I cooled down with some macadamia ice cream while Filippos Tour bus rocked up.

A dog was present. We didn’t offer it any ice-cream.

Meltaxa rating: ****

Golden Grove, Ballandean

We returned to the Golden Grove, where we had initially left because the Filippos tour group had invaded the cellar door and gave us no chance to approach the counter. This time round, we had the undivided attention to a much relieved owner.

During the tastings, the owner asks “Who is the odd one out?” referring to there being two girls and three boys. Shane stepped forward and announced  that Nicole was the odd one out. This would’ve been construed in many ways, notably that Dylan and Shane might have been a couple. Shane was quietly regretting his response. Dylan must’ve thought the same and quickly said Nicole was the odd one out because she was an oddball.

What did we buy here?

Don’t recall seeing a dog here.

Meltaxa rating: ***

Velociraptor Awareness

Bird 4 Campers 0

We eventually returned to camp where most of us were tired and slightly tipsy from all the tastings. Jenesse and Nicole promptly put some wines in the esky while we enjoyed a few beers and snacks. We kept a watchful eye on a couple of birds perched in the tree. However, from the other side a Kookaburra swooped and snatched Jenesse’s biscuit and cheese from her hand nearly taking her finger with it.

Birdie Dumb Dumb

Bird 4 Campers 1

Although the Kookaburra was aggressive in wanting food, I approached the bird as it sat on the wooden log fence. It didn’t seem to mind to much as I inched closer, even patting it on its head and back. Remembering the bird’s past sins, I lifted my drink over its head and slowly poured some on its head.

After that, the birds never bothered us again. We continued eating snacks, drinking copious amount of wine and the next day breakfast was had without incident.

We all woke up feeling seedy from the night before. After a slow start we packed up the camp site and were on our merry way to finish off the winery tour before heading back to Brisbane.

Old Caves Winery, Applethorpe

Has a good and unusual collection of used bottles in various shapes and sizes. We bought the Irish style cream and Shane got some Old Fart Tawny Port. He even spotted a half filled bottle which the owner rewarded Shane with a freebie bottle for his keen Quality Control eye.

No dog here.

Meltaxa rating: ***1/2

Summit Estate Wines, Thulimbah

I wanted to visit this winery as it was the only vineyard that was selling a Malbec this season. I wasn’t disappointed despite the high price tag: 2005 Malbec for $42.

No dog on the property, but the winemaker allegedly has a white dog.

Meltaxa rating: ***

Castle Glen Liqueurs, Thulimbah

A very impressive building and inside also doesn’t disappoint. There are many different flavours and bottle designs to choose from. Too many in fact, that it seems the owner has gone a little overboard in creating flavours. Unfortunately the Lychee liquor was sold out a long time ago but we did buy Matt the Choco Mocha he had requested.

Big lazy dog lives here.

Meltaxa rating: ***1/2

A Storm is Brewing

On the way back home, we did stop in at a Cheese factory nearby and enjoyed their samples and bought a few blocks. Fresh cheese….mmm.

At our lunch stop at Warwick, we saw dark clouds swirling overhead. We managed to keep in front on the storm and even had 30 minutes to unpack the car in Brisbane before this severe thunderstorm crashed into the city. Fortunately for us, we watched the lightning show while sipping on the Irish Creme while the northern parts of Brisbane got battered pretty hard.

More pictures can be viewed at Meltaxa’s Picasa gallery.