Angaston, South Australia: Things we’ll miss most about the Barossa Valley

There just aren’t enough pixels for us to put together a complete list of things we’ll miss about the Barossa, because we love it with all our hearts. But here are just a few off the tops of our heads.

– The ungodly squawks of the white cockatoos as they soar overhead

– The black and white maggies (magpies) that come to John & Margaret’s back door to be fed.

– The crazy antics and loud screeches of the pink and grey gulars (a bird whose name the Aussies use as a substitute for the word “stupid”)

– The rolling green hills in spring

– The rolling yellow hills in summer

– Eating breakfast at Darling’s while talking sports with Antonio, the barista

– Finding yet another gorgeous old stone Lutheran Church in the middle of nowhere and wondering who built it and where they found enough Lutherans to fill the pews

– Friday night Thai food at Barossa Siam

– Jamie’s daily double espresso tonics at Darling’s

– Jim’s daily ice coffees at Darling’s

– The remarkable glow of the Barossa’s golden hour

– Immense round bales of hay haphazardly strewn across golden fields of buzz cut wheat

– The patchwork green and yellow of vineyards and fields of wheat stretching off to the horizon

– The pride on the faces of all the locals when we tell them how much we love the Barossa

– That lone alpaca that hangs out with a small flock of sheep on the road between Angaston and Tanunda. She looks like just another wooly sheep except for her long neck, but she knows she’s not one of them and always keeps her distance from the flock. We’ve been told that the alpacas know their job is to protect the defenseless sheep from foxes, but we can’t quite figure out how that might work.

– Amy at the gym. And the same Amy at Darling’s (she was the first one to greet us with an excited, “You’re back!” when we arrived in the Barossa)

– Shopping for farm fresh fruit and veggies every Saturday at the farmer’s market

– Elani’s cinnamon buns at the same farmer’s market

– Taking the train into Adelaide to catch a movie or to grab a lunch or to attend a cricket game

– The warm, welcoming attitudes of everyone we meet

– All the Aussie friends we’ve made over the years (Ken and Sue, the Mustard clan, John and Margaret, Andrew and Toni, Mark and Mandi, Scottie, John and Angus, the gorgeous girls at Darling’s, Trevor and Lizzie, Ryan at Fleur Social, and all the others, too.

– Morning coffee and tea with the doctors and listening to their tales of Barossa days gone by

– Angus, the Scottie dog who lives next door and who watches our every move through the fence

– The excitement of spotting a kangaroo hopping through a field or down the road

– Driving out Gomersal Road (its views are a lot prettier than its name)

– Lunch at Pindarie Winery with its view of sprawling vineyards, grazing sheep, and golden fields of wheat

– A thousand varieties of eucalyptus trees (or “gum trees” as they’re known here)

– Laughing at some of the crazy Aussie words and phrases (and being laughed at for our American words and phrases)

– Watching Australia defeat England in cricket (“Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi”)

– Getting up early on Monday morning to watch Sunday NFL football on TV (especially when we do it over breakfast at Ken and Sue’s house)

– Trading explanations: Ken explains cricket to me and I explain football to him

– Taking tours of the Barossa and surrounding areas with The Doctors.

– Iced coffee at Darling’s

– Iced coffee at Fleur Social

– Iced coffee at El Estanco (probably the only Columbian restaurant in all of South Australia)

– Iced coffee at Bean Addiction

– Iced coffee from cardboard cartons

– Any iced coffee in any form

– Rummaging through dusty antique shops we stumble upon in every little village

Thanks to everyone who makes our stays here so memorable. We’ll miss you all, but we’ll be back.