For 5 years I have wanted to visit King Valley in Victoria. Mostly because I have a very soft spot for Sangiovese, and King Valley just happens to be the best place in Australia to grow italian-style grapes. So finally this year for my birthday, I booked my own trip and we headed down for what was essentially a long weekend. I found a deal on Luxury Escapes, and we stayed at the Lindewarrah Hotel.

While I think my idea of a perfect weekend would be sleeping late and sipping on wine all afternoon into the evening, we did decide to get out and do a little hiking – just to make sure we weren’t at wineries *all* day long. There are a few areas around King Valley that are absolutely great hiking paths. Today’s shot was out the back of our hotel, as the day was coming to a close.

Also, of the wineries that we visited, these three were the highlights:

Sam Miranda Wines – really nice selection, and diverse range of wines. Their Prosecco was very nice, the Chardonney was surprisingly good, as was the Barbera and the Sangiovese.

Pizzini Wines – they are the kings of Sangiovese. They do make a selection of other wines, a couple of the highlights are the Arneis and the Pinot Grigio. However, they offer four separate Sangioveses, including the more approachable Nonna Gisella, the mid-range Pietra Rossa, the stronger Forza di Ferro, and the reserve Rubacuori.

Dal Zotto – known for their Prosseco (they have five different kinds), they also make quite a few nice reds as well. Again, their Pinot Grigio, their Arneis and the Insieme white field blend are the stand-outs on the lighter side. Their Sangiovese, Nebbiolo and the Cuore Del Re (their Super Tuscan) are fantastic reds – but I am fairly confident to say they have the absolutely best Barbera made in Australia.

Sony A7R II | Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM | 24mm | f/4 | ISO400 | 1/2500th

During our trip to South Australia a couple of years ago, we spent the first part of our trip on Kangaroo Island.  We actually made quite a trip out of that holiday, spending a night in Adelaide, four days on Kangaroo Island, a few nights (including Christmas) in the Barossa Valley, the we drove from the Barossa all the way to Melbourne for New Year’s Eve with a couple of stops in the middle.

So first off, there really is only one way to get to Kangaroo Island, and that’s via ferry boat service from Cape Jervis.  We just happened to have the luck to go down on a night when the seas were a bit choppy, and therefore the ferry wasn’t running. It’s rare that I ever do this, but basically found the closest pub and rented a couple of rooms.  No big deal, and we were out the next morning.

Once we got to Kangaroo Island, we had a few day activities planned, but one of the major highlights was to head to the south-west end of the island and visit Flinders Chase National Park. The park takes up nearly the last quarter or so of the island, and we went as far as you can go.  The other main attractions in the area are the Remarkable Rocks and a couple of lighthouses at Cape Du Couedic.  The shot below tracks the land as it goes out to sea in the Great Southern Ocean and basically just falls into the sea.

Canon 7D | Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 | 17mm | f/22.0 | 1/45th | ISO100

A few years back, my partner surprised me by organizing a trip up to Cape Tribulation and the Daintree.  Well, I say it was a surprise, but it was actually part of our anniversary trip up to Queensland.  Someone convinced us ages ago that life naturally flows in 7 year cycles, which I think is where people get the 7-year itch thing.  We therefore tend to celebrate our 7-year cycle anniversaries more than a random round number – like year 5 or year 10 or so on.

In any event, this was our 14-year anniversary trip, and the trip was split into 3-separate parts.  The first part was to stay in Cape Tribulation for ~5 nights, mostly just decompression, hanging out and seeing remote Australia for the first real time.  The second part was spent on the Spirit of Freedom for 4 nights, basically just eating, sleeping and diving.  We clocked in 12 dives over the 3.5 days.  Then, we spent a week celebrating our anniversary at the resort on Lizard Island.  I can’t say enough about the experience at Lizard Island – it was phenomenal!!

In Cape Trib (as the locals call it), we really just walked and hiked and swam.  This shot is from the point looking back at the beach and the bay.  One of the most interesting things that I learned about Cape Trib is that it is one of the very few places in the world where a rainforest meets the ocean.  Also, the rainforest itself is estimated to be 70 million years old!!

Canon Powershot S95 | 6.0-22.5mm | 6mm | f/4.5 | 1/1000th | ISO125

Ah, Wineglass Bay.  Among the most beautiful spots in all of Australia.  Rated as the 4th most important thing to do / see in Australia, according to Australian Traveler.  This may be the only thing I do in the top 10 while living here.

We stayed at Freycinet Lodge, rather rustic, but charming all the same.  Took the 2 hour up, and 1 hour down trip to the lookout, overlooking this site.  A bit challenging climb, but very rewarding in the end.

Canon 7D | Canon EF-S 10-22mm | 22mm | f/22 | 1/30th | ISO100

We have traveled to Tasmania twice this year – what a great place!!!  Very pretty, the people are great, and there is a distillery in Tasmania that I absolutely love!!!  Lark makes some really cracking single-malt.  I’m getting away from the point though.

This is on Bruny Island, a small island just on the south side of Tasmania.  There’s really not much there, but it does house one of Australia’s finest bays – Wineglass Bay.  This photo is just south, right along the Bruny Neck, overlooking the Great Southern Ocean.

Canon 7D | Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8| 17mm | f/22 | 1/20th | ISO200