So... Part 2

After Sydney I headed south to Tassie, or the South Isle as I have been told to call it. Rita, Mary and I went to visit Charlie and Annie. We were meant to be learning to make cheese, but unfortunately that fell through. Needless to say we had a brilliant weekend (? not really a weekend but lets call it that, I really don't know what weekends are these days). Rita had been there a week by the time I arrived. Charlie picked me up for the airport and took me back to the "shack" (ohh that sounds naughty!) where Rita was waiting with a delicious fish pie and just enough Pinot Noir. The next day after a fantastic breakfast we headed out for a spot of fishing. We only had breakfast a midday, so no fishing wasn't too early. We finally arrived at our first spot, threw our lines overboard and broke open a few Cascade - the preferred beer of the southern Tasmanian.... with only mild success we moved on. Another beer, a few more fish, Charlie was very happy that one I caught escaped, it seems it was a little on the poisonous side and Charlie really didn't enjoy the prospect of removing it... While it wasn't a tremendous success we did catch enough for dinner, I agreed to give Charlie one of mine as he had provided the bait, the boat and most importantly the beer.

Friday involved another delicious breakfast, followed by lunch at a french restaurant and a trip to the cheese farm - where we were meant to learn the skill... that had some wonderful cheeses up for tasting and some not so great wines, Charlie assured us they were improving, I'm glad I didn't have to taste the earlier attempts. We had a lovely dinner and plenty of wine and cheese waiting when Mary arrived later that night.

On Saturday we spent the morning and early afternoon wondering through Salamanca Markets, tasting more cheese, more wine and German sausages. The "10 days on the Island" festival was on so we planned to go to a performance in the afternoon, with time to spare we had a pint in a little pub, before heading to the gallery. Unfortunately we were 3 min late so were not allowed in. Instead it was suggested we see another exhibition and told we would not regret it. I think it is safe to say we all wished we had never entered. Somehow I got the blame for the whole exhibition because I was the only one among us who had preformed genetic manipulation experiments. Mary, Rita and I decided we needed a long walk along to beach to recover from the ordeal. That night saw us back in Hobart for dinner and Salsa dancing. This was also part of the festival and was a fantastic evening.

Sunday was a day for wine tasting, because we obviously hadn't had enough of that! We started with a guy who advised adding ice cubes and a squeeze of lemon to his rose! I was justifiably horrified. Really, if it needs more acid, add it prior to fermentation. If it is too high in alcohol, pick the grapes earlier! We went to another two cellar doors before a incredible lunch in a stunning restaurant set in the vineyard. More wine tasting, then home for another walk before dinner.

I had a stupidly early flight out of Hobart on Monday morning, I may or may not have had 2 hours sleep. I may or may not have still been drunk when I boarded the plane....



Charlie still wearing the St Patrick's Day hat - he had it in all weekend, not of his own accord



The vineyard we had lunch at. (Plus a flock of starlings, we aren't the only ones to suffer these birds)
Am I looking up or down?
At the top of Mt Wellington
Charlie and Annie's back yard



A good day on the wine trail


Again the hat

Boo decided to rest in the shade of the tractor today. She wasn't able to get up in time. Thankfully it was still very muddy and the discs slipped over her. Colin saw her run from behind the tractor and Xanthe finally found her back at home covered in mud and having great difficulty walking. We took her to the vet. She suffered a few cuts and some soft tissue damage in the ordeal. She is now back home on painkillers and antibiotics. The vet also found she has cancer.

So... part 1

Life has been busy... and I have been lazy... and I have been wondering why I bother, but that is beside the point.

Vintage: - I understand, particularly in the reds, colour and more importantly flavour has been fantastic. Excellent, drought does something positive, well not actually drought but well reducing the crop levels and drought plays a part in that..... We still have two varieties left to pick, we were going to start harvesting today, but unfortunately/fortunately we got 33 ml over night. This caused the berries to swell with water, hence the sugar content dropped, therefore we wont be picking them for another week or two.

So right now, things are a little quiet which lets me catch up on other things, but more of that later.

I also went to Sydney and spent a couple of days with some wine reps. It was an interesting experience, I learnt a lot and had some lovely (read great food and a good amount of wine) lunches. I also learnt how small Sydneys 'wine scene' was.... also think a french sommelier tried to crack on to me.... he was cute too.... mmmm... hehe. He does want to see me again with my wines.....

Ok enough of an update for now, I need some sleep...

Been away....