A few nights in Rutherglen

After shaking out the new caravan in Echuca, we drove about two hours east along the Murray to the town of Rutherglen where we made camp for a few nights. Rutherglen is a small town in a wine region known for it's fortified wines and durifs.

We set up our Winnebago at the Rutherglen caravan park in the heart of the town. The caravan park adjoins a small lake. Formerly Rutherglen's water supply, today the lake is a wetland home to purple swamphens, dusky moorhens, eurasian coots and a variety of ducks. Throughout the day, these flocks meander in and around the caravans nibbling from the grass.

Each night in the winter season, guests converge at the community fire pit, sharing the day's adventures over wine and nibbles. I shared too much, dumping my glass of red wine down a stranger's leg. For this, we were rewarded with an invitation to join them and their caravan club at a nearby music festival. Forgive and forget easily. Such is caravan life...

To kick off our wine tasting adventure, we set off by foot down the Murray to Mountains rail trail. This easy walk out of town led us past residential homes, old buildings and wooly flocks in need of a trim. Eventually we made our way to our first winery, Chambers, which featured about two or three dozen wine varieties in a serve yourself style. Unlike other areas I've visited, Australian cellar doors rarely specialize. Instead of having five wines to try, they have fifteen... or thirty... sometimes more. Needless to say after that tasting, we didn't need to visit more vineyards. We looped back to town stopping at the Rutherglen Estates cellar door to buy some muscat and durif.

The next day we set out by car for a few more tastings. We picked up olives and tapenade at The Wicked Virgin, and visited a small cellar called Valhalla where we bought a shiraz and more durif. Red wines are perfect for winter and the durifs will pair perfectly with roast.

Our holiday ended too quickly. We sadly said goodbye to Rutherglen and our caravan, making our way back to Melbourne. I already miss our Winnebago and can't wait for our next adventure, who knows where the road will take us next?

This concludes our murray valley caravan trip. Hopefully we'll be back out in our Winnebago soon.