A weekend away a cooking class, nature and some nurture

Two nights, three days and our own home patch of the Fleurieu coast: a boat on the water, sunset on the sand, pasta at the bench in Yankalilla and a quiet walk under the stringybarks before you head home.

This is our plan for a cooking class weekend in Normanville and Yankalilla: two nights, three days, and our answer to the question guests ask us most at the bench, which is what should we do down here besides eat? The short version is that you will eat very well, but you will also get out on the water, walk the beach as the light goes and finish under the stringybark trees at Deep Creek. Some nature, some nurture, and one Sunday morning with your hands in the dough.

Normanville and Yankalilla are home for us. Beaches, birdlife and wildlife are what bring people to this stretch of the Fleurieu coast, and they are exactly what we want you to slow down for. Here is how we would spend Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November, with our Sunday pasta class at Lot 50 as one part of the weekend rather than the whole of it.

Where should you stay for a cooking class weekend in Normanville?

Arrive on Friday afternoon, drop the bags and do nothing in particular. That is the whole job on night one. We send our guests to Normanville Beach Co, a collection of holiday homes in Normanville a few minutes from Bungala House and Lot 50, where our Yankalilla classes run. Staying this close means that on Sunday morning you are not watching the clock on a long drive, you are strolling up to the bench with a coffee in your hand.

Pick the house to suit who is coming with you:

• The Studio sleeps 2, for a couple who simply want a weekend to themselves.
• The Horizon on Willson sleeps 6, for a few friends or a family with room to spread out.
• Panorama Lookout sleeps 10, for the whole crew, or a group who want to book the pasta class together.

Our readers get a discount on their stay, and you will find how to claim it on our Normanville Beach Co page.

Then pour yourself a relaxing drink, open the windows and let the sea air do its work. If you still have the legs for it, wander down to Normanville beach as the sun sets. We have lived here a long time and we never tire of that walk.

What is there to do in Normanville and Yankalilla on a Saturday?

Saturday belongs to the coast, and this part of the plan is worth doing whether or not you ever cook with us. If someone asks you for things to do in Yankalilla, this is the day we would hand them.

Morning: out on the water with The Big Duck

The Big Duck runs boat tours on the Fleurieu coast and is operated by Spirit Australia Cruises. Tours leave from the Granite Island causeway at Victor Harbor and from Wirrina Cove, and the whole point is to see this coastline from the water, with dolphins and seals the company everyone on board is hoping for. There is something about looking back at the cliffs and coves you have been driving past all week that changes how you see the peninsula. Check departure times and choose the launch point that suits your day when you book.

Afternoon: the nurture part

Come back, have a long lunch, read on the couch, have a nap. We mean it. A weekend like this only works if there is a gap in the middle of it, and the afternoon is where you let the week fall away. If you are travelling with friends, this is the time for a slow card game and a pot of tea, not another booking.

Evening: a sunset walk and a sundowner at the surf club

As the afternoon softens, head out for a sunset walk along Normanville beach. Keep an eye on the birdlife working the shoreline and the water changing colour as the light drops. Then finish at the surf club for a sundowner, sandy feet and all. It is the most local way we know to end a Saturday here: simple, salty and surrounded by people who love this beach as much as we do.

What does a Sunday pasta class at Lot 50 look like?

Breakfast first

Start Sunday slowly with breakfast at a local cafe. Lot 50 has a cafe of its own, which makes it an easy place to begin a morning that ends at our bench.

Hands in the dough

At 11:00 on Sunday 1 November we roll up our sleeves at Lot 50, 64 Main Street, Yankalilla, for Pasta like Nonna Makes. Lot 50 is a community venue rather than a winery, and that is a big part of why we love teaching there: it belongs to the town. We teach pasta, gnocchi and dumplings in that room, and it seats 24 for pasta. When we last checked there were 8 seats left, at $125 per person.

Picture flour across the bench, a well in the middle, dough worked under your palms until it turns from shaggy to smooth, and sheets rolled long and fine enough to drape over your arm. Whether this is your first dough or your hundredth, the moment everyone remembers is lifting their own pasta off the board and realising they made that. It is a good, unhurried way to spend a Sunday with the people you came with.

The 6 December class has already sold out, so if this weekend suits you, book your spot sooner rather than later. And if 1 November does not work, keep an eye on Bungala House, our other venue here at home, where we run pizza with lunch and the hibachi steak masterclass.

Walk it off on the sand

After the class, take a stroll along the beach. Shoes in one hand, the last of the flour still under your fingernails, nowhere you need to be. It is the best digestive we know.

Where should you walk on the way home?

Do not rush back up the highway. On your way home, head to Deep Creek for a walk in the stringybark forest. After a weekend of salt and sand, the quiet under those tall trees is a different kind of rest: dappled light, the smell of the bush after spring rain, and birdsong instead of surf. Wildlife is a big part of why people come to this corner of the peninsula, so walk slowly and keep your eyes open.

Check the track and park information before you set out, pack water and good shoes, and give yourself time. This is the last deep breath of the weekend, and it is worth taking properly.

Do it this way and you will arrive home relaxed, having been immersed in connection and nature: the coast from the water, the sunset from the sand, a morning of making something with your own hands and a forest to send you on your way. Hands in the dough, a table to share and a seat at our bench waiting for you. Book your spot for Pasta like Nonna Makes on Sunday 1 November and build your weekend around it.