Day trip to Victor

The unimaginable happened today. I gave up my usual exercise routine and went on a full day trip to Victor Harbor with hubby!
I kind of felt like I owed it to him as the night before, he’d asked me to cut his hair (and believe me, I’m not hair dresser) Normally I cut his hair during the day because after 3pm, my brain cells have given up on me and it’s a risk at best.
So he gets home at 5.30pm and I’m already a couple of wines in and I start cutting. I’m actually congratulating myself at how quick I’m going. I really FEEL like a hairdresser for the first time in years! Snip, snip, snip… oh, and I’m doing something a little different back here but it seems to be working… until I comb it all down. No.. that is not right at all and I hoped to God he hadn’t seen the expression on my face. I tried to fix it as best as I could and I’m pretty sure I got away with it. It will grow…

So, after no exercise we got into the car and drove! Such a gorgeous day in Adelaide today.
Just perfect for driving and being out in the world.
Our first stop was McDonalds. What’s a road trip with some Macca’s after all???

It was still fairly early when we got to Victor. We parked and decided we were going to walk along the bluff to Rosetta Head.
I probably should add that while hubby does exercise, he’s a reluctant exerciser…

 

These are the nice pictures. After this bit, the grass was dry, the air smelt bad and everything was so sparse. Hubby was in a grumpy mood because he didn’t want to walk. He said he’d rather be walking in Italy, Japan or Greece.
I tried to sell the nature to him (hard at that exact moment) but it didn’t work.  Do you know how hard conversation is with a grumpy person?

At one point he asked me if I wanted to go for a bike ride when we got back home. The last time I had answered “yes” to that question was over twelve years ago and why is he even thinking of that when today has not even started!

We saw Rosetta Head in the distance and I suggested to hubby we should just walk to the cafe, have a drink, then if we felt like going further we would or we could just turn back.

I saved us a table while hubby went to get some cake and coffee. After a little while he comes out with a brown paper bag. “Don’t open it yet” he says. He knows there’s a high probability that whatever yummy thing is in there, is likely to be picked at by me if I can see it.
He went back for the coffee and I peeked.

While it may not look that exciting, the apricot squares were pretty delicious and I had the difficult task of looking surprised and excited when he opened the bag up in front of me.
Sometimes my life is so exhausting.

After the coffee and cake, and the promise that we didn’t have to walk any further, hubby’s mood greatly lifted.

By the time we got back into Victor we were starting to think about having some lunch. We walked past restaurants and cafes and hotels yet nothing seemed suitable for hubby. “No, not there, no that place doesn’t look good, no, not enough people sitting in that one.”
We walked and walked, then went back to the car and drove. We were on our way to Goolwa, potentially stopping somewhere along the way if we saw somewhere decent to eat.
I had lost all hope and said “I feel like we’re never going to eat” and hubby replied “What? We can stop wherever you want!” Seriously, like that last 90 minutes hadn’t happened…

We drove through Port Elliot without stopping, through Middleton without stopping and soon found ourselves in Goolwa.

We got out and walked to the waterfront.

Nice places but not anywhere that hubby wanted to eat.

I heard the Cockle Train so ran to try to get a photo but just missed it!!!

All that was left were the puffs of black smoke…

So we finally went to the first hotel we saw.
I won’t name it here. It was fine. Food was average. Not bad, not fantastic either. Drinks were fairly cheap.

Hubby had the Chicken Caesar (left) and I had grilled fish. Not sure mine was cooked all the way through but it still tasted ok.

After lunch we walked down the main street towards the bakery. We always get something from there but unfortunately we were later in the day and most of the cakes were gone already.

We bought this cherry yeast loaf/bun thing and a Chester Slice. Hubby seems to think the Cherry bun is all his.

Oh and we went by the Convenient Chef’s but they were closed.

How inconvenient!

Little message for Betsy there too….

We stopped at Horseshoe Bay on the way back. Before we got there, we heard that Cockle Train and guess what? It crossed right in front of us so I was able to get some photos!!! And then waved at everyone in the train. I got a couple of waves back too!!

Out of the car and down the steps, then hubby went straight for the rocks. It’s not like people get swept off them by rogue waves or anything.

He got quite invigorated down there which led to this clip…

The very next thing he said to me was “Did you see me Parkour?”

Few more pics as we walked along. We didn’t go all the way down to the middle of the horseshoe of Horseshoe bay because it was down hill and hubby knows downhill means an uphill is coming…

We took a different turn on the way back home which may not have been the best option. The road was narrow and curvy and I just had to shut my eyes and hope for the best.I know hubby is a fantastic driver but it’s everyone else I’m worried about.

Not sure what this is but we passed it along the way…

Our last stretch was along the coast. How beautiful is the state I live in!!!
We are so lucky to have these beautiful places right on our doorstep.

If you made it this far, thanks for sharing this day trip with us!
Feel free to leave any comments.

Until next time…

Nino’s Cafe

Today on the Dining Diaries…

Aromas entice and dictate our menu choice,
We find a Bolognese that wouldn’t offend a Vegetarian and
Someone’s eye’s were way bigger than his stomach….

Diners today we were at Nino’s Cafe in Victor Harbor. There were proud signs displayed that told us they’ve been around since 1974.
Simon and Kirsten Pitman  have owned and operated Nino’s of Victor Harbor for the last fifteen years.The business was previously owned and established by Nino and Angela Solari about twenty five years earlier.
Nino’s is a Victor Harbor icon which is located in the heart of Victor’s main street precinct and well known by locals and tourists alike.

It was just a regular weekday and it was almost two thirty when we arrived and yet there were lots of diners inside and out. Some were lingering over lunch while others were having a coffee and sneaky cake and if I forget to mention it later, their cake selection is just awesome!

The staff were friendly and although we weren’t greeted right away we felt like we’d walked into a friend’s home and felt immediately welcome. It’s a lovely relaxed atmosphere. We found ourselves a table and were brought a couple of lunch menu’s.
I don’t think the decor has changed much over the last few years but I also think that there’s a charm and sense of comfort to this familiarity.

The menu was ok for a lunch menu. There was a good amount of pizza choices, a few pastas and some other lunch type foods such as burgers and focaccia’s.

Hubby kept looking through the menu but that smell of the pizza’s cooking did not allow him to consider any other menu item. It was really enticing!!
I decided to go for a pasta but as I didn’t want chili, seafood or a cream base, was limited to the spaghetti bolognese.  We also ordered some fries to share while our food was being cooked.

Our waiter was lovely but he took this order by memory and fifteen minutes later I wondered if he’d forgotten because the fries still hadn’t come…
A little while later, all the food came out at once. That kind of defeats the purpose of having a starter…

There was nothing wrong with the fries and they were a decent serve, I just didn’t really feel like having them when I had my pasta in front of me.

Hubby’s pizza looked delicious!

You never really know what kind of pizza base you’re going to get. Myself, I like them the traditional way.. .a little spongier but still with a firm base.
This one here was ok, but (Sorry Nino) it felt like a pre made base I could have bought from Coles.
Hubby really loved the toppings which were generous and fresh and honestly, the base was ok too, I guess it just depends on what you’re expectations are.  I’m an Italian-Australian and my mama would not make a pizza base like that.
In any case, hubby had all of it minus the crusts which he lovingly gave to me (we have a perfect marriage – one who loves crusts, and one who doesn’t) but realised his stomach had forgotten to signal that he was full and was quite uncomfortable for the rest of the afternoon!

I felt like I hadn’t had pasta for a while (though I have) and was really craving this meal!

I took this photo from the “good” side. The other side didn’t have much sauce or cheese. I really wish they’d let you put your own cheese on. I hate when they bring it out to you like that already.
The pasta was ok. I didn’t have any major complaints. I normally choose a “napolitana” sauce because I really just love good tomatoes and basil over my pasta so I wasn’t disappointed that there was barely any meat in this Bolognese sauce. I really had to search for it. If you advertise something as being “Bolognese” then you should be able to taste it right? Still, it wasn’t bad and it did hit the spot.

My complaints are little ones and I would have no hesitation in going back to Nino’s. There’s just something about that place!

And next time, I’d definitely have to leave room for a cake and coffee!!

Have you been to Nino’s?
What did you think?
Let me know int he comments below!!

Till next we chow…