The VinCats

15/12/2025

Ok so we needed to take a break from the driving in the NP so decided today would be a great day to visit and sample some of the wineries in Port Lincoln. Oh do we have too....

Hell yes!

The first stop was visiting Teakle Wines. Very grand place this was. The owner made all the labels and changed business. You can see his work on the coffee table. Awesome.

The next place was Boston Bay. They only made Resling due to the limited amount of water available. It was a very nice setting even when the Huntsman Spider made an appearance walking all over the umbrella and table. Can you see him on the grass?

Next was visiting the Gardener's Vineyard. Poor Shadow was attacked by this sweet dog. He was ok, no real harm done. Both the owner and I weren't expecting that.

Last but no least was this cool place, Glen Forest. If only we had started the day there. We were close to closing time. A little farm with loads of animals. The peacock was pretty cool don't you think?

14/12/2025

Silverton Outback Camels – Review

We stayed here for 2 nights, a quirky place, with lots of animals freely wandering around. This is definitely not your typical caravan park. Would we stay here again, yeah, why not? Website: Silverton Outback Camels Fee Category: Paid, $12.50 per person/night Booking: Yes Powered Sites: No Dog Friendly: Yes Amenities: Yes, 1 toilet, no showers Dump point: No Pool: …...

We stayed here for 2 nights, a quirky place, with lots of animals freely wandering around. This is definitely not your typical caravan park. Would we stay here again, yeah, why not?

13/12/2025

Shadow got dropped off for the day spending some time with other dogs and freedom running round.

Today we drove straight to Memory Cove. You had to get a key from the Information centre to get to Memory Cove. This area is a conservation park within the national park.

What a place to see. The beach was white as white. You can camp here at extra cost. 5 camp space although we did see 3 in 2 spaces. Families for a few nights. Not recommended for caravans unless small and same width as the car as there are not many passing places.

The water was cold however it was still swimmable.

Saw so much wildlife that we haven't really seen before - loads of emus, lizard and plenty of Shingleback or Tiliqua rugosa (is a short-tailed, slow-moving species of blue-tongued skink found in Australia) going across the tracks.

This park is certainly worth a visit. Windy at times.

13/12/2025

Wow what a place this is. Got our permit all sorted and the trustee map from Information and off we go.

The wind was relentless today and thought we were going to be blown away at some points.

Having said that, this part of the world is beautiful.

We stopped at a few view points before actually getting to the start.

Once there you have to open the gate that also has a key. That was at Blubber Pot although not sign posted as such.

We went to the swimming hole thinking we could swim but no, no way down there. Water was clear as and would have been perfect. We could look back at the beach from there which isn't part of Whalers Way.

The coast is rough and magical. Tried to see fur seals at Cape Wiles and stayed there long enough to spot a couple. Very hard to find. We can confirm there are some.

The road was closed to Blacks so we got out and walked it. Not sure why it was closed. It was about a 15 min walk downhill and well worth it. The Bloody Gannet Crevasse was awesome. There were meant to be the Humpback Blowhole but we couldn't see or hear it.

Who would have thought there would be a sink hole in this place. Not big but big enough.

We missed a few spots cause we thought they would look similar and also cause of the wind. It was blowing a gale!

Found the Baleen Rockpool but not the other Blowhole. A bit disappointing. Saw the Theakstone Crevasse which was pretty cool with the long sides of stone with water coming up.

Last stop was Redbanks. Went for a walk in the sand hills. You could see the beach but not get to it due to the sand cliff's.

Overall it was a great place to go and to have Shadow as well. He was so well behaved it's just a real shame it was windy.

12/12/2025

Brinkworth RV Park – Review

Wow, this is a good park to base yourself at to explore the area. Excellent facilities, power and water to boot, and at an extremely cheap price. Website: Brinkworth RV Park Fee Category: Paid, from $15 / powered Booking: Yes, phone Powered Sites: Yes Dog Friendly: Yes Amenities: Yes Dump point: Yes Pool: No Fire pits: No Telstra: Flakey Starlink…...

Wow, this is a good park to base yourself at to explore the area. Excellent facilities, power and water to boot, and at an extremely cheap price. This park exceeded our expectations…

11/12/2025

Today was about taking in the local sites and finding out some info.

Walking around town going to the info centre to see what we can do with Shadow and what we can't do.

A few friendly off leash beaches to go to. You can walk along the esplanade off leash before 8.30 am and again after sunset. Beautiful place.

The jetty has an area for swimming looking a bit like a swimming pool. Some people had their snorkeling gear on and a couple of lads fishing. School kids hanging around. What an awesome place.

The port is set up for all that lovely grain around the area.

We decided we would do Whalers Way tomorrow. It's private land and a cost of $40 for a permit. Dogs are allowed. Locals still have to get a permit and pay the full $40. A bit of a rip I think.

Permits are needed for both Lincoln and Coffin Bay National parks however they are free.

A bit about Port Lincoln
The Barngala people have been acknowledged as the traditional owners, and their name for Port Lincoln is Galinyala, which in the Barngarla language means "place of sweet water".

Matthew Flinders was the first European to reach Port Lincoln under his commission by the British Admiralty to chart Australia's unexplored coastline. On 25 February 1802, Flinders sailed his exploration vessel HMS Investigator into the harbour, which he later named Port Lincoln after the city of Lincoln in his native county of Lincolnshire in England

The lack of a reliable surface water supply was a factor preventing Port Lincoln from being proclaimed the colony's capital city in the 1830s. Even as a small town, Port Lincoln outgrew its fresh water supplies. It is now largely dependent on water drawn from groundwater basins in the south of the peninsula.

10/12/2025

What a lovely view this morning. Nice to wake up to this.

Sad to leave this beautiful spot however the wind is picking up again. Guess it will be like this as we move along the coast. Windy one day and not so much the next.

Packed up although not much to do since we prepared last night for the huge journey of 3-4 hours drive.

Had to get some fuel so stopped at Cowell and found this awesome art work.

Stopped again along the highway. You find some interesting things in random places.

Arrived at camp and what a view. Chickens, ducks, geese, sheep, horses, dogs and a cat live here. They grow their own veggies and sell it all in the shop. Very cool.

Time to relax and take in those views with a wine me thinks.....

10/12/2025

Road Trip – Brisbane to Adelaide

After being stuck in Brisbane for nearly 3 months, due to various appointments, it is now finally time to hit the road again. This time we will be heading to WA for Christmas / New Year, so a trip over the Nullarbor is coming up soon. The Plan Get to Adelaide in a timely manner. Here in Brisbane it's November and we have been experiencing storms nearly every second day, while not severe, (I think we are just lucky where we were and got the the edges most times compared to other parts of the city), the bad parts are getting close....

After being stuck in Brisbane for nearly 3 months, due to various appointments, it is now finally time to hit the road again. This time we will be heading to WA for Christmas / New Year…

09/12/2025

Woke up to a windless day. How awesome is that.

Took advantage of the weather and stayed outside enjoying the sun. A tad cold to go swimming.

Some were out in their boats and a couple of people walked up and down in the shallow water. Not sure why or what they were actually doing. Seemed to be holding a long stick and met.

Shadow and I went for a long walk passing others outside enjoying the good weather. Stopped and chatted to a few. One lady had a cockatoo on her arm that she travelled with.

One our way back Shadow decided that he was going to visit whoever was in their Annex. He just walked right in 😂🤣. Lucky for him the lady was ok with him being there. We had a good long chat. She was sorting out her decorations she had put up outside that the wind had tangled. Made from cans and some tinsel. She went out and went behind it to get them and then had a snake go over her foot! She stood real still till it went then got her phone and took some pics. She wasn't sure if it was a snake or ones that looked like them with tiny feet. We examined the pic and I'm pretty sure it was a snake. Someone else had said they saw a brown snake earlier.

Finished the day off with some wine.... of course...

09/12/2025

What does one do on the first day of summer?

Well after all the wine tasting and drinking of more wine afterwards we decided that we needed a break so we packed up and left Brinkworth and the Clare Valley. We will be back as they say.

Drove to Whyalla and found a free camp on the bay. Boy it was so windy. We thought 1 night here then move on if that wind didn't settle down.

Such a beautiful place. So close to the water and the colours are awesome. Got blown around when out walking with Shadow.

There were a few campers who all had the best spots. We were lucky to get the last one. Someone did try to get beside us and the other caravan however not quite enough room. There were no bad spots.

A boat ramp is just down from us and a few caravans with boats so I guess they will go fishing.

Time to sit back, relax and enjoy some more wine......

08/12/2025

Well it is the last day of Spring so what do we do.... Off to Auburn to do some more wine tasting of course. Day 3 on the job.

First a walk with Shadow then off we went.

Auburn is 20 mins away from Clare and an extra 20 mins for us. Being a Sunday we headed off to Velvet & Willow Wines. They open at 8.30am and close at 1.30 pm so first on the list.

We arrived and what a cute place. Plenty of room and lovely gardens with a well. Unfortunately they don't do wine testing on Sundays so we decided to have a bite to eat. Have to line our stomachs for what is ahead don't we.

Wines by KT just happened to be across the road. What a bonus eh. The lady serving happened to also be from NZ so had a great conversation. Others turned up for tasting as well so we left them to it.

Drove a short distance to Mount Horrocks Wines. This place is not only 100% Certified Organic but also 100% Biodynamic. Very time consuming and difficult to achieve with all the red tape, but achieve they did. The lady serving was extremely informative and talked us through the process. Very interesting. So wine tasting we had, rude not too. Checked out their garden before leaving.

Next on the list was Ulster Park Wines. Shops next door as you walk up to it being on the main road. Lovely setting and provided food. It would be nice to sit outside and enjoy life for a while except the weather wasn't on our side.... again! A small family winery very well presented.

We wanted to go to Mr Nobody however it was permanently closed. They sold fortified wines but it didn't do so well. Grosset Wines was temporarily closed. Out of season. They only open at certain times and next open in Autumn 2026 should you be there then.

At one place we were wine tasting at, a customer told us about a fantastic tasting Rose wine. That was all they were tasting at the places they went to. On a mission they were 😉.

So back to Clare and to Jenneret Wines & Clare Valley Brewing Co.. What a cool place this is. Not only did they produce wines but also Gin and Beer. And they did wood fire pizzas. Well that was us for the rest of our day. We parked up, did some wine tasting, Rose was exceptional and had a pizza to share. Was very tasty.

We ended the day there and headed back to camp with a car load full of more wine!

There are so many wineries in the Clare Valley we will just have to come back again.

Another walk with Shadow before drinking more wine with some cheese and crackers.....

06/12/2025

Day 2 on the wine trail....

Well after all the drinks we had on day 1 and at night I had to start the day off with a good walk with Shadow. Let's hope the weather is better.

All ready to go, off we went down the road and around the corner and came to Jim Barry Wines. How good does that 600ltr bottle of wine look eh. Now that's a party right there. Pity we couldn't get it, driving and way way out of our budget for sure. Think upwards of $1k.

Some nice wine here. Tasting 3 reds and 2 whites and of course we left with a couple of bottles in our hands.

Next stop was Knappstein Wines. Very cool place. Went and explored downstairs. Wouldn't you love to have a cellar like this. You could see where some wine had dripped on the floor in places. Made it look like tar.

Knappstein Wines didn't charge us for tasting. First one we came across like this and we appreciate it. Most charge $15 and upwards depending on what you select.

What was that..... you took more wine home from here. Turning into winos 🤪😜.

The weather held off but it was slightly cold with the wind.

Onwards and upwards. Set off to see what Tim Adams Wines had to offer. Another cool place. Shadow joined us this time as they had an outdoor area. No, no wines for you Shadow. You do enough whining already. Especially when we decided to do the cheese and wine matching. It was sooooo good. We didn't buy any wine from here this time however there was a barrel full of lollies and nuts. Hmmmm we got one each of our liking. We also brought some cheese that was very close to the BB date for half price. They don't sell cheese here so just got lucky on the day.

Decided we had enough and took our goodies back to camp.

Dinner was made and I was off for another long walk with Shadow in another part of town in Brickworth. Love the older stone houses.

Back for another bottle of wine to help me sleep, really, honestly to help me sleep, no other reason.... Ha ha ha yeah right.....