Magpie Springs — Attraction in Willunga Hill

A real mish-mash of mess. This business could be really unique and good... with just a tiny bit of effort. Rubbish in the driveway on arrival, gardens unkempt and kind of messy. No signage, with 4-5 buildings we had to just walk around aimlessly until we found more people, which turned out to be the cellar door, which turned out to be where you paid for the climbing in another building. (Strangely the nice gardens are behind the property near the dam... which you cannot walk around).

It took 10 minutes to get someone's attention to pay for 2 kids to climb, then a strong sales pitch for coffee and wine which I get, but I said no thank you once, that should be enough. Then a 5 minute safety spiel, which I also get but the place, is soooo poorly kept overall that they could use that time cleaning up rubbish and replacing missing pavers and removing rubbish to lower risk. Walked past 2 more huge piles of mess, fuel tins, pesticide containers, just general farm garbage on open display from the cellar door to the climbing walls. I get it this is a working vineyard, but you can have some general housekeeping, especially in areas accessible to the public. Everything just seemed... lazy.

Climbing was great, kids had a ball but the soft fall mats did keep sliding down the hill away from the wall, opening up a large gap so I kept kicking the mats back up against the wall. The long list of rules doesn't specifically include 'put rubbish in bins' not that I saw any bins, so people just throw empty cans and bottles on the floor, and no-one seems to mind that, or rubbish, ciggie butts and other overall sloppiness. And they seem to really dislike kids, for a 'family friendly' place.

Had a quick wine tasting on the way out, a bit underwhelmed with the wine quality too and the guy pouring, dressed in dirty oil-stained jeans, just complained loudly about scoopon vouchers the whole time to another visitor. Left without a purchase (I buy wine I like, sorry) which seemed to offend as well.

The art was just as odd as the rest, with no real theme, what is a microscope with a pin on it, not plugged in anyway? A bouldering wall with art and wine could actually work, but they need to put in just a little more time and effort if they want to keep return visitors. McLaren Vale...

We stopped for a grazing plate and a wine tasting. We were delightfully pleased from the moment we pulled up. They welcomed us and our 4 legged friend warmly. A quirky simple place to just relax, take a breath and forget everything. A husband and wife team, both very friendly and informative. I can't recall his name (husband) but he was just a delight. He spoke with passion as he reminisced on stories about the wine and his past experiences. It was like catching up with an old friend. There was no push for sales and it was a very one on one experience. There was no pretentious wine knowlage snobbery which was a welcome change

A very pleasant place to spend the afternoon and I am very much looking forward to exploring their...

Well…we did stumble across this one last minute as it stays open until 5, however they were planning an early close. Found the female host very pleasant with absolute talented artistry skills. She was personable and up for a chat. I Was disappointed that I was still charged for the tasting after a purchase of a bottle of wine. We did 6 wineries and all of them did not charge for tastings if you purchased. I have to be honest and say the wines were not the best I had all day, but like art… it...