Where in the World is Pat?

In the parking lot of the Cube there was another bonus art installation, and this one was much better known by me, Dr. Seuss !

The d'Arenberg Cube in the famed Barossa Valley w as the draw for me here; the wine tasting was an added bonus! The 15M AUD Cube was built in 2017, from the vision of 4th generation winemaker, Chester Osbourn , who likened the solving of a Rubik's cube to winemaking. The avant garde glass, concrete and steel visitor center is 5 stories tall with the top floor tasting room offering panoramic views over the McLaren vale vineyards, the Willunga Hills and the Gulf St. Vincent . The other floors house the Alternate Realitites Museum , a contemporary art gallery, bars, a fine dining restaurant, a virtual reality experience and a wine sensory room. There is currently a Salvador Dali Universe exhibit on a 2 year lease, with some of the artist's sculptures and graphics.

VICTOR HARBOR , is a popular coastal town in South Australia, known for it's beaches, wildlife and heritage attractions like the horse drawn tram to Granite Island and their whaling history. It is about 80 km south of Adelaide, and was our third stop on the Viator tour, where we also had a yummy fish & chips lunch included. Below shows the bridge walkway over to Granite Island, it was lovely soaking up the sunshine .

The quaint german village of Hahndorf in the hills outside Adelaide is charming. Back in the 1830's Lutheran families were being pursecuted in Germany, by Catholics, so a wealthy Minister in Australia reached out to them and paid the passage for a family, that had specific trade expertise to move over. He gave them a piece of land to cultivate and after 15 years of service, it was there's to own. Thus the area of Hahndorf and serveral other villages were established.

ADELAIDE the capital of South Australia is known as the " City of Churches " and is a hub for festivals, food and wine, situated between the Gulf of St. Vincent and the Mount Lofty Ranges . It was founded in 1836 and named for Queen Adelaide. They used excellent city master planning, that still holds today, and makes it so welcoming. The City is completely surrounded by protected park lands and contains four large parks within it's boundaries. The City streets form a perfect grid, running from the mountains to the sea and extend out through the park lands, to allow easy flow inand out of the suburbs.

Today was such a special day, because I got to spend it with a great family I have come to adore! Stacy the ship's spa manager and I became good friends, from our first meeting! We have had so many laughs and long chats over my numerous appointments, I love my spa time! I've been lucky enough to meet her sweet sister Sharon and her boys Dylan and Ryan , when they visited the ship last November and today I got to meet Linley , Sharon's hubby and their Dad, Roland , who is visiting from Mauritius . We got together at their home in the southeast suburbs of Melbourne, for a special feast to celebrate Linley's Birthday and this mini family reunion, since we were in Melbourne.

Melbourne is great, I'm so glad we got more time here. Bosco planned a fun night of exploring for us! We took the tram into the CBD, and got off at the Yarra River Promenade , just as the sun was setting.

Happy St. Patty's Day All!

Lucia's 15th Birthday Party - Bowling Fun in Tassie!