The Mandalay Caravan Park, or more precisely, the Mandalay Country Club, is completely different to anywhere we have stayed at before. Sara had someone assist her with parking the van. There are rules for everything including the use of mosquito coils. Two pools, several playgrounds, manicured lawns, and bathroom floors you could eat off makes for a far more sterile environment than we are used to. It feels like we are camping at Augusta to watch the golf. I even saw another Disco here, a Series 4 no less. Still, the kids are happy and occupied. Oli and Ned have befriended a 16 year old kid called Jaiden. He is about to start an apprenticeship as a jockey which is why he looks and sounds like he is 12.
Joc and Tony left this morning. We'd had a busy few days, the culmination of which was a winery tour. Sara had been very concerned that a day of drinking might turn into some debauched Contiki Tour. "My parents aren't into fun" she said as she booked. Her request to have Kylie Minogue taken off the stereo was not heeded and we set off with Greg our impressively mustachioed driver at the helm.
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| Ned and a Chateau d'Eau, 2008 |
Nine others joined us for the day. Two couples from Perth, one couple from Brisbane, and three very dour Swedes who didn't say much at all, one of them wedded to her iPhone. By the time we got to our third stop the day was looking very promising. I'd already mistaken my glass of water for a crap Semillon with absolutely no nose or fruit flavour at all. Tony had emptied his unwanted Rosé into the ice bucket instead of the spit bucket, Joc stealthily grabbed free postcards, and Sara's voice got louder as she decried wines she felt weren't worthy even as she admitted they all taste the same to her, "might as well stick to our cleanskins". At lunch, Tony confused the less and less perfectly coiffed blonde woman from Brisbane sitting next to him, by insisting on asking for condiments using abbreviations eg BTP (Bush Tomato Pesto), MC (Mango Chutney), and WTSB (Wattle Tree Seed Bread).
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| 3 cheesy kids |
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| Practice makes perfect at the chocolate bowls |
After lunch we returned to the chocolate and cheese factories much to the kids delight. A liqueur distillery gave us some cocktails, but because I'm a 44 year old man, not a 17 year old girl, the benefits of a drink that tastes like a Caramello Koala but kicks like a mule were a bit lost on me. The day ended at Saracen Winery. An amazing display of stonework and landscaping masked the fact that the place is going into receivership. If they'd been prepared to discount their wines, I could have been able to help them out a bit.
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| Celebrity heads |
Greg dropped us back at the MCC having given the kids a stubby holder for good behaviour. Jaiden, the kids and I went swimming in the pools which meant I missed the debrief, but essentially it went like this. The first two wineries were best, it would have been better if the bloke who had started up Knotting Hill wines had stuck to wheat farming, the coffee was good at the distillery, and the Swedish woman on the phone was the daughter of the other two. Not sure what the girls made of her dress.
Once Joc and Tony had left for Perth, we made good use of the two hours left on their cabin rental, cooking up porridge and watching television. Oli had already scavenged the soaps, shampoos, conditioner, tea and coffee much to Joc's delight. She and Sara had previously stripped the basil bush bare. Definitely not typical MCC behaviour. Today it's raining again, but
it's not cold. I'm watching Ned and Ivy skid off the jumping pillow into the sand and onto their heads. I'll potter, fix the gas stove, and put up the annex in preparation for the arrival of the Boston's. Don't fret JB, the esky will be full of ice. Might need a couple of AFD's before then.
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| Grape grazing |
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