Hardwired

Australia

Australia 2014: Melbourne

Nov 23, 2017 | , , , ,

Melbourne, New Zealand

Sunrise. We slung daypacks over our arms and went downstairs for a hearty breakfast before meeting Trevor, our guide for a wine tour of the Macedon Ranges. On the bus with us were a couple from Malaysia, an Aussie couple, and two women from Sydney, each traveling alone. A friendly group, we chatted most of the way to our first destination—Cloud 9 Farm.

Cloud 9 Farm is a small-scale family-run operation that specializes in wine and cheesemaking, as do many wineries in Australia and New Zealand. This struck me as interesting, because wine and cheesemaking do not necessarily go hand in hand at California wineries. The winery sits beneath the picturesque Cobaw State Forest with beautiful views of the valley below the Macedon Ranges. The owners, the Deeble family, have a passion for good food and wine and pride themselves on healthy and chemical-free products. Susy’s sought-after-cheese, White Velvet, a Camembert-style cheese, is only available at the cellar door, and everything from breeding the cows to milking them and pasteurizing the milk is done at the farm.

Before we headed to our next destination, Granite Hills Wines, we stopped at Hanging Rock Discovery Centre for a snack. Tourists picnicking in the area had spotted kangaroos, one with a joey, and we went in search of the marsupials but disappointingly never came upon them. We did see a colorful Crimson Rosella parrot, and he was a delight in bright red and blue, not to mention being friendly.

Granite Hills Wines is perched atop a boulder-strewn slope of the Great Dividing Range in Central Victoria, at an altitude of around 1,800 feet. The weather is cool, particularly at night, with reliable rainfall and well-drained soils, which translates to little disease for the vines. The winery is home to some of Australia’s best Rieslings and the birthplace of a peppery Shiraz, and we were all looking forward to our wine tasting. The small family winery has won hundreds of awards from local and international shows.

Our group lunched at “The Vic”—the Victoria Hotel Woodend. The fare was pub food. We started our meal with homemade bread and three kinds of mayonnaise. I recall one of them being beet mayonnaise. Because mayo isn’t one of my favorite condiments, I skipped it and ate the bread. I recalled similar experiences in France and Spain when mayonnaise triumphed over mustard for our ham sandwiches and was also preferred over cocktail sauce for our shrimp cocktails.

With lunch over, we motored to our last winery of the day—Paramoor Winery, a boutique winery. Their tasting room is in a rustic barn with comfortable seating. While most sipped wine, I strolled outdoors to snap photos of the grounds and visit the owners’ aging Clydesdale, as I am quite fond of horses, although I’ve never owned one.

During the return trip to Melbourne, everyone on board dozed as Trevor fought heavy traffic into town. At another bottleneck, we told Trevor to drop us at the next intersection and we would walk the two blocks to our hotel. He hesitated. We assured him that we needed to stretch our legs as we’d done enough sitting for one day. Reluctantly, he agreed, saying the turnaround in front of our hotel with all the cabs coming and going would further delay him, and he was already forty minutes late dropping off the rest of the group. We thanked him for the tour and walked the few blocks to our hotel, ready to freshen up. We spent the rest of the day walking the waterfront, watching kayak teams practicing.

That night, we had no dinner reservations. Oktoberfest was in full swing, and most people strolling the wharf seemed more interested in drinking than eating. After perusing the menus of several restaurants, we entered Melbourne Public and asked if they could recommend an eatery. The front section of the establishment was a bar, with their restaurant at the very back of it. We ordered the lamb shanks and the beef cheek, and a bottle of Catalina Sounds pinot noir. The food and service were excellent, and we still rave about the meal.

 

 

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New Zealand 2014: Christchurch and Aoraki Mount Cook

Oct 12, 2017 | , ,

 

Christ’s College was built in 1925 in the Gothic and Tudor perpendicular style. The structure was reenforce against earthquakes in 1987 and only suffered minor damage during the 2011 earthquake.

As I’ve mentioned in several blog posts, I am not a fan of long flights. After three hours, I’ve hit my limit for sitting in one place. But the flight from Brisbane to Auckland was quite pleasant—the seats roomy, the service excellent, and the food tasty. For once, I was a tad disappointed when we landed three and a half hours later.

And what I dislike even more than a long flight is riding in a puddle jumper plane. David tries to appease me by saying, “It’s a regional jet.” Regional jet or puddle jumper, being sandwiched in a seat on a small plane for more than an hour is murder. Thankfully, the “regional jet” from Auckland to Christchurch landed just twenty-five minutes over the one-hour limit. But who was counting?

With back-to-back flights and a layover in Auckland, we arrived in Christchurch at 8:00 p.m. and drove straight to our hotel—the George. Tired and hungry, we wanted to dump our luggage in the room and grab something to eat. The hotel has a fine dining restaurant, Pescatore, but we wanted light fare, so we ate at 50 Bistro—tomato bisque followed by grilled scallops. We finally climbed into bed at midnight and I snuggled up to George, the keepsake teddy bear left on our bed during the first-night turndown. A nice touch. I still have George and he is such a good traveling companion, always well-behaved and welcomed at lodgings worldwide. You can follow him on Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/TheGeorgeBear.

Christ’s College

We woke to a chilly, overcast day and walked into downtown Christchurch. There were still some signs of the 6.3 earthquake that hit the town in 2011, and I thought about the two thousand people killed in the quake. One shop owner shared her story and the deadly details hit home, as I’d had my share of earthquakes over the years—Mexico, South Africa, and a number in Southern California. We spent the morning exploring Christchurch and wished we had allowed more time for sightseeing. But a reliable source (David) told me we will return soon to explore some more.

In the afternoon, with David behind the wheel of our rental, we motored onto State Highway 8, the Inland Scenic Route to Aoraki Mount Cook Alpine Village, about a four-and-a-half hour drive. Before we set out, the receptionist at the George said, “This is New Zealand. The journey is as exciting as the destination. Take your time and enjoy.”  And indeed we did, driving past acre upon acre of farmland, pasture upon pasture of countless sheep, cattle, and deer farmed for domestic sales. I fell in love and wanted to take home a lamb.  

David will be the first to admit that he does not have the “farming gene,” so he surprised me when he said, “I could live here and I’d farm.” What? I asked him to repeat that statement, and he has, many times in the past three years. In fact, he liked New Zealand so much that we plan to return in 2018. And I can’t wait to head Down Under again.

For one, I missed out on visiting Lake Tekapo, an alpine spot at the foot of Mount John. I was captivated by the deep turquoise of the lake’s water, which is created by rock flour from the surrounding glaciers that is suspended in the water. The glaciers in the headwaters grind the rock into a fine dust as they make their journey down toward the lake. Lake Tekapo is set against a backdrop of snowcapped mountain peaks—a magnificent blend of white and turquoise. I also wanted to see the Church of the Good Shepherd in Tekapo, so both the lake and the church are on my must-see list for trip two.

Nestled in the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, the Hermitage Hotel was the perfect base camp for our hiking and ATV adventures, which is why we chose it. The building is not the typical log or timber lodge you’d see in the US or Canada. The commercial looking, blue-gray steel structure rises from the valley floor like a metal giant, and not everyone thought the modern architecture was appealing. “Military barracks,” I overheard one visitor say. Personally, I found the style intriguing, and we had a wonderful stay.

The first night, we ate in the Panorama Room. The porcini mushroom appetizer was good, but the entrées stole the show. I had smoked salmon with a potato mousse and baby peas. David ordered the venison with blueberry and juniper sauce and grilled vegetables—both meals cooked to perfection. For dessert, a sampler of homemade ice creams.

Damage to Christchurch Cathedral after the earthquake.

 

 

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Australia: Port Douglas – Part 3 

Sep 28, 2017 | , , ,

By day four in Port Douglas, I was getting antsy for a change of scenery. I’m not much of a shopper and I don’t load up on purchases at the beginning of a trip, especially if it means buying more luggage, and we still had three weeks of travel ahead of us. And I’m definitely not much of a lounger—beach, poolside, or even at a sidewalk café. But on day four I found myself doing all four. I told myself it was a good way to refuel, but I wasn’t convinced.

We started the day with a beach stroll, followed by browsing the shops, and later a long walk on the wharf and through town, stopping at Payless Rental & Tours to inquire about a rental car for Sunday, before we browsed more shops.

We lunched at Cafe Ziva, people-watched for quite some time, and then returned to our hotel to lounge poolside for the afternoon. David read while I jotted notes for a future Darcy and Bullet thriller to be set Down Under and updated my travel log.

For dinner, we ate at Bucci. Besides loving duck as an entrée, I am also a big fish-eater, as I was spoiled by fresh seafood caught by my father, an avid fisherman. I ordered Mooloolah River swordfish char-grilled on lemon leaves and served with a fresh tomato and herb salsa, and David had the pan-seared Cone Bay barramundi with a chili-pickled beetroot salad with whipped feta, onion confit, and walnuts. For dessert, a snifter of grappa, guaranteeing we would sleep soundly that night.

Early Sunday morning we collected the keys to our rental vehicle from the shopkeeper next door to Payless Rental and found our Mitsubishi SUV parked on the street, just as the rental owner had instructed. There was no way, he had informed us when we filled out the paperwork, he would be working that early on a Sunday, but he was willing to make other arrangements to accommodate our wishes. We offered to pick up the car on Saturday, right after we signed the contract, but he said there was no reason to pay for an extra day, and besides he had no rentals available. He concluded our transaction with a smile and a question: “Why do Texans always carry guns?” I replied, “Well, we don’t always carry guns. We aren’t carrying them now.” I smiled and left David and the owner to their discussion of surf fishing and moseyed over to the adjacent shop, curious as to what models of ten-speed bicycles they were selling.

Shortly thereafter, we arrived back at our hotel to gather a few things for our day trip to Daintree National Park, the largest rainforest in Australia. We spent hours in this tropical wonderland, hiking and snapping photos as we visited Mossman Gorge and the Daintree Village, a laid-back rural town situated on a bend of the mighty Daintree River, where we spotted two crocodiles skimming the waters. Although we were warned, we didn’t see any cassowaries. Cassowaries are large flightless birds. They resemble emus and are shy, but when provoked can inflict serious, sometimes fatal injuries. The warning reminded me of a similar one about ostriches many years ago when I lived in Africa. If cornered, the frightened bird can deliver dangerous kicks capable of killing a lion. Rule: Don’t provoke the wildlife, any wildlife.

Back in Port Douglas, we dropped off the rental car and headed to our hotel for a short nap to reenergize before we walked across town to the docks to find our boat for a sunset sail around the harbor. On board, we sipped wine, nibbled appetizers, and watch the sun sink on the blue horizon.

Our conversation turned to the Daintree Rainforest, and what we might do if we revisited it. Maybe a guided fine feather tour? Australia has so many beautiful birds. Or a river cruise, getting up close and personal with the crocodiles. We had done something similar more than once in Florida, but saw no crocs, only alligators, and in a much smaller boat. Yikes! We also enjoyed the Mossman Gorge and the aerial walkway on our way up to the Canopy Tower. As suggested, we kept our eyes open, hoping to spot a cassowary, but only saw an amethystine python camouflaged in the foliage of an Australian fan palm that towered over McLean’s Creek.

For dinner that night, we decided on Thai food and ate at Siam by the Sea. Most of the reviews were four or five stars with a few twos and threes. Our seafood meals were delicious, and I loved the pineapple fried rice.

 

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