Last Day

Yes it's my last day of work here - for now, at least. Here's the view from my 18th floor apartment as dawn breaks.

I had one last lunch date with my pals Beverley, Colin and David at Lime restaurant on St Kilda Rd. Many thanks to them for their help in my job and making me feel at home.

And I finally got to meet up with some old friends of my Mum and Dad, Ian and Janet, who treated me to a lovely meal of Australian lamb in their Toorak home.

It was good to hear their stories about how Melbourne and hear how Ian came to meet my Mum all those years ago when she was only 19. Many thanks to them for their hospitality too.

Possums

I noticed when I visited Fitzroy Gardens some signs saying "Please Don't Feed the Possums", but, apart from one rather sleepy looking one in a box at Healesville Sanctuary I hadn't seen any. Which is not surprising, as they are nocturnal.

Well I can't go home without having seen them so I took a nighttime stroll to Fitzroy gardens to see if I could find any. And there were lots of them. They are very cute.

They reminded me a bit of squirrels back home, which can also be considered a bit of a pest. They are also very tame.

These two scuttled about while I tried to take their pictures, but came up to see if I had anything for them in my plastic bag.

Yes, that is actually a paw on my leg. Cheeky things!

Leaving Lunch

As my boss, Steve, had to go to Adelaide today, yesterday he hosted a leaving do lunch for me with some of the people I've been working closest with.

It was great. And more of a leaving do than I had back in May when I got my freedom.

But's it's still possible I'll be back. Of course, I do need the job offer first...

Asian Food Delight

I've been staying in Russell St, Melbourne, close to the corner with Little Bourke St. This is pretty much the centre of Melbourne's Chinatown, and the location has heavily influenced my cooking while I've been here. Just across the road is this wonderful Asian food supermarket.

It is always busy. The aisles are all labelled in English, but not so all the goods. I almost felt I was in Asia shopping there - I don't remember seeing any other white Caucasian males on any of my forays.

I've never seen so many varieties of chilli sauce. And I got a 16 oz jar of delicious pickled whole chillis from Thailand a few weeks ago. They are really quite hot and I don't think I'll get through them before I leave unless I start having some for breakfast. About 4 a day will do it. On second thoughts, no, not for breakfast.

Wombat Divine

On Bourke St, Melbourne, there's a queue day and night at the moment. They even have marshals controlling it.

What is it for? Well if I move another 100m long the road, you can see. They are queuing to look into Myer's shop windows. Since 1956 they have dressed up the windows for Christmas with a story.

This year it is based on the story Wombat Divine by Mem Fox. Wombat tries out for all sorts of parts in the bush Nativity play. But he's too big to be Mary, too short to be a King and too heavy to be an angel.

But eventually he finds the perfect part...
...No I won't spoil the story.

Meanwhile, inside the store, the toy department has turned into Santaland.

That train looks fun, but I think I'm too big to be allowed on. Only junior wombats allowed.

One week to go

My time in Australia is running out now. One week today I will be home! And I still am not sure if I want to come back. I'll have to decide soon, but I have other options to consider, including an informal job offer and an interview the Tuesday after I get back.

Meanwhile, what haven't I done yet around Melbourne? I've still to meet up with some old friends of my parents who live in Toorak, but I've got that fixed up for next Thursday. And I haven't met ex-Bury Girl yet. Hello, are you still out there?

I've not answered my friend Geoff's question about what I really think of Australians, yet. I think I'll wait to see how they treat me next week first - the cricket is not going too well for England, is it?

But where haven't I been? Well I haven't been to many museums, or the zoo, or swum in the sea, or been into the MCG. But first I think I need to do some shopping. I started buying some things to take home last weekend, but I've other things still to get - including a bigger suitcase!

Perth, WA

I've been away this week - a business trip to The Company's Perth office and a client meeting.

I travelled Monday evening, but, although it was a flight of 2700km, which took about 4 hours, it was still only 8:30pm local time when I arrived. That's because Western Australia (aka WA) is 3 hours behind Melbourne time.

Actually, they have just voted to have a 3-year trial of daylight saving time from the beginning of December, which will bring them forward to the 2 hours behind Melbourne time they are in winter. The debate was quite protracted, I understand, with objections that included (I kid you not) "The curtains will get more frayed by the extra sunlight" and "It will upset the cows". Hmm. Still, WA is vast (I saw a map showing Britain, Germany and Japan together all fitting comfortably within its area) and it can't make much sense for those in the far north to change their clocks as they are so close to the equator - further east, neither Northern Territories not Queensland do.

Anyway, I arrived in Perth, checked into my hotel, and went for a walk to stretch my legs and find a drink. I know it was only a Monday night, but the city centre seemed deserted in comparison with Melbourne. All the restaurants seem to shut by 10pm, but I did find one pub open. I was surprised to see that they were serving this...

Yes. Abbott ale, brewed about a mile from home in Bury St Edmunds. I told the barman I would tell him how well it had travelled. The answer was - "Badly". It bore hardly any resemblance to what I knew. It was served chilled under CO2 pressure and tasted like it had been pasteurised. Yuck.

On Tuesday I had an early meeting in the CBD and went for coffee with, Warwick, a WA colleague. Before heading to the office in Subiaco, he gave me a quick tour of the city centre. He rather cunningly invented a meeting with someone on the 47th floor of Central Park Tower, the tallest building in Perth. "That was quick", said the girl on reception when we handed our visitors badges back 10 minutes after she had given them to us. I think she might have guessed what the meeting was!

The view was quite spectacular. Way down below was the famous Swan Bells tower, housing the bells from St Martin in the Fields in London.

My host, and fellow ex-pat Brit, Martin took me out at lunchtime to the famous Kings Park for a quick walk about. Fabulous views, and the grass seemed a lot greener than in the Parks in Melbourne. And it was hot too. In fact, I don't think I saw a cloud to speak of in my 2 1/2 days in Perth.

The company's office in Subiaco is also quite close to the home of the West Coast Eagles, current Aussie Football champions. I remember seeing lots of their fans on Grand Final day. So I had to take a picture of their stadium.

On Tuesday night I visited the Northbridge area, just across the railway line from my hotel, where there are plenty of cafes and restaurants. Here I was tempted to buy some Chocolate Chilli icecream. Yes it was chocolatey, but not very spicy.

After a successful client meeting on Wednesday, my host Martin organised a meal for four of us at C Blu restaurant on Cottesloe Beach, just along the sea front from the famous Tea Room.

The water looked so inviting, and there were plenty of people in swimming, but I didn't have my trunks with me. The meal was excellent - I had chilli prawns (big fat ones) to start followed by Snapper and salad - delicious, and we had a great view of the sun setting over the Indian Ocean.

It was interesting to talk to Martin about how and why he had emigrated and how he has found it. He has been in Australia for a year and doesn't regret making the move. But Perth is currently in a big boom fuelled by growth in the Mining sector and house prices have rocketed by more than 30% in the last year, overtaking even Sydney prices.

Yes, Perth is quite nice, the beaches are spectacular, as is the Swan River, but the city (shopping) centre was a bit drab and unexciting. My Perth colleagues would like me to come and live there, but it sounds like housing is getting a bit expensive and I think I prefer Melbourne, anyway....

If I come back to Australia, that is - I'm due to get a job offer next Tuesday, but I don't know if I want to accept it.

You can see more of my photos of Perth here on Flickr.

St Kilda at Night

I'd been to St Kilda before, but not at night, so I hopped on a tram to visit it again. The gates to Luna Park look even more sinister at night.

As it was Saturday, it was open until 11pm. Admission is free - you just pay for the rides. I didn't do any of them myself, but plenty of other people did. I think this one is the Silly Serpent.

No it's not the ghost train, it just whizzed through my long exposure.

I also took a stroll down Acland Street (which is where I found the expatriate Suffolk Beer). Acland Street is famous for its Cake Shops. Here is the window of just one of several along a short stretch.

I'm not a cake man myself, but they still looked pretty yummy. Click on the picture if you want to see them better.

Melbourne Fiesta

Today there was a street Fiesta in Fitzroy, Melbourne. Or is it Carlton? I'm not sure where one stops and the other starts. My drinking buddy Dave told me there was a Spanish Fiesta this weekend, so I went to see what it was all about. Actually it encompassed more than Spanish, including Central and South American too (including Portuguese speaking countries). All the better. Johnston St was closed off for the event.

There were loads of stalls serving yummy food and thirst quenching drink all along the street. You can maybe see the smoke rising. There was also a carnival procession of a number of groups. Here they are before they set off.

The costumes were great.

And they danced as they made their way along the street.

At the end of the procession came the Mexicans. I take my hat off to you too sir!


See more of my photos of the event here on Flickr.

Melbourne G20 Summit

Melbourne has been a centre of International affairs this week, being the host of the G20 summit. They started closing roads and putting police on the streets on Thursday. I had to laugh on Friday when I saw a policeman wearing a vest with 'Police Crowd Safety' on it. Yes, the police are safer in crowds I thought. But today I wasn't laughing any more.

This is where it is all centred.

The Hyatt hotel is a couple of blocks down Russell St from my hotel and a block along Collins St from my office.

The roads were barricaded off in each direction from the Hyatt. There were police everywhere, seemingly outnumbering demonstrators. The news says there were only about 2000 demonstrators, although 10000 were expected. There were certainly some colourful characters about.

Mostly I saw people just sat about in the road, or dancing to music pumped from impromptu lorry concert platforms. Here they had a bit of a dig at President Bush.

I didn't see much real confrontation, although I did see broken glass on the ground. I certainly didn't see anything like what the media called the 'Battle of Collins St'. But here is what I saw across the crossroads from my office.

The ANZ Bank were being accused of profiting from warfare and exploitation of the poor. Well I'm not sure why they should be singled out. But here were the police in more than just their normal uniforms and a streetwide line of police horses. I suppose it was necessary - there were clearly a few troublemakers around, but it did seem a bit excessive.

You can see some more of my pictures here on Flickr.

Sky High Mount Dandenong

On my way 'home' (in Melbourne) from the Mornington Peninsula on Saturday I stopped off at 'Sky High Mount Dandenong' (check out the link for a cheesy experience). There is a restaurant, park, garden and viewpoint there and it is meant to be a great place to watch the sun set over the city.

Actually, it turned out to be a bit showery, but the effect was still quite atmospheric. You can see the sun glinting off Port Phillip Bay in the distance.

The centre of the city is 35km off and looked a bit apocalyptic in the haze and pinky grey light.

Or maybe that was just my imagination.

It was a bit of a shock to the system when we got an icy blast from the Antarctic this week. After temperatures of 36 deg C a few weeks ago, yesterday it struggled to 13 deg C in the centre of Melbourne and rather less than that elsewhere. Here is how it looked on Mt Dandenong (as published on The Age website).

Yes. There is snow lying. And it is only two weeks to the start of summer. The weather around here really is crazy.

Update Mon 20th Nov: It is 36 deg C here again today!

Victorian Wineries

One of the delights of being in Melbourne is the fantastic range of Australian wines available. I had no idea there were so many vineyards and wineries in Australia, nor the variety of wines in Victoria alone - I'm told there are over 600 vineyards here in the smallest (mainland) state.

I've had a few tastings on my trips out over the weeks, but only a few, really, as you can't do many when you are driving. But here are a few bottles that sum them up.

Actually there are a couple of cheats there that need explaining...

My first tasting was on my bus trip to The Dandenongs and Yarra Valley. Here we had lunch at Fergusson's Winery near Yarra Glen. I particularly enjoyed the Chardonnay, but remained unconvinced by the Forte Shiraz.

My next outing with wine tasting was also in the Yarra Valley on my Yarra Day Out. I visited two random vineyards here. I saw the sign to Long Gully and recognised the name, but I wasn't sure where. I visited it anyway and loved the vineyard along the narrow valley (hence the name, I suppose). I later remembered I'd bought a bottle of their wine in my first few days in Australia. So where's the bottle(s) in the photo? Ahem. I'm afraid I threw them out after emptying them, but I kept the bag (on the right). I quite liked both the 2004 Pinot Noir and, especially, the 2001 Irma's Cabernet.

Sticks, in Yarra Glen, was launched in 2001. Their wines are quite fruity and only very lightly oaked. Very easy drinking and I love the twiggy label.

Last weekend I visited two other wine regions. In the Mornington Peninsula I visited two vineyards. My first was The Cups estate near Fingal. This is only about 8 years old, so their first wines are from 2003. They do an interesting line in White and Rose Pinot Noir, but I preferred the fruity red. Then, late on in the day, I visited the bigger and better known T'Gallant, famous for its Pinot Grigio/Pinto Gris. I preferred the "Imogen" Pinot Gris of the several styles they do.

In the Macedon Ranges I visited two more wineries. I stumbled across Barcaldine House in the Spa region. It was still quite early in the day, so I tried only a couple of whites. It was here that I learnt from the owner that a lot of wines are made with grapes grown elsewhere than on the estate. Over the last 3 years the price of grapes has plummeted from $3000 to only $300 a tonne, which makes it pretty hard to earn a living. It also means that boutique wineries can shop around for good quality grapes to make wines that they can charge a premium for.

My last wine tasting was at the Big Shed Winery near Glenlyon, sporting (appropriately) a St Andrew's flag on the roof. Yes the owners are originally from Scotland and, again, they make wines with grapes from more than just their own vineyard. There were several other tasters there at the same time and Miranda kept us well entertained as we worked our way through their list. I took away some of the Reserve 2004 Shiraz, a recent medal winner. I eventually realised what the underlying pervasive taste in it is. Eucalyptus. I kid you not! It must be the effect of all those trees in the area. But quite tasty, nevertheless.

Oh, and as for the extraneous bottles in the picture....

I included the bottle of Hanging Rock 'The Prospect' Cabernet, Merlot and Mourvedre (quite southern French like) even though I never had a tasting at the winery because I went very close to it.

The last one, which I haven't tasted yet, it is a complete imposter. I saw it in the window of a wine shop in St Kilda and couldn't resist. It is a Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon from Tassell Park. So what is so special about that? Check out my email address for a clue.

And I've only really scratched the surface here. All the vineyards have been 'cool climate', unlike the majority of Australian vineyards. And, in Victoria alone, I've still not been to the Pyrenees, Grampians, Rutherglen, Nagambie Heathcote and Bendigo or Alpine districts, let alone done a proper sampling of the areas I have been to. Hmm. I think I can see a potential hobby coming on. If I come back to Australia, that is....

Spa Country and the Macedon Ranges

For my Sunday drive, I headed west from Melbourne along the Western Freeway towards Ballarat. I was much quicker getting out of the city than my trip to the Mornington Peninsula the day before. I turned off at Ballan to head for Blackwood and Trentham through the Wombat State Forest. This is real bushwalking and 4WD territory, with numerous trails and tracks. Blackwood is tiny and Trentham not much bigger, and both were very quiet, it being a Sunday Morning. But I found more activity when I got to Daylesford. Here, at the train station, I found a Sunday market in full swing.

I had a hotdog made with spicy bullboar sausage - a local speciality. Very tasty.

Very close to Daylesford is Hepburn Springs. Between them, they are they centre of the Spa Country of Victoria. I had actually visited and tasted a couple of other springs before I got to Hepburn Spa.

Unfortunately the bathhouse was closed for redevelopment, but I did fill my water bottle from the Locarno spring.

Quite strong tasting. And, after a few days, this is what the bottle looks like...

A bit of iron in there, I fancy.

I headed on to Malmesbury, so I could wander back to Melbourne through the Macedon Ranges and the Calder Freeway. There is not much to see in Malmesbury. The botanic gardens made me pause for thought.

So dry. Here you can see effects of the drought. Is it just a drought, or has the climate changed? It has lasted for 10 years now, and the Victorian reservoirs are down to about 42% full this year before summer has even started.

I found a similar picture in the gardens at Kyneton. They seem to be trying hard to persuade people to visit here as tourists, but some how I found the historic Piper St a bit uninspiring.



I returned to Melbourne via Hanging Rock and Mt Macedon feeling a little tired. I think I'm ready to go home to Bury St Edmunds. The Missus is getting fed up with me being away too. And Little Miss has been invited to a disco on 2nd December, and is upset that she can't go because she has to go to the airport to collect Dad. "It's not fair", she cried.

Oh well, wont be long now. And sometime soon we're going to have to decide whether to all come here next year - yes they are offering me a fulltime job. Should we or shouldn't we?

By the way, I've posted my other photos from the day here on Flickr.

Mornington Peninsula

I have a hire car for the weekend again, so I could explore more around Melbourne. On Saturday I went to the Mornington peninsula, which forms the land between the southern reaches of Port Phillip bay and the Bass Strait. Driving there brought it home to me how much Melbourne sprawls. I travelled to nearly 60km from the centre of Melbourne as the kookaburra flies before I stopped and I felt I had barely left the city. A bit like driving from London to Maidenhead, I suppose. "Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough". But I digress...

I drove to the top of Arthur's Seat (named after the famous Edinburgh landmark), some 314m above the bay below. This is the view looking towards the tip of the peninsula.

Looking north I could just make out the cityscape of Melbourne, but it was too hazy for my camera to see it. I did the short lookout and statues walk around the Seawind Gardens, ravaged by bushfire a few years ago, but now replanted with indigenous plants. It is haven for wildlife and I saw my first pair of Fairy Wrens, although when I heard them sing I realised I'd heard plenty more of them.

I went on down to the bayside and travelled along the edge towards Point Nepean. The shallow sloping, calm and beautifully white-sanded beaches are ideal for children. I stopped at the original settlement site of 1803 at Sullivan Bay - abandoned after 7 months because of lack of water and suitable timber.

A little further on, at Sorrento, I came across this children's play area.

I was curious about the names carved in the wooden railings. At the entrance I came to the answer - there was a plaque saying the play area had been created in the space of just 5 days in 1994 by 1800 volunteers. Wow! That was some makeover team.

At the end of the peninsula is the Point Nepean National Park where you can walk the last 3km to Fort Nepean at the heads of Port Phillip bay.

The entrance to the bay is quite narrow and known as the Rip, because of its strong currents. Over the other side you can see the beginning of the Surf Coast at the eastern end of the Great Ocean Road.

On the path back up from the point itself I was rewarded with this sight...

It's an echidna. I'd seen them in captivity at Healesville and Ballarat but not in the wild before.

On the Bass Strait side of the peninsula are what are called the "back beaches". I stopped at Blairgowrie back beach for a stroll and a paddle. The water was so inviting, but the undertow looked fierce.

The peninsula is also know for its wineries. So I had to visit at least one or two. Here at The Cups I met this happy couple soaking up the sun on the terrace after their tasting.

And as for the wine? Well that's another story...

You can see plenty more of my photos of my day out here on Flickr.

Beer

I went for a few beers with my workmate Dave after work the other day. I asked him where we could some decent beer near the office and he took me to the James Squire Brewhouse just down the road. They brew some of the beers on the premises and have quite a range on tap. It reminded me of the Old Cannon Brewery back in Bury St Edmunds. We tried most of the beers. I liked the Highwayman Red Ale best, but I didn't think any of them were as good as the beer we get at home. That got me wondering. Surely in a shopping Mecca like Melbourne it must be possible to find some bottled Suffolk beer?

Indeed it is. I found Acland Cellars in St Kilda stocked a range including both Greene King and Adnams beers. So I've got a couple of bottles for Dave to try.

Melbourne Cup Day

Today was a public holiday in Melbourne. Why? It is Melbourne Cup day.

Is there anywhere else that has a public holiday for a horse race? I thought I'd hop on a train to Flemington race track to see what it was all about. I'd never seen such a well-dressed train-load of people. Everybody had their glad rags on. And what a lot of them. I'd never been part of a crowd of over 100,000 people before.

I was down on the trackside by the parade ring and 400m marker. The roses around the parade ring were lovely, but it made it a bit difficult to see the horses. Here there was a water wagon.

Was it because it was chilly and grey day that I never saw anybody take a drink from it? I think not. The Fleur de Lys sparklng wine was being guzzled at a fair rate. I asked one guy if had had any winners. "Nah, mate. I don't bet. I'm only here to get drunk", he said.

For the big race, I had my money on No.5, Geordieland, the only grey in the race, ridden by Frankie Dettori.

I knew that's what the missus would have put her money on, being brought up in Geordie country and 5 is her favourite number.

And here they are thundering past.

No Geordieland didn't win. I sould have known. The missus is useless at picking winners. To the surprise of many, the Japanese horses Delta Blue and Pop Rock finished first and second. The biggest races are an international business these days.

I stayed to watch the next race before getting the train back to Flinders St. Yes it was a good day out.