Tanunda

We weren't originally planning to visit the Barossa Valley, but decided to add the stop in after Kangaroo Island.  That is the beauty of this kind of traveling-being able to change or modify our itinerary when we feel like it.

We stayed two nights in Tanunda.  In 1839 Johannes Menge, a German mineralologist, explored the area and predicted that it would produce excellent wine.  The largest group of subsequent settlers in the Barossa were German Lutherans.  These people came from Prussia seeking freedom of religion.  This was a strong community due to their Christian faith, industry, and thrift.  Some of the German settlers had experience in wine making and planted vines to make wine.  Today, there are more than 50 wineries in this region.

We visited a couple that were laid out with beautiful walking paths between them.



A huge flock of galahs feeding in the grass.



We had a light lunch at the Maggie Beer Farm Shop.  Maggie Beer is a popular Australian cook who lives in the Barossa region.  She had a cooking show on television here.

We also visited Jacob's Creek which is a popular wine brand in Australia that is also sold in the States.  They had a great visitor's center with a walking trail and interesting displays of the origins of the company and how wine is made.

The leaves of the grapes are changing colors for autumn.



This was a neat display of 14 different kinds of grapes used to make wine in Australia.