12 December 2011
05 December 2011
27 November 2011
Here's Wally!
My gorgeous India, is a dab hand in the public speaking arena, but this weekend marked her first foray into acting. She's playing Wally in the production, "Lost For Words", which showed yesterday and again today in Avalon.
So, if you are in Avalon, get down to the school at 5pm. It's a great play, and all the kids have done a fantastic job.
26 November 2011
20 October 2011
28 September 2011
Amber Wallis: Artist, Covergirl, and All Round Top Chick
Well, she's already on the cover of Art Collector magazine, shot by Sonny...
Phew, that was quick, or I have really been busy! Tardy. No, busy - really busy. But I may as well make hay, so to speak, while she's on the cover, and show you some more of Amber....
Sonny told me he had to get some photos of a local artist. As she's local, he wondered if I knew her. Her name is Amber Wallis.
I responded with a "Nah".
I know I dabble in that world, but it doesn't mean I know anyone. But, about a half an hour later I pictured the name, and asked Sonny to spell it. I pictured the 'Wallis' in computer type, "Oh my God! I think we used to work together in the video shop in Bondi".
I had hoped I was right. That Amber Wallis was a gorgeous girl, and last I'd heard from her, she was at uni in Canberra.
Turns out she was the one, and I was so excited to catch up with her again and hear that she's living in God's country, near me!
I caught up with Amber on the shoot, and grabbed some shots myself.
We had so much fun working at that video shop in Bondi. Our boss, Sam, was the best. We could swear at customers if we deemed it necessary, smoke behind the counter, watch movies, and every now and then we were rewarded with yummy chocolate brownies. The hardest part was when I was on Saturday and Sunday morning openings at 8am, but Sam gave the right advice - he told us it was easier if we just stayed out all night!
And see what all that movie watching and having fun does.. It makes for great artists!
See more about Amber here, on her website.
19 September 2011
Bula! Buller
From Lindenwarrah and the wineries, we headed to Mt Buller, and Andre's Chalet - which is exactly the kind of snuggely luxury you want at the snow.
The room. Perfect.
The view from the room.
The lounge. So cozy.
We arrived in the afternoon.
The trip up the mountain is a big pain in the ass, having to park in a carpark (and being charged exorbitantly) further down the hill, then be picked up in a shuttle van to be taken to the snow line and your respective accommodation. You are, of course, charged the same price regardless of whether your luggage gets to travel within the vehicle, or on top - in the rain, as was the case with ours. It's a cruddy start to what feels like should be a glamorous, indulgent holiday.
Snow trips have an air of exclusivity, due mainly to the cost of them, so you expect a certain level of comfort, and that doesn't include parking your car down a mountain and being herded into an overcrowded minivan as if you were on an airport run as a backpacker in some 3rd world country.
Did you know it would be cheaper for me to take my three children on a plane to Austria, and pay for luxury accommodation, ski hire, lift tickets and lessons there for a week, than it is for me to drive to the Snowy Mountains and pay for them here. That's including the plane fares! Just like it's cheaper to fly to Fiji and stay there, than to visit the Great Barrier Reef - every time I have been to Fiji, I have first looked at the Whitsundays, but found Fiji to be cheaper.
"Hello Tourism Australia, I've just discovered a way you can get more Aussies to holiday in their own backyard..."
But I have digressed
a fair bit
We arrived at Mt Buller just early enough, and late enough for me to don my ski clothes, grab the snowboard, and have a few practise falls before dark.
Readers, you may be aware by now that I have certain physical limitations, in so much as I am pretty unco, especially where balance is concerned.
I can lose my balance on a large flat platform if conditions are right.
But still, I try. I attempt surfing from time to time, skiing is no good with my dodgy knees, but I have given snowboarding a go twice before (all as a mature age student, mind you), though I can't do it. Ok. I try, and I enjoy trying, but I can't do it, so please don't bother commenting to state the obvious. I enjoy the attempts.
Oh, and in my land, it doesn't matter so much that I am crap at the sport, because I have the best ski outfit on the mountain! It's vintage, one of the few outfits my mother kept (she's not very good at hoarding, and my god she let some amazing clothes go, much to my despair) and it looks hot.
So I donned my hot ski outfit
and set off to find a slope covered in snow
This video is funny, because Sonny was on skis while filming, and it was the only run I did without any falls. I know it doesn't look like a slope, but it was!
Buller is a lovely village, and Andre's is a beautiful chalet. Andre and Anne look after you well, with evening meet-ups over drinks and nibbles, and hearty breakfasts to bolster you before a day on the snow. The lodge has all the comforts you could want (the bath is fantastic) and the hosts go out of their way to make you feel at home.
How gorgeous are these birds, in the morning, against the white!
The lounge is warm and very inviting, I could have/wish to one day spent a lot longer there, and it looked out towards the base of one of the runs.
'Ring Ring'. "Hi, Honey. Can you go on that run that goes alongside the chalet? I'll get a photo of you skiing"
'Ring Ring'. "Did you see me? Did you get the picture?"
"Nah, honey, I missed it. Sorry. You gotta do it again"
"Ok, but watch for me this time!"
'Ring Ring'. "What about then? Did you get it that time?"
"Oh, no! I think I missed it again"!
Shame we were only there for a day.
I could have had fun with that for ages!
As we were leaving, big fluffy flakes started to come down...
Aaaaah! So pretty!
18 September 2011
Victoria's King Valley and the Prosecco Road
I finally got around to taking up my Australian Traveller prize a few weeks back. Two nights accommodation at Lindenwarrah, Milawa, in the Victorian high country.
A great opportunity to see an area that I doubt I would have travelled to, or through, otherwise. Lindenwarrah sits smack bang in the middle of the Milawa gourmet region, and across the road from the expansive (and somewhat too commercial and impersonal) Brown Brothers cellar door.
Travel, food, and wine. A winning triumvirate for me!
Let's start in that business class lounge then, shall we?
This is where you hear the sound of the needle pulling backwards over the record, for the business class lounge is doing it's bit for R.S.A., and the bar does not open until midday. For normal people, this is quite... normal, but I am not normal. My abnormal fear of flying is serviced by a calming pre-flight drink. What you see above is a pretty sunrise and a panicked chick.
After landing, without just dropping out of the sky, in Melbourne, we got a hire car and headed northish for about three hours.
We feasted on delicious, generous, lunch serves, at Plunkett Fowles, washed down with the best labeled wine I've ever heard - 'Ladies Who Shoot Their Lunch'. I had the Wild Ferment Chardonnay, and it was yummy with my blue cheese!
A little-known fact about me is my childhood intrigue with Ned Kelly. I thought he was pretty cool and read about him extensively while in primary school (well, extensively for someone who didn't love reading). I still remember now that he was hanged on November 11 and Sir Henry Parkes signed off on his death, so imagine my excitement when I saw a sign for Glenrowan, scene of his infamous last stand!
I love a 'big', so here I am with the big Ned...
And I think I worked out where the name 'Stringybark Creek' came from...
Pretty blossoms and blue skies
made way for the storm clouds and drizzle that were the feature of the next two days
Great fireside weather!
The food and wine at Lindenwarrah were great, and the service was friendly and attentive. There were plenty of books, magazines, and games in the lounge, by the fire, well-suited to relaxing after a hard day visiting wineries and gourmet food providores.
He won. Wish he'd play Scrabble with me.
He watches the fire, instead.
Next day I got all fired up with the idea of riding a pushy to wineries. The land around Lindenwarrah is flat, and the cars are few, but the weather, and the bike seat were not on my side.
We gave it a whirl for a couple of hours
but ended up picnicking in the car
with the yummiest cheeses, wild olives, and bread
while watching the river grow in size
before the clouds parted a little, for this
Behind the cheese factory I found another version of the metal-leaf-against-dark-sky sculpture I loved so much in the Hunter, earlier this year.
More blossoms
and some more sunshine
Bovine beauty...
It was while bike riding that we heard of the Prosecco Road - a wine trail that visits the (you guessed it) local Prosecco makers. Prosecco is the Italian version of champagne/sparkling wine, 'Secco' meaning dry. Curiously, as a lover of dry wine, I find it hard to love prosecco, generally finding them fruity and sweeter than I prefer, especially in a sparkling. But, martyr I am, I owed it to the readers to go and try some anyway.
There is a suggested itinerary, available in brochures and online, that sounds pretty lovely, and includes helicopter flights, a game of bocce, and a prosecco masterclass, but I will have to leave that itinerary until I am reincarnated as a classier and more organised person - but if you live in Melbourne and want to Wow that gal.... In this life, opting for the "Which ones can we visit as we drive out tomorrow, as it is a Sunday, and we are leaving early to get to the snow" tour.
We began, and were introduced to Victorian prosecco, at Christmont where the woman was very friendly and helpful. She told us about the area, how the climate of the King Valley closely resembles that of Northern Italy, and many grapes grown in the region reflect that.
Hence the Prosecco Road - currently, six vineyards producing prosecco. Of the six, we made it to Christmont, the mass-market of Brown Brothers as mentioned earlier, Pizzini, Sam Miranda, and Dal Zotto.
The scourge of the tourist (booze) bus at a cellar door. It must be a double edged sword for the wineries. On the one hand, they are regularly delivered a busload of eager, half-pissed punters, wallets at the ready, while on the other hand, that same busload of revellers make the average wine taster want to move very quickly to the next, quieter, cellar door if timing is poor. I like to chat about what I'm tasting, it's how I learn, and how I enjoy. It's just a shame that I miss out where there is a bus.
So there were two standouts on the Prosecco Road for me, in the end. Dal Zotto was one. Like many of the vineyards in King Valley, Otto Dal Zotto's land started out as a tobacco farm. As demand for tobacco products decreased, some local farmers began to plant grapes. Otto begun with Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vines, but in 1994 expanded to include Italian varietals such as Barbera, Sangiovese, Pinot Grigio, Arneis, and Prosecco - releasing his first bottle of L'Immigrante Prosecco in 2004. I tasted the 2010, and it was bright and summery - not too sweet - with a lovely citrus zest.
I also enjoyed our stop at Pizzini, though their Prosecco wasn't ready yet. I loved the Whitefields Pinot Grigio, all creamy, tart and honey flavour, as well as the Arneis, and the 2010 Verduzzo was smooth.
Not part of the prosecco road, and not even on the main map, we stumbled across Avalon Vineyard.
Or course, we had to check it out.
I loved the 2009 Spanish Imposition, named after the Spanish Albarino vines were identified, instead, as the French, Savagnin (which appears to be still grown in Albarino, Spain).
And that's the thing I noticed most. The smaller the vineyard, the less pomp and ceremony at the cellar door, the more interesting the wine. I like to drink something with flavour and character, not blandness, so I really enjoyed visiting all the little establishments.
Winning a prize was a great excuse to have a look at the King Valley area, but the food and wine were good enough to lure me back if I happened to be driving in Victoria again.
From there, we headed to the mountain....
02 September 2011
Paradise City
I had to go into the city for a modelling job (Alright. Stop your raucous laughter, now) but as I was getting into town I got a call to say the call time had been changed and was now an hour later.
It was a beautiful day, so I took the opportunity to have a wander around the back of Darling Harbour - an area I hadn't really explored before. Glad I had my camera.
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