Stradleys Down Under

Some Things We Have Learned

2006-03-19T12:15:00.000-08:00

Restaurants in the Portland area are cheap compared to Western Australia (WA).

Never, under any circumstances refer to a woman as "she." The word "she" means or is the "cat's mother." Always use a woman's proper name. This came about when we were having breakfast. Ed referred to Roxanne as "she" when saying what Roxanne wanted for breakfast. He was immediately corrected (like a teacher would say to a student) that "she" is the "cat's mother."

During the full moon, underground springs begin to fill ponds. This was told to Don, and it did appear to happen.

Kangroos (Roos) will strip and destem grapes from the vines. Told this by a vineyard owner. They do more damage than deer.

We now have seen the Southern Cross in the skys.

Clean Skins - wine bottles without labels

Dry Argument - discussion without beer. We learned this while visiting the RSL in Perth.

No Rules in Wine Making. We have discovered that this is definitely true. They blend together all kinds of grapes.

Australia only has sunguard lotion or cream available for sale with a SPF of 30. We were told this is because of the "hole in the ozone." We were told this by more than one person.

Cheeky wine is a "girlie" wine.

Roxanne does not like "high" places. This refers to our tree walk section of the blog.

Guinea fowl are used in the vineyards to clean up insects and slugs.

Aussies like Yanks - Yanks like Aussies!

Melbourne - Heading Back Home

2006-03-19T12:10:00.000-08:00

Don and I are in Melbourne tonight at the airport Hilton. We leave on our international flight tomorrow for home. It has been a wonderful trip, but we are ready to come home. Ed and Roxanne leave tomorrow.

It's time to pay bills, pet the cats, spray the wineyard, wash clothes, top the wine, call Mom, say hello to the kids and grand kids, etc. etc.

SEE YOU SOON!

Quantas Airlines

2006-03-19T12:06:00.000-08:00

I know that we are spoiled, and very seldom travel "in the back of the bus," but this is terrible. The economy seats were so tight! Our legs touched the back of the seat in front of us.

I will never complain about United Airlines again!

Fortunately we will by doing our international flying in Business Class on United Airlines on Monday.

Saying Good Bye

2006-03-19T12:01:00.000-08:00

Our wonderful hosts, Phil and Irene. We feel that we made some new friends!

Preparing to travel back home. Do you think we can get all this luggage in the airplane? We can barely get it in our rental car.

Last Wine Tasting & Lunch

2006-03-19T11:53:00.000-08:00

As Roxanne says, "Our hunters and gatherers" enjoying their last wine tasting.

The photo shows our lunch. A "small" sampler plate for four (4).

Bibbulmun Track - The Adventures of Ed and Roxanne

2006-03-19T11:35:00.000-08:00

Photo at start of Bibbulmun Trail.

Ed and Roxanne hiked the Bibbalum Track. The Bibbalum Track is a hiking trail that was completed in the 1990's from Kalamuna (suburb of Perth) to Albany at the south end of Western Australia. It is approximately 300+ miles. The photos show the map of the trail, Roxanne and Ed at the beginning of the trail, mid-point of the trail, and end of the trail in Albany.

I bet you thought they were travelling with us! Well, we met them at various points of the trail and gave them food and water to keep them going.

Middle and end of Trail.

If you believe this, I have a bridge to sell you!

Our new love - Gelato

2006-03-19T11:21:00.000-08:00

We have a new love - gelato! The Italian word for "ice cream," gelato doesn't contain as much air as its American counterpart and therefore has a denser texture. So good! When I get home, I'm going to have to look up the recipe for making this wonderful ice cream. As you can tell by the photos, the gelato also looks great!

We went to Freemantle today. Freemantle is a sea coast town in the suburbs of Perth. I wanted to visit a ladies clothing store called Liz Davenport, and Roxanne wanted to see some galleries. Liz Davenport had some wonderful clothes, and I seemed to have left a "little" money there!

When we first visited Perth, we also went to Freemantle to visit their markets. Roxanne purchased a painting here.

The town has little cafe along the center of town. Naturally we had lunch there.

Still Eating & Drinking

2006-03-19T11:09:00.000-08:00

This is the famous Pavlova dessert of Australia. Both New Zealand and Australia claim this dessert as their own. To learn more about Pavola, check out my web page on the history here: http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Cakes/Pavlova.htm

We went out to dinner withour hosts, Phil and Irene, tonight. As usual, we ate very well, and I couldn't resist taking more photos.

I have everyone trained to not touch their food until I get a photo first. They are even reminding me.

Presentation is fabulous. It is said that we eat with our eyes!

RSL Club - Returning Services League

2006-03-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

We are back at the Rosebridge B&B in Perth (the same place we stayed at on the beginning of our trip). We say we are going back "home." We really enjoyed our host and hostess, Phil and Irene. Such lovely people!

We went to Phi's RSl (his guy club) with them tonight and had a beer or beers before dinner. RSL mean Returning Service League.

On the first of our trip, we also went here and bought raffle tickets to help them buy a new refrigertor. Phil said they were waiting for us to come back before they did the drawing. Fortunately, we didn't win, as the prize was wine. As you probably guessed, we have been buying and drink alot of excellent wines. Ed says he is going to tally up all the wines we bought and drank during this trip.

We are carefully brining home one very special bottle of pinot noir wine to compare with our Oregon pinots. See Tete Du Cuvee - best of the vintage posting.

Heading Back to Perth

2006-03-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

Thursday, March 16th

One our way back to Perth, we stopped at the Wellington Brook Winery. Sue Cantelo and John Doberty had never made wine before buying this very small 3-acre boutique winery. This year will be their first harvest. Sound a little familiar?

They spent a couple of hours showing us around their winery and vineyards.

NOTE: They had a few pinot noir grapes, but they didn't look very good. They had lots of ants on them.

Photo of Shiraz grapes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANCY!

2006-03-17T20:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Nancy! I'm sorry I could not be with you to help celebrate your birthday. Can we celebrate when I get home? Give my love to everyone.

B&B Party - March 15th

2006-03-17T19:55:00.000-08:00

Our last night at the wonderful Blackwood Inn with our hosts George & Jill. Tonight, our last night before driving back to Perth, as you can tell by the photos, we had a little farewell party. All of us took turns pumping thier player piano. You really get a workout when you pump through one of the song rolls. I need a player piano at home to do my daily exercises.

Every morning and evening, our hosts cooked us a wonderful meal.

Tete Du Cuvee - best of the vintage

2006-03-14T23:55:00.000-08:00

We finally found an area with somewhat similar climate with Oregon (at least today it feels that way). It made us a little "homesick" until we remembered about the snow and how cold it is at home.

Attention all our wine making friends! We finally found the most wonderful pinot noir wine.

Tete Du Cuvee - meaning "best of the vintage"

Note from Ed:
Picardy Estates - We found Oregon in Pemberton, WA. Here is a small estate (about 5000 cases annually) with a passion for pinot noir wines that is well rewarded. The owner-winemaker (Dan Pinnell) spent quality time with us describing his approach to growing and winemaking, plus sharing many barrel samples of the 2005 vintage.

Wine making sounded like home:
1. Low yields - 20% whole bunches

2. Cold maceration - 4 to 20 days

3. ML after primary to avoid risk of volatile acidity

4. 20% new French Oak (which is really expensive here- about $1700 Aud)

5. High humidity storage conditions. Topping only requires appx 150 ml per week, rather than 300 or so that we approach.

Dan's approach to blending is intriguing. Whether the bordeaux varietals or the different clones of pinot noir, he opts to blend at the earliest possible time - co-fermenting if possible. We have been tending toward blending closer to bottling to increase our choices, but we may be losing some benefits of integration.

Our samples of Shiraz and Pinot Noir were all very good - and the best was his 2005 Tete du Cuvee (Pinot Noir).: beautiful structure, great mouthfel, smooth lingering aftertaste. It retails for $45 Aud, but he hopes to get it to $60. I wanted to ship the barrel home.

Dan enters no competitions because the wine folk in Victorie tend to give little respect to Western Australia. He also regards entries as a waste of 6 bottles.

This year he even made wine from a neighb or who was unhappy with his grapes. He will not market it. He says that it si for his Mum.

Dan finds his effort to be a lot of hard work, even at this level. They only have 4 full time employees and rely on backpackers for seasonal labor. What he really wants to do is pursue his passion to make the very best wine - just a few barrels each year that he can share with his mates. Sounds like he would make a great Ferementing Friend!

Another Doll for Roxanne!

2006-03-14T23:52:00.000-08:00

Roxanne finally found another doll she wants! In fact, the doll of her dreams! The only thing is - it is too big!

Sorry Roxanne, but you can't take this one home.

Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets . . . .

2006-03-14T23:49:00.000-08:00

Introduction to Lola - On our first day driving south from Perth, Roxanne found Lola at an outdoor market in Muntarah. Lola is a spiritual traveler, and she now protects us in our travels.

By The Sea, By The Sea, By The Beautiful Sea

2006-03-14T23:40:00.000-08:00

We walked in the Indian Ocean in Bunbury today. A beautiful beach town with some lovely homes. Roxanne said that the blue, blue ocean and the white, white sand reminded her of Cairns.

Don and Ed were wishing that they had some binoculars to view the bathing beauties on the beach.

We also had a light lunch at the Ex-Tensions On The Beach Cafe.

Interesting Tidbit

2006-03-14T00:19:00.000-08:00

The West Australian New:

An article on Aussie War Brides after World War II:
Following is what the Aussies called our American Servicemen who were stationed there at the end of the war:

"Over-paid, over-sexed, and over here."

The newspaper also said, " There was significant ill-feeling about the cashed-upped Americans "stealing" Australian women.

Gnomes, Gnomes Everywhere!

2006-03-14T00:16:00.000-08:00

Gnomesville - A junction on the road with appx. 1,500 gnomes and "zero" people. A unique tourist destination that's hard to miss. Gnomesville is a large collection of garden gnomes that have mysteriously been place at the round-about. Nobody seems to know exactly how the quaint little hamlet of gnomes began.

ACCORDING TO STORIES: This all started as a joke. Supposedly someone left a small gnome in the area as a joke. It caught on, and people now bring and leave gnomes in this place with cute notes.

Rain Drops Keep Falling In My Tank

2006-03-14T00:13:00.000-08:00

Except in the large cities, narly all the domestic water in Australia comes from rain water collected from roof tops and stored in large above ground tanks. The good thing is that there is no hard water. It's just hard to rinse out the soap after shampooing your hair.

We find a lot of signs in bathrooms pleading to make our showers short. We are doing our part by substituting wine for water whenever we can.

Photo of a 30,000 gallon tank. The tank usually overflows in the rainy season.

Country West Capital of Western Australia

2006-03-14T00:02:00.000-08:00

This is a very unusual place - Harvey Dickson's Country Music Center

Dead Horse Saloon

Boot Hill
He has the largest collection of Elvis records in the world. I never knew that Elvis made all these records.

Photo below of Harvey and Don. When Don asked Harvey why he did all this, he said "It was meant to be!" Harvey kept telling us that Yanks and Aussies are like first cousins - we come from the same stock!

Phot of the Stage

Trout For Breakfast

2006-03-13T23:58:00.000-08:00

Don was in "Trout Heaven."

Our host and hostess at the Blackwood Inn in Mullalyup previously ran a restaurant for years. The cook us the most wonderful breakfast and dinner each day.

NOTE: In case you are wondering about the "up" at the end of so many city names, "up" refers to "by the water," referring to the sea or ocean.

Heading On Down The Road - Sunday, March 12th

2006-03-11T18:27:00.000-08:00

9:30 a.m.
Ed and Roxanne are at church right now. We will be heading back up toward Perth today, and staying at a country inn for a few days.

Ed is very worried that there will be no wineries, and that he will be bored. The rest of us are excited that maybe we can relaxe a little.

11:00 a.m.
Today is Don's driving day, as the boys take turns driving.

They both have become experts at driving on the "wrong side of the road" (left side). The first two days of driving, we were all nervious, but now you would think the guys had done this all their lives.

Rickety Gate Wines

2006-03-11T18:22:00.000-08:00

We spent a lovely 2 hours with the owners of the Rickety Gate Winery. It was particularly interesting because they are a fairly new startup winery with only 8 acres of grapes. They showed us all around their place and all their new winery equipment. He made a lot of money in the 90's in the stock market, and decided to finally do what he has always wanted to do - make wine. They were a lot of fun! The photo is of sayiRuss and Linda Hubbard, owners of the winery, sayng goodbye to us.

Still Eating & Drinking our way through Australia

2006-03-11T18:15:00.000-08:00

We had the most wonderfuly lunch at the Forest Hills Winery today. We tasted marron and sardines for the first time today. The presentations were fantastic!

Sardines wrapped in grape leaves and stuffed with saffron polenta - This is the first time that I had sardines that did not come in a can. They were fresh caught, approximately 6-inches long (with out head). They good, but I'll probably pass on ordering them again. Too many new foods to try!
Marron (a type of lobster or crayfish)
Crab & Prawn ?????
Fig and Pecan Torte - This was wonderful! The figs were an delightful addition for what we would call a pecan pie. I'm trying to convince Roxanne that she should make one of these pies. Roxanne rates up there with my mother, and my daughter, Brenda, as great pie makers! Hey Brenda, how about you making this pie?
A few photos of the wonderful food we have been eating in our journeys. We are sure that we have gained weight! They are very creative in their food presentation. We have never dined so well on holiday before. Yes, vacation is called holiday here.

Koalas, Dingos, Emu, Camels & Roos

2006-03-11T18:07:00.000-08:00

I'm actually touching a koala! So soft!
Koala bear entertaining us. Roxanne was uncertain if it was safe to touch the emu. She did do it!

How about a camel?
We stopped at a Alpaca Farm that turned out to be a mini zoo. Since I purchased a Alpace Sweater (they call jumper), we were allowed to visit their vast variety of animals for free. A few of the animals are in the photos above.

Parade of the Swim Suits

2006-03-11T17:52:00.000-08:00

When we were in Albany checking out our emails, we had an unexpected surprise. A parade! Western Australia (WA) was celebrating the 50th anniversary of their Sea Rescue Clubs. All ages of men and women members paraded by in their swim suits. The older members were very brave letting the world see their "older" bodies. You would never see me parading my flab before the world!

From Roxanne:
We were just in time to catch a parade down the center of the city of Albany. It was led by a Bagpipe Scottish bank all dressed in their colorful plaid kilts. Then came a group of old guys in old-fashion bathing costumes followed by the women, and ended with the children.

It was a parade to celebrate 50 years of Surf Rescue. Some of the original members, as you can see, paraded in their original bathing costumes. We thought they were quite brave to parade through the city of Albany in their bathing costumes.

I cannot stress how delightful the people of Australia are. They all seem to have great senses of humor. They seem to welcome us with "open arms." We delight in their Australian sayings.

We only met one unfriendly Australian. It was at an internet cake in Margaret River. We couldn't figure out how to get on his broadband connection. He came over to see what the problem was, look it over and said, "I don't know why you can't connect. You must be configured wrong! Just go away!"

We figures the unfriendly one was not a native Australian, but from Austria, as we had met another woman from Austria who had a similar personality.

Saturday, March 11th - From the guys!

2006-03-10T18:23:00.000-08:00

From Don:
Linda says it's time for me to add to the blog. Ed and I take turns driving. One drives, the other navigates. So far we have hardly ever gotten lost. Just someplace we can't identify on the map. We are now on the downhill side of our trip and having a great time.

I'm glad you are having snow at home in Oregon and not us. The good thing is that our grapes won't bud while it is still cold. Ed will add a few words. Don

From Ed:
During our stay in Albany, we have explored he Great Southern wine region. It has 5 appellations, of which I think Denmark is the most interesting. Sauvignon and Semillon continue to be the dominant whites, but we also find Riesling here in the somewhat cooler climate. We have have found a few Pinot Noir's, but nothing very notble. A number of these makers have exports which I will explore on return.

The cellar doors here are smaller and more casual than Margaret River - more like home. Harvest is very late here this year - much like our last season. We saw the first of It at Mt. Barker two days ago. Today we return to Denmark - no sign of Scandinavian cuisine however.

Snow and more snow!

2006-03-09T18:12:00.000-08:00

Friday, March 10th

10:00 a.m.

What's is this about snow at home! We are having 100 deg. F. temperatures. Which is worst - heat or snow! Laurie sent use some photos of the snow scenes on our vineyards, and Don's sister, Shirley, tells us about all the accidents on the big curve in front of our house.

We are off to the town of Denmark today to explore and taste more wines.

For some reason, I can't add any photos today. We finally found an internet place where we could use our own computer, and it won't work! We'll try later with the photos.

Laundry Day - Mid Point of Trip

2006-03-09T18:08:00.000-08:00

5:00 p.m.

I told Ed and Don that either we wash clothes today or we go shopping for new clothes. I figure that you can guess what we did before dinner tonight.

Cheeky Wines

2006-03-09T18:01:00.000-08:00

Thursday, March 9th

We spent a wonderful 2 hours chatting with Mandy, one of the wine tasting staff, at the Plantagenet Winery out of Albany. She was very "chatty." Photo on left is of Mandy holding up her "cheeky wines."

We learned a new wine term today. It is Mandy's term:

Cheeky white or red wines - "girlie" wines. These wines are nicely priced, under $20. Ed is going to call one of his red wines a "cheeky red" in 2006.

New Wine Terms:

1. Clean Skins - mude wine bottle, no label

2. No Rules - They don't follow the traditional wine making rules in Australia. Lots of blends - anything up to 15% does not have to be listed on the label.

Albany

2006-03-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

Thursday, March 9th

We have a new term to add to our list:

Up Market - means expensive or up scale. All the restaurant, so far, have been Up Market or very expensive. Excellent food and presentation, but much more expensive than America. At one place, lunch was $40 each.

Finally the outdoor temperature is reasonable according to our Oregon standards. The temperature in Albany is 23 deg. C. or 75 deg. F. Maybe this will be a "one shower day."

Valley of the Giants

2006-03-08T18:24:00.000-08:00

Check out this crazy Outback Truck photo. Don says it looks like the exhast is built for running under water.

Tree Walk

Wednesday, March 8th

9:45 a.m.

On our way to Albany today. Albany is the oldest European settlement in Western Australia, and was once a major whaling station.

4:00 p.m.
We walked the 600 meter (appx the size of 6 football fields) Tree Walk. I do mean "tree walk" as it is a very high metal walkway up among the tops of these giant trees. When I can download some more photos, I'll show it to you. Roxanne was terrified on this walk, and said you would get even with us for this!

5:00 p.m.
We arrived at the Southern Ocean. As Don and I always wade in each new ocean we come to in our travels, we waded. The water was much warmer than our Pacific Ocean.

Elton John's Double

2006-03-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, March 7th

We met Elton John's double at the Leeuwin Winery today. He told us that he stands in for Elton John at Las Vegas. He (the double) will arrive at the front dorr in a limo, and the real Elton John arrives in a volkswagen at the back door. Roxanne took a phot, but I can't download it.

His name is Baron Richard Rugison, and he lives in Eureka, CA.

The Leeuwin Winery a very large, and even has a large outdoory concert stage.

The day's update.

2006-03-07T02:58:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, March 7th
7:00 p.m. - Wildwood B&B

Our hostess is preparing a gourmet dinner for us tonight at 7:30. The smell coming out of the kitchen smell heavenly.

The weather is still very, very hot - around 100 degrees F. Too hot for this Oregonian!

We did a lot of wine tasting in the Margaret River Wine area today. Some of the wineries are fantastic - a lot like going to Napa Valley.

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Adders from Ed:

We finished our review of wineries in this area today. Over 3 days we visited 15 wineries ranging from small, family owned to fairly large operations. Curiously, Voyager makes 45,ooo cases annually and still is classified as boutique. We told them that 300 is boutique.

Most of the wineries here have semillion and sauvignon blanc as their chief whites. They blend a lot, with 50 to 60 percent semillion - quite different from home. They also make chardonnays, and are tending to use less wood. I find the whites to be quite citric, inclduing the chard when you can taste the fruit through the wood. The reds are mostly bordeaux blends along with shiraz. What little Pinot Noir we have found is not distinguished.

I would say that the wines are generally quite well made, but nothing really spectatcular. The one exception was a 1999 Merlot from Brookland, which we will have with dinner tonight. It is special.

The tasting rooms are much more upscale than I expected. Many would rival Napa rooms. Some have elaborate grounds. Very pretty. I thought we would engage more of the winemakers, but the Cellar Doors (tasting rooms) are generally staffed by others. Maybe it will be different as we move to less well-known areas.

Finally a "Roo"

2006-03-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

We are seeing roos all over. We are on constant watch for them as to not run over one!

BBQ

2006-03-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

The Birthday Gal and Hostess of the BBQ

Monday, March 6th

8:00 a.m.

From Linda:
The BBQ was fabulous last night! It turned out that it was a 60th birthday party at the Woodlands Winery. What an interesting bunch of Australian people! The founders of the Margaret River’s original wineries were there, which produced some very interesting conversations. Don especially enjoyed talking with David Watson, owner of the first winery in the area. These wineries started in the 70’s like ours did in the Willamette Valley. It was like having the Ponzis, Eraths, and Adelsheims all together.

We were served some of the best award winning wines served throughout the evening.

Ed had tired out and didn’t go with us (he fell asleep), but Roxanne, Don, and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves to late in the evening. Ed said he needed “to recharge.”

Cooking Class

2006-03-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

Roxanne finally found some art work to bring back home. Think we can get it on the airplane?
Sunday, March 5th

6:00 p.m.

From Linda:
Roxanne and I had an enjoyable morning taking a Thai cooking course. The owner of the B&B is a chef. There were eight of us in the class. I’ve have concluded that Thai cooking is a lot of work as it requires much food preparation in advance. We had a marvelous banquet afterwards and enjoyed the conversation with the other Australians. Of course, we also had lots of wine.

From Don:
During our wine tasting excursion, we are invited to a BBQ this evening at one of the wineries. This winery makes pinot noir wine, and to our surprise, it was good! The owners were very interested in talking with Ed and myself about our pinot noir experiences in Oregon. We’ll tell you about the BBQ later.

10:00 a.m.
From Don:
I still have not seen a kangaroo. I’m going to have to get up at daylight before they head for the bush. Right now Ed and I are going to look at a couple of wineries while Linda and Roxanne attend a cooking school. We will return in a couple of hours and sample what they may have concocted.

From Roxanne:
Ed and I have been getting up early every morning and taking walks. We have seen all kinds of wonderfully colored birds, mostly parrots and magpies. Also one bird that laughs as if he has heard a bad joke. This morning we saw two kangaroos (Roos) standing very still watching us, and one that met his waterloo in the middle of the road. It is very hot and dry here! We love it when there is a breeze.

Morning drive to Yallingup (Margaret River Wine Area):
Ed did all the driving in Perth, now Don is taking the wheel as we drive south. Roxanne and I have the job of saying “Think left, look right!”

We drove down the west coast to Yallingup. We will be spending 4 nights at the Wildwood B&B. It is very hot! We Oregonians are not used to this kind of weather. It is “two” shower days. I could actually take many more just to stay cool.

We couldn’t see the Indian Ocean during our drive, but now we can see it out of our window in the B&B. A beautiful coast with wonderful white sands.

witty-isms (our new name for sayings) - new additions

2006-03-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

Our List of Favorite Australian Sayings:

You probably have to be here to fully understand these sayings, but we have thoroughly enjoyed them. We’ll add to this list as we move around Australia. Some created by us, and other ones said to us.

Think Left – Look Right - This relates to driving in the left lane of the road and to always check right to make sure there isn’t a car coming directly towards you.

Always wash windows before turning - This is because the windshield wipers handle is on the left side of the steering wheel where normally in America they are on the right. The turn signal and wiper switches are just reserve to what we are used to.

We’ll catch it on the way back - When we miss a turn or place we want to visit, this is always said. Of course, we never get back to it.

Either your face or your figure - This relates to discussing my anti-aging cream. An English gal made this remark. She said that after you turn 40, you have to make a decision if you want a nice figure or a beautiful face.

One of the gentlemen at the BBQ gave us a new saying: I go wherever there is a “cow bun!” NOTE: He inseminates cows and calls himself a “reproduction expert.”

It is legal to “wee” only on the left rear wheel of your car. The police will leave you along and just wave. NOTE: One of our cooking class companions told us this. He was very serious!

Lose the plot quite regularly - Nice way of saying you are forgetful.

Cheeky red on white wines - Girly wines, inexpensive wines

If you "scenic" it once, you're "scenic" it enough - Don's saying.

No Worries - Means the same as no problems. A favorite expression of the Aussies.

We Brake for Wineries - Ed's saying.

Library Hour - Happy Hour

If it is not painful, it is not any good - Same as no pain, no gain. A wine maker expressed this to us.

Perth

2006-03-06T18:32:00.000-08:00

Saturday, March 3rd

Irene’s Shirt:
The following photos show Irene’s famous shirt with an interesting story. Her niece from England, Debra, told her she had to get rid of it because it is gross!

Irene said, “But I like it!”

Debra took it and said she threw it away. Well, later Irene got a photo from Fuji showing a girl wearing her shirt with the explanation, “This poor girl was penniless and needed some clothes, so she gave her Irene’s shirt. She knew Irene wouldn’t mind.

Months go by . . . Debra comes to visit in Perth and stays a few months. Nothing more was said about the shirt. After Debra leaves, Irene goes into the bedroom to clean. Under the pillow is a beautifully wrapped package. Guess what was in the package? Irene’s shirt with a note saying “Don’t you dare wear this in public!”

Roxanne and I are wearing the shirt in the photos because Irene is going to tell her that we loved the shirt so much that we had a bidding war for it, and it is going to America!

Back on line - Perth

2006-03-01T21:19:00.000-08:00

We finally found a place where we could get back on line. Perth doesn't seem to have wireless internet, but is using broadband. We are presently at an internet cafe in downtown Perth.

Tuesday, Feb. 28th - The north coast of WA (western australia) has a cyclone in progress, causing the Perth are to be very, very hot - appx. 100 deg. F.

Now I know we are finally in Australia - Vegemite! Vegemite is on the breakfast table.

We sat in the "back of the bus" on our flight to Perth. Very crowded. The seats on Quantass seem very crowded together. The food was not very good, but they redeemed themselves with a wonderful ice cream bar that is similar to a Dove Bar. Now that was good!

Flying into Perth.

Wednesday, March 1st

We spend the day in the Swan River wine area outside of Perth tasting some wonderful wines. We also visited a chocolate shop and a olive oil store. The weather cooled down as it was very comfortable.

Enjoying some wine with Phil, Irene, their niece, Debra, at the Perth B&B. They are very delightful people, and they are making our visit very nice.

Photos of the beautiful "French" cakes that are made at the local coffee shop and bakery.

Our Good Morning Toast that our host, Phil, makes! Very delightful!

We are off to explore downtown Perth today and tomorrow. We travel South on Saturday. Since I'm having trouble finding places to hook up to the internet, I don't know when I'll be writing again. Maybe tomorrow - maybe the next day - maybe next week - who knows!

Don and Linda Stradley

Dinner at the Hilton

2006-02-27T10:51:00.000-08:00

5:57 a.m. - Melbourne, Australia - I woke up early today. I still need to adjust to this time change. Our flight to Perth leaves around 10:00 a.m. Just like flying from the east coast of America, we will gain either 3 or 4 hours. Haven't figured this out yet, but we arrive around 12:00 noon.

Because I'm a "foodie," everyone is just going to have to put up with my food photos and comments.

After our long flight, we arrived at Melbourne. We are spending the night at the airport Hilton to get some sleep before flying on to Perth. I wasn't that hungry, just tired, so opted for a light dinner.

Caesar Salad – smoked bacon, parmesan, anchovies, ciabatta chips & poached egg

Very interesting Caesar Salad. I have never seen this combination of smoked bacon and poached egg used with a Caesar Salad before. I would like to figure out how the chef poached the egg to achieve the effect they obtained. It was delicious! As I wanted a light meal, this was perfect.

Profiteroles – with vanilla bean ice cream, warm chocolate sauce and praline

The presentation was beautiful! I wish I could say as much for the taste. The puff pastry was tough! Don ate most of it.

We Landed in Sydney

2006-02-26T21:26:00.000-08:00

We landed in Sydney and then changed planes and flew to Melbourne. It is Monday, Feb 27th. We lost a day in transit! It was an exhausting 15 hours of flying. We have a 3-hour flight tomorrow to Perth.My first photos are of arriving in Sydney. The sky was very overcast at the time, but if you look closely, you can see the famous Sydney Opera House.I’m having a hard time trying to figures out this ### computer but I’m determined! We had to a get a “young”-looking hotel worker to help us. He was very nice and helpful. Gave us the correct cable to use at the Hilton Hotel.