Day 7 Thursday 30/11/2023 Heathcote, cloudy 13 – 23˚

Sometime during the night, the park managers crept around judging our Christmas lights for the Pimp Your Van competition and taking promotional photos for the park.

Our boys are up early to cook breakfast in the camp kitchen. By mid-morning it’s warm and we have coffee in the sun.

Before long, it’s time to make ourselves respectable for the short drive to Munari Wines. A family-run business it is most unusual and rustic with a homely ambience. Loads of comfortable antique furniture, and views of the vines. Old lining boards with splotches of remnant duck egg blue paint are above us, and Persian carpets are on the floor. The walls are unpainted, mismatched timber, yet glorious hand-carved sideboards display delicate glass oil lamps. Bronze cherubs support candles and paintings fill every space. This is a place where an afternoon can easily be frittered away. We have a choice of pizzas and charcuterie boards while we taste their reds from here and whites from other regions. Naturally, we buy a few bottles before rushing back to camp as we have an important visitor this afternoon.

Everyone gets several picks at the raffle prizes and we wait, and, wait for Santa. The poor old fella has a new blow-up suit and can’t get out of his caravan door! Eventually, the problem is solved, and the dogs go nuts at the sight of this jolly big red bloke with a rather familiar voice.

The Pimp Your Van winners are announced and blimey we’ve won! All those Aldi solar lights have paid off at last. Dinner is sausages with potato salad in the camp kitchen washed down with an awful lot of yacking.

Accom: $34.00