Dolphins off Manly Beach, Thanksgiving, and Other Stuff

What a nice weekend we had!  Saturday night we had our friends Jo and Peter over for a, "US Wine Night."  She's from New Zealand and he's from Yorkshire, UK so their exposure to US wines is similar to our pre-living-in-Australia exposure to Australian wines.  There aren't many to choose from over here!  Over the past few months we've had various guests schlep wines to us as we planned for the night (think of it as their payment for room and board ;)).  The stand out was the 2008 Belle Glos (Clark & Telephone) Pinot Noir from the Santa Maria Valley, CA.  Next in line was a 2007 Charles Krug Generations from Napa Valley, CA.  It was good to catch up with them after their honeymoon in the Maldives.  I'm envious of where they stayed!

In preparation for the holiday season, I made my first batch of Aunt ZZ's Toffee - 10 1/2 pounds of it!  I've learned (with help from my darling husband, the taste tester) that one should not skimp on the chocolate on toffee - this batch is divine.  Can't wait to share it with our friends!  Thank you to our family and friends who were kind enough to lug Nestle's Chocolate Chips with the wine from the US.  We can't get them here and the toffee wouldn't be the same!  :)

Yesterday afternoon, after nursing hangovers from the wine night we dragged ourselves to the movies to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (part 1).  It was much darker than the previous HP's but still very entertaining.  David was so excited to go see it - he's such a fan!  We almost went on opening night but decided holding out 3 days until the weekend would have to do.  We went to dinner with Janine and Niels at the Brookevale Hotel just next to the mall.  The setup is pretty cleaver - you buy your raw steak/fish/chicken and grill it yourself on the grills in the center of the room.  It's almost like having a home-cooked meal but without having to do the dishes.

This morning I had a wonderful long run - 65 degrees and sunny.  It ended with stretching at Manly Beach where I saw a school of dolphins!!  I had to watch them for a bit before I could figure out what they were - the dorsal fins were popping up out of the water all over the place - I thought they were sharks at first but then realized by the way they were smoothly moving through the water that they must be dolphins.  I bet there were 15+!

We finally got the Mac reformatted and all the programs reinstalled - I'm SOOOO thankful that David worked his magic to protect all of our 8000 pictures in iPhoto.  I would have been devastated to have lost them!  As I type, I'm mesmerized by the picture slide show on Apple TV and listening to Christmas music - it's Thanksgiving week after all!  Don't tell David, though.  Being a Christmas nut, we have strict no-Christmas-music-before-Thanksgiving rule in our household.  David would be ready to throw the sound system out the window if we didn't limit the amount of Christmas music I could play every year ;)

Thanksgiving is hands-down my favorite holiday - it's the type of holiday where you can wish any passer-by a, "Happy Thanksgiving!" and they will be appreciative and wish the same for you.  Clearly it's a US holiday so we don't really get to celebrate it the same way here.  A few Aussies may wish me a happy Turkey Day (or some other cute shortened version of the name)  but I won't get to make blueberry muffins and watch the Macy's Day parade while prepping the stuffing for the bird.  The house won't be filled with the wonderful smells of Thanksgiving and the clatter of dishes and chairs being moved about to set the table for 20...  It makes me sad that we don't get to have those experiences here.  Thanksgiving is one of the things I miss most about being in the US.  David and I will celebrate in our own way - I'll make a roast chicken, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and peas/corn but it will only be the two of us that night for dinner and we will have worked all day.  *Sigh* I suppose that means I'm just saving up a couple years of Thanksgiving to have a blow-out version when we get back!  Look out family!  You'd better plan on a big one at our house that year!! :)

~LAA :)

Last Few Weeks

We’ve been busy! David’s sister Kristie (a.k.a. Gigs) visited from Colorado for a couple of weeks. We had a nice visit and did some fun things together like whale watching and hiking at the Barrenjoey Lighthouse in Palm Beach, north of Manly.

Whale watching was fun – we saw a number of mother/calf pods as they were migrating. We were even lucky enough to see a mother teach her baby how to breach! We didn’t get any good pictures of the experience because none of us have a fast enough trigger finger, but it was cool to see! A storm rolled in toward the end of the trip, making things pretty wet. How cool to see the thunder heads heading toward us!

The hike in Palm Beach was beautiful! The weather was stellar – a sunny, warm spring day. The hike was relatively challenging (straight up a hill) but it was short and the view from the top was great. It’s a great spot for whale watching during the right time of year with 360 degree views of the water! While the lighthouse was officially finished in 1881, it was originally used starting in 1843 to mark the entrance to Broken Bay and the Pittwater which were considered to be the backdoor of Sydney for smugglers. They used to raise a fire in a basket so the smuggler’s ships could see it from afar. We had lunch at The Boathouse back at the base which was a wonderful little spot. Great food and quaint atmosphere built on a deck over the water. We watched the sea planes and paddle boarders glide along the water while we ate.

The past two weekends have been full of celebrations – last weekend we threw a hens and bucks party for Jacs and Sam. The guys went out for a late night on the town and had an absolute blast! The girls went to the opera at the famous Sydney Opera House! We saw Pirates of Penzance which was quite funny. The production wasn’t exactly what I though it was going to be – the set was quite sparse but the singing was beautiful. When we were leaving, they were doing dress rehearsal for the ARIA awards being held the next night. Guy Sebastian was performing with a full choir behind him! It was a great treat – we told Jacs we had organized the whole thing in honor of her ;)

This weekend was about celebrating Janine and Niels and the impending birth of their first son, who we’ve affectionately named, “Legend.” Janine preferred to not have a “baby shower” but rather a “mommy shower” to celebrate. Jacs and I took her to a wonderful lunch at Burnt Orange on the Mosman Headlands and then to the spa for a well deserved massage. I was lucky enough to enjoy my first quality facial – it’s changed my opinion about the skin products I use!

While the girls were at the spa, the guys hit some golf balls and watched some sports. The 6 of us had a great Mexican dinner (man we miss Mexican food!) and called it a night. What a great weekend!

Summer has arrived in Australia. It was quite hot on my run yesterday morning – it kicked my butt! They’re predicting a wet summer but the weather the past few days has been glorious. What a great time of year to be outside!

~LAA :)

New Zealand

New Zealand is quite possibly the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen. Everyone you meet is like your next door neighbour. The food and wine are amazing and the exchange rate can’t be beat at the moment. It was one of the best vacations we’ve taken in a long time. I can’t wait to go back!

We started in Wellington, the country’s capitol which is at the southern tip of the North Island. It’s built around a large, beautiful harbor and is home to only 390K people. It’s dotted with beautiful sculptures and various types of artwork and is an exceptionally welcoming city. The waterfront is lined with a great running trail, shops, museums and cafes. They call it, “Windy Wellington” for a reason but the catch phrase, “You can’t beat Wellington on a great day” couldn’t be more accurate. It’s a beautiful city! It reminds me a lot of Burlington, VT!

We had dinner on the first night at the famous Logan Brown’s with our friends Lisa and John. Dinner was wonderful and the wine was even better. Friday morning Joanne (Jo) and Peter’s wedding festivities began with a lovely brunch. Followed by shopping and then an afternoon of merriment at a local pub. If you haven’t played scrabble with a bottle of bubbly, I highly recommend it! :) We had such a fun day with new friends and fellow Sydneysiders!

Saturday David and I took the cable car up to The Lookout and enjoyed a wonderful stroll through the gardens along the sculpture path. We came across a sundial where you stand on today’s date with your back toward the sun and hold your hands up in the air. Your shadow then tells the time! The Rose garden was beautiful even without any buds and the rest of the sculptures were really interesting. After our great walk we went back to the room to get ready for the wedding.

Jo and Peter had a wonderfully “them” wedding. The location was beautiful – on the water over looking the harbor. There were only about 40 people there – most of us were in our 30-40’s. The food and wine were hand selected and quite good. The ceremony was short, sweet and informal. She was stunning in a plunging long black dress and he wore a suit. They greeted us as we arrived, took some pictures and had the ceremony shortly there after. The dancing was great fun and the company was even better! It was wonderful to see how happy they were – we were so glad to be there to celebrate with them :)

We left the next day to fly down to the Marlborough wine region. We flew Air New Zealand the entire trip and I have to say I’m very impressed! On the big flights to and from NZ their security briefing starred the famed Rugby All Blacks and was hysterical! The service was great all around – I highly recommend them. Our interisland flights were very small – only one row of seats on each side. There was no security in the small airports which made us laugh considering what we’re used to in the US. Although the flights were bumpy (as they normally are due to all the wind) they were quick and pleasant.

Marlborough is in a river valley between two mountain ranges. The valley is very flat and the vineyards are close enough together that you can bike easily between them. We stayed at a cute B&B in Renwick (Olde Mill House) with the added service of airport transfers and on-site bike hire. We enjoyed the outdoor hot tub daily as well as the BBQ to make dinner each night. I’m now a big fan of the bike riding/wine tasting combo! It’s the only way to go :)

We visited an impressive 10 vineyards in the 2 days we were in town. Most of the tastings went quickly – the stand outs were Fromm, Huia, Clos Henri and Cloudy Bay. Marlborough is known around the world for Sauvignon Blanc but is also developing a following for Pinot Noir. Many of the vineyards are built close to the river which means the soils are quite rocky. This type of soil yields crisp, fresh grapes with mineral qualities which lends itself to wonderful Sauvy. It’s pretty acidic but not as in-your-face as the Sauvy from other parts of the world. My favorite was from Cloudy Bay. David’s was from Huia.

The other side of the valley is made up of mostly clay soil which is perfect for growing Pinot Noir. We were able to schedule a private tour of Fromm on David’s birthday. Rachel, one of the owners showed us around and shared their techniques for organics and biodynamics. We had a ball and really enjoyed their wines. They were kind enough to give David a birthday bottle signed by the wine maker!

We flew from Marlborough to Christchurch and then hopped in a car to drive to Hanmer Springs. We got a shock when David tried to start the car and realized it was a MANUAL transmission! Thankfully he knows how to drive stick, but doing it for the first time on the LEFT side of the road is a bit scary! He was a champ and it all came back to him quickly. I’m glad he was driving and not me!

The drive to Hanmer Springs was absolutely beautiful. The pictures can barely do it justice! I’ve never seen so many sheep! It was tough to pull over to the side of the road so I had to take pics while David was driving – thank goodness for quick shutter speeds :)

Hanmer Springs is an adorable little village nestled in the mountains built around a thermal spring. There are a few restaurants and shops, with the main centrepiece being the spa and thermal pools. We stayed at the Settlers Motel which totally deserves a better name because it was awesome! The room was great with nice amenities. We were able to enjoy a private thermal pool and steam that afternoon which was a great birthday treat for David (and me too!).

That night we had dinner at Saints, a local pub where they serve your dinner on a hot lava rock! The meat comes out raw on the stone and cooks right there in front of you. The lamb and rib eye were delicious! To top it off I gave David his first outback hat – he said it was the best birthday ever :)

We had massages the next day before hitting the road to get back to the airport. I was sad to go – I would have liked to have more time in Hanmer to do some hiking.

The entire trip was wonderful - relaxing, fun and full of new experiences. To be honest, there was a part of me that wasn’t too excited about going to New Zealand before we left but now that I’ve been, planning another visit is high on my list!

~LAA :)

New Caledonia

We weren't sure what to expect out of New Caledonia.  We didn't do any planning or even very much research on the area before leaving for vacation.  It's funny - I think this is the first trip I've ever been on where I didn't know one thing that we would do before leaving.  I suppose that's a sign of how much we needed this down time!  David especially.  He's been more stressed out than I have with everything going on at work.  Although now that I've been promoted, I think things may change for me in the coming months!  

New Caledonia is a French territory.  They speak very little English.  We stayed at a Hotel called Le Stanley in Noumea.  It's a 3 star hotel with very little amenities, but the staff is very friendly, the rooms are adequate and the views are stunning.  Check out this view from our bedroom!  The hotel was separated from most of the action (well if you can call it action in this town!) so we had to taxi everywhere but we were OK with that.  All we really needed was a pool, some wine and each other and we were quite content!

The main sections of town are the City Center and Anse Vata.  Anse Vata is set up more for tourists but the City Center has been completely closed every time we've gone down there!  It's unbelievable!  Literally every storefront is closed off with not a soul around.  I suppose it could be a charming place but I wonder when they're open!!  We were able to go for a nice walk in Anse Vata and had lunch at a cafe one afternoon.  Nothing is crowded in this country which is a nice perk so we had a bit of privacy and took some time to search for shells along the way.

The hotel has a nice little store with pre-packaged meals made in the hotel restaurant.  The food is great and very reasonably priced.  We ended up getting food from there or from the local butcher/bakery for dinner most nights!  We found that we love french cheeses (favorites are cantalet and raclette) with a fresh french baguette.  Of course we added on some prosciutto and a selection of salami - this was our appetizer most nights, and many afternoons!  I don't think I've ever eaten this much french bread in one week!  SO fresh and so good! :)    

We went to dinner one night at L'Eau Vive du Pacifique, a charming little restaurant run by singing nuns!  It's situated in a converted convent just off a round about - a place you would never expect to find a restaurant.  I'm sad to say we didn't get to hear the nuns sing but the food and wine were stellar! 

Thankfully David took a few years of French so we were able to lean on him a bit to communicate with the locals.  You should have seen us trying to describe what we wanted to eat at restaurants and at the butcher!  By the end of the week some of my French started to come back as well, but I continue to confuse it with Spanish in my head.  Funny what happens when you learn more than one foreign language! 

While desperately trying to piece a coherent French sentence together in a restaurant one morning for breakfast, we met a life saving French couple from Vanuatu.  They heard us struggling and offered to help by translating for us.  Then, once we were happily seated and eating, we got to chatting with them.  They had traveled the 45 minutes (by air) to New Caledonia to run errands and take their daughters to the Doctor.  One of them was born in New Caledonia so I suppose they were just getting an annual check up.  It suddenly became apparent that although New Caledonia doesn’t have much structure to offer a tourist, it has much to offer its citizens!  Their standard of living (for those who have money) is relatively high with a strong medial system and retail resources unavailable on other islands in the South Pacific.

Our last night in town we ate at Le Roof, a restaurant built in a bungalow over the water.  There’s a hole in the middle of the restaurant that opens to the water below - it was so entertaining to watch the fish and small sharks dance around waiting for food to be thrown at them!  I had foie gras and rack of lamb and david had crispy prawns and free range chicken.  Desserts were a warm chocolate soufflé with a Baileys milkshake and a trio of creme brulee.  We were in heaven!  The service and wine was also wonderful.  We’ve decided we should start learning more about French wines as a result of this trip!

The highlight of our vacation was a day trip to the Ile des Pins, known as the ‘Jewel of the Pacific.' The ferry ride was 2.5 hours each way but the experience was great!  I saw a few whales while David was sleeping.  The ferry was more like an airplane ride with a movie playing to keep the kids distracted.  The island was stunning - white sand beaches and crystal clear water.  We found our way to Baie de Kanumera to do some snorkeling, sunning and book reading.  

Our excursion package included a buffet lunch at Hotel Kou-Bugny (which we keep calling the  "cowabunga hotel" :) ).  Lunch consisted of fresh seafood and salads and our table overlooked the Baie de Kuto, filled with sailboats, a long stretch of white beaches lined with the tall pine trees that give the island its name.  It was a wonderfully relaxing day with great down time on the beach.  Snorkeling, we saw the biggest clownfish we've ever seen, swarms of giant angelfish and a number of butterfly fish.  There were many others - my favorites are the small black and white striped fish (humbugs) that hop in and out of the coral.  We even saw a fish that looked almost camouflaged - it was shaped like a spotted drum fish but it was covered in black and white spots instead of stripes.  So cool!  

Surprisingly we didn't scuba dive on this trip.  The shops that David contacted didn't return his messages and once we arrived we decided it was going to be quite a bit of effort with potentially little reward to do the research.  In the end the snorkeling we did at the Ile des Pins was probably better than any diving we could have done!

Although the country seems to be pretty friendly, we've decided that New Caledonia is no longer on our list of 'must-do's' in the future.  I think we've realized we like to have a bit of pampering when we go on vacation and this trip, although nice, fell short a bit.  Our next beach trip is to Fiji in February.  Looking forward to seeing how it compares!

~LAA :)

It's Been a While

Wow it’s been a long time since we’ve blogged! A bunch has happened since our anniversary in Barossa Valley!

• Mom celebrated being 2 years cancer-free (YEAH!!! :) )

• We’ve had few wine club nights (Themes: French, Australia (SA/VIC), Cold Climate Regions – the food, wine and company have been wonderful!)

• I’ve had a couple book club nights (yes, it’s hard to believe but I’m actually reading on a regular basis now!)

• We went back to the US for a great visit and to celebrate Eric and Magali’s wedding! (More on that below)

• We learned our friends Janine and Niels are pregnant with their first – a little boy due in December. We’re SO excited for them!






• The Piggs Peake release night was in late June. Piggs Peake is our favourite vineyard in the Hunter Valley. We went with Janine and Niels and stayed in a great villa. We had spa treatments, did some tastings (of course) and even saw a dozen+ kangaroos on the golf course in the morning!

• We celebrated Christmas in July with our ex-pat friends. We had a traditional Thanksgiving/Christmas feast including fried turkey, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie! It was nice to have all that comfort food in the cold of winter :)

• We almost had to move because our landlord was going to increase our rent substantially. Thankfully my keen negotiation skills allowed us to stay with no increase at all! We’re both relieved we don’t have to move!

• I’ve been to Melbourne a few times for work (noting fun there, just work)

• David and I are officially no longer Penfolds Grange virgins – we had a few of David’s fellow PGI Marketing Team members over for dinner who are (hard to believe) more into wine than we are! We were privileged enough to get to enjoy a bottle of 1996 Tattinger Champagne and a bottle of 2001 Penfolds Grange. Together they retail for close to $850!! Who knew I would ever be able to write such a thing! Both bottles knocked our socks off. Grange can be hit or miss but the 2001 vintage was amazing.

• We had our first ex-pat tax experience in both the US and AU. I can’t begin to tell you how complicated it was in the US, but the Australian experience was SO easy! Within 45 minutes we had both of our tax returns completed here! I miss the days of the 1040EZ… ;)

• I’ve been working on a major picture project to put my/our pictures for the last 8 years into photo albums. I have close to 7000 pictures in iPhoto for that time period so I’m sure you can imagine how time consuming the project has been! It’s so much fun to relive the experiences, though. I’m up to 2008-2009 – which were quite possibly the two most event-filled years of our entire lives so that album it taking quite a bit of time. I’m going to be so satisfied when this project is complete. Then I’ll just have to keep up to date with it all each year. No worries there. I figure if I can manage to keep the past 33 years of my life chronicled in albums, I’m sure to keep up the trend moving forward. Thank goodness for iPhoto!

• I found out what’s going on with my job, finally. I’m now the Head of Account Service Management for Iron Mountain in AU! It’s not exactly the role I was going for initially however I think it’s a really good fit for me. They created the role for me and there’s potential to expand on it next year as well. Exciting times for me at IM!

• Next weekend we leave for New Caledonia for a week vacation – we’re both really looking forward to some down time on a beach. Yes, we live at the beach now, but it’s just not the same as going on vacation. David especially needs some down time to re-charge. He’s been going a million miles per hour lately. We can’t wait!

Our US Trip was wonderful. We saw so many family and friends – it made me miss everyone that much more! We started in Atlanta with a great Aussie BBQ. I think we had about 50 people there! It was so great to see everyone but I barely had time to chat with anyone. I suppose that’s the downfall of hosting an event – you don’t get much time to actually socialize because you’re worried about making the event go smoothly. Ah, the joys and pains of being a hostess :)

While in Atlanta we were able to take a day trip to do some outlet shopping (always have to take advantage of the shopping when in the US!) and we went up to Wolf Mountain to say hello and pick up a few bottles of their next vintage release. We brought Brannan (the wine maker) a bottle of Australian wine and he traded a bottle of WM wine with us for it. I was happy to go back to the spot where we got married only a year ago – what fond memories and a wonderful familiar feeling we have there.

I took a day trip down to Amelia Island (near Jacksonville) to visit with The Devine’s and their friends. They were down there for a family vacation. It was great to see all of them, even if it was for such a short visit! The kids are growing up so fast!

In Denver with the Adams family we had a nice lunch with Gary and Peggy (my aunt and uncle) in Boulder. What a cute little town! It was nice to catch up with them for a bit.

Eric and Magali’s wedding was beautiful. David stood up for Eric as Eric did for David only a year ago. There was a great mix of people there – Magali’s heritage is Mexican and many of her family were able to attend. The ceremony was outside overlooking a stunning cliff backdrop and was spoken in both English and Spanish. We had a blast hanging out with many of David’s college friends and some new friends alike. We’re so glad to have been able to make the trip to celebrate with them!




2 weeks visit is just never going to be long enough. It was great to have some QT with Mom and with Papa John, Mom Sharon and Gigs (Kristie). We miss you guys!

This weekend we’re home getting ready for our trip. David is under the weather so I made him some Nestle Toll House Cookies. I used our last bag of Nestle chocolate chips (you can’t get them in AU!) We’re glad that Kristie is coming to visit in a couple months so we can rebuild our stash. There’s a big calling for Aunt ZZ’s famous toffee so I can’t let anyone down :)

~LAA :)

Barossa Valley – Our First Anniversary – Part 2

Our next visit was to Rockford (they don't have a website!), an old boutique winery where many of the winemakers we love got their start. The wines aren’t our favorites (very earthy, old vines, traditional style) but they’re famous for their Basket Press Shiraz and have a lovely vineyard. We got a great tour of the old casks and equipment. It’s hard to believe they still use equipment from so many years ago! Sarah Chipman (Chippy’s wife) did our tasting for us – you might be starting to see how incestuous the BV really is by now! ;) We really enjoyed the SVS Hoffman from 2002, but you can only purchase it at the cellar door. Their tawny port is wonderful1. Ben Radford, the winemaker loves tawnys and has casks of them scattered all over the winery to age. There were 4-5 casks above our heads in the rafters of the tasting room. Sarah said that one of their favorite days at the vineyard is when they top-off the tawny barrels – it rains tawny from the rafters on that day! :)

Our dinner at 1918 was lovely. The food was the highlight (along with the company!) and the walk was easy. The town is completely asleep by 8pm. I forgot what it’s like to live in such a sleepy small town!

Our last day started out at Torbreck (http://www.torbreck.com/). Torbreck has a great marketing strategy. They’re still relatively small but feel more commercial and well resourced than many of the boutique wineries in the region. Dave Powell, the winemaker has been recognized all over the world for his skill. His sons (only 13 and 16) are following suit! They have about 15 wines in their repertoire. Our favorites are The Steading (GSM), The Struie (2007), The Celts (2007, made by the young sons!), The Factor (100% Shiraz – one of David’s favorites), The Descendent (2007, my favorite. Shiraz/viognier blend). The Run Rig (high end multi-vineyard Shiraz) and the Les Amis (made from grapes found while on a walk in the bush!). For dessert wine, we loved the Bothie – its 100% Muscat. Not too sweet but a lovely finish to a meal. We’ll definitely explore more of the Torbreck range in the future!

Our final stop of the trip was at Standish (http://www.standishwineco.com/). Dan Standish, winemaker and owner did the tasting and tour for us. Standish and Massena, their sister winery are both very small. They only produce 2000-4000 cases per year depending on the quality. Their style is more natural and raw. The wines are a bit earthy for our taste but it’s wonderful to see how passionate and skilled Dan is at his trade. The Relic is our favorite (Shiraz and viognier blend) and we tasted the 2009 Borne Bollene from the barrel which was wonderful!

Our anniversary dinner was as Wanera in Angaston. We were the only people in the whole restaurant! The food, ambiance and company were wonderful. A fireside dinner was a perfectly romantic way to celebrate our first anniversary. We had such a lovely trip!

We used the Red Rocket to get around all weekend and joked that David could lie on the ground and stretch from one end of the car to the other – I’m surprised we both fit comfortably!

We can’t wait to go back and explore more of the Barossa Valley!

~LAA :)

Barossa Valley – Our First Anniversary – Part 1

Can you believe how quickly a year can pass by? I’m amazed that a year ago we were in Hawaii glowing in the aftermath of our wonderful wedding. I suppose the speed at which this year has passed can be attributed to all the life changes we’ve experienced in the past 12 months… They do say that as you get older time goes by faster – maybe that means we’re just getting old? What ever the case, we decided to celebrate our first anniversary in style by continuing the vineyard tradition exploring wine country in Australia!

Barossa Valley is the most well known wine region in Australia. It’s about an hour an a half northeast of Adelaide in South Australia. We’ve found that the best Shiraz we’ve ever tasted comes from this region of the country – there are a number of microclimates in the region which lend to great fruit development and the soil variations in the different parts of the valley really make a tremendous difference in the quality of the product. These features also allow for multiple varietals to be grown in the region, although they’re most famously known for their Shiraz.

We started the trip by getting up a 3:15AM to catch the first flight out on Saturday. You know we’re dedicated to our wine hobby when we’re willing to get up to go somewhere in the 3’s! The flight was quick and the drive from Adelaide was easy. The landscapes are pretty flat with a few rolling hills here and there. The area is mostly farm land, predominately occupied by varieties of grapes. We stayed in a little town called Tanunda which I swear was a replica of Radiator Springs from the movie, “Cars.” The entire town was made up of a single street with storefronts along either side. I literally ran down the exceptionally straight sidewalk from one end of the town clear to the other in less than 10 minutes.

We stayed at a serviced apartment called The Paranook House which was perfect for us – it had a full kitchen and plenty of space. It was built only recently so it was very modern and well appointed. We were able to walk to dinner one night to a restaurant called 1918. The location was perfect.

We had a series of 6 private tastings planned over the 3 days we were in town. Rusden, Langmeil, Kalleske, Rockford, Torbreck and Standish/Massena. Our favorites were Kalleske and Rusden by far! We learned that many of the winemakers from each of the vineyards we enjoy have worked with or for each other at one time – such a small community!

We started at Rusden (http://www.rusdenwines.com.au/ ). Christian Canute and Ben “Chippy” Chipman and are the winemakers. Chippy walked us through the range and gave us a tour of the winery. The Rusden wines are wonderfully handcrafted, and as with many of the boutique wines we love from Barossa Valley, they use the basket press technique to squeeze the grapes gently. This technique allows the wines to age naturally and the quality of the juice that comes from the gentle press is very high. Our favorite is the Black Guts, of which we have a number of vintages already in our cellar. They need to cellar for a good 10-15 years. On our way out the door, they opened a magnum of 2001 Black Guts for a lunch celebration at the vineyard. We were lucky enough to get a taste before they sent us on our way with a bottle of 2007 Black Guts to celebrate our anniversary. :)

Langmeil was our next stop. (http://www.langmeilwinery.com.au/ ) We spent some time with Toby who is a good friend and partner of Chippy’s in a side business, Tomfoolery Wines (http://www.tomfoolerywines.com.au/). They’ve been known to talk about this side venture as a way to fund their drinking habits (heehee) – there is no cellar door but it’s also one of our favorites.

Toby showed us around Langmeil which is a lovely vineyard. Their claim to fame is that they have the oldest Shiraz vines in all of Australia! The Freedom Shiraz is made from these vines. None of the wines really stood out to us at this vineyard – perhaps because it’s much larger than the boutique vineyards we love so well and therefore the personal attention paid to each wine is less than in a smaller vineyard.

Saturday we started the day at Kalleske (http://www.kalleske.com/). The vines have been producing since 1874, but they’ve only been marketing the name for the past 6-8 years. The wines are certified organic and rank up there with our favorite wines from Australia!

We met Sam at her house and followed her to the vineyard. They don’t have a cellar door as yet but they’ve just gotten approval to open one. In the meantime we did the tasting in the cask room at the vineyard. Their mascot, Wilber (a 400 lb pig) was in the paddock with his buddy, an orphaned lamb. It was only the three of us for the entire morning. The wines were wonderful – you can’t really go wrong with any of them. Our favorites were the Greenock Shiraz (2007), the Grenache (I’m normally not a fan of single vineyard Grenache but it was wonderful!) The Edward, 2008 first vintage release knocked our socks off! The fruit for Edward used to be used in Penfolds’ Grange and now they use it for their own wine. Sam was kind enough to give use the bottles of Greenock Shiraz and the Edward to finish off at the apartment. We were happy to drink them with dinner that night!

Continued...

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to our favorite Mom's! 

Mom, I hope Hilton Head is wonderful with the L's!  I know it will be a tough trip - I'm so grateful that the L's will be there to hug you along the way.  Thanks to Jerry for taking Mom and NoE to dinner on ""She Who Must be Obeyed" Day!

Mom Sharon, I hear we've been making you cry quite a bit over the past week - we miss you too!  We're both excited to see you (and get one of your famous hugs!) come June.  Take some time to spoil yourself on Mother's Day this year - you deserve it!

Love you!!

~Linds and David :)

Wine Club

We had our first wine club dinner last weekend – David and I hosted 7 people. The theme was Italian. Every non-hosting attendee brought a bottle of wine and we provided the food.

The menu was beautiful – we started with an antipasto platter (the fixings we picked up in the deli downstairs). The next course was an insalata caprese. The main was snapper with capers and tomatoes with asparagus and cheese ravioli with a mushroom brandy sauce. We toped off the evening with cannolis from Belaroma in Manly Vale (YUM! All events should include cannolis from Belaroma!!).

For wine we had a beautiful Emeri De Bortoli sparkling pinot grigio, Santedame Chianti Classico, 2007, An Italian Style wine from Mudge NSW (diLusso Barbera, 2006) and (my favourite) Two Hands Brilliant Disguise Moscato from Barossa Valley, 2008. The last was a dessert wine with just a hint of effervescence. It was a touch sweet and paired wonderfully with the cannolis. The other wines we drank that night were not Italian – we learned quickly that we need more than a bottle per person for future reference!! We also learned that just as it’s hard to get good Australian wine in the US, it’s tough to get good Italian wine in AU!

The night was great – great food, great wine, great company. We’ve already scheduled the next three Wine Club nights!

~LAA :)
PS - we'll be in Barossa Valley next weekend for our first anniversary!  I'll share stories when we return!

Wine Cellar

If you know anything about David and me, you know we love wine. I’m not exactly sure how it started, but it’s become our hobby. For us, wine is more than just a drink, it’s a social experience. From the sound of the cork popping to the romance of holding a beautiful glass to conversation had as the bottle dwindles away – there’s something magical about drinking a good bottle of wine.

Being in Australia has afforded us the ability to experience some of the most amazing boutique wineries – probably some of the best in the world. We decided that there is no better time for us to establish a personal wine cellar than while we live here and have access to these unique and wonderful wines.

Yesterday we made the investment in our hobby – we purchased 115 bottles of vintage wines to start our cellar. I’m certain this is only the beginning! My biggest challenge is going to be convincing David that we need to actually let the wine age instead of drinking it all now!

~LAA :)

Anzac Day

Sunday was Anzac Day - Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand to honor members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. Today it is similar to Memorial Day in the US as it commemorates all those who died and served in military operations for their countries.

The day traditionally begins with dawn service, followed by a military parade and culminating with drinking and merriment for those in the military and the people who support them. Although we missed the dawn service and most of the parade, we joined our friends Sam and Jaclyn in the Sydney CBD to support the troops. The bar was filled with Navy and Army Officers in their full dress uniform. Each was adorned with a sprig of rosemary which we learned is the herb of remembrance.

We enjoyed supporting Sam, and celebrating the efforts of his fellow Australian Naval Officers yesterday afternoon. I couldn’t help but think of my brother Tim and the rest of our many family members who have served our country.

To all those in the military, no matter the country you protect, thank you for strength and courage. I’m so grateful for your efforts.

~LAA

Team Player

There’s something magical in the air when a team first feels that cohesive bond that brings the individuals together as a single unit. It’s that moment when you feel everything clicking – like when a music ensemble is all singing the same note and the entire group feels like it has once voice, or when a sports team anticipates each player’s move – and the next and the next – so that the other side can’t get in the way of success.

I’m incredibly lucky to be able to say that I have felt that magic more than once in my life. The adrenaline that comes from that high is like no other. I’m humbled and proud to say that I have felt that exaltation not only with the large teams that I’ve been a part of but also the small teams – the relationships that make a person who they are. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to connect with loved ones and to be blessed with the feeling of being part of a TEAM.

~LAA :)

Hong Kong

David was in Hong Kong and Singapore last week for work so I joined him in Hong Kong for the weekend. We flew out on Thursday night on the red-eye and worked from the hotel on Friday (David went into the office for a bit). The fun began late afternoon on Friday!

One of the most interesting things about Hong Kong is that it’s a massive metropolis positioned between the water and a towering mountainous rainforest. The buildings are so closely packed and smashed up against the mountain that the weather gets caught overhead – it’s often foggy or misty from about 50 stories up and it makes it difficult to take in the full splendour of the skyline. We had this problem during the laser show put on every night. (check out the pictures), but the florescence of the corporate signage (EVERY building is labelled in some way!) and the sharpness of the lasers could be seen to relatively well.

The public transport system is highly used (train, bus, ferry). The trains are exceptionally clean and take you to most everywhere you want to go. The ferries are efficient but dirty. The majority of the city is pretty old and decrepit. There are signs of new buildings here and there but you can tell most of the structures have been around for a long while. The culture attempts to keep things clean but since much of the city is so old, there is little to be done to make and old surface feel new again! Nonetheless, the overall feeling of the city is welcoming. The city is more Westernized than I anticipated. Most all signage is in Chinese (some Mandarin, some Cantonese) and English. We were grateful for that since otherwise we would have had a real issue!

Hong Kong is known for shopping, eating and custom made suits! Although we had determined previously that we wouldn’t have enough time to do it, we decided after getting a recommendation for a tailor from one of David’s co-workers that we would get custom suits made. We had no idea what we were getting into but it was a pretty cool experience. We chose the fabric from books of samples and the styles from magazines. Three days and as many fittings later we had two gorgeous, custom made suits! Goodness they move fast!

We decided to be on-the-go tourists since we only had a few days so there was very little down time on our trip. Friday night we took the Star Ferry across the harbor and dinner at Peking Garden in the Star City Complex. The restaurant had the feeling of a cruise ship – low ceilings, huge chandeliers, tables lined up next to each other as efficiently as possible for the space. We were rushed through our dinner but were able to savour some of the best Peking Duck we’ve ever had (they served the ENTIRE duck – neck and all – and carved it right there in front of us). The French bottle of wine we had was lovely and once the food had come and gone we were able to enjoy the rest of the bottle without too much attention paid us. After dinner we went out to the take in the view of Hong Kong Island (from the Tsim Sha Tshi side) and watched the tail end of the daily laser show.

On our first full day of sightseeing, we started out by attempting to navigate our way to the Central train station from our hotel. One might think that would be easily achievable with a map and two intelligent individuals but let’s just say it was quite the adventure! The streets were lined with store front after store front. Some of which looked a bit scary (there were people eating in most and some of the shops were very crowded, but unfortunately the variety of dead animals hanging in the window was a bit of a turn-off!) I really enjoyed the walk even through there were twist and turns that we never could have anticipated. There is no such thing as a straight sidewalk in Hong Kong – more like a sidewalk for a block or two and then a staircase or an alley or some detour through a park to get from point A to point B. We made a big realization during that walk about navigation in our family – we determined that only ONE of us can navigate on any given trip – try giving two smarites a map and a voice and you’re just asking for conflict ;) We made it to the train station (finally) and were off to the Giant Buddha.

The trip to get up to the Giant Buddha includes a 25 minute gondola ride. Here are some pictures of the scene on the ride up. Disembarking from the gondola I couldn’t help but be impressed with the 3-4 story Buddha that stood before us on the top of a peak. To get there, we followed a stone street filled with storefronts and finally found ourselves at the base of the long staircase leading up to the Buddha. What I haven’t mentioned up to this point is that it was RAINING during this entire excursion! Beyond the rain, we were being blown about by strong winds and the omnipresent cloud cover – often completely covering the entire Giant Buddha making our ability to enjoy the experience difficult. My umbrella may have spent more time being inside out than protecting me from the rain. Check out the picture David took of me before we ran for the return trip down! It’s a bummer the weather was so bad – I think I really would have enjoyed the experience if it wasn’t raining.

Our big tourist adventure on Sunday was to take the tram up to Victoria Peak. The Peak is a one of the highest points on Hong Kong Island with stunning views of the Harbor. We got a couple of good shots from up there but unfortunately the cloud cover was so thick that we only got glimpses of the actual view. At least it wasn’t raining this time! Only misting a bit ;)

In the end, we both really enjoyed our adventures in Hong Kong. I’m not sure that we’ll go back, but it was a really interesting and different experience!

~LAA :)