The Auswine Forum

It has been three years since our last trip to coonawarra, barossa,mc laren vale and clare valley. Last trip was in Feb 03 and would like to plan another and want to visit at maybe a time when the weather would be nice in Sydney (stopover a few days) and Adelaide and prices would not be high season (as in Feb). So guess I am looking for reccommendations on which months and any firms who do a good job of day tours.
Notice that last time we flew Quantas it was 80k points and now over 120k so guess looking also for a time when the air fares are more reasonable. Thanks for your help Gerald

Hi:
If you look at my posting: (Last Post Feb. 01)

Must Visit wineries/wines for visitor to Clare/Barossa etc

http://forum.auswine.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=4505

You will see the many recommendations that I received for wineries to visit from forum members. Although some smaller wineries may not be open there are still lots to visit.

We are going Late April to the end of May and find that it is off peak but weather should still be comfortable. Average Hi - Low for May for Adelaide is 67F & 50F, for Sydney 67F & 52F.

We are doing a self-drive thru Clare & Barossa and then on to Melbourne which will also take us thru Coonawarra & Grampians. If we hit too many wineries my wife will be the designated driver and I also tend to "spit" as otherwise my old palatte gets too overworked drinking all that wine.

Check out www.goway.com for their different wine tour packages which your travel agent can book. The thing I like about the self-drive is the ability to hit more lesser known wineries as most of the tours take you to a handful of the bigger names, not that they don't have some good wines, but I don't think you get the chance to taste their better wines or discuss them when in tour groups.

If your flying on points like we are you won't get any bargains or off season specials for Australia, too popular a destination. Ours are with Air Canada and Business Class is 115K and we had to book a year out to get BC seats without paying a big premium to go BC anytime.

Happy Travelling & Enjoy the Wine!

Smitty

Good luck with getting to use points on flights to Oz. We fly to Oz each year for three weeks in early December so that I can have my trip paid for by work. My wife uses miles accumulated due to her business. This last December was the first time she has not been able to get a seat anywhere on QANTAS using miles, and she started trying a year in advance via American.

On the other hand we had no trouble using miles to upgrade to Business for a trip to Ireland in May on American. I think I'm going to turf all my Aussie shiraz and stock up on Guinness!

Up QANTAS! The next conference I will attend will be in Auckland and we will be going Air New Zealand. We might be changing carriers for future trips to Oz. Me, pissed, hell no.

Mike

I've found the only really busy time are the school holidays in Oz. If you're mainly worried about the crowds, then try the shoulder seasons (around March and October). Should still be good weather, and fewer people travelling.