Wines and Bones

It seems fitting that the first foray Glen and I made into a taste of la dolce vita (as far as our budget allows) involved a tourist town and a great deal of wine. After getting tired of the bustle of Melbourne we headed out to Halls Gap in the Grampian National Park. We were attracted to that area because the YHA hostel looked beautiful and they had a nice deal where if you booked three nights the third night’s stay is only $10. We hopped on a train and a bus to the hostel and found ourselves in a beautiful little touristy nook in the Grampians at a delightful eco-hostel that boasts its own free-range chickens and is close to a winery.




Here is my best imitation of a chicken:



After harassing the chickens a great deal – they are very tame and will pursue you around the yard if you indicate that you are willing to feed them table scraps – we went off in search of dinner and groceries in the little tourist town. We found both, and paid exorbitant amounts for both. Food in Australia is very expensive in general, and in Halls Gap is even more so, because tourists will fork over just about anything for goods and services. As we were exploring the grocery store, we learned first-hand about Halls Gap’s unpredictable weather, and got stuck waiting in the store for the hail to stop falling.

On the way home, we encountered something very surprising to our North American eyes. We were hoping to see one wild kangaroo on our trip.



We saw a whole lot more than one. That place was hopping (har har har) with the beasties. A few of the ‘roos in the above picture were play-fighting, which was quite interesting to watch. And once we saw that herd, we started seeing them everywhere. They wander freely through Halls Gap, lolling on the hillsides and strolling around the town. I wandered into the hostel kitchen early one morning and found a kangaroo munching the grass about eight feet away from the window, and one evening Glen and I watched as a big male ‘roo sauntered into the hostel courtyard for a look. The big, beefy boy sat around casually scratching himself as Glen and I gawked.

Sit in this kitchen and you'll have many dinners with kangaroos, neon-coloured parrots, cockatoos, and kookaburras:



You need to watch out for the kookaburras, as they are very bold when it comes to food. We were having coffee inside a shop at a little cluster of touristy cafes and shops in town. Outside was a couple eating their lunch on the patio, and a kookaburra. It was waiting on a lamp post, ever so patient and innocent, when it suddenly dive-bombed their plates, flying right over the table at about chest-height. The couple managed to jump back with their sandwiches, but the kookaburra merely flew back onto the lamp post and watched other diners with it's beady, beady eyes.

Our second day (the same morning that I had breakfast with a kangaroo) had us walking to the nearby winery – The Gap Winery - for some booze. We encountered more ‘roos on the way there, although this time they were in a markedly different state. Thinner. More skeletal.



Literally.

There were several kangaroo skeletons littering the side of the rural highway that leads to the winery. There were reasonably intact, too, and had been picked clean by scavenging birds and bleached white in the sun.



Glen got grossed out by a skull




While I got grossed out by some bone I couldn’t possibly begin to identify. At first we thought it might be a pelvis, but that looks way too small and delicate to be a kangaroo pelvis. When we got to the winery we asked the woman running the cellar shop about the skeletons, and she said that a lot of kangaroos get killed on that highway because they jump out in front of cars so suddenly. And if there is going to be a fight between a ‘roo and a car, the car will always win.

The Gap Winery is lovely, highway skeletons and all. We were treated to a free tasting of their wines, and the cellar-sales lady gave us detailed descriptions of the region, the wine, the history of their winery, and other tidbits of info. In addition to the wine, we got to taste some excellent gourmet olive oils. Glen gobbled down the olives (also cultured in the Grampians), and I became quite enamoured with a light olive oil that was infused with basil leaves. We came away from our tasting somewhat light headed and toting two bottles of excellent wine, a pinot gris and a shiraz.



Next stop was a local wildlife park, which has branded itself as being “the friendliest zoo in Australia” and came with heavy recommendations from the lady at The Gap Winery. And indeed it was friendly! It is actually more like a glorified petting zoo, and was all the more fun for it. In addition to the modest entrance fee, we each purchased a bag of animal treats and went off in search of creatures to feed.

We quickly learned that the animals in that zoo were very bold about getting their handfuls of treats. We had the opportunity to feed and pet wallabies and kangaroos galore. The wallabies in particular were insistent food-moochers, and would reach up to grab your hand in order to drag the food closer.



The deer in the zoo were beyond persistent. They’d pursue you through the park in order to get their goodies, and were something of a nuisance. If you didn’t hold the bag of food close to your chest, they’d rip it right out of your hand.



I tried telling them to go away, but they didn’t listen. One especially feisty wallaby would actually punch them in the head if they attempted to interfere with his treat-begging.



The wallabies are so darn cute!

There were other critters in the zoo as well, such as monkeys, emus, dingos, among others. Glen was quite taken by the marmosets, which shared a nice enclosure with several guinea pigs, which were actually bigger than the marmosets. It is my suspicion that the marmosets use the guinea pigs as mounts in much the same manner that humans use horses.

The various fowl running around the zoo grounds were also well aware that human visitors bear treats. This peacock would flare up this spectacular display of tail feathers whenever a human walked by; I think that he’d been rewarded for his displays with treats so often he figured out that it was the best possible manner of begging for goodies.



Or maybe he was just looking for attention, as all males are wont to do.