Fun time at the Barossa!!! 18th Nov 09

Went to famous Barossa Valley for the 4th Barossa Meeting conference organized by IMVS, Centre for cancer biology.


Barossa is Australia most famous wine region. Tourists that come to South Australia will definitely drop by a couple of cellar doors for wine tasting. And it’s just roughly an hour ish away from Adelaide.

The Barossa has a rich food and wine culture that is reflected in its premium wine production, abundant seasonal produce and specialty food products which include artisan cheese and breads, unique smoked and cured meats.


The Barossa is the only Australian destination to be listed on the New York Times list of '53 places To Go To in 2008', and in October 2008 was listed as one of the world 's top 10 wine destinations by the world 's largest online travel community, TripAdvisor, alongside Bordeaux and Tuscany.


For more reading on The Barossa, visit http://www.barossa.com/barossa/default.aspx.

Leaving from IMVS heading to The Barossa!!!! YEah!! The conference was held in Novotel hotel, which somehow to me, er….seem so so, haha. Not a big one, but quite a famous one with many facilities, pool, sports, archery, golf course…


However the room was NOT bad, in fact i like it quite a lot. Funny thing here is, u have to pay for internet at an expensive rate despite u pay so much for the room =.=!!! Xiao, JO, Tash and Andrew in the pool for an early swim during the hot summer before the 1st talk.


Anastasia, Leila , Karina (pic on bottom left), Karina from Perth and me :) on the bottom right.


As i din dip in the pool, i went for a walk with my camera, trying to get some shots of the wine region :)
The Novotel hotel even have a GIANT set of chess, haha. Too bad, too hot to play a game.


Snake Habitat?? Din see any snake at all, haha.


Love these plants!!!!


Winery from far…

Somehow, i always thought that the winery region is ALL green, but haha, it seems like only the vineyards are green, others were just dead and dried after the drought.
 

Phil giving his talk (bottom left pic). Me and Cam post doc!!!


XIao and Jo. Xiao was kinda all out, released, haha. It’s not like her to act funny here and there.


Wine, wine and more wine. After a great dinner, we hanged out in the local lounge/pub for another wine drinking, haha.


Phil acting funny, drunk and stupid, haha.



Right to left: Phil, Tash, Karina, Jarrod, Jo, Cam, Xiao and me :)

Greeted by the early morning sun to go for the next section of the conference :)

Me, Karina and a NZ gal (Opps, cant remember here name, hehe).

 

I left the conference the 2nd day, back to lab, while others continue to have fun!!! Shots on the way back with Sam Dyer. What could be better than a nice lovely blue weather with the lines of vineyards!!!!

   

Photos of others that continued to stay for the next two days.Got them from Karina :)

    

Tash & Jo ( bottom left), Tash & Karina (bottom right).

Yang and Phil (bottom left), Anastasia partying (bottom right).

The picture that made me drop my jaws, Greg dancing!!!! (bottom left), Tash trying to pull Andrew for a dance (bottom right), haha.

Jarrod and Melisa (bottom left), Frank and Xiao dancing!!!!! (bottom right)

THe ladies!!!!

It was great fun that i really enjoyed myself even for just 2 days. Hanging with all the colleagues outside of lab is totally a different experience especially in this kind drinking occasion, haha. All the them really know when to loosen themselves when they had a chance :)