A weekend wandering in the Barossa
The suprise of having no plans...
"So, what shall we do?" I ask Nat.
"Let's just go. And see what we can find. Not plan, just wander. Take pics. Discover." Nat replies.
That sounds awesome to me. It seems like years since I have just wandered, with no plans. With kids, planning is needed. But I still remember my backpacking days, when I would rock up to some foreign country with just a Lonely Planet - no iPhones back then - and start doing tours of the various accommodation options. Sometimes I'd be going for well over an hour before deciding. Ha! Not any more, not with two kids in tow. And I can't say I miss that part much either.
So our day begins. Our first stop is a town we discover by name on a shop window. Lyndoch. I should be embarrassed that I do not know where we are, considering this is basically on our back door step in the Barossa. But I really like the fact that I don't. We visit a boutique, the thrift shop, a gallery, and the bakery. No proper Aussie can go through a town without popping their head into the bakery. I end up with a very tasty vego pasty. 
Our day continues, surprises around each corner with a street music festival, creepy gallery and funky coffee shops. But the biggest surprise is to come, when we decide to book into some accommodation. Who would have thought - all accommodation in the Barossa, as far as Gawler and Kapunda, is booked out tonight. All, except for one cabin (with no linen or ensuite) in a caravan park that is home-base to bikies for the weekend, and one room that is more than we wanted to spend. We keep calling. But get nowhere. So we call back our expensive option… and it's been booked, two minutes ago. Geez Marie! We don't know whether to laugh or cry. I go with laugh. I think it's hilarious that we want to be free spirited, and then get spat on with nowhere to stay.
It's an hour or two from Adelaide, but we decide to make a day of it, before heading back home. We sit with a wine at Jacobs Creek, doing the obligatory check-in on Instagram, before wandering down around the wetlands. I'm so thankful Nat doesn't get a video happening, as I stomp my way along the path, thinking I'm scaring the snakes away. I'm extra cautious today, after a near miss yesterday, letting four children walk past a sunbaking snake near the pool, just 30cm from their feet. We drive aimlessly, and get lost on our wanderings through the hills, taking pics of trees and buxom hills as the sun sinks lower in the sky. It's not golden hour, but I don't want to be lost when it gets dark, so we head towards town (we think).
Another weekend, perhaps, we will make the stopover. Maybe we might book. 'Sweetie, it's October. No one comes up without booking. It's peak season. I'm sorry, we are fully booked,' laughed a lady over the phone to me today. Food for thought.
Thank you for a great day Barossa.