We spent a weekend in Melbourne Australia. I had flown down on Sunday evening to work for a couple weeks. We had bought a ticket for Matthew on Tiger Airways to fly down for the weekend. When I arrived I found out that the airports were a bit of a mess because Tiger Airways had been grounded due to safety concerns. GREAT...NOT! We immediately bought a new ticket for Matthew on a different airline which was about $100 more expensive. He arrived on Friday evening about 30 min late but did arrive safely.
Ever since we visited Melbourne the first time, Matthew has been raving about the socks that we purchased at the Victoria Market. Now, almost 3 years later, the biggest item on his agenda was going to the market to buy socks. Crazy I know. So...the first full day in Melbourne...we headed to the Victoria Market.
The market is a large, several square block building that houses hundreds of stalls selling everything from souvineres, leather jackets, and socks to cheese, fruit/veggies, and breakfast sandwiches with coffee and smoothies. We were amused by the long line of people waiting to buy "American Doughnuts" from a VW bug van. It was fun to watch them make the donuts and fill them with jam. A lady told us that she traveled down from Queensland to have these donuts. We decided to try them. I will say...fresh hot donuts were good.
Lunch consisted of some fruit, cheese, jamon, and bread that we purchased at the market. There is an outside seating area that was nice and warm.
After lunch we wondered into the non-food side of the market. We looked at some aboriginal art from a local tribe. We had noticed this tribes paintings at a stand at the market in Sydney. The have beautiful shapes to the animals that we both liked. We saw several paintings that we both liked and agonized over which one, if any, to purchase. Negotiations ensued. :)
We also saw this lady that carved flowers out of soap. It was amazing. She gave us a demonstration....we were impressed. She even uses soap that smells like the flower. She had roses, lilies, lotus flowers, and orchids. All carved out of soap. In talking with the artist, she said she'd originally learned how to carve centerpieces out of fruit while in Thailand, but got tired of people eating all her hard work.
At some point in all of our wanderings, we noticed that people were packing up. We were surprised since it was only about 3:30 and the market had started to close down. It became an urgent mission to find socks. To everyone's relief, we found and purchased 3 pairs of socks. When we were back in the hotel that night, Matthew tried on his socks and proclaimed to all who would listen how his feet were in heaven and made a face of utter bliss.
On Sunday we drove out to Yarra Valley. Yarra Valley is the wine country on the east side of Melbourne. It is only about 1 to 1.5 hour drive. It was a wet WET day but we really enjoyed ourselves.
It was recommended that we go to the Yarra Valley Dairy for lunch. The road to the dairy was not paved entirely...it looked like more of a dirt path and with the rain...well. I was not sure if it was even the right way but the sign said to go forward and there was no other way to go forward but down the one lane muddy road. The parking lot did have a couple of cars. We found the closest parking spot that was on the uphill side of the lot so that if we did get stuck in the mud, gravity might help out. The building looked like an overgrown shed with a corrugated metal roof.
Inside there is a counter and we were offered a free cheese tasting of about 7 different locally produced varieties. We found out that it is better to put your name in for a table BEFORE cheese tasting...but oh well...we were dry and did not have an agenda. The only thing they have to eat is a cheese plate and some baked goods along with coffee, tea, or wine (and in the summer time there is home made ice cream).
The cheese plate comes with bread and your choice of relish. It is a LOT of cheese but very good. We enjoyed trying the different types on each type of bread. We both agreed that the Marinated Parisian Feta that they make (lower right little bowl) was the best. It really did not taste like feta...more like the best goats cheese I had ever eaten.
We stayed until the cows came home... literally. The poor cows sloshed their way down the path. What started as one cow because a parade of woo (moo only we are down under). We decided to buy some cheese to take home. Our favorite came in a small jar or a giant one kilogram tub.
After enjoying the cheese and the floor show, we dashed out to the car...trying to avoid the big puddles. We drove to the closest winery. Yarra Yearing Vineyard (by the way...the titles of the wineries are all pretty confusing as many of them have very similar sounding names). We walked in to a HUGE cold feeling building. It was pretty but it was like they were trying to hard. We decided to go try some place a bit more inviting.
Yearing Station was another that was recommended. This was more our speed (except for the prices). We walked in and they had wine sitting on on a simple wooden table. The wine list started at 90 AUD! They did have a roaring fire in the room. Matthew did a wine tasting (only $5) and I warmed myself by the fire. One of the vineyard cats was placed in his bed by the fire by one of the women working at the winery. He was super friendly and so we cuddled some while Matthew sampled the peppery, light oaky finishes.
The lady serving the wine (sample 5 of 7 for Matthew) made a casual offhanded comment about the roos coming down from the hill. sure enough...looking out at the rows of grape vines...we could see several kangaroos. The more we looked, the more we saw. We have been to several winerys including thoes in California, France, and Italy but never would I have imagined placing a kangaroo in amoust the grapes. We asked if they eat the grapes. Apparently not...they only eat the grass and weeds, so they like them bouncing around.
We walked around the back of the house to see if we could get a bit closer. It was fun to watch but they did get skittish if you move too fast or get too close.
We had time to stop by one more winery. Warramate was right next door and night and day different. This one looked like it was in someone's house...but not upscale house...more like the backside of a barn. We walked in the and the guy poured us both a decent taste. I declined since I was driving. He poured himself a glass as well. He told us that there was definitely a benefit to working at a vineyard as he smiled and took another sip of his wine. This was the most laid back wine tasting I had been to. We chatted for a while and Matthew bought a bottle. The grapes were all the same but the bottles were about a quarter the price.
It was a good day. The challenge was how to get the cheese home without leaking the olive oil all over our suitcase.
Ever since we visited Melbourne the first time, Matthew has been raving about the socks that we purchased at the Victoria Market. Now, almost 3 years later, the biggest item on his agenda was going to the market to buy socks. Crazy I know. So...the first full day in Melbourne...we headed to the Victoria Market.
Lunch consisted of some fruit, cheese, jamon, and bread that we purchased at the market. There is an outside seating area that was nice and warm.
After lunch we wondered into the non-food side of the market. We looked at some aboriginal art from a local tribe. We had noticed this tribes paintings at a stand at the market in Sydney. The have beautiful shapes to the animals that we both liked. We saw several paintings that we both liked and agonized over which one, if any, to purchase. Negotiations ensued. :)
We also saw this lady that carved flowers out of soap. It was amazing. She gave us a demonstration....we were impressed. She even uses soap that smells like the flower. She had roses, lilies, lotus flowers, and orchids. All carved out of soap. In talking with the artist, she said she'd originally learned how to carve centerpieces out of fruit while in Thailand, but got tired of people eating all her hard work.At some point in all of our wanderings, we noticed that people were packing up. We were surprised since it was only about 3:30 and the market had started to close down. It became an urgent mission to find socks. To everyone's relief, we found and purchased 3 pairs of socks. When we were back in the hotel that night, Matthew tried on his socks and proclaimed to all who would listen how his feet were in heaven and made a face of utter bliss.
On Sunday we drove out to Yarra Valley. Yarra Valley is the wine country on the east side of Melbourne. It is only about 1 to 1.5 hour drive. It was a wet WET day but we really enjoyed ourselves.
It was recommended that we go to the Yarra Valley Dairy for lunch. The road to the dairy was not paved entirely...it looked like more of a dirt path and with the rain...well. I was not sure if it was even the right way but the sign said to go forward and there was no other way to go forward but down the one lane muddy road. The parking lot did have a couple of cars. We found the closest parking spot that was on the uphill side of the lot so that if we did get stuck in the mud, gravity might help out. The building looked like an overgrown shed with a corrugated metal roof.
Inside there is a counter and we were offered a free cheese tasting of about 7 different locally produced varieties. We found out that it is better to put your name in for a table BEFORE cheese tasting...but oh well...we were dry and did not have an agenda. The only thing they have to eat is a cheese plate and some baked goods along with coffee, tea, or wine (and in the summer time there is home made ice cream).
We stayed until the cows came home... literally. The poor cows sloshed their way down the path. What started as one cow because a parade of woo (moo only we are down under). We decided to buy some cheese to take home. Our favorite came in a small jar or a giant one kilogram tub.
After enjoying the cheese and the floor show, we dashed out to the car...trying to avoid the big puddles. We drove to the closest winery. Yarra Yearing Vineyard (by the way...the titles of the wineries are all pretty confusing as many of them have very similar sounding names). We walked in to a HUGE cold feeling building. It was pretty but it was like they were trying to hard. We decided to go try some place a bit more inviting.Yearing Station was another that was recommended. This was more our speed (except for the prices). We walked in and they had wine sitting on on a simple wooden table. The wine list started at 90 AUD! They did have a roaring fire in the room. Matthew did a wine tasting (only $5) and I warmed myself by the fire. One of the vineyard cats was placed in his bed by the fire by one of the women working at the winery. He was super friendly and so we cuddled some while Matthew sampled the peppery, light oaky finishes.
The lady serving the wine (sample 5 of 7 for Matthew) made a casual offhanded comment about the roos coming down from the hill. sure enough...looking out at the rows of grape vines...we could see several kangaroos. The more we looked, the more we saw. We have been to several winerys including thoes in California, France, and Italy but never would I have imagined placing a kangaroo in amoust the grapes. We asked if they eat the grapes. Apparently not...they only eat the grass and weeds, so they like them bouncing around.We walked around the back of the house to see if we could get a bit closer. It was fun to watch but they did get skittish if you move too fast or get too close.
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| Yarra Valley Vinyard - with Kangaroos | |
We had time to stop by one more winery. Warramate was right next door and night and day different. This one looked like it was in someone's house...but not upscale house...more like the backside of a barn. We walked in the and the guy poured us both a decent taste. I declined since I was driving. He poured himself a glass as well. He told us that there was definitely a benefit to working at a vineyard as he smiled and took another sip of his wine. This was the most laid back wine tasting I had been to. We chatted for a while and Matthew bought a bottle. The grapes were all the same but the bottles were about a quarter the price.
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| Yummy Cheese |
It was a good day. The challenge was how to get the cheese home without leaking the olive oil all over our suitcase.
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