June 10th’s agenda revolved around events in Willunga, a smaller town near the McLaren Vale wine region, south of Adelaide on the approach to the Fleurieu Peninsula. A lunch event allowed me to meet Colleen’s university (“uni”) friends, plus Danielle and her family - husband Paul, son Matthew.

In 2003, Danielle was already considering Adelaide as a potential location to study when her brother Scott met Colleen and Bernie (and me!) on a first-of-two epic trip to Myanmar (thanks, Thet Win!). As an Angelino who was ready to change everything but the weather, she researched locations with a Mediterranean climate, and Adelaide came up on the radar as an option. (As I spend more time here, among the grapevines, olive trees, and citrus groves, it reminds me of California more and more.) Scott connected Danielle, Bernie and Colleen, and it wasn’t long before they became family. Then, it wasn’t long before she met a great guy, got married and settled permanently in South Australia, and now in Willunga. As a member of Scott’s family, and C&B’s family, Danielle was someone I’d greatly looked forward to meeting, as well as her husband and son.

We met at the Willunga Market on a Saturday morning market for a home-town coffee experience. South Australians, I’ve learned over and over, are foodies at heart and love a good market for the super-fresh, farm-to-table experience at home. Willunga’s is well known and geared around very local farmers, bakers and residents. The other thing that Australians love is a good coffee, and frequently at outdoor events there are mobile trailers or vans offer some real good stuff. I myself have acquired a preference for a “flat white”, or, a cappuccino with little foam, an Aussie standard menu item.

After the market, the next stop was a lunch on a nearby farm in wine country, with thirteen courses of thin-crust pizza flavors to sample. It was just an excuse to reassemble a group who’d been friends for over 50 years, an event that recurs every 6 to 12 weeks. This group has gone through life together. All are extremely congenial.

Finally, we headed to the family farm, arriving just before sundown. A hobby farm for now, there is no house on the property as of yet, only cattle. Setting up camp was the first order of business. Then we settled in around the campfire to stare into its light and converse. Stepping away from the fire into the deep darkness, the Milky Way came into view, as did the Southern Cross.

There is a great love of the outdoors here, and strong connections to both the farming lifestyle and the farming that settled the country. People my age spent time with their grandparents on farms as kids, and those chores run through their veins. There is also a reverence of the power and beauty of nature in the harsh environments of the outback -arid lands, extreme summer heat, flash floods, sandstorms. If people aren’t leaving employment for several years to camp or “caravan” (pull a camping trailer) throughout the continent, they are buying a “farm” outside of the developed area, and it sometimes involves farming and it sometimes is just a country home. Or both. It reminds me strongly of my Minnesota roots, and the cultural drive to have a lake home outside of the city.

The next morning brought a tour of the farm, including two new calves.

The love of the land here also means new strategies of stewardship, as climate change requires. Remote houses collect rainwater for drinking and other uses, typically in the thousands of gallons to get through most dry periods (summers). I’ve seen more than one person wash dishes in a shallow sink of soapy water, without rinsing afterwards, to use less water. Rooftop solar panels are the rule rather than the exception, as is battery storage, though the rate reduction benefits are being eroded by the utility. A mindfulness of conservation - whatever the resource - is more prevalent here than in the States. I’m learning better habits (though I will always rinse my dishes).

Coming up: a week of travel to the Flinders Ranges