Saturday, October 25, 2014

Day 42: Tanunda to Pewsey Vale

Saturday 25th October 2014

Our walk started with the usual morning briefing, held just outside Tanunda.  Our theme for the weekend was 'German'.  Mary Cartland dressed Morris Minus in very tight lederhosen.




Morris Minus was awarded to Dean Mortimer for notoriously forgetting to bring the radios. Judging from his smile, Dean had also forgotten to bring one of his front teeth.  Dean's flag was Kaiser Stuhl.



As we walked to Tanunda, we saw lots of freshly cropped bales in the paddocks.



The view of Tanunda over the vines as we approached Jane Place........



where Jane Haar posed happily under the sign.



There were several interesting sights on this road.

Shoes strung along a fence

A quirky gate

Geese by the river


We crossed the North Para River into Tanunda via a sturdy footbridge.





On the outskirts of Tanunda, Dean and I attempted to improve communications between the leaders, but to no avail.




Another rare event was being seated at tables for morning tea.  We spent some time at Bethany Reserve, enjoying the luxury and being sheltered from the sun.




This split tree was also at Bethany Reserve.



The day was already quite warm, and this lorikeet was drinking and bathing in Bethany Creek.



The creek had very little water and was not flowing, but the fallen tree and footbridge offered several options to cross.



Suitably refreshed after morning tea, we began the long climb up to Kaiser Stuhl Conservation Park, all the while taking in the sweeping views over the famous Barossa Valley.











Over the last stile, the Heysen Trail joins a section of the Little Kaiser Stuhl walk.






Soon after we arrived at the Kaiser Stuhl Conservation Park, we regrouped and discussed plans for lunch. The options were to have lunch on the Heysen Trail, or to take a small detour to a lookout and have lunch with views over the Barossa Valley.




Adjacent to the Heysen Trail, several areas of forest had been logged.




After lunch, we walked through the Kaiser Stuhl Conservation Park, past some forests and along this charming section of the Heysen Trail, before exiting onto Brownes Road to finish the day.



We walked a total of 21 km today.  The weather was quite sunny and warm to hot. Being in the Barossa Valley, we then indulged in a wine tasting organised by Nikki Birrell.  The wines were from Faith Lutheran College.  During the revelry, at 4.30pm, Dean learned that there was a fire ban in the area we were to walk tomorrow, so unfortunately our 2014 walk program ended there and then.