“Albert River Wines” proudly invites you to experience the new “Australiana Tour” offering a variety of authentic “true blue” activities! Tours happen at 2pm every Friday, Saturday and Sunday plus every day during Queensland School Holidays.
Billy Tea & Damper
Join our Tour Guides as they re-enact the traditional practice of Billy Tea & Damper, which was once the ritual of our Stockman Drovers in the 1800 to 1900’s. The Aussie Stockman used to drove cattle and horses for days on end, and without much room in their saddlebags, flour, salt & tea leaves were the scarce items they would afford themselves on the long journeys. However over the years, damper evolved into being prepared with beer, meaning the mixture rose more easily and tasted better. Guests can participate in preparing the Damper, which involves mixing the flour, beer & salt by hand and having a go at “spinning” the billycan, to ensure the tea leaves brew a strong mix of tea. With the opportunity for guests to taste the “damper” with homemade Aussie jam and sample the tea from authentic camp teacups, this really is an exciting True Blue Aussie experience not to miss!
Grape Stomping in the Barrels
In bare-feet or gumboots, guests have the chance to make grape juice by stomping grapes in the barrels, as we mimic the ancient way of making wine. Let the competition heat up, as guests race to extract the most juice from the grapes in a 2 minute grape stomping frenzy. Bystanders look out! As it is often known for juice to splash when enthusiastic stompers really go hard!
Boomerang Throwing
For thousands of years indigenous Australians (Aborigines) hunted their food with rudimentary weapons of Boomerangs and Spears. In this activity, our guests get the chance to throw an authentic carved boomerang and try their luck at having it return! This is no easy feat and soon it is learnt how hard this skill is to master! And we advise that sometimes you may need to duck for cover when stray boomerangs take flight!
Whip Cracking
Another of our traditional Stockmen’s tools-of-trade, the stock whip was a necessary means to keep large amounts of sheep, cattle & horses under control. A little bit dangerous, but with instruction from our Tour Guides, it is quite possible to learn how to crack a stock whip within a couple of goes… some guests even