Learning with the Fang

Over the weekend, that fine band of old Geezers (for whom I play guitar) played a fun gig for Jane’s 50th. We had a blast and I discovered two excellent treasures from our Barossa Valley, here in South Australia.

UPDATE:

CLOSEDvOPEN - A funny thing happened on the night of the party. I noticed that the winery had wifi so I got the idea to take some pics and upload them to flickr during the night (mainly because my wife couldn’t be there due to some unexpected day surgery - and she is a flickr addict). I checked with the owners and the birthday girl and everybody was cool with the idea of some ‘live blogging’ and flickr pix (turns out many potential guests live in scotland and were unable to make the trip out and the small business owners could see the value of some extra google juice). Here comes the funny bit - the gomersal wifi network has a WEP key - and nobody could remember what it was (the IT person was uncontactable that night). We tried guessing everything they could think of (now there is a real security threat) but no luck.

When we arrived at Abbotsford House I noticed there was wifi there too, and with no WEP key - OPEN by default. Hey presto, the e/mails I had sent found their way to flickr and my blog. So I grabbed the vid of Steaming Dave and uploaded it to YouTube. I took some more pix of Abbotsford (including a nice promo shot of their brochures) and blogged away.

There, my friends, is the subtle difference in the default of CLOSED v OPEN.

gomersal geezers

Gomersal Winery

The ‘barrel room’ has capacity for up to 200 guests and is a ripper location for a party that really ‘goes off’. Saturday night’s affair was much more intimate than that, but the hearty Scottish contingent (and friends) put in a sterling effort on the dance floor for the final two sets. So much so that Dave (our drummer) was, quite literally, steaming!

Barry and Gabriela White really looked after us - I’m sure they would make your event a special one too. [if you ask nicely, you might even get access to their wifi internet connection so you can flickr those special moments in real time]. If you are anywhere near Gawler or Tanunda you really need to spend an hour or three at Gomersal.

Abbotsford House

After the gig / party it was back to Abbotsford House, where Jane and Julian made us feel more than welcome. Their website has all the guff on the beautifully appointed rooms, magnificant lounge area with crackling log fire, but, to mee the centrepiece is the Kitchen:

Not just because it is a magnificent kitchen, but because of the abundant provisions and help yourself attitude. Wasn’t long before Dave had whipped up a bunch o bacon sammies to chase away those 2.00am hunger pangs (yum - bread AND lard). And, if I remember correctly, Julian ascended from his magnificent cellar with some teriffic bottles of conversation enhancer.

The rest of the night is a bit of a blur - unfortunately too short to spend quality time with our other kind hosts. This is the view I woke up to: [no Dave, I didn't collapse under a tree - but I actually don't know where I stayed or whose place it was - can someone fill me in?] Turns out it was Annie and Brian’s house - many Fanx.

Later that morning we returned to the Abbotsford kitchen for some recovery time, lashings of brekkie cereal and toast with good coffee. A fine way to prepare for the journey home.

p.s. Just had a geezers praccie in which we enjoyed a fine bottle of ‘Cimicky’ Red Blend thanks to Russell and Marion.  Very much appreciated.

Fang - Mike Seyfang

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