We've been a bit unlucky with the weather here on the peninsula; very windy, lots of rain squalls and pretty cool temperatures today. Rob and I were lucky to get in a walk this morning without getting wet - but we got very windblown.
Mt Martha beach is pretty spectacular ........ even in this wild weather.
Mt Martha beach faces Port Phillip Bay - so these waves are an indicator of the strong winds today.
Love those bathing boxes!
We revised our tourist plans for the day and instead of making our way to the Diggers Garden at Heronswood we started with a s-l-o-w (and warm and dry) morning coffee at the very hip Laneway Cafe at Dromana.
From there it was a short 20 minute drive through the scenic (and wet) roads of the Red Hill wine region to our chosen lunch spot: the Piazza Cafe at the beautiful Montalto Vineyard and Olive Grove on Shoreham Road.
The Montalto Vineyard set up is the complete experience - lunch ingredients from the garden outside, wines from the vineyard (of course) and beautiful olive oils onsite too. Rob and I enjoyed our glass of 2017 Pinot Noir from the estate with our delicious lunch.
This is a beautiful vineyard for strolling around - well tended vines, a sculpture park and extensive gardens - but not for us today unfortunately - too wet, windy and cold............
After lunch we drove on down to the pretty village of Flinders, where Western Port Bay meets Bass Strait. There were good views across to Phillip Island from the 250 metre long pier on the beach at Flinders.
We strolled around the shops in the small township of Flinders until a rain squall drove us back to our warm, dry car. So we headed back to Mornington then Mount Martha for a few supplies before calling it a day and returning to our "beach box cottage" in Osborne Drive. It might sound like we covered a lot of territory today but nothing is more than about half an hour away on the peninsula.
We've just enjoyed a two night stay in beautiful Orange (Central West, NSW). Orange is a rich fruit growing region (but no oranges) has a population of around 40,000 and is a well developed cool climate wine region only 2 hours from Sydney, so there is plenty here to charm the visitor.
After a delicious lunch stop at Canowindra we were still keen to dine at Mr Lim in Orange on Sunday night, a very high end Asian fusion restaurant with a focus on local ingredients and wines.... And we were very impressed!
Monday morning was a very cold one in Orange, so we started slowly with a coffee and light breakfast at the Byng Street Local Store - this city has a serious addiction to coffee and the Local Store, just a few blocks up from where we were staying, was really buzzing this morning.
We took a walk around historic Cook Park (established 1873) and admired the large aviaries full of parrots, the Blowes Conservatory (with just a winter remnant of its flowering begonia collection), the duck ponds, and ……..
the fernery …………. This morning the pond in the fernery was covered in sheets of ice (and this was by mid morning!!) ….
But the most beautiful part of Orange are the inner city streets of beautifully maintained and preserved late 19th century houses. We could have walked for hours just admiring them and learning more about their stories (something we'll do more of next visit).
We drove to Mt Canobolas about 13 kilometres SW of the city. We were told Mt Canobolas (1,390 metres) is the highest point between here and the West Coast of Australia.
We can see there's been a fire through here in the past few months. Most of the gum trees were springing new shoots but the road nearest the summit was blocked to cars because of the danger of fallen trees, so we didn't quite make it to the top.
We loved seeing the beautiful country around Orange, fertile, carefully cultivated, lots of orchards and vineyards. It looked a bit like country France to us.
We'd enjoyed our Phillip Shaw Sauvignon Blanc with our meal at Mr Lim the previous night so we were looking forward to our visit to their cellar door, just to the south of the city in Shiralee Road.
This was a beautiful tasting experience - and alarmingly generous. The experience had its desired effect and we bought a half dozen bottles each to enjoy later (I enjoyed the Chardonnay and other whites from this vineyard).
Rob was a very responsible driver (no wine for him) so we were lucky to be driven to the nearby village of Millthorpe after the vineyard visit. The village has been classified by the National Trust and is full of charm. We loved our late lunch at the Old Mill Café before setting out to find Brett Whiteley's Millthorpe retreat (up until his death in 1992).
We were delighted to see the matchstick sitting by the front door (a lovely reference to the entry to Whiteley's studio at 2 Raper Street in Surry Hills in Sydney). Whiteley lives on in Millthorpe thanks to the new owners of this house.
It's hard to believe we've never visited this part of the world before - and it's only a four hour drive from Canberra. We're definitely going back to Orange one day!!
This gentle man has a very special birthday this month. We all thought it was time (on Election Night!) to celebrate with family, friends, wine and food, poetry and a brilliant speech from Jeremy!
Even the London branch was represented - via Skype.
Here's to many more gentle man!
Our day started with breakfast at Madamimadam (Madam I'm Adam), in one of our favourite Melbourne lane ways off Collins Street, before heading up to the Ian Potter Centre at Federation Square to see the "200 Years of Australian Fashion" exhibition.
All of us enjoyed seeing this comprehensive collection of clothing from the earliest days of the colony right up to the present, including pieces from the most recent Melbourne Fashion week.
Our favourites were the exuberant fashions of the 80s - when a really distinctive Australian aesthetic started to be evident - especially in the fabulous creations of Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson et al.
.....and the wonderful designs of Akira Isogawa whose Japanese inspired aesthetic is a dominant theme in all the current collections.
Afterwards, while we were still in the mood for fashion we took ourselves off to Cose Ipanema at the Paris end of Collins Street, on Jeremy's recommendation. A big thrill here was seeing an inspiring collection of Kate Durham's jewellery. We didn't buy anything at this high end store but rewarded ourselves all the same afterwards with a pot of Cloudy Wheat Beer from Young & Jackson (home of the iconic Chloe) on the corner of Flinders Street and Swanston Street.
We met Fiona W. and Elizabeth for an early meal at Mamacita on Collins Street tonight. Mamacita is a small but very popular contemporary inner city Mexican restaurant - beautiful fresh flavoursome food but wildly crowded and noisy - even at 5.30pm in the evening. There was already a long queue waiting for tables as we left the restaurant around 7.00pm.
With the night still young we made our way up to the 34th floor of the quietly opulent Sofitel Hotel for a drink and a chat and a chance to admire the sumptuous surroundings.
This pic below of Fiona and Maxie was taken in the Ladies loos - with one of the best views you'll find in the CBD - overlooking Fitzroy Gardens out towards the Dandenong Ranges.
We were introduced to the newest member of the extended family this month - gorgeous Ivy Rose born at 9.05 London time on the 20th July 2015, 7 pounds 14. What a bundle of sweetness!
An adorable baby sister for Ed....who so far looks very interested in this new addition to his little world! We can't wait to see them both this year (and D & C too of course).
And now to the oldest.......Our Mum was born on 31st July 1914 - making her now ONE HUNDRED AND ONE years old!! And she told us this week - she doesn't feel her age!!
We made up a photobook for her birthday with lots of pictures of her very photogenic grandchildren (5) and great grandchildren (now 8 including Ivy). She took a great interest in the book and will treasure it!
We thought that with the cold winter weather we would not take Mum out for her birthday this year....so we celebrated with a family party at Mirinjani on Saturday afternoon. The staff could not have been nicer - supplying Mum (and her guests) with a lovely afternoon tea with all the trimmings and plenty of space for us to kick up our heels.
Ella and Abi have a ball no matter where they go - and the Mirinjani Activities room proved to be no exception. The girls provided us with lots of laughs especially when they discovered the vibrating "exercise machine"....
and the balloon and fly swat game. They weren't at all daunted by the various elderly people who checked out the "party" throughout the afternoon. They both had a smile and a chat with everyone who came by, no doubt brightening every one's day.
We had some fun sister (and spouses) time too. Canberra turned on a perfect winter day on Friday and we spent quite a bit of it enjoying the Yarralumla lake front.
Mt Martha beach faces Port Phillip Bay - so these waves are an indicator of the strong winds today.
Love those bathing boxes!
We revised our tourist plans for the day and instead of making our way to the Diggers Garden at Heronswood we started with a s-l-o-w (and warm and dry) morning coffee at the very hip Laneway Cafe at Dromana.
The Montalto Vineyard set up is the complete experience - lunch ingredients from the garden outside, wines from the vineyard (of course) and beautiful olive oils onsite too. Rob and I enjoyed our glass of 2017 Pinot Noir from the estate with our delicious lunch.
This is a beautiful vineyard for strolling around - well tended vines, a sculpture park and extensive gardens - but not for us today unfortunately - too wet, windy and cold............
After lunch we drove on down to the pretty village of Flinders, where Western Port Bay meets Bass Strait. There were good views across to Phillip Island from the 250 metre long pier on the beach at Flinders.
We strolled around the shops in the small township of Flinders until a rain squall drove us back to our warm, dry car. So we headed back to Mornington then Mount Martha for a few supplies before calling it a day and returning to our "beach box cottage" in Osborne Drive. It might sound like we covered a lot of territory today but nothing is more than about half an hour away on the peninsula.
