Dear Friends, it seems like ages since I sat down to write to you and let you know what has been happening with us. We have had a trip to Tathra and Sydney, which we managed to do in ‘’Teddy5” – we decided not to pack much as the boot just holds a medium size suitcase, a laptop and a briefcase. Everything else needs to sit behind the seats or on the floor at our feet. Before we left on Tuesday, 15th February, we spent time at Dot and John’s house, helping their wonderful family to celebrate his 70th birthday. On Monday afternoon we drove to Ballarat and dropped the boys at Eureka Kennels, before meeting Judi and Michael at the Melbourne Theatre Company to see ‘’A Behanding in Spokane’, which was a mystery to me. Wes enjoyed it, Judi and Michael thought it was OK, but I couldn’t get onto the wavelength at all.
We drove all day Tuesday, through lots of roadworks, some the result of the recent heavy storms in Victoria, others regular maintenance. Wes spent a lot of time on the phone as we were still trying to get Viva’s water damage claim on QBE’s radar, with the help of Andrew Mengyel at OAMPS and John Smith, our friend and insurance broker. We got to Tathra at 5.30pm, checked into our Tathra Beach House motel unit and went straight to Paun and Brian’s home to catch up with whoever was at home. We were in luck as Warwick and Rohan were both home as well as Paun & Brian and Warwick cooked a barbecue, which enabled Paun and Brian to sit and chat with us. It was lovely to see them all again and Brian was particularly pleased with his Tigers’ t-shirt that we brought him.
The perfect breakfast spot in Tathra
The next morning we slept in and had a late breakfast at Cliff Place Café where Paun was able to sit with us and chat most of the morning, which was wonderful. The view from the tables is stunning and it is hard to drag your eyes away from the changing scene. We relaxed during the afternoon by reading The Age, then had dinner with everyone, plus Brian’s brother, Jack, and his wife, Pauline, at a good Thai Restaurant in Pambula, where we were joined at 9pm by Liam, who had driven up from Melbourne. He was in Tathra for less than 24 hours, so we felt very lucky we were there when he was, as he is studying Environmental Engineering at Wollongong University
Rohan, Liam & Warwick – brotherly love!
The next morning we had yummy breakfasts at the Café again and Paun and I chatted, while Wes fielded more calls re Viva’s claim. In the afternoon we visited the Bega Cheese Factory, which was a fun thing to do and we were able to get some cheese for Paun that is only available at the Factory. It rained constantly, which was good, although we didn’t enjoy the humidity that accompanied the rain. I had washed some underwear which wouldn’t dry in Tathra, but did once we got to Sydney.
That night we had dinner in the Café – we had invited Warwick and Rohan to dine with us, and were joined by Jack and Pauline. Paun and Brian did the cooking, their waiter, Paul, made cocktails and poured the wine, and another table of diners came in while we were there. We were most impressed with the menu and enjoyed our dinners very much.
We checked out on Friday morning and had a last breakfast and chat with Paun and Brian before driving to Manly, which took us until 5pm. Once again we drove through lots of roadworks, but we got the good news that the tiler had been and fixed Viva’s roof, which meant the air-conditioner could be repaired as soon as the spare parts arrived. We stayed at ‘Q Station’, the old Quarantine Station, which was a stunning location with wonderful views.
Our bedroom which looked out onto bushland and water
Dinner that night was at ‘Whitewater’ restaurant in Manly, where we caught up with Terry McDonald and Jane Knox. The restaurant had a great location overlooking the beach, but lacked a maitre d’, as we discovered when we asked our waitress to tell us about the cheeses on our platter. She started reading the menu, then asked another waitress to take over. This waitress decided to get ‘Gary’from the kitchen and he arrived at our table with the announcement that Í don’t like cheese myself’.
On Saturday, we decided to have a sleep in and low-key day as we were quite tired from all the driving. It was very humid, our room had no air-conditioning and we found it difficult to sleep. Breakfast was included in the tariff and served at the end of our ‘Second Class Patients’block. We caught the ferry from Manly over to Circular Quay, where Wes saw ‘True Grit’and I watched ‘Black Swan’. We met up afterwards for oysters at the Sydney Oyster Bar, where the service was delightful and we sat for ages over our cheese platter and wine. On the ferry, we met with 4 very interesting Yanks (Kentucky and West Virginia) and Wes gave them some great ideas for where to eat that night. When we got back to the Q Station, there was a breeze, so we sat outside our room reading Saturday’s Age and I was thrilled to solve both Friday and Saturday cryptic crosswords. We had hoped to watch the footy, but there was no Foxtel, so we saw an old ‘Jonathan Creek’ episode instead.
On Sunday, we were up early for breakfast and Wes had hoped to have a swim at the beach, but it was far too hot and humid, so we read Sunday papers at the Guest Lounge,where there was a good breeze and we could be in the shade.
Still not over the Grand Final it seems!
That afternoon we drove to Neutral Bay (thank God for the GPS), where David Knox’s 60th birthday party was in full swing. We joined family and friends for drinks on the patio with stunning views of the harbour and bridge, before we walked down the hill to ‘Basil and Mint’ Thai restaurant for dinner. Terry McDonald joined us there and we enjoyed a lovely meal and some good speeches by David’s brother, a sister, his daughter, Emily, and finally David himself.
It was another hot night, so we decided to sleep with the doors open which allowed whatever breeze there was to get in. We had noticed another couple had done that the night before and decided it was the way to go. We certainly slept better.
We got on the road by 9am the next morning which meant we missed all the heavy traffic and had a good drive with the usual roadworks and phone calls, including one from Sam and Pam Esposito who were in Daylesford wanting to catch up with us. We had decided to stay overnight at Rutherglen, so headed straight for Cofield Wines, bought some Durif and Shiraz and booked into the Tuileries Complex, where we had a beautiful comfortable suite with a gorgeous view. We had dinner in our room as we were too tired and dirty to frock up for the restaurant!
Similar room to ours with view of vines
We drove home the next morning feeling refreshed after our good sleep and had time to put loads of washing on before driving to Ballarat to pick up Bilbo and Frodo, who had been washed and were waiting axiously for our arrival.
By Wednesday we were back in the swing of things – I had an early Dr’s appointment, then caught up with Carol, Dot and Valerie for a morning of Mah Jong, while Wes took Barbara for a big shop at Coles and hot chocolate afterwards. That afternoon we held the first meeting for the 2011 Rotary Arts Show at our place, where we had a good turn-up and everyone seems keen to make a big success of this year’s Show. Then we went to Aperitif at Al and Kathy’s place, before heading to the Daylesford Bowling Club for Rotary, where we were addressed by a local artist, Jackie Gorring.
On Thursday morning I drove to Strathmore to visit Viva, who still is without air-conditioning, but the house was cool and she was in good spirits. We had a lovely few hours together while Leanne had appointments. In the meantime a technician from Hewlett Packard turned up at our place to repair my computer. What a relief – after nearly 3 weeks I have it back and nothing was lost. I spent most of the afternoon on the computer and then ironing, while Wes went to Woodend to the dentist. We had invited Judi to dinner as Michael was away in NSW, but realised we wouldn’t be able to feed her until late, so she and I met up at the Farmers Arms for a chat and had dinner with Wes when he arrived back. Beautiful meal and Catalina Sauvignon Blanc to accompany it.
Yesterday was very special – we had lunch at ‘Star Anise’in Kyneton with Ian & Robyn Robinson, and Gayle and Fraser Gibson. The Robinsons provided a wonderful array of special wines and Chris our maitre d’ looked after us as you would like to be looked after, while his wife, Emma, prepared a beautiful three course meal. This is a seriously good restaurant, small and refined and very interesting. We didn’t leave until 4pm, which was a sure sign of a successful event!
Chef Emma at Star Anise
Needless to say we had a very quiet evening trying in vain to get the footy on the radio and having to make do with the delayed telecast on Channel 7. It was worth the late night as the Swans played very well after a slow first quarter, but the Pies went up a gear in the last quarter and won in the end. Today Wes has spent all morning in the garden, mowing and trimming and getting everywhere looking under control again. I am supposed to be doing my bit by picking fruit that the labradors have left for us and restaking the tomatoes, but I have been on the computer after going shopping early. Must get out there and pull my weight!
Wes at 12 Scott Street on Christmas Morning 74
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