Parnell and 2 Bonuses

Parnell is a historic first suburb about 2k from downtown Auckland, a charming and very distinctive up-market village shopping area.
We walked the street looking into all the charming quaint little shops selling very opulent gifts and furniture, things one could only imagine in your home...huge light shades and very expensive seats!!!. shops dedicated to paper products that were amazing.Fashion designers showing all their art. Lots of restaurants of different taste sensations from all corners of the world...Italy, Japan, India to name but a few and lots of small cafes.

View From the Sky Tower

We walked the street stopping for a coffee to help recharge ourselves, and soak up the different atmosphere.
Further along we could see the building known as the War Museum that we could see from the sky tower...Mark thought this was further away and was thinking of taking a bus....... but what a bonus it was within walking distance of where we were, so off we went.
Bonus No1

Look Daffodils 

This building was up one of the steepest hills in Auckland and steps too! I took a rest at the top while Mark took photo's. We noticed the admission $10 donation each and decided to go in.  We purchased our tickets, checked in our backpack and armed with map started our day of discovery!

The museum is situated in a very impressive building. There are 3 floors that tells the story of New Zealand, the diverse cultures that make New Zealand today.


We start our adventure in the Maori Court were there was a huge war canoe that was used in battle, that could hold 100 warriors, it was made from one huge tree trunk...it was very impressive!!! We removed our shoes to sit in a Maori chiefs house..its respectful to remove shoes for this.

The natural history room that showed unusual wildlife and plants and some birds that i have never seen, they were so big..one of them stood over three metres and looked like an ostrich. We experienced a volcanic eruption in a interactive room..that was quite frightening the room actually shook.





Bonus No2
Walking back from the War museum through the shopping area, we looked for refreshments and found ourselves outside the Chocolate Boutique..in we went, the list of chocolate drinks was extensive 22 different ways to drink chocolate, I had the Italian one which came with cream and chocolate curls..it was so thick that you could not drink it, I had to use a spoon, Mark said " do you want anything to eat" I said "surprise me" and he did, the lady arrived with two chocolate covered éclairs filled with chocolate cream..almost 'Death by chocolate'. the whole shop although small was filled with chocolate products all in glistening bags.

What next?

Auckland finding our feet / people watching

Sky Tower From Albert Park

We Landed in Auckland 2320 on Saturday the 20th August, After the best landing from a pilot I have had, he brought the Boeing 737-800 with (winglets) down so gently nicely flared, I would bet he's a glider pilot, well done to the captain of flight QF125.
Next to get to our Hotel, The Quadrant, 3 choices

1.  Public Transport Bus,  
2. Shuttle Bus
3. taxi

Due to the late hour and having to wait 30 minutes for the shuttle Bus, we decided to take a Taxi we asked the cost to the hotel, "$60 to $70 came the reply.," we had a great drive in the roads were empty, clear night and a very nice taxi driver, cost came in at $76

The Hotel Room is great, we will leave the feed back for after we completed our week, we will publish our blog on Sunday.

Our first day in Jeannette's words, "walked up and down got our barrings and bought our cold weather jackets." 

First thing, Hills, steep slopes and buildings similar to high streets in the UK, from the tallest Building in New Zealand the Sky Tower, that will wait till Tuesday, loads of "Café's, restaurants and interesting shops, after all day walking around, we went back to the hotel, showered then went out for dinner.

We settled on Wagga-mamma our first time, even though there is a wagga in Bath, Jeannette picked Chicken noddles in a soup base, I had spicy lamb noodles, sides dishes, chicken dumplings lightly fried & crispy salad.

with drinks, steinlager pure & Cranberry,ginger & apple juice, Jeannettes drink tasted fantastic.
Total cost $67, the exchange rate is $1.98 to £1, very good value we thought.

People Watching

Monday 22nd August, The plan is to have a relaxing day and revisit some of the places from the previous day this time I would take photos.
I also need to pick up Our Rugby World Cup Tickets, travel information, plus  information about the Sky City and tower, which is a very impressive building.
The day started with a walk through Albert park, down through the university area, to Starbucks for a coffee in the cinema complex, note free WiFi here.
After picking up our world cup tickets, we went to investigate the docks, mariners and Viaduct. what an impressive place, expensive yachts, cabin cruisers, cargo ships, and ferry's.

Red Doors The Wharf

In a need to eat, we are spoiled for choice, the place we fancied is in the red doors along the Wharf,
 "Jack Tar," because I wanted Ribs, after a late lunch and beer we spent the rest of the afternoon people watching which made for interesting photos.
Now to retire to the hotel bar, Sky Tower Tuesday.

In Front of Jack Tar

Koala's & Paddle Steamers

A weekend spent in Berrigan with Kay's Sister, Wendy & John.

After a great Dinner of "A Rack of Lamb & Seasonal Roast Vegetables" accompanied by fantastic wine and good conversation.
Wendy said, "have you seen Koala bears in the wild? "no" we replied, "only in Australia Zoo."
"Hopefully we will be able to spot a few tomorrow" Wendy said,  dinner was finished off with outstanding tasting, local Port and fresh fruit with a baileys dip.  We retired to bed watered and fed very well.

Bailey Dip= sour cream,, brown sugar + baileys to your own taste.

Sunday started off with a very healthy breakfast, then a drive for approx 30 minutes to an area off the beaten track to search for Koala's.
On the way John talk us through the area we are driving through, which is very flat, fields used for growing crops and sheep farming.
John also went through the recent history of drought they have been through and the irrigation methods and action the local people have taken.
Which provides water for 2400 land holdings, also produces Hydro Power.

Spotting Koala's isn't easy, we drove off the main road on to dirt track that made it's way to the Murray River, follow the Koala's food supply, which is known the world over.
Eucalyptus leaves, bark and oddly mistletoe, Koala's are nocturnal and sleep up to 16 hours a day, they are "Arboreal" this means they prefer to live alone in trees,
With all this information we should be able to spot loads! Wrong, It took us 30 minutes walking with heads looking skywards at the trees (gives you an ache in the neck) before I spotted the first of 12 koala's, We had a nice walk  through a forest along the Murray River, on very sunny Sunday.

The Koala's were very high up and bottoms is the only site. we can now say we have seen the them in the wild.

We finished the day off with a paddle steamer ride, on the Murray River from a very large inland port at Echuca.
Home of the worlds largest fleet of Paddle Steamers,The One we went on is 100 years old this month.







New Zealand.........................................................

Name This bird Please.

I  am having a problem finding out what type of Parrot, Lorikeet, in the following pictures.
The book I am using is the "Birds of Australia" second edition.

Yellow Head and back, white cheeks and Blue body with blue wings.

Any ideas?

Location Mooloolah Queensland.

Winemakers of Rutherglen

By now you will have worked out where we have been.
First frost in the mornings but still very warm days here in the wine region of Rutherglen.
Known for Very Good Red's and outstanding Fortified wines.
Are you ready?
Are your taste Buds ready?
For Beer Drinkers sorry wine only!!!!!!!!!!


First  to titivate your taste buds, make sure you haven't eaten mints, orange or lemons, garlic, or blue cheese, salt or chilli's.
Why you say? Try it out you'l find out...................

Armed with the Tiny Wineries Discovery Map, Winemakers of Rutherglen Winery Guide and the Rutherglen Heritage Walk Guide.
20 wineries and 3 days, we checked out 7, Note, more than 3 wineries a day is to many.
Please note, from our mistake, read about the Winery you are going to visit first, we had to phone the Watch box Winery to get directions, we were within 8k to get a answer phone message saying "they are closed only open Wed to Sunday."lol

A day planned walking, cold wind blowing, 2k walk from Kay's house is Jones Winery & Vineyard.









The building we entered, is built from hand made bricks, with it's oriiginal bark lined roof if you look closely at the right hand side picture at the ceiling you will see the bark hairs hanging down.
Run by Mandy Jones and her Bother Arther.
We warmed up with a coffee by the log fire, within this room is the Cellar Door / bar to the left is the cafe' outside to the right is a small gallery which included garden art, sculptures and furniture made from native timber.
To be greeted by the bar man saying your not from here and a long way from home, he to is from the UK, came to Australia because his wife a Doctor came home one day and said, "how about Australia," "Holiday?" "No to live!" he was a nice guy made us coffee and talked us through the history of the vineyard.
We relaxed and warmed up by the fire, The Winery was established in 1860 and are producing wines from vines planted 100 years ago.

Wines for tasting are laid out on the Bar:

•  Reds to the left, 2008 dry red, 2008 Shiraz, 2008 LJ, 2009 Durif.
• Fortified to the right, Apero, Ruby, 2006 Vintage, Muscat, Old Tawny, Olorosso.
• Whites in the chiller, 2009 Roussanne/Marsanne, 2008 Marsanne. 

Armed with large wine classes we started with the Fortified wines, class filled to a 1/3rd we tasted the Apero first and worked towards the Olorsso, given the history and how each was made, they all tasted great.
Its choice, you can taste how you want, spit it out in a barrel size spittoon, that has a stainless steel cone, or drink it, rinse out with water, start again.
The Highlight for me was the Old Tawny, Port Style, Jeannette's is the white Port Style Fortified served very cold, let it warm up and the flavour bursts out, Ideal for soaking soft fruits it ie strawberries.
I tasted the red's Jeannette abstained, the highlights for me and the only rule of thumb I was using, If I felt I could drink the whole bottle then it was good!
Jones 2008 L.J. Rich, fill bodied from the old vines, An outstanding red wine which I liked.
Jones 2009 Durif this grape variety is unique to this region and a vine the French  didn't want, I have never herd of this grape type before, the wine is outstanding, notes given, Rich Berry fruit with soft tannin finish.


The grape is named after François Durif, a botanist at the University of Montpellier, primarily grown in California, Australia, France, and Israel. 
I ordered another coffee warmed up by the fire, purchased a bottle of 2008 LJ for Kay, and then walked back to Rutherglen.


Overview of the other Wineries we visited:


Very Impressive Drive, All Saints Estate, a long drive to the car park, formal gardens, sign posts guide you to historical Buildings and a viewing area, pressing room fermentation area.
Jeannette was very taken by the customer service shown, the lady that introduced us to their wines, talk us through how to taste the wine  properly, with a demonstration as well. 

This winery also had a good range of whites which Jeannette  enjoyed tasting the Chardonnay 2008, Riesling, Marsanne & Marsanne viognier.
I Tried 3 reds, Cabernet sauvignon, Shiraz & The All saints Durif. Armed with the Tasting session each time  I Tasted the wine I sensed / tasted something new in the wine, I am having problems with using the right words to describe it.
A very comfortable place to be, pity they were decorating  the restaurant, the grounds and the Indigo Cheese Shop were  there to walk round.
I was also aloud to see the Cask/Barrel room.


They line the open cemented vats with bee's and paraffin wax before the grape juice is placed inside ready for fermentation process.


Valhalla Vines


1k from All saints this very small winery is unique that in the wine celler there are picture on the wall showing the history of the building being built ie made totally of strawbales, also the vineyard practices sustainability, they embrace natural faming methods, rainwater harvesting, a worm farm waste system, composting, using recycled packaging and hemp fibre uniforms. 

Wine Bottle Rutherglen

Three wines I like, and original names.  

• Three Little Birds ( White Blend of Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne.
• The Roaming Goat (Red Blend of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre
• The Ranga after his "red head son" Blend of Durif and Shiraz

Time For lunch, A 2k drive to the  Pickled Sisters Cafe at Colfield Wines.
We Ordered lunch- open steak sandwich with caramelised red onions and season chunky chips, salad for Jeannette.
After a great lunch, then a short walk to the wine seller. 
From their notes: The Colfields point of difference is their focus on crafting sparkling wines - both Pinot Noir Chardonnay and Sparkling Shiraz - traditional methods.
We tried all three of their Sparkling Wines,  2 mentioned above plus the Sparkling Sarah.
I found them all very nice and refreshing to drink, Yes I would buy them, from the tasting notes the Wine I especially liked

• Sparkling Sarah - Strawberry Fields Forever - abundance of strawberries and spring flowers. a delightful fizz with balanced sweetness - Berry Nice.

Another Day and after a false start with the WatchBox Winery closed, It will keep to another time.
Gehrig Estate - apart from being the Oldest Winery in Victoria Established in 1858, they disappointed by not being set up for visitors, no more said.

Rock on, next Winery and a fresh coffee beckons, up on the hill nothing around but fields, vines and views to die for.  
Vintara Winery


 We were met by Michael, very jolly fellow, we ordered coffee and a hot chocolate, being the only guys there we had the pleasure of talking to Michael, he told us about his background and the hard work they been doing to build this business from nothing and empty fields, including building this fantastic Winery, incorporating a Restaurant, conference  facilities and a great outdoor area, were weddings are held. 
I ask if he show me round the back areas were they make the wine, he and spoke with great passion for wine making.
The wines produced are big soft Rhone varieties and emerging varieties like Sangiovese, Tempranillo and Cinsaut, plus a range of whites, 
The wines we tasted we found fresh fruity, mellow and easy to drink, Jeannette like the Tempranillo her first real red! 
Off we went with a bottle of Tempranillo & Durif.




Stanton & Killeen
Home of "Jack's Block Shiraz"


Available at the celler Door 1.5l Magnum.




A good reason to check out this lovely situated winery approximately 3k west from Rutherglen, you walk in to a modern celler room that feels and shouts wine tasting, A large L shape bar area with wines ready for tasting, A mezzanine floor with painting around the walls, an area ready for groups, that looks down on the rest of the seller. 

Yes we did taste the wines.
 Jeannette the Whites, Riesling and the White Frontignac A light fruity med dry with floral aroma.
I tasted Jack's Block: very fruity taste of berries blackcurrant to me smooth drinking red.


This Winery also exports their wines to the UK.

Question: how do I start my own wine seller, without drinking the wine as fast as I buy it?


To Quote:
I have enjoyed great health at a great age because everyday since I can remember I have consumed a bottle of wine except when I have not felt well. Then I have consumed two bottles. - Bishop of Seville