An email came through that a pharmacist was needed in Penola, starting the next day. Since we needed the money and were fairly close we responded to the email, and consequently headed out to Penola. As usual, we had little idea about the area we were heading to before we arrived. Penola was the home of Saint Mary MacKillop, and it is one town along from another wine district, Coonawarra.
We were able to park our campervan at the house of the local pharmacist and owner. We all thought this was a brilliant stroke of luck when it turned out to be on a hobby farm, with 3.75 acres of beautifully manicured lawns, gardens, vegetable gardens, and fruit trees. The chicks, rooster, and three hens scratched in their section of the garden. The kids all wanted to feed and pat the chooks, probably missing the two we had sent to Grandma’s house before we left.
A beautifully preserved 1880s mansion that conducted tours, so the kids and Dad visited. Dad was particularly impressed at how well preserved the house was considering it had been a family home, and was still lived in. Even the wallpaper was original, and the paint was gold leaf paint!
The hectares and hectares of flat land had grape vines as far as you could see. We were told that vintage was coming up in a month or so. We didn’t understand what that meant. It was explained that vintage is the grape growers’ word for the harvest season, and every year when the grapes are picked it is referred to as the vintage of that year.
Australia Day
26th of January is a public holiday for Australia Day. It is the anniversary of the day in 1788 that the First Fleet arrived in Australia. As a public holiday, I wasn’t working.
One of the pharmacy assistants and her daughter were naturalized on Australia Day, which was while we were there. We were invited to the party and barbecue that they had in the park on Petticoat Lane, the oldest street in Penola. All of the houses were heritage listed houses, and many of the original buildings were still there. One of the locals told Mum that they used to play in the houses as kids and would sometimes damage them, and she felt a bit guilty now as they’d never considered the houses to be important or interesting. The community gardens were behind one house, where a local lady maintains a large vegetable and herb garden that locals can help themselves to.
Kids Just Relaxing
Most of the time we were there, though, the kids played lego inside in a room where they could close the door to play without risking Edmund (2) eating the lego. When they got tired of lego, they would lie on their quilts in the shade and read.
On Saturday night, two local teenage girls babysat the kids so Mum and Dad could go out for dinner together. The kids thought they were lots of fun, so everyone was rather pleased with the arrangement. When Mum and Dad got home, the two girls were out on the grass because a lizard was in the house. This poor blue-tongue lizard was hiding between the couches when Dad found it, and did its best not to come out. Finally Dad trapped it in the corner, and put a box in front of it so he could carry it outside. We all stared at it and took a few photos before he set it down outside to run away.
On the Sunday when Margie, Penola’s pharmacist, returned it was ridiculously hot. The kids were very excited when she put on the sprinklers to water her garden, and suggested that they run under the sprinklers. As we had always been in Melbourne on water restrictions, it was something they had never done before.
We were all a bit sorry to leave Penola, as it was so lovely having the van parked in such a beautiful setting. But, we just want to continue to travel with kids around the country, and we haven’t got almost far enough yet!
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