Off to Oz… And back again.!
October 1, 2007
Up in the morning, go in search of breakfast. Find http://www.theoriginalpancakekitchen.com.au/home.html# and have a yummy pancake breakfast.
Also find this little birdie and his buddy just flying around
Now off to explore! Oops – it’s Labour Day in Adelaide, and NOTHING is open! Plan B. A bit ‘toured’ out, but now off to find a tour http://www.enjoyadelaide.com.au/ once we determine that the tour is indeed being offered this afternoon, it’s good to go! Now we head off to the Barossa Valley – wine tasting.
Chateau Yaldara http://www.about-australia.com/travel-guides/south-australia/barossa/attractions/food-wine/chateau-yaldara/ for wine tasting – friendly, and one of the family sons has some great advice (pick up a 25 year old Port to take to Henry, and a lovely Muscat to take to Trenberths). Apparently, though, I am a bit tired – as despite how lovely the premises are, don’t take any pictures at all (actually, not certain I even remembered to bring my camera on this part of the trip, as I have no photos of the Barossa Valley. This location also has The Australian Opal Company (opals were discovered in The Barossa Valley before wine!), and they mine their own – I pick up a lovely pair of black opal tear drop earrings as a souvenir.
Grant Burge Winery is one of those beautiful boutique wineries that has everything right, great visual setting and superb wines. http://www.grantburgewines.com.au/ It’s busy here, but after we hover a bit, we manage to get a space at the bar and the tasting continues.
Visit Chateau Dorrien http://www.chateaudorrien.com.au/main.html for more wine tasting, mead tasting and port tasting before we happily return to Adelaide. We also have a yummy cheese plate snack here. Tempted to buy more wine, but since I have to pack it inside my checked luggage, I resist.
Back in Adelaide, decide just to pick up some fruit, bread, and cheese for dinner. Camp out in my room for the night – I’m beat!
October 2, 2007
Today, I explore Adelaide (at a very casual pace – this flat out thing for the last couple days is taking its toll, and I’m flying out tonight). First order of the day – pack. It’s warm out there today. Head out, find a place that does massage – all the busses and airplanes have taken a toll on my back; I feel much better after! Have enough time to visit the Art Gallery of South Australia www.artgallery.sa.gov.au and the South Australian Museum www.samuseum.sa.gov.au
Head back to the hotel, finish checking out. Wait for the bus to the airport – flight number 6, off to Melbourne! Going to be staying with Rob & Judy (who I haven’t seen since I was about 4!). The flight is uneventful, and Rob & Judy meet me at the airport (THANKS AGAIN!). No problem for anyone picking each other out, and we head to their lovely apartment in town for sparkling wine and cheese (this beats the heck out of the airplane food!). It is so lovely to see them, and so nice to be out of hotels. I couldn’t have wished for more charming hosts, and the next few days are full of fun.
Good night’s sleep…
October 3, 2007
Pretty laid back day today… Have breakfast, read a bit, do some laundry (thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!), and head out with Judy to run errands and meet Rob for lunch. We have a lovely lunch at a little Italian place. Later we drop by and meet part of the family.
October 4, 2007
Venture out on my own… Catch a tram into downtown and just merrily bumble my way along.
Poke in a few book stores; happen, serendipitously, across Queen Victoria Market http://www.qvm.com.au/home.php
(yippee! I love public markets – and this one makes Granville Island Market look small!). Stroll through the enclosed market, and out to the open market – lots of fruit, veggies, souvenirs. There are hawkers everywhere – trying to out holler each other. It’s lively and colourful and a great place to pick up souvenirs. So I get some soaps, and wooden items Christmas ornaments, stuff for the dollhouse, and some cool magnets from an aboriginal store – http://birubiart.com/index.html
Next find myself at the Royal Exhibition Building http://museumvictoria.com.au/REB/ (don’t go in for a tour – think was too late in the day anyway), and the Melbourne Museum http://museumvictoria.com.au/MelbourneMuseum/ (which I do go into
until they kick me out at closing).
Whew! It’s been a busy day. Time to head home – which, thanks to my aimless wandering, and failure to consult a map, takes 2 tries!
Another lovely evening with my hosts… Throughout this visit, we do a fine job of maintaining the long standing wine consumption level set in the 70s. However, significantly better quality wine than Rob & Judy & my parents. Some dinner, some wine, some much needed sleep!
October 5, 2007
Today Judy & I are off to the Heide Museum http://www.heide.com.au/index.php., this was the exhibit at the time (right up my alley) http://www.heide.com.au/exhibitions/savage_luxury?exhib=18 A modern art museum – enjoyed the show that was
on, we wandered around the grounds, and we had a nice lunch in the restaurant on site. There is a great deal of sculpture on the property – most notably, the corrugated cows.
The pink salt in the dish above is Murray River salt – it is fine and flaky (brought some home …). http://www.sunsalt.com.au/
On the way back home, I get dropped off at Federation Square to go see http://www.acmi.net.au/pixar.aspx at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image – turns out, I’ve seen almost everything they have ever put out (including almost all the shorts). But, the coolest part was the zoetrope (found a link for it on youtube http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=hMBoJq6IgFE). The Pixar site itself is pretty cool too… http://www.pixar.com/.
After that, wandered around Federation Square (the glass and the angles were fun to photograph – so was the juxtaposition with the Victorian architecture), then went to the National Gallery of Victoria (this is a picture looking at the ferris wheel in Luna Park from within the gallery) http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/. Another long busy day, but do a better job of getting home!
Melbourne - http://www.flickr.com/photos/36013650@N00/sets/72157602996893166 (more pictures)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment