I didn't mind the School Block Merlot ($22.50), drawn from fruit grown in the grounds of the old Cottonvale School or the $26 2006 Durif which mightn't have been quite as big as I'd expected still proved to be a solid full-bodied style.
From Heritage it was a case of back to base camp for further wide-ranging discussions, a barbeque dinner and a relatively early night, though the discussions could, under other circumstances, have run on well into the wee hours.
Four-and-a-bit hours' sleep the night before, does, however, tend to take its toll when you reach a certain age.
Our itinerary for the return journey had been predicated on a descent to the coast around Ballina via Tenterfield and the Bruxner Highway, but the discovery that the highway was blocked just south of Southport had us retracing Friday's steps through Cunningham's Gap, Boonah and Beaudesert.
Once we'd made the descent into the Fassifern Valley, the volume of traffic suggested that this was a route you might prefer to avoid on weekends and, while the traffic wasn't a problem within the meaning of the Act, there were plenty of people out and about exploring the Gold Coast hinterland on the weekend.
If you want to get a really good look around a week day might well be a much better option.
