Bellwether, Coonawarra

Sunday 26th January, 2020 - Australia Day

We started to day with my breakfast Kaiser rolls filled with slow cooked scrambled eggs, bacon and avocado, delicious and a very easy breakfast.

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Australia Day for me is about celebrating this beautiful country of ours and all the beautiful people who live in it.  No politics, no arguing about who was here first, who owns what or what went on.  Just full appreciation for living here and for good friends who can share with us.

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We travelled over to Coonawarra for lunch at Fodder (Ottelia Food and Wine).  We had numerous plates among us - this being the tasting platter which Gus and I shared, then he had scallops.  I totally forgot to take a pic of my kale and parmesan agnolotti - I basically inhaled it because it was sooo good!

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Always room for dessert - and lets face it, my WW diet was shot out the window after Friday so...delicious peach and rhubarb semi freddo to finish.  UhMazing!

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From Fodder, we ventured to Bellwether, a property that has glamping tents set up and a large rusting communal camp kitchen area.  They are a winery and function centre also.

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These are the two tents our friends stayed in...

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On arrival, they were given a basket containing towels, a bottle of wine, a battery operated lantern and we also got a loaf of sour dough bread to have with breakfast the next morning.  Eggs were in the camp kitchen fridge for our use.

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We set up camp on a powered site a little way away from their tents (although next time we'd camp beside them)...

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Pearl is the 'mother ship' and we produced dinner out of her and breakfast the next morning...

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We had lamb cutlets and small chat potatoes on the barby...

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I bought all the ingredients for a Waldorf salad and dressing also so it was an easy dinner.  I had made lamingtons in the morning so we had those for dessert with strawberry jam and cream.  I took myself off the bed at around 10.30pm as I was spent!  The others retired not long after.

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Sunset on this Australia Day 2020...

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Monday morning, 27th January, 2020 - I was up early, made myself a cup of coffee and went for a wander around...all the tents were occupied for the night...

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This is the communal area where you can cook your meals on their barbecue, boil a kettle for drinks...

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I imagine some great dinners are had sitting at this table...

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This is Gerardo the donkey...

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Friendly chap!

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We were told he likes carrots, apples and FINGERS!  I'd believe that!

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One of the beautiful old trees on the property...

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A lovely tree house for children to explore...

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A kitchen garden that we were welcome to harvest herbs etc from if we needed...

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In the colder months, when there are no fire bans, there is a huge fire pit in the paddock.  You can grab a camp oven and make a roast or stew and cook it in the coals or make jaffles with the rusty (!) old jaffle irons...

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This is Mable the Maremma sheep dog who greets all visitors and makes sure we behaved ourselves...

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I'd love to sit around this fire pit too.  

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A view back to our campsite...

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The amenities include 7 showers and 6 toilets, all clean and spider free.  There is also a claw foot tub if you want to have a soak.  Disabled facilities also.

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We really fluked the weather for our overnight stay.  It was quite breezy when we got there but it then remained still all evening.  In the morning it got warmer and the morning went on.

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Still in the theme of Australia Day, we had an egg combo/omelette breakfast, tea, coffee and toast...

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After breakfast we packed up camp and headed back to Millicent.  We had barbecue lunch then spent the afternoon quietly.

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I had made and frozen bolognese sauce and a garlic bread stick earlier in the week so all we had to do was make some fresh fettucini pasta - Gus and Kelvin got on the job!

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I had also made these delicious creations in the afternoon when we got home.  Blueberry and lemon curd cheesecakes...

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Our guests went home Tuesday morning and I had to go in to work but I had a nice glass of wine that night.  I was quite wrecked!  Thankful that our guests enjoyed the weekend and that everything on our menu had gone to plan.  They helped with clean up for each meal and really appreciated our efforts.  I think we'll invite them back next year, it was a lot of fun!

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Cheers - Joolz xx