To mark Australia Day today (a special wave to all my Australian readers!!), I thought I’d share a few more pictures from my recent trip back to Australia.
Whenever I’ve travelled any distance in Australia, I’ve been constantly reminded of the awe-inspiring diversity of the spectacular landscape there; from tropical azure reefs to beautiful rainforests, from arid red deserts to white sandy beaches, sunburnt plains to luscious green hills, bustling cosmopolitan cities to tiny outback towns (population: 12). It always will be one of the things I most appreciate about the country in which I grew up.
On my second to last day there, all I wanted to do was take a trip to one of the magnificent wine regions for a last dose of Australiana before hopping on the plane back to ‘Ol Blighty. The Barossa Valley, less than an hour’s drive from the city of Adelaide, is universally accepted as one of the world’s best wine regions. All the big names are here, as well as countless tiny, but wonderful, boutique wineries; if you’ve ever had a good Australian wine in your life (if not, I suggest you rectify this immediately!), chances are that it’s from precisely this spot.
But more than a wine-lovers paradise, it is simply the most breathtaking landscape. The leisurely drive around around the valley feels like a moving postcard, with the landscape changing every few minutes from flat roads flanked by lush emerald vineyards as far as the eye can see, to red earth, to rolling sunburnt hills and native scrub, to tiny German-settled towns perfect for a spot of antique foraging or a feast of local produce.
There’s just something about this place that reminds you to have a change of pace. The air feels different (somehow warmer and cleaner), the trees sway on winds that seem as lazy and syrupy as the gorgeous wines produced here, the native birds and butterflies flit happily about, and the countryside seems to just ask for you to throw down a blanket, spread it with a picnic of local gourmand delights, and lie back and just gaze at the fluffy clouds through a canopy of green vines for a few blissful minutes.
Do you have a place you love to go for a change of pace or a beautiful scenic day trip? I’d love to know!
Love, Miss B xx
Great photos, and I love your sandals!
One place I like to visit on a sunny day is Cardiff Bay. Plenty of restaurants, cafes, boutique shops and great places to walk by the water make for a lovely relaxing day out!
Thanks for the tip! When I eventually find myself in Wales, I’ll try and make sure I get there.
B xx
Heavenly! Now, where are those pretty little sandals of yours from? I love them! x
Thanks Kiki! And the sandals are actually just from Dune, not long before I left – such a good buy.
B xx
Lovely photos – they look so beautifully calm and (above all) warm -definitely makes me want to visit Australia!
I shall have to make do with a walk by the Thames in Richmond for now – on a Saturday you can go down to the river via a farmers market in a square off the high street – buying something from the stalls to take down to the steps by the water. Not quite as blissful as Australia (and I’m sure the wine isn’t as good!), but still lovely! x
I went to Australia for a month back in 09 (Perth) and the landscape is truly breathtaking. I know this is strange but one of the things I loved most about my visit was breathing in the air (clean, perfumed almost- perhaps it’s the eucalyptus??). The pace of life is lively…but just more relaxed. Anyway, I would move there in a heartbeat if I could.
My favorite place to go for change of pace is New Orleans. Great food, romantic, laid back vibe, lot’s of great antique shopping …etc. I’m getting homesick just thinking about it!
It looks beautiful and the way you describe it makes it sound so magical. Seems we all want your sandals!
Your shoes are to die for! x
It’s always difficult to keep in perspective that when it’s winter here (North America), it’s summer there!
Thanks for the reminder — and for the daydream inspiration. 🙂
Well, I’d love to go back to Italy for a day trip! Even just one day! I’ll take it! I’d love to lounge by the Arno, drinking hot, piping espresso. I’d love to stroll through cobblestone streets while licking delicious hazelnut gelato. And please, by God, please….let me just have one slice of that tempting thin crust pizza.
Great post! Kudos on being FP!
Nice pics!
I like shoes…(*_*)
Ah yes, I live close to Missouri wine country and even though I’m not much of a wine drinker, its such beautiful country that I love to go there to shoot (with G2, my camera).
On my bucket list… Australia.
Nice photos and post. Congrats on FP
looks really beautiful there – and makes me long for summer and sunshine even more than i already do. 😉
there are so many nice places for short trips. there’s a castle near my hometown and i love going there with my camera and exploring the place anew every time i get there.
another place, a lil further away, is the camargue in the south of france by the mediterranean sea – i love the width of the land, the serenity and the nature with all its beautiful animals.
there are so many interesting and beautiful places all over the whole world… and maybe some are right in front of our doors, we just gotta discover them.
i do like your style
Hi!
I just wanted to tell you that I awarded you a Stylish blogger award. I love your blog!
You can read all about the award here:
http://scandinavianinspiration.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-got-stylish-blogger-award.html
Great pictures. Guess i’ll check on it soon
Hi, I grew up in Eudunda – 30 minutes drive north of The Barossa . The whole area is really grounding – its beautiful with the vines, rolling hills, the wines and the tantilising foods (I can highly recommend a trip to Maggie Beers cafe, as well as the barossa farmers markets). It also is a very agricultural area and has a fabulous sense of community. And for those who do make it to the Barossa, a couple of hours north is the Clare Valley………so much to see! Rosie
So Great! I also love the sandles! Love your blog.
Australia is beautiful
Remember the road trip we took in the Barossa in 2006 … came back with an Esky full of wine.
Favourite winery: Can’t remember its name, but was in a old farmhouse, & the lady came in from working in the garden to see what we wanted.
Best food: The sausage platter at the Peter Lehmann winery.
Best view: The Bethany winery
Best wine … I’ll get back to you on that!
(Best Australian wine so far: Corkscrew Road … but that isn’t from the Barossa! :D)
I visited this region last year in Spring. Being from Queensland, I was blown away by the amount of beautiful flowers, in gardens and wild flowers, they grow in SA. I am going to the Snowy region this year, camping and horseriding, for a change of pace and because it is beautiful. It’s not a day trip for me but it could be a weekend for those in the southern states :).
Beautiful photos LLGxx
wow nice!
Nice pictures!
Pretty pretty! Australia is on my “dream” list of countries to visit. No idea if it’ll ever happen, but I can keep dreaming! 😀 Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
What a great trip down memory lane. About 30 years ago – I was living in Adelaide (Mormon Missionary) – some dear friends from Lobethal took us up to the Valley. Great picture by the big arch going into town. We don’t drink but they make some good non-alcoholic juices – Tessa comes to mind. The Adelaide Hills are the best.
Love the site, great photo’s. Looking for to the next. ZW
Love the shoes!!!
South Australia is my favorite place in the world. I lived in Adelaide for a decade and have made frequent trips back. No place on earth like it! It is a world apart. It is beautiful at all times of the year. What more could you ask? Beaches to the west, hills to the east and south, outback (especially the Flinders Ranges) to the north. I regret ever having left.
ohh its so sunny and pretty! i want to go! Australia is for sure on the top of my travel list, i’d love to spend a year exploring and laying on the beach!
Great photos — looks quite similar to the Swan Valley here in Western Australia 🙂
You sound like a girl after my own heart except for the politics. Australia is a beautiful country and it is amazing how it varies between states. I haven’t had the chance to taste wines from the Barossa Valley but I did have the opportunity to see some of those wineries and the countryside when my family drove from Victoria to South Australia during the Easter vacation.
I really recommend Tassie if you haven’t been, especially the East Coast. It is quiet, peaceful and relaxing with great seafood, lovely beaches and beautiful hiking trails.
So stunning!!! I’d love to go there.
xx
Have you been to Golding in the Barossa? My friends just got married there and it’s beautiful. I love South Australia – not to mention Australia in general and this post totally took me back there. 🙂
WOW! That looks AWESOME!
nice photos!!!
Your post makes me want to take the next plane to Australia, if only my resources are not that limited. Keep it up! And photos are awesome 🙂
Fellow Aussie here, stopping by after seeing this on Freshly Pressed. Thanks for the post. I haven’t been to the South Australian wine country yet, but I have been further along to Ceduna on the borders of the Nullarbor and I loved it there. Less postcardy but very empty and wild and exhilarating.
As for my own daytrip country, I’m in the ACT and just to the south there are some beautiful little roads that wind up into the Brindabellas and the Clear Range. Beautiful wooded valleys and granite-studded hillsides, lots of eating and camping spots, plus cool stuff like the old space tracking station sites at Honeysuckle Creek and the Orroral Valley.
hello! omg i would love to go on a back packing trip when i graduate from university! 🙂
Ohh its so sunny and pretty! i want to go! Australia is for sure on the top of my travel list, i’d love to spend a year exploring and laying on the beach!
Beautiful photos;)
Fellow Aussie here, stopping by after seeing this on Freshly Pressed. Thanks for the post. I haven’t been to the South Australian wine country yet, but I have been further along to Ceduna on the borders of the Nullarbor and I loved it there. Less postcardy but very empty and wild and exhilarating.
Miss B I definitively love your blog! I really hope mine could become fantastic like yours! let’s grow it up!
I recently posted some pics from my last fantastic travel in Uruguay..I’m in love with such place and next big travel will be australia. I will follow your tips for sure!
Just a last thing: where I could find your sandals??;) Can I order them on line?
Thank you so much!
x
Giulia
Beautiful photos. Australia and Grapevines combined sound extremely exciting. Thanks for the share.
Vanimator