Fleurieu Magic: A beautiful day

What a lovely day I had on Sunday. It was Mothers Day, a day I think is silly because I reckon Sharon and Kate are always good to me so I don't need a 'special' day. Anyway they both called me for lovely chats, but because Sharon is in Perth and Kate in Melbourne, Steve decided to give me a treat.

He whisked me off to McLaren Vale to do some wine tastings, then booked for lunch at a mystery destination. This wine region is always lovely to visit and it was especially appealing today with the vine leaves glowing vivid red, gold and amber in the autumn sunshine.

It was so peaceful driving through the hills and valleys but, this time, instead of stopping in McLaren Vale itself we drove on further east to McLaren Flat where the wine region abuts onto the Adelaide Hills. Here you can see how close the hills are.

First stop was at the delightfully named The Confessional. Here, we were greeted by Maisie, a gorgeous labrador cross, who was more interested in the grass than my camera, Steve being otherwise occupied.

On we drove though the countryside, revelling in the perfect day of sunshine, no wind, a blue sky speckled with white clouds - and a gentle warmth.

Another winery, then it was backtracking to McLaren Vale township for lunch. Steve couldn't have chosen a better place. What a surprise. Not only was it a Japanese restaurant, but it was in a converted railway carriage - both favourite destinations of mine.

It was so much fun to settle into the 'carriage'. The lemon, honey and mint tea was delicious, as was the teriyaki salmon I ordered. (I've gone a bit Instagram-ish here but I want to remind myself of this really lovely meal).

It was a bit disconcerting to see that, under the glass-topped table, the owners had placed train tickets, coins, paper money and customers' comments. Hmm - a very busy table decoration indeed; I had expected more of a zen environment. But the service was great and the staff friendly.

Feeling deliciously full, we wandered back to the car to visit a couple more wineries in the McLaren Flat area. Most of the vines here are very old and the trunks are thick and gnarled.

You can see how close we were to the edge of the region. I loved the setting of this winery as it was surrounded by gum trees. This is one of Steve's photos.

Not sure what I'm doing here - possibly looking for a fallen leaf. Or more likely Steve thought it amusing to get me in an unguarded moment when I wasn't posing for the camera. But it was so quiet and peaceful wandering near the vines, made especially relaxing with the warmth from the sun - a warmth we haven't felt for many weeks now.