Eat, drink, and be merry.

After two months on the road, living on a fairly;, tight budget, and cooking on a little gas stove or on a BBQ, am I sick of ‘camp food’?

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Food and drink means far more to me than just filling my belly (although clearly that is a side effect of enjoying my food). We bond over dining experiences. Food and drink is always a part of our social gatherings and it has far more meaning than just fuel for the body.

Why am I writing about this now? Well, a few days ago while wine tasting in the Barossa valley the conversation and the wine made me reflect on how social eating and drinking can be and how important it is. We found ourselves in a little place called Greenock, after already having been to the Wolf Blass winery for a bit of tasting. Set up camp at the free camp ($5.00 donation) in the middle of town, and set off in search of more wine.

We wandered into the first winery, and while tasting we learned not only about the wines but about the local community, produce and businesses. We then stumbled onto the next winery, where it turned out to be the owners birthday and he was already a few wines in and having a good time. We were welcomed in, and whilst sampling the wines he told us the history of the town and his family’s connection with the town going back over a hundred years. We also met two of his sisters, one of whom is married to the brewer/owner of the local craft brewery. So, of course, we had to make the brewery our next stop. We staggered the hundred yards or so up the street to the brewery and sat at the bar with a few locals and the brewer to sample the beers and learn more about the local area. They were very interested in what we were up to and so travelling tales were told and more beer was drunk. And very good beer it was too. So good in fact that our next stop was the pub for a highly recommended schnitzel and another locally brewed beer.

So, the point of this tale isn’t about drunken wanderings around a small town in South Australia’s Barossa Valley. It is about how food and drink socialises and inspires.

And, back to my initial question, the answer is no. We have not resorted to convenience or frozen foods at all. All of our meals have been freshly cooked using mostly fresh produce. It really isn’t that hard to cook good meals while camping if you use a bit of imagination and pre planning. And despite the fact that our limited budget does not allow for a great deal of eating out we have had some great dining experiences of our own making.

Our meal pre planning involves shopping in bulk when we can and then portioning, bagging and squeezing as much as we can into out little caravan fridge. This week I jammed the freezer so full that it is now all wedged in so tight and frozen solid that I can’t get anything out.

Every once in a while we do save a little from the weekly budget for a ‘splurge’, and seeing as Adelaide is such a centre of good food and wine we can’t leave here without giving ourselves a bit of a treat. So, tonight, we are heading into the city to drink local wines (again), and find some inspiring and imaginative local food and let someone else cook for us for a change. Hopefully we will meet and chat to some local characters or even fellow travellers and share our tales of food, drink and travel.