ON THE GRAPEVINE

Sometimes Decisions Come Back to Bite You

2012-02-13T12:24:00.005+11:00

Some time ago due to my and the surrounding vineyards' experience, I decided not to spray for powdery mildew.
We had never had an outbreak in the 10 years prior and climatic conditions (mild cloudy weather) for its development were virtually never experienced in our area.
Not that spraying sulphur is any difficulty as it can simply be added in with the copper for normal downy mildew protection.
The disadvantage is that it's smelly, can cause some breathing allergies and its application can lead to leaf burn on hot (+30C) days.
And not using sulphur saves a bit of money.
Anyway, this summer was virtually not a summer at all.
We had lots of rain (wettest summer in 51 years) and also very cool temperatures and lots of overcast days which is not normal.
You are already getting my drift here.

Sad to say powdery mildew 'hit' the Tempranillo and Semillon pretty hard.
Curative sprays unfortunately did not do their job.
Powdery mildew delays the maturity and retards the growth of the berries and causes them to split.
In addition it causes off flavours in wine.
So this will mean we won't be picking those two varieties this year.
Thankfully the Pinot Noir and the Cabernet Sauvignon have not succumbed and are both looking good so far.
Back to the sulphur next vintage!

A Weekend in Sydney

2012-02-01T00:52:00.003+11:00

As time goes on, we tend to avoid going to Sydney as much as possible. The traffic is usually crazy and it's always noisy, crowded and a little bit frantic. This is the complete antithesis of our south coast environment.
However it's always good to visit the daughter and enjoy far better shopping opportunities as well as eat at one or two of a huge range of restaurants with a myriad of ethnic cuisines.
This time we were catching up with a special friend who had made a quick trip home from Canada for a few weeks.
Naturally the co driver had a list of quilt shops to visit. We left home early and made our way north through driving rain and then across the mid western suburbs of Sydney to Drummoyne and Material Obsession.
This quilt shop was housed in a very cute 19th century Sydney sandstone terrace house (replica?).
Luckily the Australian cricket team was completing the 4-0 demolition of the Indian team in the fourth test match in Adelaide so I took the opportunity to listen to some of the day's play on the car radio while purchases were being made.

Then we went on to Balmain, another older inner Sydney suburb, for lunch.
At random we picked a North African restaurant which specialized in Moroccan food. Not knowing much about this cuisine we asked them to 'surprise' us.
We ended up with a starter of hummus, babaghanouj and taramasalata with flat bread and then a sample platter of grilled haloumi, tabouli, spicy lamb and pine nuts and marinated sardines.
This was followed by char grilled harissa and garlic marinated octopus and cumin battered soft shelled crab with a date and lime sauce.
All wonderful!
Then it was onto quilt shop #2, Calico and Ivy just a short walk down the road. More cricket for me, more purchases for the co driver.
We made it to the daughters in Rose Bay just before peak hour and wandered down the hill to our favourite Japanese Restaurant for dinner. Sushi, sashimi, teriyaki salmon, teriyaki chicken, gyoza and edamame were our choices.
This simple little place, Asakusa, never fails to deliver.
Next morning we drove along Sydney's eastern suburbs beaches Bondi, Tamarama, Bronte ending up at Clovelly for a light breakfast and coffee in a beach cafe overlooking the ocean.
The daughter had taken an unusual picture of Bondi Beach just before sunset a few weeks ago.

Then it was into the CBD (downtown) of Sydney for some serious shopping at Myers and David Jones before meeting up with Muriel at the Malaya Restaurant on Darling Harbour.
This area used to be a part of the commercial port of Sydney but was redeveloped when the advent of container shipping moved the main port from Sydney Harbour to Botany Bay. Cruise ships still tie up here but both sides of the bay are now shops, restaurants, bars, hotels, a convention and exhibition centre and the Maritime Museum as well as other tourist orientated attractions.
One of the the banquets on the Malaya menu looked intriguing and it did not disappoint.
Popiah, then lightly battered deep fried king prawns with chilli and satay beef skewers were the starters.
This was followed by curry prawns with roti cana, black pepper chicken, korma lamb, kwai du and finally chilli beansprouts and snow peas. And of course boiled rice throughout.
Phew! We all rolled out of the restaurant three hours later.
After a late afternoon coffee at one of the many cafes in the QVB we were overfed and talked out so, after farewelling Moo, we headed 'home' for a quiet night.
Surprisingly no one was interested in dinner.
It was an early rise to head south with breakfast at Hungry Jacks (Burger King) on the way.
Well you can't nosh it up every time!
It was a relative easy drive with very little traffic going our way and four hours later we were home.
A really enjoyable weekend away.

Australia Day

2012-01-26T00:01:00.002+11:00

Today is Australia Day and a public holiday.
We commemorate the day in 1788 when the First Fleet of eleven convict ships arrived at Sydney Cove in Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) from Great Britain to establish the first white settlement in what was known then as New South Wales.
They had originally arrived a little to the south at Botany Bay a week before but found the site (recommended by Captain Cook) to have unsatisfactory anchorage, poor soil and little water.
Just prior to their leaving Botany Bay an expedition lead by Frenchman Jean François de Galaup comte de Lapérouse arrived.
Who knows, if he had been a little earlier, we may be all speaking French! But then again, his expedition was never heard of again after leaving the British. There is good evidence that his ships came to grief in the Solomon Islands to the north of Australia.
At least there is Sydney suburb named after him. La Perouse is situated on the north head of Botany bay.

In 1770 Captain James Cook had explored the east coast of the continent then known as Terra Australis and New Holland and taken possession of it for Great Britain on 22nd August.
Previous to that, the continent had been occupied, probably for around 40,000 years, by the Aboriginal people and had been known to Europeans, mainly the Dutch, from the beginning of 17th century.
While the Aboriginal people living here today see little reason to celebrate, what do the rest of us do on Australia Day?
The general consensus is not much. It's pretty much a lay back day, what with it falling at the end of summer school holidays and with a lot of the workforce still on vacation.
There are organized events across the nation with the emphasis on Sydney.
The co driver and I treat it much the same as any other day with no special activities planned.

South Coast Wine Show 2012 Results

2012-01-24T10:50:00.000+11:00

The wine show is over for another year. This was the thirteenth.
Out of the 118 entries, 6 Gold, 16 Silver and 46 Bronze medals were awarded.
From the Shoalhaven Coast region, a Semillon took a gold, including wine of show.
Not surprisingly the cooler climate Southern Highlands dominated the gold medals with a Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc from that region also taking gold.
Wineries around our area, Cupitts, Fern Gully and Bawley Vale also won medals.
About a hundred people turned up for the public tasting and award announcements.

This number was down on previous years. This was a bit surprising as there is no Awards Night Dinner this year and this was the only chance to get a good representative tasting of the wines of the zone as well as indulge in some pretty good finger food and local cheese.
Then again total entries for the show were also down with some major producers not submitting at all or with a reduced number.
Maybe a sign of the financial times.
The Australia dollar is currently very strong ($A1 =$US1.05 = GBP 0.67 =EUR0.80.) so our overseas wine markets have been hit very hard and there is substantial competition now in the local market from imported wines, especially from Europe and in particular France, Italy and Spain.
For a full list of medal winners, check out the wine show web site.

Clyde River Picnic

2012-01-19T17:18:00.009+11:00

The Clyde River rises in the foothills of the Budawang Range behind us and spills out into the ocean at Batemans Bay. The river valley is a pretty remote area in parts but near Brooman there are a lot of rural properties on its banks. The co driver's quilt group had a social day at one of their member's farms and the men and kids were invited.
It was sure a beautiful setting for a picnic.

The kids swam and paddled canoes, the ladies talked and sewed, the men swam and lay in the sun and I did a little fishing.
The whole thing was a "Summertime and the livin' is easy" scenario.

I had been fishing in the Clyde but a lot further upstream many years ago. We used spinner lures and targeted yellow belly or Golden Perch which is a native Australian fresh water fish.
Casting into the edge of weed beds and around structure like fallen trees always brought us luck.
So this time I took a good selection of lures hoping for continued success.

I found a good spot a little downstream from the group and cast out into a weed bed. I used spinner lures, fluorescents, cicada rattlers and even soft plastics.
Over two hours of effort resulted in nothing, not even one bite!
Ok, so "the fish are jumpin' "part of the song was missing.
But at least the view down river from my spot made up for that.
Finally I gave up and headed back for lunch.
Fresh bread rolls, fresh fruit and cold drinks were on the menu.
After that, I succumbed to lying in the shade of a huge sheoak (Casuarina) on the river bank.
A great day with good company.

Veraison

2012-01-16T11:51:00.001+11:00

Veraison is a French word that means, in the world of viticulture, 'the beginning of ripening'.
The word has however been adopted into viticultural English and is regarded as an important milestone in the grape growing season.
Veraison is the time when the grape berry has stopped growing and the ripening process starts. The visible indication of this phase is the change of colour of red grapes from green to red (anthocyanin formation) and white grapes from green to yellowish (carotenoid formation).
The berries also change chemically with acids being degraded and sugars accumulated while herbaceous aromas degrade and fruity aromas start to develop.
Due to the cooler summer this season the onset of veraison is a little later than normal. Theory has it that slower ripening and lower ambient temperatures will improve the quality of the grapes.

As a result of all this, harvest will be delayed for a few weeks. We can only hope that heavy rain, which has also been an integral part of this summer, stays away for the next few months.
We don't need the juice diluted and the grapes put under any disease pressure.
So far in our little vineyard, we have seen veraison in the Pinot Noir (picture) and the Tempranillo.
Surprisingly there has been no sign as yet in the Semillon which is regarded as an early ripening variety. Another indication of the lack of ripeness of the Semillon is that the birds have not yet taken to eating the few bunches which are growing through the netting.
The later ripening Cabernet Sauvignon has a bit of a way to go yet.
So it's time to start cleaning up the wine making equipment and think about bottling last year's vintage to make room in the tanks for the new.

South Coast Wine Show 2012

2012-01-11T09:12:00.006+11:00

The entries are in and have been collated. One hundred and eighteen wines from twenty four wineries were received for judging in the various classes next week.
The South Coast Wine Zone covers a pretty big area and has two official wine regions, The Shoalhaven Coast and The Southern Highlands. A third area just west of Sydney around the Hawkesbury River is waiting for recognition.
This means the zone has a number of distinct climatic areas ranging from cool continental to warm maritime. Because of this we get a diverse number of wine styles from the same grape variety depending on where they are grown.

The three judges take around a day to get through the entries. White wines in the past have done better than reds but chief judge, David Morris, say the quality of the latter has been improving over the years. It will be interesting to see if this trend has continued into 2012.
My favourite whites from the zone are Semillon, Verdelho and cool climate Riesling. The Southern Highlands produce some acceptable Pinot Noir as well.
The public can taste all of the entries the following day when the awards are announced.
There is more detailed information on the Wine Show web site.

That Was The Year That Was

2011-12-31T23:59:00.006+11:00

Happy New Year to all my readers!
For us 2011 started with a pretty difficult vintage. Continuous wet weather made fungus control very uncertain and we paid the price when our Semillon "went to God" in spring. The reds seem to be faring better so far.
The strange weather continued all year under the influence of La Nina and it was officially the coldest start to summer in 50 years. In fact we had our first swim of the season on Christmas day!

On the positive weather side, there were no huge wind storms, damaging thunder storms or bush fires in our area this year.
The same can't be said for northern Australia, especially Queensland, with some disastrous cyclones (hurricanes) and wide spread flooding at the beginning of the year.
The house got a new roof as well as some remedial structural work and we are pleased the leaks have stopped. Worth every dollar.

The cattle got through winter in good condition on supplementary feed and produced 5 calves in the spring. Sadly, one didn't make it (no, not the assisted birther) but that's life on the land. Snake bite? Who knows.
There was a bit of a health scare mid year but things are now going well and all that has been put behind us.
The trip to the USA in September was great. New York, Washington DC and Nashville were all new destinations for us and we saw and did lots. Catching up with family in South Dakota was, as usual, also fun.

We are now at the end of the festive season but summer holidays for the bulk of Australians will continue for another month. After they have all gone home our lives will return to normal ie. quiet and peaceful, on the beautiful south coast of New South Wales.
Plans for 2012?
Travel wise, we will probably stay 'home'. A trip to Melbourne via the Snowy Mountains and back along the coast road is in the final planning stage. The co driver wants to attend a yoga festival in the Victorian capital and I can more than fill in my time in the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula wine regions.
Tasmania in spring for a few weeks is also a possibility.

Other than that we are gearing up for the 2012 vintage which will start in February.
The vines are thriving under the damp, coolish conditions but seem to have produced a lot of leaves and not the normal fruit load. Hopefully the quality will make up for the lower yield.
It's hard to believe that this blog is over seven years old now and has had over 22,000 hits in the last 4 years. Written mainly for family and friends, the geographical diversity of readership always amazes me.
Hopefully you will all be with me for another seven...or more.

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-26T10:09:00.004+11:00

After opening presents, we had our traditional breakfast of pancakes and then headed for the beach.
It was a warm sunny morning with not many people around. The water was a bit cool to start with but we soon got used to it. This was our first swim of the season. We had the pleasure of sharing the surf with a pod of about ten dolphins which came quite close.

Then it was back home to prepare for Christmas lunch. The daughter had brought down a bottle of Pol Roger champagne so we started with that. Then it was the choice of oysters natural or oysters kilpatrick followed by fresh tiger prawns.

We then put some fresh mussels on the BBQ to open and had them with a spicey home made Italian tomato sauce. All this was washed down with Margan's Hunter Valley Semillon and/or Verdelho.

After a bit of a rest, we bbq'd some lamb filets and had them with a feta, oregano and olive oil sauce together with grilled tomatoes and cauliflower au gratin. I found a bottle of Wynns Coonawarra Alex 88 Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 in my secret stash to go with this.
You would think this was enough, but no.
Dessert was a choice of ice cream with home made chocolate sauce or plum pudding, vanilla custard and ice cream.
We all then raised the white flag!
And a short sleep during what was left of the afternoon was in order.
No dinner (big surprise!) but a quiet evening in front of the TV finished a great day.

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-24T14:40:00.004+11:00

Christmas Eve dawned with a thick pea soup fog.
It was still hanging around mid morning but cleared to a bright sunny warm day.
At last summer appeared to be here.
The co-driver, daughter and I headed down the beach for a walk and a sit on the rocks.
The beaches have a few more people than normal on them but it will be Boxing Day when the hoards of touros arrive for their holidays.
Town was busier than normal on Friday when we did our Christmas grocery shopping but hadn't reached the frenzy we know will happen on the following weeks.

So, touros, some advice for the following four weeks.
We know you only have a limited time away from work and we know you want to fit as much as possible into your holiday, but....

running your shopping trolley into the back of my legs while standing in the supermarket queue won't make it go any faster.
the people who live here full time know most everyone else including the check out chicks and store owners. If we have our normal 30 second chat during and after getting served, no need to tut tut and roll your eyes at the delay in your getting served.
I know you don't think the 'dogs on leads' sign at the beach means you and that you think it's ok for your dog to crap and wee everywhere and hunt down the new hatched and endangered hooded plover chicks in the sand dunes but at least take a bag and clean up after it.
realize that our beaches are quite long and relatively uncrowded. No need to park yourself and your sprogs one meter from us at the far end of the beach, turn up your music and kick soccer balls/play volley ball/play beach cricket/play badminton on top of us. And please take your empty bottles and cans with you when you leave.
surfboards can be dangerous weapons. Don't ride them in amongst swimmers.
beach umbrellas have steel spikes on their ends. These become spears when the wind catches them and they cartwheel down the sand. How about making sure they are safe and secure before heading into the water. No one wants to see child shish kebab.
yes, our roads are narrow and get quite busy at this time of year. No need to tail gate us and participate in outrageously dangerous passing maneuvers to get to the beach 10 seconds before us.

I know all this will fall on deaf ears but at least I feel better now. As one of our shop owners said to us "it's good that they bring their money with them every year, pity they leave their good manners at home".
Anyway we are off to see some friends who own a local winery for a few drinks.
Merry Christmas!

The Valley Christmas Party

2011-12-19T09:46:00.006+11:00

Each year one of the families in the valley hosts our little community’s Christmas party.
This year it was our turn.
It’s a very informal affair with BYO food and grog and a plate to share.
Seven of the eight families turned up with the valley matriarch, Norma, unfortunately still in hospital. She assured us in a phone call during the evening she would be there next year.
With the weather forecast to be iffy, we set up in the car port, aka ‘the winery’, with the BBQ’s nearby.
We needn’t have worried as the rain stayed away but being protected from the unseasonably cool wind was a bonus.
The mutually owned Christmas lights were strung up and we minimally decorated with some bits and pieces that had been stored away, forgotten, for many years in the shed.

The unofficial mayor, neighbour Bob, attempted as usual to get some community projects discussed eg. cattle grid maintenance at the entry to our road plus a few other things.
It’s been the same agenda for as long as I can remember and discussions always get diverted and Bob in the end gives up and postpones them until next year.
I decided to have a bit of a retro starters menu. So out came the party pies, sausage rolls and cheerios (no, not the cereal, but cocktail sausages), all party food of my childhood. All were scoffed down.
I had also ducked into the German supermarket chain Aldi in town to see what seasonal German delights I could find as a reminder of spending two Christmases in that country.
I picked up some Pfeffernuesse and Lebkuchen as well as some marshmallow snowmen. They had all sorts of familiar goodies there but we didn’t want to go overboard! These were pretty popular too.
So with the odd Christmas song amongst the 60s and 70s music on the play list and lots of good food, the evening flew by.

There were lots of different salads and hot dishes to go with BBQ meat and a variety of desserts.
Norma had delegated the co driver to make sure that her pavlovas were on hand as usual. So under the watchful eye of neighbour Jude, the co driver, who had never made this traditional Australian (New Zealand?) dessert before, put together two beauties.
Both were quickly devoured.
So that was it for 2011.
We are lucky to be living along side such a great group of people.

Better Luck Next Time

2011-12-10T12:04:00.003+11:00

In February this year I wrote about the upcoming 2011 harvest “another problem fungus is botrytis or grey rot or bunch rot. Botrytis cinerea results in a disintegration of grape berry structure and creates the ideal conditions for the infection of the fruit with yeasts and bacteria which increase volatile acidity and laccase activity.
The musts obtained from infected grapes are strongly compromised both microbiologically and chemically. This shows up as laccase enzymes, a high concentration of apiculated yeasts, acetic bacteria, lactic bacteria and high concentrations of gluconic and acetic acid.
The most important wine making problems are caused by the presence of laccase, an enzyme that oxidises wine polyphenols.
As an indirect consequence it causes the production of acetaldehyde, the reduction of the free sulphur dioxide, an increase in "faded" aromatics, the loss of primary aromas, the darkening of white wines, and an increase of orange notes in red wines.
So we have a bit of a battle on our hands this vintage to produce reasonable wine”

Then in March, post harvest, I wrote about the Semillon, “the fruit has been affected by botrytis much of which we managed to manually sort through and discard. It will be interesting to see if that fungus has any affect on the resultant wine quality particularly its oxidation 'resistance'.”
Well the chickens have well and truly come home to roost.
Despite increased levels of sulphur, maintenance of a low pH and as best as possible reducing the exposure of the wine to air during the various production procedures, the smell of acetaldehyde (sherry like) and a noticeable browning in colour is obvious.
The wine has become victim of oxidation almost surely caused by laccase enzyme activity.
Unfortunately it has become undrinkable and will have to be poured into the ground.
That’s the risk of a Vin de Garage operation with no real sophisticated quality control equipment available.
Better luck in 2012.
And for all those inquiring about the welfare of the 'assisted birth' calf I blogged about last month, I have included a pic taken a few days ago.
Both baby and mother are doing well. So that more than cancels out the disappointment of the loss of the wine.

A November Update

2011-11-30T12:26:00.007+11:00

Last weekend was supposed to be a really busy one with Saturday taken up at a country race meeting at Moruya to watch one of Seldom Winning Trainer Bob’s horses run and a trip the next day up over the mountains to Braidwood and Bungendore for two country quilt shows.
On the Friday night a facet of my ill-spent youth revisited and I spent over an hour studying the form for the 7 race program and making my selections. Then I spent an hour explaining ‘racing’ to the co driver who was quite excited about her first ever day at the races.
But fate intervened overnight and into the morning when the heavens opened up and dumped 70mm (3inches) of rain on us in a few hours which caused the races to be cancelled.
It was even more galling that by lunchtime it was all blue sky and sunshine.
Sunday however found us early on the road and heading west to the quilt shows. I won’t go into details as the co driver has finally started a quilt blog ‘Coloring Outside the Lines’ and you can catch up with news of the shows there.
But that is typical of early summer weather here. Hot sticky days followed by thunderstorms and a cool southerly change. Last night was a corker! Hours of thunder and lightning, some simultaneous, accompanied by patches of torrential rain. And it’s amazing how localised these thunderstorm cells can be. My rain gauge showed 8.5 mm while the official weather station some 20km north recorded only 2.4mm.

Meanwhile all the cattle, including the new calves, have gone next door for a short holiday. Neighbour Bob has some paddocks full of long grass that needs eating and he appreciates the fertiliser that is deposited in the process.
The grapes are growing like triffids with all this warm wet weather and it’s been a bit of a battle to keep them under control (green pruning) as well as keep the spraying up. There doesn’t appear to be the volume of fruit on the shoots this year as in the past however.
So we are winding down for Christmas. Our only commitment for this is hosting the valley get together in a few weeks. Other than that and a visit from the daughter it will be the usual low key event.

Brooman and Batemans Bay Date Day

2011-11-22T14:16:00.011+11:00

Between where we live on the coast and the beautifully rugged Budawangs which form part of the Great Dividing Range to the west is the Clyde River valley. This area is home to many State Forest areas as well as National Parks. It is also home to many people who want to get away from it all and live a quiet secluded rural lifestyle. Many have small acreages, hobby farms as well as larger commercial cattle enterprises.

Photo: James Lamb
The area has quite a history. Two minor gold rushes in the mid and late 1800s brought it to prominence and subsequently it was a centre of a thriving timber industry. Brooman the main centre no longer exists apart from a dilapidated road sign.
The area is serviced by some pretty rough, narrow, winding, unsealed roads and a labyrinth of fire trails. There is a definite lack of signage and it’s not too difficult to take a wrong turn and get a little lost.

The co driver’s quilt group is meeting out that way on a property for their Christmas lunch in a few weeks so we thought we would take an exploratory detour on our way to Batemans Bay for date day and lunch at Innes Boat Shed.
The road west took us out of the lush temperate rain forest country of the coastal strip and into the river valley. Turning south, we followed the very windy road along the Clyde to Shallow Crossing where we crossed the river on the water covered causeway.

From here the river widens as it heads to the old port of Nelligen and eventually spills into the ocean at Batemans Bay. The country here is tall timber, mostly spotted gums, with an understorey of cycads eg.burrawangs. It was a pleasant river drive for the most of the way. We only came across two other vehicles the two hours we were on the road.

Once in ‘the Bay’, we headed for the Boatshed for our monthly fix of fish and chips (and potato scallops). This simple place sits over the water and serves the best fresh fish and chips in the area. It has been there for 50 years. No credit cards, stand in line to order and pay, no table service, clean up after you! The local council awarded a developer a contract to redevelop the site. The locals were appalled that this institution would be pulled down and replaced by a modern glass and aluminium monstrosity but all protests and petitions were in vain. However the global financial crises apparently sent the developer to the wall.
Karma!
Innes remain there on a monthly lease. We all relish this stay of execution.

Kangaroos and Wallabies

2011-11-20T08:19:00.000+11:00

We have both in our area and both come to 'visit' us around the house most mornings and late afternoons.
What is the difference?
Not much it seems. Wallabies are always smaller and have a different colouring. While kangaroos are much the same colour all over eg, grey or red, wallabies have a more distinct colouring pattern with ours being dark brown with a yellowish tinge around the belly to the neck. They are swamp wallabies. Our kangaroos are eastern greys.
Kangaroos prefer open to lightly forested country, while wallabies prefer the thicker bushland and even swampy areas.

On the coastal strip near us eg. the Bawley Point area, there are hundreds (thousands?) of kangaroos. They live among the houses and graze on the lawns and sporting ovals, in the camping grounds, in the rural properties and along the side of the road. They are even on the beach.
Some are quite big and can reach 2m (6ft) or more high. Females with babies (joeys) can be aggressive as can the males. It pays not to get too close to the bigger ones. They have very big claws on their hind feet which can do a lot of 'damage' if they strike out.
My neighbour up the back has a mob of about ten living on her property. Two of the bucks are huge!

Ours are small however and seem to have gotten quite used to us. They are not too timid and are happy to let us come within 10m or so before hopping off to a safer distance. One has just ejected her joey from her pouch. The young one seems to be enjoying the freedom, racing around the place at breakneck speed while the bemused mother looks on.
Their downside is they love to eat new grapevine shoots. This is the main reason I have permanently netted my vines. They also can be a menace on the road especially at night. Hitting a big one at speed can do great damage to a car and even the driver.
And for the trivia buff, the word 'kangaroo' is probably a derivation from the Guugu Yimidhirr Endeavour River area (North Queensland) Aborigine language, 'gaNurru' which means "large black kangaroo."

The anglicized version was first used by Captain James Cook and botanist Joseph Banks in 1770, after their first contact with the native Australian population when they were repairing their ship "Endeavour' after running it aground on the Great Barrier Reef in that area during the first white exploration of the east coast.

Calving Time

2011-11-15T06:23:00.002+11:00

The cows usually head off into some deserted part of the property to have their calves. We sort of know 'who and approximately when' (it's all to do with udder size) so keep an eye out for their welfare when one 'disappears' for a time.
It took me ages to find my oldest cow and her new calf one rainy Saturday morning a few weeks ago as she had hidden it just over the creek in the bush where we had repaired the fence last October. I had walked past her a number of times during the search.
So it was a bit of surprise to see one giving birth out in the open while I was spraying the vines.
She seemed to be doing ok for a while until the youngster was half out. Then she was up and down quite a few times until she finally lay down and just stayed there.
We had had some trouble with this cow's calving a few years ago and she had needed assistance. Nothing much was happening so I headed off to consult with "Dr" Neighbour Bob but he was not there. Nurse Jude offered to help but by the time we got back the calf was on the ground. Mum was up but seemed a little exhausted so we helped clean out the newbie's nose and straightened out the legs a little. After that we let the mother do her thing unmolested and within 30 minutes the calf was up and tottering around.

One of the young heifers was having her first last week. She was struggling and the calf seemed 'stuck'. With Neighbour Bob in New Zealand we had to do things on our own. So after a while watching nothing happening the decision was made to help. With a little bit of pulling by the daughter and I and a lot of pushing by 'Mum' we eventually got the little bull calf into this world.

The new mother wanted nothing to do with her offspring so we had to clean him up and help him get his feet. We locked them in the cattle yard together but the mother was completely disinterested. Having had this happen before and dreading months of hand rearing, we became pro active putting the cow in the head bale and expressing milk into the calve's mouth until he got the hang of butting and sucking.

After a day in the confines of the cattle yard together, I let them both into a larger paddock and kept an eye out for some feeding activity. It seemed on the afternoon of day two she stopped kicking him away and knew he was hers and that she had to look after him.
It was good to see him with a fat little belly full of milk.
So that's five this year.
The next step will be deciding who has to go to market next autumn, apart from the bull who is an obvious contender.
The property can only carry a certain number and although this will be a good season it becomes tough when the grass stops growing and we have to supplement the available natural feed with very expensive lucerne hay.

Leeches

2011-11-12T01:00:00.000+11:00

I hate leeches!
Not because of what they are but what they do me. A leech bite leaves a nasty red lump on me that can itch for months.
Recently the co driver found a big leech (see pic) lying in a pool of blood on the carpet. A quick inspection found that it had dropped off my leg after a day out spraying the vines. Despite wearing knee length rubber boots it had found its way in. Serves me right for not spraying my pants legs and boots with Aerogard before going out I suppose.
When conditions are right (moist), these relatives of the worm come out and hang about in grass, on bushes and in trees waiting for their victims. They do this by ‘standing’ in an upright position by means of their posterior sucker.

Chemical sensors and vibration are used to detect an approaching host, usually mammals or humans. As the unsuspecting victim moves past they attach themselves with their anterior sucker. Once on, they make their way to a suitable vein near the skin surface, often around the ankle, upper foot or calf.
The Australian land leech (Gnatbobdellida libbata) has two jaws and makes a V-shaped incision which distinguishes it from other leeches in the world which have three jaws leaving a Y shaped incision.

Blood is prevented from clotting via an anticoagulant and a histamine with improves blood flow directly into the leech. Once the attached leech is fill-up with blood, perhaps tripling its size, they drop off the victim and find a suitable place to digest their meal.
This one didn't get a chance to enjoy its lunch, however.
Pass the Itch-X!

The Co-Driver / Back in Aus

2011-11-09T03:13:00.000+11:00

Last one from the co-driver for a while! (Just helping the ol’ guy out a little with some extra posts.)
Here are a few of my current projects:
I do a little sewing on the side for our local quilt shop – her samples and such. Here are a few that I finished last week:

And this one is a quilt that I made from fabric I purchased on our trip around South Australia last year – it’s a Moda line that I fell in love with. The block patterns are from the book Japanese Taupe Quilt

And finally, this is a project that our quilt group has started. It’s a Block-of-the-Month from the Vignette Magazine.
I’m using my fabric vomit (Kaffe & Amy Butler) collection. As it’s summer here, it’s a great project for working on in front of the TV as it’s too bloody hot to have a quilt on my lap.

And now, I need to get back to my BIG project.
Spring Cleaning 2011!!!
UGH…..

The Daughter's Bali, 2011

2011-11-06T03:23:00.001+11:00

It all started last year when I was on my way home from a month in Europe and had stopped in Singapore to see my old housemate and gorgeous friend Ms. Froggie. Both devoted yogis we decided that we would head to Bali this year to spend some time furthering our skills at a yoga retreat in the lush mountains of Ubud and also spend some champagne and girl time at a beach side resort. We both had the same requirements – no crowds, touts or bogans and we wanted serious luxury accommodation on the beach.

I have been to Bali many times – the first when I was a mere 15 years old with my school for an art excursion up until my early 20’s when I followed my then surfer boyfriend around the island as a dedicated towel and wax minder. I got to see amazing hidden gems off the beaten track during these trips and I have always had an unexplainable affinity with the small Indonesian island. From the moment the plane begins descending through the tropical clouds I feel like I have arrived “home”.
Most people associate Bali with the horrific terrorist bombings of 2002 and 2005 and the hedonistic and embarrassing antics of some Western tourists as they ignore and disrespect the quiet customs of the beautiful Balinese people who are lucky enough to call Bali their home. To me, it is a place of great spirituality, emotion and beautiful customs.

I wanted to steer clear of the tacky streets of Kuta, Legian and Seminyak so after some research found the village of Canggu and the amazing Tugu Bali Hotel. Filled with excitement, I was driven through the dark incense laden streets on a sultry August night to meet Ms. Froggie at our hotel. With a bottle of Champagne in my hand I made my way to her suite where we sat on her spacious sea view balcony, waves crashing onto the black sand beach just beyond the hotel’s garden gossiping and laughing like only old friends can.
We spent the next 2 days walking miles on the black sand beach and eating our way through the amazing menu choices the hotel offered, all the while never running out of conversation. Ms. Froggie is possibly one of the only people in the world that I can travel with and never get sick of. We are both extremely independent, well travelled and introverted so know how to get along without even trying. I think previously living and travelled together a lot also helps.

Finally the day came to make our way to the green mountains of Ubud to our 6 day yoga retreat. I was really looking forward working with the Australian yoga teacher who is very well known in yoga circles and seeing if I could push myself to new areas (freestanding headstands perhaps? Yikes!). Our hillside retreat was gorgeous and overlooked the rice terraces that Bali is famous for. The ringing of wind chimes was soothing as we unpacked our bags and headed to our first yoga session with the group of 20 other yogis.

Over the next 6 days we were woken early and stretched to our limits in our open air yoga pavilion overlooking a small river. It was beautiful watching the sun rise over the jungle as we “downward dogged” and “warriored” until our muscles felt like they were beyond stretched. We were fed the most amazing semi-vegetarian food every day and I have never felt so healthy.

Massages and decadent spa treatments were offered daily as well as excursions to temples and bike rides through the surrounding villages. There was a day of enforced silence where we spent 24 hours without speaking or interacting with anyone (slightly difficult when sharing a room – Ms. Froggie and I perfected the art of miming with much hilarity).

It was with sadness we left our new friends for a few final days back at the Tugu Bali Hotel. Ms. Froggie and I soon fell back into our beach walk/eat/swim/eat/beach walk/sleep routine until it was time for me to farewell her as she headed onto another part of the island while I flew back to Sydney.

It had been 10 years since I had been to Bali and before I left for this trip I had wondered if perhaps I had imagined the magic it held for me. Maybe nostalgia had made my memories sweeter that what was reality? I can honestly say, I fell more in love with it. I now know that it will always be “home”. I can’t wait to go back again soon.

The Co-Driver's USA Report / Part 2

2011-11-04T03:08:00.000+11:00

The Co-driver again….

While I was back in the USA, I had several quilts quilted by my sister and niece. They are commercial quilters with the business of Charmed I’m Sure. Since arriving home, I’ve sewn the binding onto all three of them. I’ve also attached a sleeve to two of them as I intend to hang them in our house.

This one is a simple log cabin that I made years ago with left over fabrics from a friendship quilt exchange. This will hang over the ‘wine laboratory bench’ in the little house. Carin quilted this with a pantograph.

The second one is a quilt that Kay pieced for me for my birthday. Again, Carin quilted it with a pantograph. Isn’t she good?

And this one – well, if you’re a regular reader of Mr. W’s blog, you’ve seen it before…..it’s my Australia quilt that took….oh….10 years or so to finish. It has probably over 150 different fabrics in it. I started collecting colors for this quilt after my first visit to Australia in 2001.

Check out the quilting…..Kay did a frickin’ fantabulous job on it. Every time I look at it I see something different. My favorite part is the pebbles.
I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!
I’m going to put it in the local show early next year. It’s a long shot that it will win but it’s a winner in my book so I don’t really much care what others think of it.

The Co-Driver's USA Report / Part 1

2011-11-02T03:05:00.000+11:00

The Co-driver here!
Thought I’d share a couple more things that were happenin’ in South Dakota after Mr. W went home.
Firstly, we had a fabulous JAM session.
Gramcraker made us jam every year for Christmas. As a way to honor her life, all the women folk got together and had a Raspberry-Rhubarb jam making day at Kelly’s in her swish new kitchen. Kay thought ahead and had aprons in various colors made for all (I think there were 11 of us).

Carin had given me a frame with a photo of Gramcraker’s hands so that sat among us while we all took turns measuring, stirring, washing & bossing. No such thing as too many cooks spoiling the jam – it was DELISH! I even 'smuggled' some back to Australia with me.
As I don’t wear an apron much, I’ve tied it to a chair in my little house;
Looks cute, doesn’t it?

The weekend after Mr. W left, 12 gals headed to Adams, Minnesota for a quilt retreat at Whispering Willows Cottage.
O-M-G, it is an absolute gem of a facility. I highly recommend it. There was absolutely nothing that we could have wanted for, other than perhaps an extra bed (one of them was supposed to be for 2 people but they would have had to be miniature people to be comfortable in the bed).
So, for 3 nights and 3 1/2 days, 12 women sewed and crafted and laughed and ate and drank and played games and had massages and ate and drank and gambled and shopped…..oh, and did I mention that we ate and drank? It was such a nice weekend. There was a bit of concern that 12 estrogen dependent women might struggle to get along for that long but no worries….other than a little niggle or two, there were no problems. One night we even had The Quilt Goddesses in residence……they were a hoot!

I also spent quite a bit of time doing yoga while I was back in hopes of staying in my ‘zen zone’. It worked. I stayed in my ZZ the entire trip (well, pretty much so). I found a delightful little studio called EastbankYoga in Sioux Falls.
Gina and Cena are great teachers. I also took a class from Mary at The Butterfly Rainbow Center and she was wonderful. My only regret is that I didn’t have enough time to join Cena for that glass of wine she offered.
The best part was spending some quality time with family and friends. It gets to be a long dry spell between visits and although my home is in Australia, I dearly miss my family and friends in the USA - Skype, phone calls, emails and snail mail just don’t quite hit the mark.

An October Update

2011-10-31T03:29:00.006+11:00

I arrived back from the USA to find all grape varieties passed bud burst and well into shoot growth, even the later variety Cabernet Sauvignon.
Also the lawn as well as the grass in the vineyard inter rows were already out of control.
This of course meant lots of mowing and fungicide spraying, both of which need fine weather which eluded us for another week. Eventually something like normal fine spring weather came and it was a chance to try out my new electric sprayer.
It gets towed behind my ride-on in a trailer and is powered by the ride-on battery. I went for a larger pump option which allows the use of 15m of spray hose.
What a great thing! So quick and easy.
Gone are the days of hawking around multiple loads in a heavy back pack sprayer.

Stirling was down to help with a bigger than normal fencing job. I had discovered a large tree down over multiple panels on my southern boundary fence just before leaving for overseas so locked off the paddock to the cattle until I got home. So it was a matter of clearing the tree, cutting and setting new posts including a big strainer as well as joining and stretching barbed wire.
Two things we noticed while doing this were the leeches were out and about again. And so were the black snakes.
The cows have started to have their calves. So far so good with three on the ground without problems. "Dr" Neighbour Bob is on standby just in case however.
We have planted another vegetable garden (tomatoes, rocket, zucchini, silver beat) with a new irrigation system installed as last years proved completely ineffective. Instead of drip irrigation, we are trying weeping hose made from recycled car tyres which is laid directly in loops onto the soil. All this produce coupled with the mixed salad and herbs supplied by neighbour Gail should hopefully see us set up for a lot of healthy summer meals.

Sculptures of Sioux Falls, SD

2011-10-22T05:09:00.000+11:00

Sioux Falls holds an annual sculpture competition with entrants displayed downtown in Phillips Avenue. These are some of my favourites.

And some previous winners are on display in Falls Park.

Nashville to Sioux Falls and Home

2011-10-15T10:33:00.008+11:00

Up early once again for the short drive to Nashville airport, rental car drop off and check in.
The flight to Chicago was uneventful.

Then we boarded our flight to Sioux Falls a few hours later and sat and sat. They had a fuel gauge problem but "it was being fixed."
Nope, not fixed, everyone off!
Luckily they had a replacement plane quite quickly for us as Chicago is a United hub so our arrival was delayed only a few hours.
On the Saturday, Kay and Scott accompanied us on the drive up to St.Paul, Minnesota to see a live performance of A Prairie Home Companion. I had become aware on this radio show purely through the movie many years ago and am now a fan.
We went to Mickey's Diner (featured in the film) for lunch. The place was quirky and a little grotty and the staff were wonderfully off hand. So no disappointments there.

In the evening we came back to the Fitzgerald Theatre for the two hour performance of the radio show. Garrison Keillor and company were in fine form, the resident and guest bands (in particular the French Canadian Le Vent du Nord) were terrific so it was a great evening far exceeding expectations. You can listen to the actual show we attended on this link.
Thinking the show was an institution, I was continually amazed about the number of mid westerners who had not heard of it. We passed on the meatloaf and mashed potato supper and street dance outside the theatre afterwards in favour of Japanese starters in one restaurant and Mexican mains in another as the porta potty queues were a mile long!

On the way back to Sioux Falls we stopped at Cabela's in Owatanna for my bi annual clothes stock up. Sadly most of the summer specials were gone but there were still plenty of cheap jeans and short sleeved polos.
Kevin and Lisa held a family get together that night with deep fried turkey among other delicious offerings particularly Kelly's baked beans made from scratch.
The rest of the week we caught up with family and friends, revisiting old eating haunts, finding new ones (Cooks Kitchen in Brookings), shopping and drinking lots of Caribou coffee.

After an evening spent in Hills, Minnesota at a small town diner with childhood friends of the co driver, I just managed to fit in a gambling date with my usual partner in crime, Lisa, at the new Grand Falls Casino over the border in Iowa.
I say 'just managed' because we inexplicably (according to them) got lost for some time in the dirt back roads among the corn fields in an area where the co driver and her mom had lived a great deal of their lives. So it's just not me who thinks all these roads look the same.
Lisa did extremely well at Grand Falls.
I didn't.
We also managed to satisfy our cravings for prime rib at Mad Mary's in Flandreau with Karen and Emmett and have the usual great Reuben sandwich at the Phillips Avenue Diner courtesy of Mom.
The co driver had enrolled in yoga classes in town so that gave me an opportunity to explore downtown Sioux Falls in more depth than before. I spent a bit of time in Falls Park (yes, there are falls in Sioux Falls) learning about the unique geology of the area and its industrial development when the power of the Big Sioux River at the falls was harnessed to drive a flour mill, the ruins of which still stand there today.

The pink and sometimes red rock in the area is called Sioux quartzite or jasper. It's very hard (7 on the Mohs scale) and was heavily quarried for building stone which was used in many prominent structures in the town.
Now it is used mainly for industrial purposes eg.road fill, rip rap and railway ballast but still finds use for architectural and decorative applications.

After the hustle and bustle of New York and DC, Sioux Falls was a welcome change of pace. The picture below is the main street downtown around lunch time. Not exactly busy.

There is an annual summer sculpture display/competition with works set up in Phillips Avenue.
I thought some of these deserved a post of their own at a later date.
We stayed in an area an hour or so out of town ie. Colton/Trent/Elkton. This is farming country given over to corn and soya beans. The main centre is Brookings which is a university town (SDSU) and the headquarters to electronic scoreboard and sign manufacturer Daktronics.
And no matter where you are you always seem to come across the meandering Big Sioux River as it makes its way down to the Missouri on the South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska border just to the south.

The next weekend saw another family gathering, this time at Kay and Scotts. Great hamburgers and hot dogs and an energetic game of volley ball for those so inclined. The next day we had a family photo shoot in Dell Rapids Park and later the ladies had a rhubarb and raspberry jam making session in memory of Granma Helen. Mark and I retired to Cubby's Sports Bar for a few beers and a burger to watch his beloved Minnesota Vikings once again blow a substantial first half lead and lose in the last minute. Having seen the Wallabies perform similar sporting suicide on a few occasions I was sympathetic.
During what remained of the following week we caught up with Becky and another Kevin for a nice dinner at Granite City Microbrewery as well as have a nice smaller family picnic in the zoo park.
Between the layers of hard jasper soft layers of catlinite have formed. This is a red carvable rock used by Native Americans for pipes and effigies.

Just over the SD border in Minnesota is the town of Pipestone and the Pipestone National Monument where this rock is quarried by hand and worked today. I had been there before but am always pleased to go again, walk the track along the Pipestone Creek, feel the spirit, take in the views across the restored prairie (only 1% original prairie in MN remains), see the pipestone quarries, watch the native Americans carving it and buying a few small pieces. This time it was two small owls to keep my turtle, already at home, company.

The pipestone quarries are a significant site for many American Indian cultures. It is still considered a sacred place by many who come to quarry the rock or visit and is treated with reverence and respect. Native Americans believe the red pipestone is the blood of their ancestors. Pipes carved from the rock are used in religious ceremonies and the smoke carries prayers up to the Great Spirit.
Along the path past the waterfall we walked by a rock formation known as The Oracle. The stones form a face. Legend says if you're very quiet The Oracle will speak to you about life and about the history of this piece of earth.
All you have to do is listen.

Kevin gave me the opportunity of touring the Sioux Falls National Guard Air Force base. It was great to see lots of F16's up close with many going through maintenance phases. They are really just one big engine with a tiny cockpit on top. I was also allowed in the munitions area which was pretty interesting as well.
So soon my time had run out and it was time to head for home. The co driver was staying a few extra weeks so driving me to the airport she managed a detour to fit in a butter burger and a frozen chocolate custard at Culvers. Complimentary food is non existent on United domestic flights and is pretty dire on international routes so I needed fueling. Luckily there is a Caribou Coffee and a Ben & Jerrys in DEN and a good Mexican restaurant in SFO International Terminal.
All the flights home were full which can make things a little uncomfortable. But on the 24 hours I was in transit I managed to keep in my zen zone and even slept some of the 14 hours between San Francisco and Sydney.
My ride was already waiting for me as I exited customs in Sydney, so I was soon in more familiar surroundings where I spent the next few days fighting off the affects of jet lag.
Another very exciting trip was over.

More Nashville

2011-10-13T03:24:00.003+11:00

There was a Starbucks in our hotel who served better than normal coffee of that brand and really delicious blueberry muffins. So after breakfast there we headed into downtown Nashville for our Nashtrash Tour.
The Jugg sisters, Sherri Lynn and Brenda Kay, take you on a ninety minute tour of Nashville in a big pink bus giving you 'the dirt' on all the stars. Passengers (and people on the street) are not excluded from their irreverent banter either. Definitely adults only and they say in their advertising blurb "you'll laugh until your face hurts".
And we did!
You can take your own six pack (at 11am?) and they provide the snacks ie. crackers and cheese in a can.

Then it was on to the Country Music Hall of Fame after a nice sandwich lunch with a few beers at a local pub. I think you have to be a real country music fan to fully enjoy this venue. There are a mind boggling number of exhibitions to go through. I enjoyed the 'roots of country music' with some very old films of black American music (sometimes you can hear the rock and roll just trying to get out) as well as seeing Carl Perkins' original "blue suede shoes" and walls of gold records.
Elvis was represented to some extent with his gold Cadillac on display but obviously Memphis is his town.

That night we were off to the Grand Ole Opry. They were celebrating George Jones 80th birthday and he was sitting a few seats in front of us.
The show is a very relaxed format with quite a number guests performing one or two songs over the two hours. The show is broadcast live on radio so there is time given over to advertisements from the onstage announcer. People wander the aisles taking pictures and crews wander the stage setting up. The lighting and sound were fantastic. There was a great 'feel' in the house the night we were there. I imagined that was not unusual.
We saw among others Pam Tillis, Oak Ridge Boys, Lee Ann Womack and Alan Jackson.
I should also mention the 91 year old 4ft 11in Rhinestone covered Jimmy Dickens who couldn't hold a note but told the most outrageous jokes especially about himself......and his wife!
All performers including George Jones were on stage for a pretty special finale.
It was a great night with the show more than living up to its reputation.

Next morning our destination was Goodlettsville, north of Nashville.
Where?
I asked the same question but it was on the co driver's quilt shop list. It was a nothing sort of town but apparently the quilt shop turned out to be the best on tour. I sat in the designated 'husband chair' that most quilt shops have in the USA and tried the read the magazines with the latest being a 2008 National Geographic, eventually falling asleep.
Obviously from the packages I helped carry out this enabled extra time for additional purchases.
Next we drove across country to Hermitage and the home and plantation of President Andrew Jackson

The Hermitage began as a log cabin (later pulled down and rebuilt as slave quarters) on a 425 acre frontier farm in 1804 occupied by Jackson and his wife Rachel. By 1821 a mansion had been built on what was now a 1000 acre mixed farm but predominantly a cotton plantation. In 1829 Jackson was inaugurated as the 7th President of the USA and served two terms. His wife died a few weeks after he was first elected. He passed away in 1845.
A considerable part of current mansion was rebuilt in 1834 after a disastrous fire.
The house remained in the family for the following years until the state took it over. As a result 95% of the contents still in there belonged to the Jacksons.
The tour of the mansion's interior with its beautiful furniture, fittings, decoration and numerous shelves of books is excellent with a wealth of information given by the docents. They are not adverse to answering any questions either, no matter how controversial.
And he was quite a controversial character, a man of many contradictions.

The Jacksons were owners of around 45 slaves. One of the slave quarters remains and is known as Alfred's cabin. The ruins of the field quarters are to the north. We walked down there via the nature trail past the Springhouse to Muddy Spring and sat quietly in the sun among the foundations. Quite a different atmosphere now than then I would imagine.

Rachel and Andrew is also a great love story. Despite scandal surrounding their relationship with the inevitable political fallout, it never faltered. They are side by side in a Greek inspired tomb in the gardens of the Hermitage.
For our final night we looked for a better than normal restaurant. Rumours East seem to fit the bill. It's a wine bar that specializes in seafood. And they had quite an eclectic wine list. I ended up with a Vinho Verde from Portugal to go with my prawns and grits (nope, sorry, don't like the latter despite a number of attempts) and a Tempranillo from Rioja, Spain with my seared tuna. The co driver had fried green tomatoes as an appetizer and scallops as a main.
Good food, wine and pleasant surroundings was a good way to end the touring section of our trip.
Next stop would be Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Washington DC to Nashville

2011-10-11T05:21:00.000+11:00

A very early morning rise on September 11th and we were on the first Amtrak train out of DC to Baltimore Airport for our flights to Nashville via Chicago.
Security was tight but we were air side in plenty of time for a good breakfast and a quiet sit and read. It was good to relax for half a day (even if it was in airports and on aircraft) after nearly two weeks of hectic travel.
We arrived in Nashville mid afternoon and picked up our rental car. The guy behind the counter was 'y'alling' continually and I thought he was taking the piss. But no, most of the inhabitants actually do talk like that.
After checking in to the Airport Marriott we made a beeline for the Bluebird Cafe'. This is a music listening venue where you can hear songwriters performing their own songs as well as unknowns trying to make it in the country music scene. Some pretty big names have passed through this unassuming little place. Sunday is a no booking day and you have to line up to get a seat in the 100 capacity room. It was a very pleasant evening of music and song. Food wasn't bad either.
The following morning found us on our way to Franklin just to the south of the city. The first thing you notice about suburban Nashville are the huge houses (a lot plantation style) on large blocks of land and that there seems to be a church on every corner. Methodists and Presbyterians are well represented. I wondered how John Wesley/George Whitefield and John Calvin/John Knox would feel about some of these huge obviously expensive edifices.
Franklin was the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War which largely goes unnoticed in the scheme of things.
After orientation at the local tourist office and a great breakfast of juice, French toast and a HUGE cup of coffee at a local bakery we walked down to one of the many cemeteries in the town. Here lies the unknown soldier from the battle discovered only a few years before. Pieces of the original columns of the Tennessee State Capitol have been used in the memorial.

Then we drove out to the Carnton Plantation on the southern end of the town.
Built in 1826 by the McGavocks, on the late afternoon of November 30th 1864 the house and its family were trapped between 40,000 Federal and Confederate soldiers. At 4pm the Confederate Army of Tennessee launched a massive frontal attack (at least as large as Picketts Charge at Gettysburg).
Five hours later 9500 soldiers from both sides were dead, wounded or missing.
Carnton became a Confederate hospital.
By midnight hundreds of wounded and dying men lay in the house and on the lawns.
In the morning four dead Confederate Generals lay dead on the back porch.

We were given a very detailed tour of the beautiful house and graphic descriptions of what took place there. On the southern side of the house near the windows, the doctors operated endlessly trying to save lives. Blood ran off their aprons and soaked through the carpet into the wooden floors.
Large crescents of bloodstains still mark the floor boards today.
In 1886 the McGavocks began reburying the remains of the nearly 1500 Southern soldiers from their temporary graves south of the town. They designated two acres at Carnton for the reinterment. Mrs. McGavock kept meticulous notes on each burial in her "book of the dead" so that she could answer the many inquiries from families whose soldiers never returned home.
They still get enquires to this day.
The McGavock Confederate Cemetery is the largest private Confederate cemetery in the country.

Two quilt shops in town were on the agenda and after some trouble we found both. One had the reputation of being the most chaotic in the country but had since moved to new larger premises. The co driver said it was 'still a bit of a mess' but had some amazing stuff 'if you could find it' among the piles of fabric.
Then we were off through really pleasant rural countryside to find the Loveless Cafe on the outskirts of Nashville for a late lunch/early dinner. It has been serving fried chicken and biscuits since 1951. The menu has been extended to cover all sorts of other southern 'delicacies' and despite many saying it's a tourist trap and not genuine we decided to give it a go. The co driver is a bit of an expert on southern cooking having lived in Alabama for a few years so I let her be the judge.

I had the southern sampler consisting of fried chicken, catfish, and pork BBQ together with hash brown casserole, home made cream corn and fried green tomatoes.
All I can say is YUMMO!
Biscuits may be like greasy scones but they were ok too especially with some of the Loveless preserves.
Dessert? You are kidding. Roll me outta here!
The co driver gave the meal the thumbs up.
Then we were off into town and Broadway to hit a few bars and honky tonks.
Parking was surprisingly easy (we were early) so we walked the strip to get a feel.
There are sixty odd bars in the area. We chose one which had the sound of good live music coming out the door. This was quite a good male singer who sang covers (and performed an Olivia Newton John song for us "because we were Ozzies") which was then followed by a good band. They concentrated on country rock.

I was wanting something more traditional (and quieter) so we found another bar where the band looked to average about 70 years of age. From the bio sheet on our table they had played for every big name in country music at some time or other either together or solo. The co driver thought they were too 'twangy' but it seemed I knew the words to all the songs they sang. Sad really!
Verdict on Broadway? Expensive drinks and the hand always in the pocket for band tips.
Glad we did it but no need for a repeat.

More Washington DC

2011-10-09T03:22:00.001+11:00

Thunderstorms had disturbed our sleep during the night and dawn broke cloudy and very overcast but dry. However, the breakfast TV weatherman was giving all sorts of dire warnings about the day ahead.
After another really cheap and filling American breakfast at a Mexican restaurant, we caught the Metro to Arlington National Cemetery for the first tour of the day.

This is one of the country’s oldest national cemeteries and its 624 acres is the final resting place for more than 14,000 veterans, including those who fought in the Civil War.
Our first stop were the Kennedy graves and the Eternal Flame.

On the hill above this site stands Arlington House the home of General Robert E. Lee for many years. It was here that he wrote his resignation from the United States Army on the eve of the Civil War after refusing a command and moved south to Richmond a few days later. His wife soon followed. The Lees never returned.

Next stop was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under permanent guard 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We witnessed the changing of that guard with all its sombre military ritual.

One particular soldier buried in Arlington is well known.

It had started to rain a little by the end of the tour but we made our way by foot across the Potomac towards the National Mall. Half way across the Arlington Memorial Bridge the heavens opened up. Our umbrellas and ponchos were no match for the torrential rain (and the spray from the cars crossing the bridge). We were all 100% soaked to the skin by the time we reached the Korean War Veterans Memorial. There were a few grumbles until the co driver mentioned that the soldiers commemorated here had gone through a whole lot worse that being a little bit wet.

So we made our way down the National Mall past the World War II Memorial to the Washington Memorial, a short detour for a distant view of the White House (9/11 security was tight) and eventually onto the Capitol Building.

After 'drying off' in the American History Museum cafe' during lunch, we decided that were memorialed and museumed out. The weather had improved so we took the Metro to the DuPont Circle area to find a 'listed' yoga shop. This was a really lovely part of DC with leafy streets and some pretty smart houses with beautiful small gardens. By this time the sun had made an appearance and it was warm and steamy. We retired to a local bar for a few glasses of Bitburger Pils from the tap before heading back to Roslyn.
Our travelling companions were leaving for home the next morning so where to have a farewell dinner? Where else but where presidents (and vice presidents) eat ie. Ray's Hell Burgers, a favourite of the Obamas.
And it was all is was cracked up to be. Best burgers of the whole trip and sweet potato fries and onion rings to die for. And did I mention the really cheap bottles of genuine Lowenbrau beer?

Back at the hotel, we heard that some areas surrounding the city the had had 16 inches (400mm) of rain in the last 24 hours, flooding had reached disastrous levels in many areas and lives had been lost. We decided we had had it easy.
Next morning was sunny and dry. So off we headed by Metro and local bus to Mt. Vernon, the home of George and Martha Washington for over 40 years.
We walked through the nearly 50 acres visiting his (and his wife's) tomb and slave memorial, looked at many of the original structures including stables and blacksmiths shop and enjoyed the military reenactments.

The highlight was a tour of the interior of the house with many original artifacts still in place.
And the Washingtons knew a good piece of real estate when they saw it. The view over the Potomac from the front veranda is spectacular.

On the way back to Roslyn we stopped off at Alexandria.
The first settlement was established here in 1695 in what was then the British Colony of Virginia. It is now largely populated by professionals working in the federal civil service, the U.S. military, or for one of the many private companies which contract to provide services to the federal government.
The historic center of Alexandria is known as Old Town. It has quite a concentration of boutiques, restaurants, antique shops and theaters, which are a major draw for tourists of whom we were just two of many on that day.
And it was here we had the best Mexican meal of the trip at the Austin Grill.
So that was our trip to the capital over.
We put in an early morning wake up call to catch a flight to Chicago with a connection to Nashville.

New York City to Wasington DC

2011-10-07T05:18:00.003+11:00

Pouring rain, traffic jams, a lack of vacant taxis and a difficult hotel location transport wise did not make getting to Penn Station very easy for our train trip to Washington DC.
But the Amtrak journey to the capital was fast and comfortable despite some flooding on the line.
We faced yet another traffic jam getting to our hotel in Arlington. The weather was beginning to play havoc on the east coast. It would seem that the combination of remnants of tropical storm Lee to the north, tropical storm Nate in the Gulf of Mexico and hurricane Katia in the Atlantic was going to produce heavy rain over a number of days.
First task in DC was the get Kelly to Georgetown for her DC Cupcake hit.

Then it was back to Union Station for a quick bite to eat and onto a night Monuments Tour. The weather was not conducive to a pleasant evening but the guide did the best he could. In any case it was a great orientation tour for the following days. We drove past the White House, the Capitol and other grand public buildings as well as the Pentagon with stops at the Iwo Jima and Lincoln Memorials. Passengers had the chance to visit the Korean and Vietnam Memorials but the rain was now torrential so there were not many takers. The Jefferson Memorial and new Martin Luther King Memorial were already cut off by flood waters and the Washington Memorial had been damaged by an earthquake the month before and was closed.

Next morning during breakfast we agonized over whether to do our outside or inside agenda due to the weather conditions. We selected the latter which in hindsight was the completely wrong decision.
We bought our Metro tickets and headed for the National Mall and the Smithsonian museums. Again we all had different 'interest zones' so split up.
The first stop for the co driver and me was the National Museum of American History.
The first exhibit to catch our eye was the Star Spangled Banner. Mary Pickersgill's flag is much bigger than I expected (30'x42') and considering what it has been through since 1813 is in fairly good condition. One could imagine the sight of it flying over a smoking Fort McHenry in Baltimore the morning after the British failed to take the port and withdrawing inspiring Francis Scott Key to write what was to become the USA national anthem.

Then we were off to see the Julia Child's kitchen. Watching the videos of her can be mesmerising in a weird sort of way.
Then I headed off to see "Americans at War" concentrating on the Revolution and Civil War, "Science in American Life", 'The American Presidency" and "The Struggle for Civil Rights". You cannot imagine how wonderfully comprehensive and informative these exhibitions are. Mental overload was creeping in so we met up for lunch in the museum's cafe'.

A short walk away was the beautiful National Archives building. Here we did a quick stop to view the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the magnificent rotunda. Security getting into this building was the strictest we came across.
From there we went our separate ways again, the co driver to the National Gallery of Art and me to the National Air and Space Museum.

I had had my fill of planes and space vehicles in a shorter time than expected and still had two hours to fill before meeting up.
The new National Museum of the American Indian was next door and apart from being a distinctive building the tribal exhibits inside are magnificent. I was surprised when suddenly it was closing time and they were politely clearing visitors out. Time had just flown!

We took the Metro back to Roslyn and met the other two returning travellers on the long long escalators that bring commuters up from the platforms to the station concourse. They are the third longest in the world.
I wondered what would happen if they were ever out of service. Next day we found out. You walk up!!!!!

It had been a long day with LOTS of walking. 'Tired' is a five letter word.
That night we had a rather good chain restaurant meal at Ruby Tuesdays across the road from the Hyatt plus a couple of bottles of wine before heading for bed.

More New York City

2011-10-05T02:13:00.010+11:00

Saturday meant a change of hotels and meeting up with Mark and Kelly who were flying in from Sioux Falls in the afternoon.
Before heading over to Murray Hill, we caught the subway to Washington Square in Greenwich Village for breakfast.
Being a child of the 60s, the park was all I had imagined it to be and not over run with people at that time of the morning.
The Washington Arch at the 5th Avenue entrance to the park is very impressive.

After dropping off our bags at the Eastgate Tower Hotel, we took the subway up to Central Park and sat a while people watching before visiting the Neue Galerie to see a Gustav Klimt exhibition.
Then it was back to Grand Central Station area for lunch (reasonable Mexican) and a look in and around that impressive building.

It was either the remnants of jet lag, the Saturday crowds or the sauna like conditions of the subway stations but we soon were back in the air conditioned comfort of the hotel room.
Kelly and Mark arrived on time and that evening we were soon on our way to Times Square.
The whole area is lit up like a Christmas tree with thousands of people milling around cheek by jowl. Street entertainers are everywhere as are the hustlers and touts. We had a good burger and beer at a pub just off the square and visited the huge Toys R Us store. After this frenetic scene we retired to our apartment for the night with a few bottles of wine.

Next morning we were off early to catch the ferry to Ellis Island.
After airport type security at the wharf, we sailed over to the Statue of Liberty were most of the passengers except us disembarked and then onto the Ellis Island National Monument.
We virtually had the place to ourselves for the first hour or so.
We took the free guided tour with the park ranger who led us through the process that over 12 million immigrants experienced. Following that we toured the museum and watched a movie on the history of the island. Turned out to be a pretty emotional time.
The island is still in the process of being restored but what is open to the public is a 'must see' on any trip to New York City.

The World Trade Centre site with the new construction slowly emerging from a giant hole in the ground was next on the agenda.

That night we were back on Broadway for the show 'Chicago'. A good production in a smallish intimate theater with great leads and orchestra (band?).
A late dinner at a Greek restaurant near Times Square finished off a very busy day.

Next morning we were back in Greenwich Village for a walking food tour.
We ate in pizza shops, delis, bistros, cookie shops and cafes. In addition we given a history of the area as we walked the busy commercial and peaceful residential streets with their very smart houses.

That evening we walked around the Rockefeller Center area. It's here you become aware of the immense skyscrapers. We had appetizers and a good bottle of Rioja Tempranillo Rose' in a nice restaurant overlooking overlooking the Rockefeller Plaza.

Next morning the heavens had opened up so we made our way early to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for opening time. It was relatively uncrowded when we arrived and after the ever present security check, we split up and headed for our 'interest zones'. I spent the first two hours mostly alone in the European Art Section and, after meeting up with the co driver for morning tea, another 2 hours in the Modern and Contemporary Art Section. There is no way you could 'do' this place in less than a week and as visual overload (and now the crowds) took over we both waved the white flag.

It was still pouring and as we stood under a small awning wondering where to go to eat, we found that awning belonged to a French restaurant called 'Demarchelier'. What a find! Wonderful genuine French food, good wine list and easy going attitude. We spent 2 hours there over a main, a dessert and a bottle of Sancerre and never felt the need to 'move on'. Obviously one of the few places in New York not in a hurry. It's on the corner of 86th and Madison if you are ever in town.
That night we caught a cab through still driving rain back to Greenwich Village to a Cuban restaurant recommended by our tour guide the previous day. The menu initially did not look too exciting but the flavours were quite different and tasted great, the service attentive and a good experience to have on our last night in New York.

Sydney to New York

2011-10-03T04:05:00.000+11:00

The flight from Sydney to San Francisco, as usual, was long but uneventful. We each had spare seats beside us which made things a lot more comfortable.

We were quickly through immigration and customs and had a three hour wait for our on going flight to JFK.

The five hour flight to New York started with a delay. One of the spark plugs used to start the engine (who knew jet engines had spark plugs?) was faulty and needed replacement. Then at cruising altitude we experienced some wake turbulence from an aircraft in front of us which caused a few anxious moment for the white knuckle brigade. Their trauma was not over as our landing was quite a spectacular one, all twist and bounce. When we deplaned the pilot had already left the cockpit. A bad day at the office for him.

It was then a high speed taxi ride into Manhattan where we could finally lay ourselves down on the wonderful bed at the Trump Soho at 1am. That made the trip around 27 hours door to door. But the view over the city from our room on the 39th floor, especially from the bath tub with its huge picture window, made up for any discomfort.
It was spectacular to say the least.

Seven hours later we were having breakfast at a local diner. What else but bacon, eggs and pancakes for one and salmon and cream cheese bagels for the other.

Then it was off to explore some of the city using the subway system. We had the MTA map but it soon became apparent that finding a subway station entrance for the uninitiated was going to be a bit of a hurdle. They can be well disguised or hidden. But we have to say that the $29 New York subway pass valid for a week was the bargain of the whole trip and we really got our money's worth.

Finally we reached Battery Park and boarded the Staten Island ferry for a free return trip across the Hudson River. Here we caught our first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty and the skylines of Manhattan and New Jersey.

After this very pleasant 'cruise' it was onto the Brooklyn Bridge. By this time things had really warmed up and the humidity had climbed. We were glad for the many vendors selling cold water on the bridge. We made it half way for a great view back over the lower Manhattan skyline.

In search of the New Museum we found ourselves in Little Italy and on Mulberry Street. The pic below is from the Ellis Island Museum of this street in the 1800s. Nothing has changed much except for the fashion and transport.

So many restaurants to choose from. We found one that had a beautiful outdoor garden in amongst the buildings and away from the traffic noise and the hustle and bustle of the city. Good Italian food, cold beer...an oasis.

The New Museum had an exhibition of the arts scene in eastern bloc countries from the emergence of communism to its decline called "Ostalgia". Five floors of paintings, films, sketches, cartoons and sculpture, some of it was very weird!

Jet lag had started to rear its ugly head by this time so we headed back to the hotel for a siesta to prepare for our dinner date.

The Tribeca Grill is co owned by Rober de Niro and has a good reputation. It exceeded our expectations with nicely prepared food, excellent service and an encyclopedic wine list. I found a great bottle of Sagrantino from Umbria to go with the filet mignon.

Our food budget was already blown on the first night.

Next morning we were up early (sleep didn't come easy that night) and headed for Highline Park and the Chelsea Markets. The park is built on an abandoned elevated railway spur and runs for over a 2km. A walk along the path between the high rise buildings after a cappo and a muffin was a pleasant way to start the day.

We had decided to 'do' a Broadway show and had selected Cole Porter's "Anything Goes". Tickets, however, were very expensive. We had been told to head down to the TKTS booth in Seaport for cheaper tickets and avoid the crowd that queues at the same establishment in Times Square. Being already one day veterans of the subway system we headed downtown (via a yoga shop in Chelsea) only to find a queue of at least 300 people standing there. No way, Jose'. Too hot and humid to stand in the sun for hours. Change of Broadway show plans!

Then it was back uptown to the American Folk Art Museum on Lincoln Square to see their quilt collection. They were in the process of 'moving house' so the exhibition was limited but the star quilts were amazing and the 9/11 National Tribute Quilt was very moving.

Time for lunch so we walked down Broadway through Columbus Circle to the Carnegie Deli for one of their famous sandwiches.

What can you say? We shared half a pastrami sandwich and could not finish it. All very touristy and rather OTT but a fun experience. The pickles were great.

Another long walk took us to a quilt store (the co driver had a list of quilt and yoga shops to visit in all our destinations) which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.

So with spirits lagging and feet complaining we headed back to the Trump for another jet lag inspired nap and an early dinner in one of the many nearby restaurants in Spring Street, Soho.

September in the USA

2011-09-25T10:33:00.001+10:00

By the time you read this we will be well into our USA trip.
The plans were to fly direct from Sydney to New York via San Francisco.
It will be long, long day.
I estimate from leaving home to putting our heads down on the NYC hotel pillow will be around 24 hours.
We will have a few days there by ourselves before catching up with family and doing more of the sights.

Then it will be onto Washington DC with them by train.
After a few days there they will return home and the co driver and I will fly on to Nashville.
Then we head for South Dakota to catch up with the rest of the rellies.
The co driver intends spending a few more weeks than I there so that should see me home at the end of the month.
Hopefully there will be lots of exciting things to write about on our return.

Some Winter Reading

2011-09-15T05:00:00.003+10:00

"Our Vietnam" is a chronological history of the Vietnam war told from the main players aspect by one of my favourite American history authors, A.J Langguth. I have mentioned many of his books before.
If the huge waste of life caused by missed opportunities for peace due to political expediency, nationalism, outright lies and downright stubbornness and stupidity don't make you angry while reading this, nothing will. Neither Kennnedy, Johnson nor Nixon and their administrations come out of this smelling like roses. Neither do the various corrupt South Vietnam regimes. It's a pity that conservative Australian governments of the time followed our American allies so blindly into this morass.
George Santayana, Spanish philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist, once wrote "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
The War in Iraq unfortunately is a typical example.

A fiction novel based on fact, "Errol, Fidel and the Cuban Rebel Girls" is the story of Errol Flynn's relationship with Fidel Castro during the Cuban Revolution by Australian author, Boyd Anderson.
A rollicking tale full of humour, adventure and some interesting historical background to the Cuba of today. The characters, some very well known, all seem to be larger than life. But I guess that is Hollywood, even today.
A 'can't put down' book!

Thousands of jokes and one liners make "Man Walks into a Bar" a good read.
Lots of groaners too.
A great diversion when you are feeling down.
A pick up and put down book.

"Honolulu" is from the same author of "Moloka'i", a book I recommended earlier in the year.
This is the story of a Korean picture bride who left the her homeland in the early 2oth century for a 'better life' in America.
An interesting insight into Korean culture of the time plus a history of Hawaii and particularly Honolulu itself. Turns out not to be the glamour city it was protrayed to be in the 1920s and 30s. It is also a story of a the development of a multicultural society that is Hawaii today but one achieved at a cost ie. to the native Hawaiians
This is a work of fiction cleverly woven into historical fact.

An August Update

2011-08-31T10:10:00.002+10:00

Physical activities have had to be rather limited during my recovery phase but friends and neighbours have jumped in to help so essential farm work has continued.
Finally my six weeks of enforced 'taking it easy' were over and I began catching up on all the postponed chores.
The Cabernet Sauvignon has been pruned and netting repaired.
All the wines have again been racked and sulphured.
Maybe I was a little harsh on the 2011 vintage. Three of the four wines are developing better than first thought.

Our new roof is on and looks good. Even better, no leaks!
We did have a coldish couple of weeks in the house. Wet weather delayed the roof reconstruction half way through and as the house was covered in tarpaulins we couldn't have a fire. Huddled over electric heaters made us appreciate how good our fire is and how worthwhile wood collecting during the year is.
Kudos to Ralph the builder. Not one drop of rain got into the house despite some torrential rain during the 'tarpaulin era'. Funny to see the house looking like some giant tent.
Spring is in the air and our early peach came into flower the last week of July.
And there was bud swell in the Pinot Noir mid August. My grape growing neighbour has bud burst already in his Chardonnay.
Who said climate change/global warming is a myth?

Even More Canberra Quilts

2011-08-25T04:28:00.001+10:00

and in more detail

Goodbye Tree!

2011-08-20T00:44:00.002+10:00

Neighbour Ralph, the builder, is putting on our new roof, well rather, he and a couple of his employees are.
After doing a building inspection, he had a suggestion.
Get rid of the Sasanqua sp. growing outside the bathroom window as it will eventually cause problems with the house footings and exterior wall.
Its roots have already started to block up some drainage pipes.

So goodbye old tree.
Your displays twice a year have been magnificent.
Luckily we will have a few pics to remember you by.
But what has to be done, has to be done.
Out with the chainsaw!

More Canberra Quilts

2011-08-17T03:28:00.000+10:00

A Date Day - Canberra

2011-08-13T09:54:00.017+10:00

Canberra is the capital of Australia and is a 2 hour drive for us west over the mountains. Half way is the historic town of Braidwood where we usually have a pit stop. This time however we noticed one of the old pubs, The Albion, had been converted into a cafe retaining the same name. They have excellent coffee (we partook going and coming back) and an interesting lunch menu. They will soon be open for weekend dinners.

The main reason for going was the Canberra Quilt Show.
We arrived just on opening. There was a huge queue waiting for tickets and entry but it all moved fast. A quick survey estimated the female to male ratio of around 5000:1. But I like quilt shows and shops and feel quite at home in that environment. There were some amazing works of art on display, so will leave it to the co driver to take up the story.......
Co-driver here....
As The Mister said, we had date day yesterday. I love date days!
Up at the butt-crack of dawn and on the road by 7:30 with thoughts of quilts dancing in my head.
Originally, I had planned to go to the Sydney Craft and Quilt Show but it didn't work out so the Canberra one was IT. I hadn't been before so I kept my expectations low but, man oh man, there were some beautiful quilts on display.
And the number of people? Holy crap, Batman, they must have been bussed in from all over Australia.
The market area was bustling also but I kept my purchases under $25.
Yes! you read that correctly, $25.
Everything is double or triple the price here in OZ so I'm saving my fabric dollars until I get to the United States of America.
Here is a selection of my favorite quilts from the show. The artistry of these women just blows my mind.
Enjoy.
And there are more to follow over the next month or so!

And for more amazing detail, some close ups of the above.

A Winter's Day at the Beach

2011-08-08T15:26:00.003+10:00

Some days during its season, winter forgets to make an appearance.
The last week has been one of those occasions with temperatures in the mid 20s accompanied by brilliant sunshine.
The co driver, daughter and I spent this morning at one of our many beaches walking.
We thought it would good to share a few pictures.

Wine Show Judging / A Small Insight

2011-08-03T06:43:00.000+10:00

When I was associated with our local wine show, I was always amazed how the judges could get through 150 plus wines a day without obvious fatigue and then have the energy to 'party' at the post judging dinner.
Also at bigger wine shows more wines are judged, often over a longer period.
One of Australia's leading wine personalities and a judge, James Halliday, explained all in a recent interview.
He said that the greatest demand was concentration. He could not let his mind wander from the job in hand for a second. The result was mental exhaustion at the end of the day.
He also needed to protect his mouth, particularly his tongue. He rinses with soda water every 10 wines or so to help neutralize the continuous acid attack.

He says that if he is tasting continuously for 5 days or more the 'erosion' of the surface of the tongue can be painful as well as distracting. Some judges even start to experience severe sensitivity of the teeth.
James has found that cheese helps battle the acidity of white wines and green olives on the stone helps strip the mouth of tannin build up from red wines.
He introduced an idea into the Australian Wine Show system where red and white wine classes are alternated to reduce some of the mouth stress. This was adopted at our local show.
James estimates he tastes 10,000 wine a year!
But he drinks a beer at the end of each judging day.
On the surface wine judging sounds like a great job but maybe just enjoying a bottle or two with food is a better option.

All My Male Readers, PLEASE TAKE NOTE!

2011-07-15T14:18:00.003+10:00

In all men beyond the age of 40, the prostate gland begins to enlarge and continues to do so throughout the rest of a man’s life.
In about 10% of cases this enlargement will contain a cancerous element.
A PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) reading from simple blood test will indicate the possibility of prostate cancer.
Although not entirely reliable, it’s the best test currently available.
The disease can be confirmed by a biopsy.
3,000 men die in Australia every year from prostate cancer. That is equivalent to the number of women who die from breast cancer.
However with some 20,000 cases diagnosed every year it appears the survival rate is fairly high.
Treatment and possible cure will depend on the progress of the cancer therefore it is important to catch it early.
In my case I needed a radical prostatectomy.
My thanks to my surgeon, Dr. Phillip Brenner and his da Vinci robot, my anaesthetists and the wonderful staff at St. Vincents Private Hospital and its Clinic.
Thanks, too, to family and friends for all their love and support during this somewhat stressful time.
The good news is that, at this stage, the road to recovery looks to be a relatively short one.
Getting my dignity back may take a little longer.
But the real point of this post is to get a message to all the over 40 men out there.
Get the PSA test done on a regular basis !!!!!

A July Update

2011-07-14T04:08:00.000+10:00

Mid winter has passed and the days are slowly getting longer.
We have begun the pruning process.
Tempranillo, Semillon and Pinot Noir have been done but the later shooting Cabernet Sauvignon can wait until the middle of August.
It was also time to repair the netting and 'close up' the blocks. A mob of kangaroos has moved into our neighbourhood and they were getting used to eating around the vines. No more guys, sorry. They like new shoots so it's time to keep them out. They have been patrolling the perimeter quite perplexed at this new development.

Grass is getting a bit light on in the paddocks so it will soon be time to start supplementary feeding of the cattle. They can work a bit harder finding feed for a few more weeks and then it will be a daily bale or two of lucerne. Luckily we did a good deal on hay earlier this year.
They have had a good season and all are looking well.
The 2011 wine is still in the tanks settling and we have been adding the required amount of sulphur on a regular basis. The wine this year is not great due to the wet weather. But knowing my neighbours, this won't matter much and it will all be drunk.
The house is getting a new roof. The storm a few years ago obviously altered the structure a bit and we had developed a few leaks. I had tried finding them but it was futile. Builder Ralph, a neighbour, came to have a look and said the only solution was a new one. So it's off with the old tiles and on with a nice new green metal one.
Our trip away this year is in the final planning stage. Plenty to look forward to.

Banksias

2011-07-05T04:54:00.000+10:00

Some time ago I mentioned the Grevilleas that were growing in our area.

Another member of the Proteaceae family is the Banksia, named after the botanist Sir Joseph Banks who accompanied Captain James Cook on the first European exploration of the east coast of Australia back in 1770.

Australia wide there are 73 species but only 15 on the east coast. The rest are in south west Western Australia and are by far the most spectacular. Cultivation of the latter in the east is difficult as they have problems adapting to the naturally acidic soils compared to the alkaline ones of their natural habitat.

The plants range from ground covers to shrubs to large trees. Leaf shape is extremely variable as is flower shape and colour. The remaining seed case is also an attractive feature.
We have about half a dozen species growing wild in the bush around us as well as on the beach front.
Autumn and winter are the seasons the flowers are at their best.

Cleanskins

2011-06-13T06:37:00.000+10:00

I have broached this subject before but a recent purchase rekindled my interest.
Cleanskin is a term used for bottled wine that does not carry a label or any other identifying marks.
They have been sold in Australia for a long time now but are generally more prevalent during times when there is excess wine in the Australian domestic wine market.
We have however recently had New Zealand cleanskins on our bottle shop shelves due to the over production of Sauvignon Blanc in that country.
Wineries sell cleanskins to get rid of unwanted stock while at the same time avoiding the negative consequences of discounting their existing brands.
This form of disposal often has very little to do with the quality of the wine and wine drinkers can benefit greatly by buying them.
Having said that, there is always an element of risk when purchasing cleanskins from a quality point of view.

During our trip around South Australia last year I had left my name at various wineries to be advised when specials came up.
One of those was the well known Pikes in the Clare Valley who are famous for their Riesling.
They contacted me to say they had on special many of their wines at 30% off with free delivery. For each dozen purchased, the customer had access to a dozen 2010 Clare Valley Riesling cleanskins.
I paid $18.40 a bottle for their labeled Traditional Riesling and $6.50 for the cleanskin.
The co driver and I did a comparative tasting the other night.
We both agreed they were probably the same wines or near enough to it.
We really could not tell the difference.
And there is also an 'in between' marketing ploy. Wineries have been known to produce a completely new label for a particular wine and sell it at a greatly reduced price compared to the established brand.
We think we have some of those in our wine rack too; no names, no pack drill.

The Daughter's Italy / Part 3

2011-06-07T16:46:00.009+10:00

I always knew Positano and I would be great friends. What wasn’t there to love about it? There was the iridescent sea lapping gently against the pebbly beach, briny air caressing our faces and THE MEN. These are the men of the Amalfi coast! There is something unique about these men. They roam the shadowy corridors and steep stairways of Positano with tanned seafaring physiques that made our knees go weak with a casual “ciao bella!”. We knew we were in trouble from the get-go, but successfully managed to manoeuvre ourselves around the slick lothario’s with a smile and a quickened step.

Ms. B and I were in Positano to gossip, eat enough bread to fill a bakery, laugh from the pit of our bellies and get drunk on red wine in tumblers and stumble home arm in arm. What could be better?
After a few days of meandering through the snake and ladder like pathways of Positano, Ms. B and I decided to expand our horizons by going to Capri for the day. A stomach churning ferry ride out to the Island, complete with the mantra
“I am AUSTRALIAN – I will not V-O-M-I-T/I am AUSTRALIAN – I will not V-O-M-I-T”... we landed in the somewhat disappointing and glum looking Marina Grande. The blue skies that had been with us in Positano had disappeared under a cluster of clouds and it was cold and windy as we boarded our smaller boat to circumnavigate the island (I am AUSTRALIAN – I will not V-O-M-I-T/ I am AUSTRALIAN – I will not V-O-M-I-T).

Unfortunately due to the rough weather the Blue grotto was closed (seriously – who comes all the way from Australia to Capri and doesn’t get to see the Blue grotto? Me it seems!). Fortunately we did get to see the Green grotto (lucky for our guide... I was murderous with sea sickness by this stage (I am AUSTRALIAN – I will not V-O-M-I-T/ I am AUSTRALIAN – I will not V-O-M-I-T)). The harbour couldn’t come soon enough as we disembarked the boat, green to the gills and still chanting the mantra over and over in our heads.

In typical family tradition, by the time we had made it up the heady slopes to Capri town my mind was on food. Seasickness, what seasickness?? There was no way we wanted to sit in the touristy trattorias dotted around the piazza, we wanted REAL Italian food. My trusty guidebook told us of a “secret” pizza joint (hey Lonely Planet – it’s not too secret if you published it in your guidebook is it?) that proved a little tricky to find. Apparently the restaurant had been cooking pizza for 18 generations and it involved going down various alleyways that led you to believe you were heading towards a public urinal.

After a couple of wrong turns, we finally found what we were looking for. Ms.B and I exchanged glances of “Do we/don’t we?”... I pushed her through the doorway to discover the largest living man we have ever seen! He looked like Jabba the Hut from Star Wars. Seriously. I could tell his genetic code was based on the piles of pizza the place was churning out. As we sat down Ms.B elbowed a bottle of wine towards me with a twinkle in her eye... Our host was pictured on the wine label languishing on the rocks of Capri in the sun... In just his shorts. There goes lunch we giggled.

What came out of that pizza oven in a dark and dingy alley in Capri can only be described as glorious. And believe me, I have eaten many pizzas across Italy and nothing will ever compare to this! A thin crispy base, lusciously creamy mozzarella, blood red tomato sauce and every meat an Italian butcher could find was washed down with an icy coke. Eyes glossy with desire and molten cheese hanging down our chins, I don’t think we spoke to each other for a full 15 minutes.

Ms.B and I still send each other desperate texts every once and a while with just 2 words “Pizza.. Capri...”.....

A Date Day

2011-06-04T16:52:00.009+10:00

For a change we decided to head south for some shopping and lunch.
About an hour's drive away is the small town of Moruya which sits on the banks of the river of the same name.
The town's name comes from an Aboriginal word, mherroyah, meaning "home of the black swan". Black swans can still be to seen in the surrounding lakes and rivers.
There are a number of historic buildings preserved in the main streets of the town including the court house.

Although being the smallest of the three major towns on the Eurobodalla Shire, the council area bordering our Shoalhaven, Moruya is the administrative centre of the shire and home to the council offices and other public institutions.
Not surprisingly there is also a quilt shop.
At the mouth of the river is Moruya Heads which has a great surfing beach. The surf was very big when we were there and waves were breaking over the bar and heading up river.
There are many other unspoiled beaches to the south including Congo and Bingi as well as some others without names which are within a short drive from the town.

The town is also famous for its granite quarry.
The granite for the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons was quarried in the area. From 1925 to 1932, the Harbour Bridge works saw 250 stonemasons employed and relocated to Moruya by the contractor to produce 18,000 cubic metres of dimension stone for the bridge pylons, 173,000 blocks, and 200,000 yards of crushed stone that was used as aggregate for concrete.
During the seven years of this work, a small town of about 70 houses grew up near the quarry called Granitetown. Unfortunately despite the quarry still being in use not much remains of this historic town site today.
Moruya's other claim to fame is it is the site of our local airport albeit a pretty small one. You can just make out the runway in the above picture to the right.
The airline Regional Express, known as REX, flies mostly Saab 340B aircraft from Moruya to Sydney and Moruya to Merimbula, with connecting flights to Melbourne.

Goodbye, Old Friend.

2011-05-22T11:57:00.006+10:00

Australians tend to keep their cars for quite a long time.
But this must be some sort of record.
Neighbour Bob has a 1987 Ford Falcon which has racked up 546,000 km (341,250 miles).
It has been relegated to a work horse for many years now, helping Bob carry his tools of trade around many rural properties as well as his rods to the beach for fishing trips.
He was aware that she was fast wearing out and his fears were confirmed during the last annual registration inspection when the mechanics said although they will pass it one more time not to bother bringing it back again.

The "Bobmobile" as it is known around here reacted to this news by developing a huge oil leak and internally destroying her power steering system.
So on Tuesday it's off to the wreckers.
There will be an appropriate wake that evening at the Tavern.
The number plates will obviously be transferred to the replacement vehicle.

Burning Off

2011-05-15T13:36:00.006+10:00

Australia is very prone to bush fires especially during summer.
Our valley borders a national park and a state forest so we are surrounded by a potential fire hazard.
As some of my readers know, we were threatened by an out of season bush fire back in August of 2009.
To reduce the hazard, the local Rural Fire Brigade carries out 'cool burns' in the parks and forests around us to reduce the 'fuel' level during autumn and winter which is considered the low risk time.
Property owners are also encouraged to reduce fuel levels and burn fire breaks when it is safe to do so.

So Neighbour Bob and I decided to burn a fire break strip along the road bordering our properties. I had sprayed it all off with herbicide a few months before and cut down all the saplings.
This morning we had light winds and a bit of dew so we went ahead.
It all went to plan with no dramas. Bob kept guard on one side with a shovel in case any 'residents' who had been hiding there made a break for it. There were none.
I patrolled the fence line with a sprayer to put out any fence posts that caught alight.
There are plenty more of these jobs to do over the next few months. I have burn off piles ready all over the place.

Old Friends

2011-05-08T07:12:00.000+10:00

Last week we had a quick visit from Pam and Bruce who live in Brisbane, Queensland.
I first met them in 1957 at my primary school there when we moved from Melbourne.
So I guess they are my oldest friends.
We certainly shared a great number of adventures together during our 'formative years'.
Bruce continued onto secondary school with me and became part of our surfing group.
Pam did her own thing overseas for a while but eventually came home.

We have kept in contact over the years since I moved away in 1968 and have visited one another sporadically.
Funny though that no matter how long it's been between contacts, we pick up the threads of our lives so quickly.
We had a fun day (and night) catching up on all the gossip about family, mutual friends, acquaintances and our travel adventures.
To say the wine flowed would not be an exaggeration.
And today is their 40th wedding anniversary.
Congratulations, guys!

pH Day

2011-05-01T07:49:00.002+10:00

pH is the measure of the acidity or basicity (alkalinity) of an aqueous solution.
Pure water is neutral and has a pH of 7.0
Solutions with a pH of less than 7.0 are acidic, more than 7.0 are alkaline.
In wine production we usually work with pH levels between 3.0 and 4.0
In practice white wine should have a pH between 3.1 and 3.4 and red wines 3.3 to 3.6
Why is this so important?
From a drinking point of view, acidity accentuates the fruitiness and balance of wine.
However from a oenological point of view, the 'correct' acid levels have a bearing on the antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of the sulphur dioxide that is added to the wine as well as encouraging growth of desirable micro organisms, inhibiting microbial spoilage and aiding in the clarification process.

While sulphur dioxide is added to wine, it's the molecular sulphur content of the 'free portion' of that addition, as opposed to the 'bound portion', that is most affective.
The amount of molecular sulphur is dependent on acidity
Therefore simply put, the lower the pH, the more molecular sulphur is available to do its work.
Our wine region is considered 'warm' in viticultural terms.
This means the grapes ripen relatively rapidly with an associated degradation of acid.
In general all our grape juice, in particular the reds, can have a low acidity in wine terms (pH of around 3.5 to 4.0) at harvest. And pH becomes even higher during the fermentation process as well as after malolactic fermentation.
In Australia we are allowed to add acid to compensate for this.
So to get our juices and ultimately our wine to the correct pH level, tartaric acid is added. This acid is a natural acid component of the grape juice in any case.
But we need to know first what the pH of the wine is.
This is done with a pH meter.
There are some pretty sophisticated pieces of equipment around but we use a basic hand held unit.

First job is calibration. This is carried out using two commercial solutions of known pH, in our case, 4.0 and 7.0.
Once the unit is calibrated, the wines are tested.
Then, when the pH is known then, we can estimate the amount of acid to be added.
And I mean estimate.
There is no formula relating to acid addition and pH drop due to the 'buffering' capacity of wine which we wont go into here.
So it's a matter of adding acid in progressive amounts from 4 to 1 g/L until the required level is achieved. Doing a test run on a 1L sample initially will give some indication however.
The acid is dissolved into a minimum amount of water and added to the wine.
So I did this with three of the four 2011 wines as the Semillon at pH 3.4 was ok.
After a few hours or so I tested them again. And as usual they all needed more.
So the task was repeated until satisfactory levels were reached.
So what about titratable acidity (TA) I hear some of you ask.
I can say I used to do it but eventually questioned the necessity so now rely on pH (and my palate) only.

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T06:49:00.000+10:00

To us Easter is hot cross buns on Friday and chocolate eggs and/or bunnies on Sunday.
The co driver had never seen HCBs before her travels to Australia. They are a UK thing with a bit of an interesting history.

She likes the newer chocolate chip version while I prefer the traditional spiced currant and raisin type.
They have been available in our supermarkets for months now, almost as soon as the Christmas decorations were taken down. Some bakeries produce them year round.
Sort of spoils the uniqueness of them but, hey, that's the way things are these days.

Easter is also crowded beaches, long supermarket queues and traffic snarls trying to get around and especially into town.
The big deal in town is the Blessing of the Fleet Ceremony and Easter Parade on the Sunday morning followed by Beach Games in the afternoon and finally fireworks around the harbour just after dark. There is always a range of carnival rides, displays and activities throughout the afternoon and plenty of live entertainment.
This year at home we had a female invasion.
The daughter brought down some friends she had met on her travels, one from Mexico and one from the UK.

Four to one is a bit of an unfair ratio but I survived.
Isabel made us wonderful Mexican food and Andrea kept us entertained by her amusing stories of teaching English in China over the last year or so.
Both leave for home soon. Come back to see us sometime!
And yes I know the daughter 'owes' us more Italy trip reports.
She is "getting around to it".

More Autumn Colour

2011-04-20T10:19:00.009+10:00

Jerusalem Artichokes

2011-04-17T08:21:00.007+10:00

Neighbour Gail, up the back, has a huge permaculture garden.
She supplies us with the freshest salad vegetables and herbs on a weekly basis.
She is also growing a few unusual things.
One, for us anyway, is Jerusalem Artichokes.
Having not come across these before we did some research on how to cook them and found out that they are a native plant of North America. The tuberous root is the part of the plant eaten.

We also read that they contain inulin which cannot be broken down by the human digestive system and this can cause flatulence.
In fact Gerard's Herbal, printed in 1621, quotes the English planter John Goodyer on Jerusalem artichokes as saying "which way soever they be dressed and eaten, they stir and cause a filthy loathsome stinking wind within the body, thereby causing the belly to be pained and tormented, and are a meat more fit for swine than men."
Believe us this is more than true!
Be warned!

Vintage 2011 Ends

2011-04-13T11:15:00.000+10:00

We picked the Cabernet Sauvignon which came in at 12.1 Be' and 3.7 pH.
The fruit was in pretty good condition.
The grapes were crushed and inoculated with same Italian red wine yeast culture that was used on the other reds. French oak mini staves and MLF culture were added to the must.
Fermentation began within 12 hours.
After a week of punching down the cap four to five times a day, the wine was pressed and drained and the free run together with the pressings transferred to a stainless steel tank.
The oak staves were recovered from the marc and added back into the wine.
The marc was returned to the vineyard rows.

The wine was allowed to settle for a week and then racked off the fermentation lees. We established that MLF was complete so the wine was sulphured and egg white added to begin the fining process.
In the coming weeks and months, all the 2011 wine will be racked off their fining lees, sulphur added and in the case of the reds, pH adjusted.
The Semillon should be ready to drink by June and the reds by the end of the year.
Hopefully 2012 won't be as difficult a year, viticulturally, as this one has been.

Black Cockatoos

2011-04-09T16:31:00.006+10:00

Everyone is pretty familiar with the Australian white or sulphur crested cockatoo. They are a favourite pet around the world. Its range extends throughout the northern and eastern part of the mainland as well as Tasmania. Its popularity as a cage bird has increased its range as these birds either escape or are released deliberately in areas where they do not already occur. The species has become a pest around urban areas where it uses its powerful bill to destroy timber decking, railings and panelling on houses. I once saw one for sale in the USA in a pet shop at a price that I estimated that sometimes I could have around half a million dollars sitting in the surrounding trees. They are particularly fond of our lemons. The black cockatoo is less well known however.

There are five species with a number on the endangered list eg. the red tailed black cockatoo. We have visits from the yellow tailed black cockatoo which is a pretty large bird and is easily identified by its mostly black plumage with most body feathers edged with yellow. It has a yellow cheek patch and yellow panels on the tail.
They love to eat the new pine cones from our huge radiata pine growing beside the guest house. They have a distinctive mournful call and fly about in flocks of around ten or so. They always remind me of a squadron of Lancaster bombers, with their slow cumbersome flight.
When they descend upon our tree there is always some chaos. Lots of noisy screeching and squabbling over the cones and a definite lack of table manners as they drop the half eaten fruit onto the metal roof.
Sometimes it sounds like a machine gun going off.

Jude's Jelly

2011-04-04T07:24:00.000+10:00

The Lilly Pilly (Syzygium sp.) is a genus of rain forest trees growing in Australia and South East Asia. They come in all sizes and have been adapted well to cultivation and are seen in a lot of gardens and as street trees.
Most have dark green glossy foliage with red to bronze coloured new growth and lots of colourful flowers in summer and eventually small round fruit in bunches during autumn.
We have them growing in profusion, wild, along our creek banks. Ours usually have bunches of white fruit. What this exact species is, is hard to say.
One of our ex neighbours planted many of these trees (species again not known) around his property boundary.

This year due to all the rain they have fruited prolifically. Huge bunches of purple berries are weighing down the trees.
We 'oldies' in the neighbourhood realized what a bounty this was.
So neighbour Judy was out collecting them to make Lilly Pilly jelly.
And how delicious is it!
Took me back to my childhood as we had a tree growing in our backyard and my mother always made jelly from the fruit.

I guess this brings up the jam/jelly/jello language issue.
Jam to us is any fruit boiled up with water and sugar and allowed to set, then eaten on bread or toast ie. the USA jelly. Also sometimes called conserve here while the result of this process with citrus fruit is called marmalade.
Jelly to Australians is first and foremost the dessert made from flavoured gelatin ie. the USA jello.
Another jelly to Australians is jam that has been strained through a cloth during the cooking process which produces a clear fruit spread eg. Jude’s great Lilly Pilly jelly.

A Nocturnal Visitor

2011-04-03T09:06:00.004+10:00

When you are being lazy and not taking the garbage and recycling to the bin, expect to have an alternative clean up service arrive during the night to help out. In this case it was a brush tailed possum. He/she showed no fear. Guess the taste of a week old rye bread crust was just too good to resist. There are lots of these little guys living around us. We just have to make sure they don't find their way into our roof space during the winter. One took up residence in the top of the chimney of the guest house one year and was not happy at being physically removed. I now have a spare pair of thick leather elbow length gloves should anyone want to try this.

Fish, Milk, Eggs and Nuts in Wine?

2011-04-02T17:09:00.004+11:00

For those that bother to look closely at wine labels, it may be a surprise to see sometimes written there in the small print 'may contain traces of fish, egg, milk and nut products'. What's this all about? Newly fermented wines contains a lot of solid material in suspension. This can settle out naturally but will generally take a long time. To make the process quicker a process called 'fining' is used.
Fining means the addition of either natural or synthetic materials to wine to clarify and stabilize it. Particles in suspension are carried down with the fining agent to form a deposit on the bottom of the holding vessel, in our case a tank. The clarified wine is then racked (decanted) off this layer.
Historically, a wide variety of agents have been used for fining eg. ox blood, egg whites, milk casein, fish bladders, horse gelatins, seaweed, clay and others. In fact, almost any protein will work to some extent by binding to other proteins and forming the solid deposits. During the prebottling filtering stage most of the remnants of these fining agents are removed but minute quantities can remain. In this litigious age however, wine companies will put a warning on their labels to cover themselves.
Here we use bentonite, a special clay, to fine white wine. Not only does it aid in clarifying the wine but it also removes heat unstable proteins which can cause hazes in the finished bottled wine. We make up a water slurry of the material based on 0.8g/L wine and add it to the ferment.

I guess this clay is not an allergen so it's never mentioned on labels.
For fining red wine we use egg white which is carefully mixed into a solution with water and a little salt which helps dissolve the protein. One egg white/200L wine seems to do the trick. The yokes we use in omelettes.
Other wineries in the area use milk to clarify their white wines. Here it is the casein content that does the work.
Isinglass is made from the swim bladders of certain fish and is also used to fine white wines.
So what about nut products?
This was new to me also.
It is allowed to add tannin to wine, predominantly reds, that are lacking it. Tannins come from the grape skins (and seeds and stalks) as well as the oak and give that dry puckering feeling in the mouth after swallowing red wine. They are an important component as they help give the wine structure and texture. Most tannin products used in the industry are grape derived but some are indeed tree nut derived eg. chestnuts.
Hence the allergen warning for the latter, not the former.

An Autumn Morning at the Beach

2011-03-31T12:15:00.006+11:00

The strange weather continues. A few days fine, a few days raining. It looked quite threatening with dark skies on Wednesday but we headed down to the beach for a swim and a walk.
However the ocean was very rough so a swim was out.
Everyone else must have thought it was a non beach day as there was only us plus a few seagulls.

That afternoon there was bright sunshine, blue skies and temperatures around 30 deg C!
So much for the weather bureau's forecast of cool and cloudy.

Autumn Flowers

2011-03-21T03:22:00.001+11:00

In celebration of the Autumn Equinox, here are some flowers currently blooming in our garden.

Malolactic Fermentation (MLF)

2011-03-20T05:00:00.002+11:00

Grape juice and the resultant wine contains quite a number of acids, the main ones being malic and tartaric.
The amount of acid in a wine is known as titratable acid (TA) and the acid strength is known as pH. Acid is an important component of wine contributing to taste (balance) as well as the chemical reactions that take place during the wine making process both natural and winemaker induced.
Malic acid is very tart and somewhat unstable in wine.
To improve the acid taste and increase the stability of wine it is prudent to convert this malic acid into the softer and more stable lactic acid, particularly in red wine.
This is done by introducing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) either as a culture or by natural means from the bacteria already present in the winery.
We use an Oenococcus oeni culture which is added to the fermenting must.

These little fellas (the white ones) get to work 'consuming' the malic acid and turning it into lactic acid and carbon dioxide. The evolution of this gas is the reason the process is called a 'fermentation'.
Improved wine stability comes about from not letting this process happen when the wine is in the bottle with obvious dire results ie. blown out corks and shattered glass.
MLF however will not take place in the presence of sulphur dioxide which is added to wine as an antioxidant and antibacterial agent. You see this as 'Preservative (220) Added' written on a wine label. This means we have to leave the wine unprotected until the MLF process is complete.
This is always a bit of a nail biting time in a simple Vin de Garage winery so this is the reason we add a culture ie. to get the process going and finished as quickly as possible.
The only sure way to detect if MLF has occurred is with a paper-chromatographic test.
In the meantime Vintage 2011 continues with the Semillon racked off the fermentation lees (dead yeast cells) and bentonite (clay used for stabilization and clarifying) residue and sulphuring. Now we just wait until all the remaining solids settle out and the wine clarifies. This may necessitate another racking or two plus sulphur additions.
The Tempranillo has gone through MLF and has been racked off the fermentation lees, sulphured and egg white added to begin the clarification process.
We are waiting for the Pinot Noir to complete MLF.
It continues to rain and rain. So far the Cabernet Sauvignon is holding up but experience has shown that a 'collapse' of bunches can occur virtually overnight eg. splitting.
So we are ready to pick at a moment's notice. It could be we are forced to make Rose' from this grape variety this year.
Only time will tell.

Vintage 2011 Continues

2011-03-14T01:43:00.001+11:00

We have picked the Pinot Noir which came in at 13.5 Baume and pH 3.5
There were small patches of botrytis which were easily handled so it was not a bad result for a difficult year.
I am trying a new red wine yeast this year. It is an Italian strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and was supposed to be a fast fermenter that brings out the flavour of red grapes.
It worked well on the Tempranillo and is fermenting the Pinot Noir quickly too.
The ferment gets quite hot, around (30+deg C), which helps extract plenty of colour from the skins. Light coloured Pinots are always an inherent problem. But to prevent it getting too hot meant punching down the cap (mixing the skins that float to the top of the fermenting wine, due to the carbon dioxide being released, back into it) a few more times a day than normal including a late one just before bed and an early one before breakfast. I will let it sit a while in the sealed tank after fermentation finishes in an effort to extract more colour.
The malolactic fermentation culture and oak chips have already been added to the wine at this stage.
I have always used a wine yeast culture for fermenting wines ie. commercial strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

This yeast quickly dominates the fermentation while repressing wild yeasts. This ensures a reliable and predictable fermentation.
However different S. cerevisiae yeast strains can have differing physiological and fermentative properties. This means the actual strain of yeast selected can have a direct impact on the finished wine so it's good to try different ones.
Yeasts are normally already present on grape skins ie. the grey bloom. Fermentation can be done with these endogenous "wild yeasts", but this procedure can give unpredictable results, which depend upon the exact types of yeast species present.
A lot of wine makers experiment with wild yeast fermentation. They are said to produce atypical flavour profiles and/or increased complexity in wines. With my relatively primitive production set up there would be a risk of wine spoilage using this method.
But one day it might be one worth taking.

Vintage Helpers

2011-03-10T07:58:00.003+11:00

During harvest four hands are always better than two.
The co driver is now an expert picker and all round cellar hand.
No longer does she complain about being covered in spiders and bugs as she makes her way down the rows snipping off bunches and quickly filling buckets.
And she is a deft bucket handler and stalk remover at the crusher/destemmer too.

The clean up process after crushing is very important. Getting rid of the residue of stalks and spilled grapes stops the usual invasion of annoying vinegar flies and helps prevent the development of wild yeasts within the winery area.
Cleaning the equipment to be ready for the next crush is similarly important.
I usually do this in the backyard. There is always a pile of grapes washed out of the crusher.
My cleaning staff of bower birds and currawongs is always waiting in the surrounding trees and at the ready to make short work of those. After all, the netting has been preventing them getting to the ripening grapes for weeks.
But this morning we had a new member of staff at work. Life in the country is great.

Vintage 2011 Begins

2011-03-08T13:23:00.003+11:00

With the weather still not cooperating and forecasts predicting a wetter than normal Autumn under the influence of La Nina, we bit the bullet and started harvest.
First off was the Tempranillo. Fruit quality was down on previous years as was yield.
Sugar level was 12.5 degrees Baume' and pH 3.5.
Under the circumstances we were not too disappointed. A higher Be' (with a resultant higher final wine alcohol level) would have been nice however.

The Semillon came in at 11.5 Be' which is acceptable for wines made from this variety of white grape. The pH was 3.4
The fruit has been affected by botrytis much of which we managed to manually sort through and discard. It will be interesting to see if that fungus has any affect on the resultant wine quality particularly its oxidation 'resistance'.
Anyway, both are currently fermenting away and there is the usual fragrant smell wafting around the house.
Next we will be turning our attention to the Pinot Noir.
The Cabernet Sauvignon has a long way to go as yet.

It's That Time of Year Again

2011-02-26T11:10:00.002+11:00

The grapes are starting to ripen and we are preparing for harvest.
Tests have shown that the Semillon is at 10.2 degrees Baume', Pinot Noir at 10.0 and Tempranillo at 9.8. It's too early to test the late ripening Cabernet Sauvignon.
If we get a few weeks of dry weather and sunshine then two more degrees Baume' for the white and three for the reds would be perfect.
But we have had the wettest summer on record with weeks and weeks of rain and cloudy days.

This has slowed up the ripening process mainly by the vines absorbing water and diluting the grape juice.
Also unfortunately the weather has completely disrupted our spraying program and for the first time ever we have a concerning amount of fungus in the vineyard.
One, although recently it has been classified as an algae, is downy mildew, Plasmopara viticola.
This shows up as a white deposit on the underside of leaves.
It attacks the leaves and eventually kills them and they drop. Without leaves the grapes will not ripen.

Another problem fungus is Botrytis or grey rot or bunch rot.
Botrytis cinerea results in a disintegration of grape berry structure and creates the ideal conditions for the infection of the fruit with yeasts and bacteria which increase volatile acidity
and laccase activity. The musts obtained from infected grapes are strongly compromised both microbiologically and chemically. This shows up as laccase enzymes, a high concentration of apiculated yeasts, acetic bacteria, lactic bacteria and high concentrations of gluconic and acetic acid.
The most important wine making problems are caused by the presence of laccase, an enzyme that oxidises wine polyphenols.
As an indirect consequence it causes the production of acetaldehyde, the reduction of the free sulphur dioxide, an increase in "faded" aromatics, the loss of primary aromas, the darkening of white wines, and an increase of orange notes in red wines.

So we have a bit of a battle on our hands this vintage to produce reasonable wine.
And why is downy mildew now an algae and not a fungus?
Because it needs water to sporolate and spread and it can produce its own food through photosynthesis.
Fungi feed on other organisms.
OK, enough microbiology, back to getting tanks, the destemmer/crusher, buckets and press cleaned up and ready.

Parli Italiano?

2011-02-09T09:31:00.000+11:00

I certainly don't, but would like to.
The co driver is enthusiastic too especially since we intend to return to Italy for a long term stay in the near future. Our first trip to Umbria back in 2005 where we stayed in and visited out of the way places convinced us that more than a basic tourist knowledge of the language would be of great benefit.
My only other language is German (and sometimes American, when the need arises). Foreign languages don't come easy to me and it was quite a struggle to become proficient in the one. I can see a number of my readers from Germany nodding knowingly here (At least I tried, Dieter!).
During the same 2005 trip when in Germany, I was amazed how much I remembered and how easy the language came back. Being able to 'convince' a couple of locals to move from our pre booked train seats between Frankfurt and Mainz was a good testament to the training of the Inlingua Sprachschule in Koeln (Cologne), not to mention the patience of my work colleagues. I would also throw in a little teutonic assertiveness learnt in the corporate environment a few kilometers to the north of that city.
Universities of the Third Age, or U3As as they are more often called are voluntary, non-profit organisations which aim to offer older people low-cost educational opportunities which operate in a pleasant, supportive social setting.

There are no formal entry requirements, no examinations and no "awards". U3As are basically self-help groups built on the premise that collectively older people have the skills and knowledge to provide learning opportunities for themselves. In fact the word "university" in the title is used in its earliest sense ie. a community of scholars who get together to help each other in a learning/social experience.
U3A is a world wide organisation with groups in many countries. There are more than 3000 groups spread over all continents. The U3A movement in Australia per head of population, has the greatest number of groups in the world and continues to expand.
Most of the groups in Australia are community based and we have one in our town and they are running a beginners Italian language course.
We have enrolled and had our first lesson. Our teacher, Sam, is of Italian heritage (like so many residents in this once thriving fishing port) and the class has ten enthusiastic students.
We are trying to learning the alphabet, numbers up to 100 and days of the week and months as homework. The Internet is proving a wonderful tool in this endeavour. Lots of video/audio lessons can be easily accessed, especially on YouTube.
By the way, did you know the Italian alphabet has only 21 letters, not 26?
So we are ahead already!

South Coast Wine Show 2011

2011-02-07T09:52:00.007+11:00

The 2011 show has been run, the presentation dinner held and medals awarded.
This year the judging and the public tasting took place at a new venue, the Mollymook Golf Club function center, and everyone agreed it was a much more comfortable place for both activities.
Certainly the view over Mollymook beach could be considered a bit distracting.

There were 143 entries from 24 vineyards and wineries, 10 in the Southern Highlands Wine Region, 7 in the Shoalhaven Coast Wine Region, 5 in the Nepean Hawkesbury Area and 2 from the remainder of the South Coast Wine Zone.
87 medals were awarded; 7 Gold 19 Silver 61 Bronze
Again, white wines were dominant.
More details can be found on this link.

Yasi's Aftermath

2011-02-06T09:48:00.004+11:00

Yasi has now weakened to a tropical low causing flash flooding, hailstorms and 90km/h winds in an arc from Queensland's north-west, through Alice Springs and as far south as Melbourne.
Huge amounts of warm, moisture-laden air brought across the continent by one of the largest cyclones in memory have been dragged south, colliding over Victoria with a large cold front heading north.
That front ''ingested'' the moisture, causing huge cloudbursts that dumped rainfall of up to 200mm in just two hours over Melbourne and regional Victoria. Thunderstorms were also recorded in NSW's south-west and hailstones ''as big as golf balls'' fell in Mildura.
While Victoria coped with flash flooding in suburban Melbourne early yesterday, forcing the rescue of 84 people from homes and cars, 4000 calls to the State Emergency Services and the closure of train lines, major roads and freeways, Sydney was in the seventh day of a heatwave.
But the Bureau of Meteorology said Yasi was not affecting Sydney's weather. The heat was due to a hot northerly airstream, caused by a slow-moving high-pressure system in the Tasman Sea, bringing hot air from the centre of the continent, coupled with high humidity, cloudy nights and high ocean temperatures.

Yesterday Yasi was hovering over the Northern Territory about 430km south-west of Mount Isa, causing heavy rain in far west Queensland.
For us sweltering on the south coast, south of Sydney, the news of snowstorms in the USA looked particularly appealing.
We have just sweated through our hottest night on record. The overnight low of 27.6 degrees was one degree higher than the previous record of 26.6, which occurred in February 1973. It was still 33.2 degrees at midnight, seven degrees above the average daytime maximum temperature.
The sweltering night followed a record-breaking seven days of temperatures over 30 degrees, a feat never before seen in 150 years of weather records.
But according to the Bureau the heatwave will finally, and quickly, come to an end today, Sunday, after a hot start to the day.
And as I type, the cooling southerly is starting to blow.
AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, We Have No Bananas

2011-02-04T13:08:00.005+11:00

Queenslanders returned to their homes today to begin counting the cost of Cyclone Yasi after it smashed through the state's northeast coast, flattening crops in Australia's main banana and sugar cane growing region.

Banana crops in the region may be only 15% of their normal level, which is expected to see national banana prices quickly skyrocket toward $15 per kilo, in a similar pattern to Cyclone Larry, another category five cyclone, that hit the region five years ago.
A huge area of the sugar cane crop was also completely flattened by the cyclone. It is estimated more than $A500 million of cane could be lost.
Australia is the world's third-largest sugar exporter, after Brazil and Thailand.

The storm had forced tens of thousands of residents to seek safety away from its path, with the Queensland police confirming only one death so far . Others remain missing although Queensland Emergency Services Minister said the damage doesn't appear to be "as bad as had been feared."
The fallout will continue however. Rains from Yasi are due to hit the southern states over the weekend. Australia, particularly in the east, continues to struggle with a La Nina weather event responsible for Yasi and recent flooding in an area roughly the size of Germany and France in a devastating seasonal pattern that could persist for a few more months and possibly most of 2011.
More pictures of the aftermath of Cyclone Yasi are available on the link below:
http://tinyurl.com/4r2adyf

Cyclone Yasi Update

2011-02-03T09:28:00.003+11:00

Cyclone Yasi crossed the north Queensland coast at Mission Beach, south of Cairns about midnight last night as a category five. Mission Beach, Tully, Tully Heads, and Cardwell appear to have borne the monster cyclone’s full force. It was early this morning downgraded to a category three and is still considered dangerous. The cyclone has left the major city of Cairns relatively unscathed and the city will be open for business "very soon", the city’s mayor says.

The premier of Queensland said it was too early to have even basic assessments of the damage in some of the hardest hit communities such as Cardwell, to the south of Mission Beach as police have not been able to get into town as yet. She said about 175,000 people in the area were without power, after the cyclone hit major transmission lines and restoring supply would be a major priority.

Cyclone Yasi

2011-02-02T19:50:00.000+11:00

A category 5 tropical cyclone (hurricane) has been developing in the Coral Sea off northern Queensland for some time now.
It is now heading for the coast and is expected to cross it between Cairns and Ingham sometime tonight.
Winds are expected to be around 300km/hr (190mph) accompanied by a tidal surge of some 8-12m.
This is potentially the most damaging storm in living memory dwarfing Cyclone Tracy which completely destroyed Darwin in 1974.

Coastal areas have been evacuated and those who were unable to travel south have been located to cyclone shelters in major centers.
The Australian Airforce evacuated the patients from two major hospitals in the area south to Brisbane.
All the tourist islands on the Great Barrier Reef have also been cleared of people and all airports in the region closed.

The size of this storm is difficult to comprehend.
The above picture of its scale will probably help those not familiar with the Australian continent.
This, on top of the floods some weeks ago in Queensland, is making this 'wet season' one of the most disastrous on record.
Yasi could take at least 24 hours to weaken after it makes landfall probably going to go 500km inland before it's no longer of a cyclone intensity. Extensive outback flooding is expected.
I shall keep you updated.

My Summer Holiday Reading

2011-01-26T15:24:00.000+11:00

It has been a very wet and cloudy summer so far this year. Not a lot of beach time.

But with a big stash of books on hand it was good to catch up on some reading.
Here are a few books that I enjoyed.

Peter FitzSimons is a journalist, an ex Wallaby (Australian Rugby player) and a prolific writer with twenty one books so far to his credit. He is predominantly a biographer. This time however he has written about growing up on a citrus orchard in the Peats Ridge area just north of Sydney during the 1960s.

An entertaining book written in his usual humorous style full of characters synonymous with the Australian bush and that era. The hardships and discomforts of country life are tempered by family love and support. Many of the scenarios reminded me of my childhood even though it was in suburban Melbourne. And, yes, it was indeed a simpler time.

Andrew Jackson...hero or villain? He was certainly a man of contradictions. A supporter of slavery and Indian removal on one hand, and on the other, a reshaper of American politics, including popular campaigning techniques, media manipulation and engagement of citizens in the process. He transformed both the American presidency and the nation he led during his two turbulent terms in office.
The book covers all the usual ground, Eaton affair, the Bank Wars, Federal Import Tariffs and Nullification as well as the many personal and political conflicts with the other major players of the time.
However there is plenty of new material gleaned from personal papers in the Hermitage archives.
Can be read as a history book or an historical novel.

A good follow up to the above Andrew Jackson book covering the sorry tale of native American tribes' forced removal from the east to the mid west over a number of presidential administrations. It is a story of greed, betrayal,and racism vividly told in the typical Langguth character driven style. I found the story of internal tribal conflict over Removal particularly interesting and not one generally well known.

A work of fiction which includes some actual real life characters eg. Father Damien, woven into the story. It's a tale of the leper colony on Moloka'i, Hawaii with a little bit of Hawaiian political history and centuries-old Hawaiian religious beliefs and mythology thrown in.
An easy read and with a 'hard to put down' status.

Back Up!

2011-01-15T09:26:00.003+11:00

It seems I am destined to buy computers with a four year shelf life.

My HP laptop started doing 'funny things' a few months ago and, from experience, alarm bells started ringing.
So I started to back up my files.
Then all went quiet and I thought it was just a false alarm.
But no, a few days ago............POOF!
The dreaded blue screen.
Optimistically I took it into the repair shop. I always do this and always I get bad news and a bill for $50.
This time was no different.

So now I have a new one. Not another HP (you have had three chances, guys) but a Toshiba.
Learning a new operating system, Windows 7, reloading other programs and reestablishing 'favorites' is a time consuming task.
At least I have my precious files including photos and word documents.
The only exception are emails. I looked at backing these up a few times but it was a quite a convoluted procedure which I sadly postponed. But at least I had backed up my email address book.
So the lesson to be learned from all this is BACK UP!

External HDD's are cheap and easy to use. USB sticks even more so.
Put aside an hour or so every week or two and just do it!

The Queensland Floods

2011-01-14T06:25:00.006+11:00

This is all happening 1000km or so to the north of us so we are unaffected. The Northern Rivers of New South Wales are also in flood.
It has been devastating for all concerned with many lives lost.

The Brisbane Times Newspaper is the best web site to catch up with all the details as well as some pretty grim pictures.
But as usual, Australians meet adversity head on with a little humour.

A statue of Rugby League football hero, Wally Lewis, outside the Brisbane football stadium is dressed appropriately.

The Daughter's Italy / Part 2

2011-01-13T12:20:00.008+11:00

My travel companion Ms. B, and I landed in Naples airport on a humid afternoon with a long and unbeknown to us, convoluted trip ahead of us. We had challenges you see. Not only did the trip from Naples to Positano involve various planes, trains and automobiles, but in true family form I was H-u-n-g-o-v-e-r. Yes, with a Capital H. I had been out partying until 1am in my old Cambridge stomping ground and then I couldn’t sleep because I was paranoid about missing my flight. Polish vodka + old friends + early morning flight = Travel nightmare!

Something to remember when visiting Naples, well actually – strike that, make it ALL of Italy is that the male population are not backwards in coming forward. You could have heard a pin drop and the necks cracking as we collected our luggage and made our way to the bus. I hurriedly explained to the incredulous Ms. B that we were not about to get mugged by the group of mafia looking types that followed us, but they were simply staring because we were WOMEN. You know.. because Italy doesn’t have any women – right?
After navigating the connections that took us to the dizzying heights of Positano we disembarked the bus with a sigh of relief. I should have known that Italian bus drivers could drive one handed along sky high cliffs, while arguing with a passenger in addition to talking on his mobile phone. Believe me, my friend, The Hangover (yes, at that stage it was still with a Capital H) was tagging along in full force.

There’s always a problem with taking the bus in Italy. Knowing which stop to get off at – we knew we were in Positano… we could even see our hotel… but what separated us from it was about 1000 steps down to it (who knew we should have waited another stop?). So off we trudged. In the rain. With our suitcases. And a new friend who became a fixture in our Positano stay. Randy the dog (I will leave it up to you to deduce how he came to earn his name.. along with his girlfriend…. Mandy).
A pizza, a few glasses of Chianti and a generous serving of gelato in one of the seaside restaurants soon set things straight (and farewelled the Hangover – Hurrah for small mercies!).

I had one thought as we watched the sun slip into the sea…
Italy….. I really, truly, unashamedly love you.

Looking Back at 2010

2011-01-01T12:36:00.004+11:00

A Happy New Year to all my readers.
Looking back, I guess the major highlight of 2010 was the breaking of the seven year drought. With the La Nina influence in full affect, rain came to most of Australia. Lake Eyre filled, even the Todd River in Alice Springs flowed and metropolitan dams that were down to twenty percent or less capacity are now over flowing. In fact a lot of NE Australia is now in flood.

Our dams and tanks are certainly full.

Weather also produced one of our year’s low lights when a horrific wind storm in early September battered us for 24 hours bringing down trees and leaving us without electricity for 3 days. Luckily there was no one hurt or house damage done.
Our decision to stay home and travel was a good one. The journey through western New South Wales into South Australia to the fringes of the outback and back through coastal Victoria was a highlight of the year.

We backed this up with a trip to northern Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef with American family in September. The day we spent snorkeling on the outer reef was magic!

Politically, our first woman Prime Minister, who came to power during a party coup, was re-elected for another term albeit as head of a minority government.
Australia had missed out on the worst of the global financial crises but the poor situation in North America and Europe continued to influence our stock market which bounced along at a regular level for most of the year. At least it is well above its lowest levels of a few years earlier.

The big news was the strength of the Australia dollar with it being worth more than the US dollar for the first time since it was floated in the early 1980s. Its strength was also reflected in record levels against the Euro. How long will this last is anyone’s guess but our currency is noted for being an investment ‘plaything’ so we just have to take advantage while we can. Certainly the high level reduces the competitiveness of our export industries eg. minerals, which are a major component of our economy.

So what are our plans for 2011?
First off we will enjoy the rest of summer, mainly at the beach, and then get through harvest. Then we will look at some travel plans for later in the year. With our strong currency the USA or Europe (or maybe both!) look tempting. But with the success of staying home to travel in 2010, southwest Western Australia and Tasmania are also on the radar.
So much to see, so little time!

Spiders

2010-12-30T15:53:00.000+11:00

Australia has its fair share of spiders and a lot of them are quite nasty.
We have in our area the funnel-web and redback whose bites can be lethal. The white tail and mouse spiders are not too pleasant either.
But we don't see too many of these on a daily basis.

The black house spider is however quite prevalent. It prefers dry habitat areas and secluded locations and is commonly found in window framing, under eaves, gutters, in brickwork, sheds, car ports and among rocks and bark. Electric lights attract their main food source of moths, flies, mosquitoes and other insects so they tend to congregate on our front and back verandahs as well as in the garage. Their bites can be painful but not lethal.

The St. Andrews Cross spider is also common. This spider with its brown and yellow striped markings is a web-weaver usually found in summer in garden areas around the home. It is considered beneficial as it spins a large web to snare flying insects, such as flies and mosquitoes. They are non toxic and non aggressive. There are a lot of these in the vineyard.
An adult Huntsman spider may have a body length of up to 20 mm. It's the diameter including legs may reach 45 mm. The first 2 pairs of legs are longer than rear two. This spider is hairy, buff to beige brown colour, with dark patches on it's body.

The spider prefers to live under the flaking bark of trees, under flat rocks and under eaves or within roof spaces of buildings.
It often wanders into homes and is found perched on a wall. They are shy, timid spiders able to move sideways at lighting-fast speed. We usually 'relocate' the ones we find inside.
We always have plenty of these around.

Why is the Surf SO Cold?

2010-12-11T12:16:00.005+11:00

It's almost mid December.

It's summer.

Daytime temperatures are getting up into the high 20s.

Then why is the ocean so cold? Jumping into 15-16 degree water is no fun.

This is winter stuff.

Finally we had an explanation from my surf report web site today.

Coastalwatch.com report that "The coldest water is pretty much isolated between the mid north coast (around Port Macquarie) and the south coast (Eden/Bateman’s Bay) anomalous to what we expect for summer and a La Nina season.

This summer is not living up to its reputation. We have just endured the wettest spring on record, the wettest start to summer, and sea surface temperatures have been fluctuating around 16-17 degrees(DECC, MHL) during the last week of November and the first few weeks of December, the lowest recorded temperature was below 15 degrees. The East Australian Current travels south down the east coast sending warm water down to Tasmanian waters from QLD, however BOM sea surface maps show the current is flicking offshore just south of Port Macquarie transporting warm water offshore.

During La Nina cycles the east coast of Australia is expected to experience warmer wetter conditions and persistent onshore winds. Relentless ENE and NE winds blowing at a parallel angle to the coast drive ocean currents south and offshore, due to the Coriolis Force. The centrifugal motion of the Coriolis effect causes water to move to counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere i.e. away from the coast.

Persistent onshore wind conditions result in Ekman transport, the term for when surface water is pushed away at the ocean surface and is then replaced by colder water from the depths offshore."

So there you have it.

We can only wait and hope.

Meanwhile it's fun to watch the newly arrived tourists running down the beach for their first plunge of their holiday....and then obviously wishing they hadn't.

BOOKS!

2010-12-10T10:43:00.004+11:00

I love books.

Reading has always been a passion. So much to learn, so little time.

Nothing like the smell of a bookshop and especially a newly opened book.

But books are really expensive in Australia due to Parallel Import Restrictions (PIR's).

Under the PIRs, if a novel or textbook is published in Australia within a certain time limit of it being published elsewhere in the world, booksellers cannot import and sell stocks of the same book from UK, the US or Asia. This enables rights holders to charge prices (or obtain royalties) in the Australian market with the certainty that they cannot be undercut by commercial quantities of imports of the same titles.

This means in the USA, the same book can be 50% or more cheaper than in Australia. Needless to say when we are in the USA, we stock up to our airline baggage allowance limit.

Then there is Amazon.com

Both the co driver and I keep a running list of books that we are interested in. These are usually gleaned from reviews, references in other books, author interviews on TV, web sites and word of mouth.

When we have a sufficient amount, we order from Amazon. Ten or more books including airfreight costs are still around 50% cheaper than we can get here. The near parity $A/$US exchange rate is also a help.

The government is not interested in collecting tax on such small value imports (they have a $1000 limit) so that saves us another 10%.

Our last shipment arrived yesterday. It is always like Christmas opening the box.

And that smell!

Can't wait to get started on them!

The Daughter's Italy / Part 1

2010-12-06T15:08:00.009+11:00

Italy. My credit card’s Achilles’ Heel but always and forever my happy place. Numerous visits to the home of creamy gelato, heavenly pizzas, rolling Tuscan hills, azure seas and lecherous men have not quelled my fascination and love for a country that lies 14,000km from my home.

I barely speak the language. "Non parlo molto Italiano" is my favourite Italian phrase and get-out-of-jail-free card (see lecherous men above). I don’t seem to actually do all that much when I am there apart from shop for beautiful handbags, drink wine and meander around the countryside…. Oh… and I eat…
I eat A LOT in Italy. One afternoon after a third Nocciola gelato (hazelnut ice-cream) I pondered how many gelatos a day was considered excessive. I mean – you have to have one mid-morning to quash those hunger pangs as you peruse the shops (glorious lunchtime aromas of garlic, oregano and basil start wafting through the air – it’s a killer). Then comes the post lunch gelato – always a must – you need to help all that pasta, cheese and bread digest don’t you? Last, but definitely not least is the post dinner gelato. This is enjoyed while practicing the art of "la passeggiata". This is a great evening ritual in Italy. Everyone strolls gently (slow! think slow!) through the main streets of the old town. Italians tend to dress up in their latest designer gear (seriously though, when don’t they dress up??) and tourists are usually easy to spot in their dusty jeans and Converse (yes, me). I love that la passeggiata is where budding romances are displayed as well as newly purchased shoes and handbags. So, after some lengthy consideration I have come to the conclusion that 3 gelatos are just right (because anymore would be just plain greedy – right????).

Introducing a Guest Blogger

2010-12-03T09:34:00.008+11:00

It's still raining here. Most outside activity has been put on hold. This means blog subjects are a little hard to come by.

But there is a solution at hand. The daughter has just completed a five week tour of Italy and France and has offered to share some of the highlights.

Here's what she originally wrote in the offer to help her old man out:

I’m not going to lie to you. I am the first to admit that the idea was not very original – especially since it came to me while flicking through a copy of 'Eat, Pray, Love'. I thought to myself “If you could go anywhere in the world this very second, someplace that would make your heart sing and your lips smile wide - where would you go?”.
Without a moment of hesitation, the answer came to me.

One word. Three syllables. Italy.

So now she is busy writing her story. I have seen the pictures and now wait expectantly for the tales behind them.

Hope you will all enjoy them too.

A New Grape Variety?

2010-11-20T12:09:00.007+11:00

There are two ways of propagating plants. One is sexually by seed, the other is asexually by vegetative means eg. cuttings, grafting, budding, layering are some of many.

One of the problems with sexual propagation is that in many cases a seed will not produce an exact ‘copy’ of the female parent due to its heterozygous nature.
On the other hand vegetative propagation will ensure an exact 'copy' of the parent.
Last year I found a grape seedling growing in a remote part of the garden. One can only assume the seed was deposited there by a bird and it came from one of the five varieties of grapes I grow here.
So I dug it up and planted it in a pot.
This year it has grown extremely well.
And the resultant vine is quite a puzzle .
The leaves of the new vine (top) look pretty much like Cabernet Sauvignon (bottom) with medium deeply five lobed leaves and the petiolar sinus cut right into the veins at the base. The only other vine that I know of with the latter characteristic is Chardonnay but its leaves are three lobed and very much different in shape.

The most distinguishing feature of the new vine however is its red shoots and red leaf veins and none of the established vines here have that.

Do we have a new variety here?
Will the fruit be red or white?
Next year I will plant it out and wait to see what eventuates.

Some Early November Musings

2010-11-05T12:49:00.009+11:00

We have had over a week of rain!

And it still continues.

Good for the grass, vines and dams but limits the amount of outside work you can do as well as visits to the beach.

So in an effort to ward off a bout of cabin fever I will ramble on a bit, horticulturally.

The spring flower displays continue to impress. Our very old and large bottlebrush (Callistemon sp.) is having a bumper year. It is just covered in flowers.

This genus is doing well all over our area. It is a very popular garden plant. Most flower spikes are red but there are white, yellow and purple varieties as well. A rare one is green but have not seen one of those around here.

Back in 2007 I blogged about my new Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis).

When a small stand of these trees was found in a remote part of the Blue Mountains near Sydney sixteen years ago, it was seen to have certain characteristics of the 200-million-year-old family Araucariaceae but was not similar to any living species in the family. Comparison with living and fossilised Araucariaceae proved that it was indeed a member of that family. Fossils resembling Wollemia and possibly related to it are widespread in Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica but Wollemia nobilis is the sole living member of its genus. The last known fossils of the genus date from approximately 2 million years ago.

The location of the trees is still a closely guarded secret but thousands of clones have been cultivated for public sale.

Ours is still growing well in a pot, albeit a bigger one, and now quite tall. It is a fascinating plant to watch, especially in spring.

The trunk growing point as well as those of the branches are covered initially in wax (probably evolved for cold climate protection) which is then discarded as new branches/leaves start to form.

There is an interesting discussion about this tree on the Royal Botanical Gardens web site.

The Great Barrier Reef / A Video

2010-10-27T16:37:00.003+11:00

This video was taken by the company marine biologist during our "Wavelength" cruise to the outer Great Barrier Reef in September.

Grevilleas

2010-10-23T08:27:00.000+11:00

In another life I had an Australian native plant garden. They were supposedly low maintenance and not so water dependant. However to keep them looking good, this was all a myth.
The one genus I got to enjoy growing were Grevilleas.
They are a very diverse group of of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the Proteaceae family. The species range from prostrate shrubs less than 0.5 m tall to trees 35 m tall.
They have an amazing range of foliage and flower forms as well as flower colour.
Many Grevilleas interbreed freely and extensive hybridisation and selection of horticulturally desirable attributes has led to the commercial release of many cultivars which increases considerably the range of plants available.
Maybe the wet winter has encouraged the flowers this year or maybe I have been unobservant in the past but this year's displays in the gardens around us are magnificent.

An October Update

2010-10-17T07:41:00.001+11:00

Spring is really here despite a two day return to winter with rain and windy conditions. There was also some snow on the mountains. All the fruit trees are in blossom and budburst is over with all four grape varieties now well into shoot growth. The fact that the Pinot Noir was shooting in August only enforces the global warming argument. I think from memory that budburst is now three weeks ahead of what it was when I first planted vines around 15 years ago.

So that all means there is plenty of work to do around the place.

Spraying has begun mainly against downy mildew. A neighbour of mine who runs a commercial winery has not sprayed for powdery mildew for years and has had no problems. This year I will try the same. It is a bit of a risk as there is no 'cure' for this disease but anything to reduce the number of sprays and chemical impact on the environment is welcome. Not that I use too much nasty stuff. Copper oxychloride used against downy mildew is approved for organic vineyards as is wettable sulphur against powdery mildew. Phosphorus acid as a downy curative is also ok. Chlorothalonil used against botrytis isn't too good but there are really no effective sprays of lower toxicity.

Calves have started to arrive. So far everything has gone well. Grass is growing well too after all the rain we had over winter so the new mums will be well nourished eating for two.

A friend and I worked on the fallen trees produced by the big storm for two days solid. We eventually got the fences repaired and and started clearing the accessible trunks and branches. From a distance it's as though we did no work at all. It's a huge job. They will never be completely cleared. At least we have a few year's firewood already.

And the black snake that seemed to have taken residence in that area has apparently moved on due to all our activity.

It was one of the biggest I have seen around here for quite a while so will be keeping an eye out despite the recent no show.

Other than that all the tourists have gone home after the October school holidays and we have a few month's peace until the real invasion starts in mid December for the long summer break well into January.

The Commonwealth Games

2010-10-08T09:49:00.002+11:00

Currently we are enjoying live telecasts on six dedicated channels from Delhi, India, of the Commonwealth Games. They run for just under two weeks.
Every four years, members of the Commonwealth of Nations get together for a huge sporting event.
This is the 19th time they have been held and 6800 athletes and officials from 71teams are attending to compete in 17 sports.

It’s great to see so many smaller less wealthy nations competing. The qualification criteria are not as strict as for the Olympic Games so it gives many athletes the chance to experience the ‘big time’ although their performances may not be world class. In fact it is very rare for a world record to be achieved in any of the events. As well as many Olympic sports, the Games also include some sports that are of British origin and are usually played only in Commonwealth countries. These include lawn bowls, rugby and netball.
The Commonwealth of Nations has its roots in the British Empire which eventually became the British Commonwealth before its final transition. It is an intergovernmental organization of 54 independent member states. All but two of these countries were formerly part of the British Empire.

Sixteen members of the Commonwealth recognise the Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state, including Australia. The majority of members, thirty-three, are republics and a further five have monarchs of their own.
It is interesting to note that the four Home Nations of the UK ie. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland send separate teams to the Commonwealth Games. Individual teams are also sent from the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. This is in contrast to the Olympics where all these combine to represent ‘Great Britain’. The Australian external territory of Norfolk Island also sends its own team, as do the Cook Islands and Niue, both two states in free association with New Zealand.

Australia usually does pretty well in this competition and has for many years won the highest number of medals.

Some Fish of the Great Barrier Reef

2010-10-03T08:07:00.004+11:00

All these pictures were taken by Wavelength Charters who sail out of Port Douglas to the outer reef on a daily basis (weather permitting).

We can highly recommend them as a snorkel only trip to the Great Barrier Reef.

By the way, Blogger has altered its formatting system whereby sometimes posts with a large numbers of pictures alter the number of posts per page (pagination). It has happened here. You can see the rest of the September 2010 blogs by clicking on blog archives in the side bar. This is a pain I know but nothing can be done.

The Great Barrier Reef

2010-10-01T01:51:00.002+10:00

All pictures taken by Chris, marine biologist with Wavelength Charters during our trip to Opal Reef on 23/09/10.

A Family Visit / Part 2

2010-09-30T07:44:00.001+10:00

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is the largest coral reef system in the world covering 344,000 sq.km in area. It is approximately 2300km in length and extends from the northern tip of Queensland south to just north of Bundaberg. It varies in width between 60 km and 250 km and has an average depth of water of 35 metres in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
This unique and diverse marine ecosystem comprises about 2900 reefs, 600 continental islands and 300 coral cays. Only six percent of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park consists of coral reefs however. The rest is made up of sea grass, mangroves, sand, algal and sponge gardens, interreefal communities and other habitats.
It is home to approximately 1500 species of fish, 360 species of hard coral, one third of the world's soft corals, 5000 - 8000 species of molluscs, 400 - 500 species of marine algae, 600 species of echinoderm, 17 species of sea snakes, 22 species of seabirds and 32 species shorebirds that live and breed on the islands, 13000 dugong, 6 species of marine turtles and 30 species of whales and dolphins.
The Reef was inscribed on the World Heritage List on 26th October 1981.

Port Douglas is one of the closest departure points to the outer reef but it is still a 2 hour trip out there by boat. We chose Wavelength Charters because they cater only for snorkelers, take a maximum of 30 people, have a comfortable boat and have sole access to some better parts eg. Opal Reef. We took our seasick tablets the night before and I was glad we did. We sailed into a 1-2m swell and a 20 knot wind. It was a little bumpy until we got into the protected area behind the reef. Some others who had waited until departure to take medication were quite ill during the journey.

We were provided with our wet suits, mask, snorkel and flippers and then had a very detailed safety briefing. When you are alone 40km off the coast on the edge of the continental shelf you tend to listen to that quite carefully. Then it was into the warm 27deg C water for our first look at what was a few metres underneath.
What can I say but WOW!
This was the first of three different spots they took us to with each one being better and different than the last. We had about an hour at each spot to float about and look at the coral and the thousands of brightly coloured fish.

After each 'dive' and we were back on board, there was a roll call and count. They didn't want to leave anyone behind.
It has happened!!!!! But not with Wavelength
We continued to explore after a great lunch during which a marine biologist, Chris, (he took the reef pics on this blog) gave us a talk about the formation of the reef, what to look for as far the the different kind of corals are concerned and most alarmingly how short a time it may be around. Global warming and ocean pollution is killing the coral at a fast rate. Some estimate it may be with us only for 20 more years or so.
The colour of the water around the reef is an amazing azure blue and is so clear. The deeper parts are a dark luminous blue. It was a bit daunting to think that where we were swimming was only a few metres deep but just over the reef on the eastern side it plunged to 1000m.
At the last spot known as SNO we were warned to keep an eye out for a huge Maori Wrasse who is a regular visitor when the boat anchors here. And on cue he turned up and swam amongst us.

There was a very steep drop off between the boat and the reef at this point. It was suggested that this may be a good spot to see some reef sharks. I floated around there for about 10 minutes but saw none. They are night hunters and usually shy. Unfortunately we didn't see any turtles either.
All too soon the adventure was over. There is little doubt about the reef's status as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. It was another bumpy ride back to port but at least this time we had a following swell.
That evening we celebrated our day with a great Italian seafood meal at 'Bucci'.
The following morning we headed north towards Cape Tribulation in the Daintree rainforest. This is a far north as you can go on the east coast of Australia without a 4WD.
Our first stop was the Daintree River ferry.

From the sign above obviously I was not going too close to the river bank to take pictures. Numerous companies run croc sighting tours up and down the river. We travelled along the scenic winding road enclosed by thick jungle. There are plenty of places to stop and enjoy some very panoramic views of the area.

We took a short detour down to Cow Bay and had a pleasant walk along a deserted beach followed by a sampling of ice cream made from exotic fruit grown locally such as black sapote, soursop, wattle seed, coconut, macadamia, mango and jackfruit.

At Cape Tribulation we travelled for a few hundred meters up the 4WD track that leads 100km to Cooktown and ultimately another 1000 km to "the tip" or Cape York, the most northerly point of Australia. It was already rough for that short distance.
"Cape Trib" is a very popular tourist destination and was pretty crowded as it has one of the best beaches in the area.

The 1200 sq.km Daintree Rainforest contains 30% of frog, marsupial and reptile species in Australia, and 65% of Australia's bat and butterfly species and 18% of bird species in the country can be found in this area. There are also over 12000 species of insects. All of this diversity is contained within an area that takes up only 0.2% of the landmass of Australia. The Daintree is over one hundred and thirty-five million years old making it the oldest in the world.
It certainly is an impressive area to visit.

All too soon our trip north was over and we headed back to Sydney for a last night on the town.
A few drinks at the Opera House Bar and dinner at the Ice Bar on Circular Quay and then a really decadent dessert the Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe.
Next morning we took our visitors back to the airport for their 24 hour journey home.
We had all had fun and I think they now had a reasonably good idea about the Australian way of life and how scenically diverse the country is.
It was good to have them both here.
And to end, some classic statements made by the 'tour group' during the two weeks. Of course only we four know who said them and the context in which they were said.
"where is the freakin' steering wheel?"
"BIG orange tabby"
"as big as this table"
"back off, bitch!"
"I thought I ordered a pork rib"

A Family Visit / Part 1

2010-09-28T07:57:00.002+10:00

The co driver’s sister, Kelly and her husband, Mark, came for a two week visit from the USA. Despite travelling for 24 hours they were both sparking on all cylinders during the three hour drive from the airport to the south coast. We went for a short beach walk after lunch, caught up with all the news and after an early dinner we let them hit the sack as jet lag took over.
Next day we found them some kangaroos to photograph up close, fed them fish and chips at the Innes Wharf at the Bay and took them for short drive around the coast.
Next day the weather was predicted to be a bit nasty so we headed over the mountains to Canberra to visit the National War Memorial and the Australian Museum. The weather up there was perfect.
The following day was a beach day, a long walk along Tabourie in the morning followed by surf fishing in the afternoon. Mark bagged his first Australian salmon! He also had his first encounter with Australian venomous wildlife coming across quite a large black snake in the front paddock.

Then we were off the Sydney taking the scenic route along the Grand Pacific Drive, stopping at Gerringong Beach for coffee and at Stanwell Tops near Wollongong to watch the para gliders take off from Bald Hill.
Then it was onto the beach side eastern suburbs for lunch at Bronte and a quick visit, via the famous Bondi Beach, to South Head at the entrance to Sydney Harbour.

Next morning we were up early for the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. Well, not me who suffers from terminal acrophobia but the other three. This takes three hours and I spent my time well sitting in the sun beside the opera house with the daughter watching the groups of 'crazies' making their way up and over the top span of the bridge.

After lunch in the Rocks area, we hopped on the Manly ferry for the half hour ride across the harbour to that northern beach side suburb for a coffee. Despite being a commuter service this journey is really like a harbour cruise.
Sunday morning we headed back into town by bus. The Sydney Marathon was on and 35,000 runners cause a bit of traffic chaos so better not to drive. The ladies shopped while the men sat outside the pub, drank a couple of beers and watched the world go by. Then we walked around Circular Quay area, the Opera House, the Botanical Gardens and finally window shopped through the Queen Victoria Building.

Up bright and early the next morning, we headed for the airport to catch our three hour flight to Cairns followed by a one hour drive further north along the Captain Cook Highway to Port Douglas in Queensland.
The history of Port Douglas is based around gold fever. The town was founded in 1877 but the gold rush meant the population quickly escalated as people arrived from all over the country to try and find their fortunes. As the gold dwindled so did the population of the town and industry virtually disappeared. The town was then largely destroyed by a cyclone (hurricane) in 1911 and there seemed little hope of recovery. However, with its natural beauty and unspoilt beaches it was soon rediscovered and slowly but surely the town gained a reputation as a tourist destination. Being the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and the world heritage listed Daintree rain forest, it is now popular with Australians as well as foreign visitors.

We had booked what turned out to be a very comfortable villa a few kilometres out of the town centre which had it's own pool and spa, a must in this hot sticky climate.
We bought some good steak and fresh prawns and had a great BBQ meal with a few bottles of wine, particularly Verdelho, which Kelly had discovered she liked.

Next morning we explored the town surrounds, marina and beach. Four Mile Beach is very pretty and was quite crowded. But this is tropical North Queensland and there are a few things to remember. One is this is saltwater crocodile country and, second, during certain times of the year marine stingers frequent the shallows.
The saltwater crocodile is the world's largest reptile. These are found on the northern coast of Australia and inland for up to 100 km or more. It has been reported to grow to lengths of 7 metres and weigh one tonne but the average size is around 4 metres.
Hunted almost to extinction for its skin, the crocodile is now a protected species in Australia. But they do present a danger to humans taking 2 or 3 people annually. One has to be careful on river banks, boat ramps and even the ocean. Warning signs are very prevalent.

Marine “stinger season” generally runs from November through to May or June. During this period, the more dangerous jellyfish are of particular concern. These include the common Box Jellyfish and Irukandji. Severe stings from these may cause victim to stop breathing or their heart to stop, potentially resulting in death. To prevent this happening authorities install stingers nets in the ocean during the season and recommend the use of Lycra stinger suits.
For us the pool was a much better option, even in 'out of season' September

Then we headed for Mossman Gorge. This is a very accessible and scenic section of the world heritage listed Daintree National Park. Strangler figs and epiphytic plants flourish and the crystal clear Mossman River cascades over granite boulders on its way to the ocean. It was an easy stroll along the 700 metres of walking track to viewing platforms over the Mossman River. People were taking advantage of the cool water that races down from the mountains by swimming in the rock pools. No crocs here!

The area is home to the Kuku Yalanji Aboriginal Community who organise tours which take visitors through the rainforest explaining traditional Aboriginal rainforest plant use. All tour guides are Kuku Yalanji and well versed on the stories and legends of the area. By the time we reached the two kilometre loop track through the lush, green rainforest the heat and humidity was getting to us so we returned to the car and headed for the small township of Mossman for lunch.

Mossman is very green and lush with an economy built around the sugar mill established in 1894. There are still some excellent examples of older style Queensland houses left in the town.

That night we enjoyed a great seafood meal at 'On the Inlet'. Fresh reef (Kingfish and Coral Trout) and estuary fish (Barramundi) plus Coffin Bay oysters were the order of the day. And a bottle of Lost Block Semillon.

Next morning we dropped the ladies off at the beach and headed for the marina to pick up our half day fishing charter which was to take us into the Dickson Inlet for some estuary fishing. The fish didn't exactly jump into the boat but I caught a nice Javelin Fish (Grunter) and a fighting Mangrove Jack and Mark landed a good sized Giant Travelly. We had expected to see some crocs lying on the mud banks as the tide went out but unfortunately, nothing! Apart from some fairly large mudskippers that is.

Then it was Mex for lunch and home for a swim to prepare ourselves for our big adventure of the trip the next day, a snorkeling trip to the outer Great Barrier Reef.

Some Flora of Tropical North Queensland

2010-09-27T10:23:00.006+10:00

The Big Storm

2010-09-08T14:43:00.004+10:00

Parts of southern New South Wales were ravaged by a violent storm in the early hours of Sunday morning. The area including the Illawarra and Wollongong and the Shoalhaven on the south coast have been declared a natural disaster zone by the state Emergency Services Minister.

The State Emergency Service is responding to 800 outstanding calls for help in the Illawarra and on the NSW south coast after wind gusts of up to 120 kilometres per hour ripped through coastal towns and villages.
Electricity supplier Integral Energy says 100,000 customers lost power during the storm and 9,000 homes and businesses remain without electricity.
It could take many days to restore power to some outlying areas.

We suffered no property damage but there are some mighty big trees down around us.

We have spent two days repairing fences and chainsawing downed smaller trees and branches. Some fallen trees are so big they will never be completely cleared.

There is at least 10 years firewood now lying on the ground.

We just got the electricity back on at lunch time today so that was three and half days without power. Apart from no light and communications that meant no pump (so no shower, toilets or domestic water), no cooking (apart from the BBQ) and no refrigeration (we buried the contents of our freezer on Monday evening). The up side was we could eat out every night. Once power had been restored in Ulladulla on Monday evening the restaurants were pretty busy.

There was of course a shortage of ice and portable lighting.

Anyway we are glad no one was hurt and that we have 'survived'.

It was the worst storm I have been through in my twenty years on the coast. The co driver said the sound of the wind reminded her of tornados in the mid west of USA