This past weekend we ventured to Melbourne. While Sydney is known for stunning ocean views and iconic buildings like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, one must work a bit harder to uncover Melbourne's treasures. The city is full of small laneways and historic arcades with coffee shops and bars tucked here and there. It's also decidedly more victorian or 'european' feeling in its architecture, weather, cutural offerings..even the horse-drawn carriages add a certain je ne se qua (though mainly for tourists I'm sure).
We were fortunate enough to stay with Mike's friend Rita, who has been working for Accenture in Melbourne for several years. She showed us around the city, taking us to the fabulous Queen Victoria Market, an Aussie Rules footy game, local parks, shopping districts and more. We also hung out with Cameron, my ASDS classmate of 12 years who has been living in Melbourne for over 9 years. Thanks to our friends, it was a weekend of nonstop eating, drinking, touring etc.
For those considering a visit to Melbourne, here's a word of advice. Do not be swayed by the $39 price tag for the Jet Star flight from Sydney to Avalon. Avalon is an hour drive from the city and you end up paying extra for a bus transfer, plus there's unnecessary waiting in a tiny country airport! Needless to say, we'll be flying into Tullamarine next time. Yes, we're already planning another visit to Melbourne - we liked it that much!
While Mike was on a boat this weekend, I had my own fun in the Hunter Valley! Rented a car with some friends and spent Sunday drinking, eating and lounging in the sun. We visited four wineries: Hungerford Hill, Tower, Tempus Two and Piggs Peake. We ended up spending the most time at Piggs (and the winemaker even stayed late for us..oops), which was a really small, funky, boutique winery. Needless to say, we all came home with a few bottles from there.
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to take an overnight offshore sailing course in Sydney. I decided to do it both as a way to get out on the water as well as to brush up on my skills. During the trip we had some good parts and some bad parts. The bad part was the lack of wind (5-10kts) and low seas (1-2m) which didn't really give me much of an adventure on the open ocean...
Now for the good stuff (which was everything else)...Mild wind/seas were the result of a high pressure system which meant sunshine and 70+ degree weather. Not bad to be able to sail in the dead of winter in shorts/t-shirt. We headed out on a 40ft. Beneteau which gave me some good experience on a bigger boat. The instruction was a great success, I had a chance to iron out some bad habits that Kevin and I had inevitably picked up over the last few years in SF. I learned some new things about navigation, especially at night, as a bonus we were able to see meteors, an offshore lighning storm and glowing bioluminescent plankton. The plankton were incredible to see glowing as the boat churned up water (click here to see a youtube video - ours wasn't quite this dramatic but looked similar) We also moored overnight, so I picked up some new tips for mooring/cooking/cleaning, etc. Coincidentally, the bay that we moored in was at the head of the hawkesbury river about 2 miles away from where we took a trip on the Riverboat Postman.
The highlights came on Sunday during the ride home. After waking up in the middle of a nature reserve with a waterfall at the end of the bay, we took care of some anchoring practice then headed back out to the ocean. We had breathtaking sights of the headlands, spotted a pod of dolphins in the distance, and eventually the spout of a humpback whale ahead. After disappearing for about 5 minutes the whale resurfaced directly behind the boat and only about 20 meters away. For the next 15 minutes, the whale followed us through several course changes as we tried to get out of the way (video below). Luckily no collisions, but an amazing up close experience. Overall a great weekend and can't wait to get out again soon.
I made homemade bread today, something I never thought I'd do. Either I'm turning into my mother or overly inspired by Masterchef. Probably a little bit of both.
I used this recipe and substitued the seeds and dates with 1 cup of raisins (or sultanas as they say here). It wasn't too difficult, but boy was it a long process with all the rising and kneading! Now I understand why my mom always doubled the recipe and made several loaves.
We've yet to slice into it, so not sure how it will taste. I think 30 minutes in the oven was a little long since the crust is pretty brown and hard. Hoping it's edible..
I'm in awe of how many great walks and beaches are within a short bus or ferry ride from our place. I'm trying to do a lot of the walks while it's still cool out, so when spring/summer arrives I can focus on swimming and lazing on the beach, hehe. The other day I walked from Taronga Zoo (almost directly across from the Opera House) to Balmoral Beach near Mosman. It was about a two hour walk and I liked it almost better than the Spit to Manly trail...it was just as scenic and a bit shorter. I definitely want to make it back to Balmoral beach in the summer. There's great sand, restaurants, grassy areas and even a little island that's connected to the shore by a footbridge. Here's a few pics.
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