June 29, 2016. Leaving Australia

Our homeowners outside of Ballarat have had terrible luck with United Airlines during their visit to Quebec and the USA.  Their flight from Denver to Los Angeles was delayed, so they missed the flight on to Melbourne.  Unfortunately, that means that they will return home after we have left.  We are sorry to have missed the opportunity to "debrief".  

Before leaving Learmonth, we walked down to the cafe to say goodbye to the lovely owners and  to take photos. 

Some friends of our homeowners invited us to their home for lunch, then drove us in to Ballarat to catch the train to Melbourne.  How kind!

In Melbourne, we walked around the busy streets, and stopped in a pub for a drink.  Now we are at the airport.  Our flight leaves at midnight.  We booked with Sri Lanka Airlines, which put us on a Malaysia Airlines flight.  I'm a bit worried, as our flight number is not listed.  We can't check in for an hour, so I will be nervous until we get that squared away.  

We have been in this lovely country for 4 months, and have seen a great bit.  This was our route....

1.  Latrobe, Tasmania.....map shows Hobart, the capital

2.  Adelaide, South Australia

3.  Perth and Margaret River, Western Australia

4. Darwin, Northern Territory

5.  Alice Spring, Northern Territory, via the Ghan train ride

6. Sydney, New South Wales

7. Cairns and Port Douglas, Queensland

8. Mooloolah, Queensland, on Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane

9. Learmonth, Ballarat and Melbourne, Victoria  

June 28, 2016 continued...more of Sovereign Hill

We popped into the bar of the United States Hotel.  Three wealthy Americans ran it in the 1800s.

At first, we were the only patrons....

Then, a bunch of fellows came in to get warm, started playing music, and the place really rocked!

Part of Sovereign Hill shows how the gold miners lived.  Children can pan for gold as they did.

We didn't stay for the evening, but apparently they light up Christmas lights at dusk.  Very well done.

DINNER:  Our last meal here!  Minced lamb patty burgers.  We will really miss eating good lamb as we have enjoyed in New Zealand and Australia.  

June 28, 2016. A visit to Sovereign Hill

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Partly sunny.  Highs upper 40s

We spent the day at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat.  It is quite famous.  It is a living history venue.  The buildings are originals from the mid-1800s and/or carefully restored replicas.

It is Winterlude here and winter school holidays, so it was decorated like Christmas.  Extra special!

Stage coaches with huge horses transport people around....

Workers are dressed in period clothing and "act the part".  

They offer demonstrations, like candle-making, gold pouring, and tin smithing.  They even had man-made snow to make Christmas seem realistic..

See next post for more pictures.....

June 27, 2016. Trip up to a volcano top!

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Overcast and cool. Highs in 49s.  Drizzle

Before they  left, our homeowners kindly wrote up a list of suggested places around the area that we might be interested in visiting.  We are almost through the list!  Mount Bunningyong is about all that is left, so off we went.

The weather wasn't great, but we decided to go anyway.  Mt. Bunningyong is an extinct volcano.  We drove up the road to the top.  Unfortunately, the fog hid the beautiful views, but we could make out verdant valleys below.

Afterwards, we stopped in a local coffee shop for lunch.  We had some delicious pumpkin soup and a toastie, rather like a grilled cheese sandwich.

We saw one car smashed up in a ditched and read a newspaper article about another crash a few days ago, both caused by "black ice" when we had freezing temperatures recently. 

Last Friday night at the Learmonth Cafe, one lady, after introducing herself, asked me whether we had seen a Huntsman Spider yet.  I thought that was an interesting way to strike up a conversation. So, today, I looked it up on the internet.

No, we have not seen one.  I don't think they come out in the winter.  Apparently they are huge, and prolific in Australia.  Before coming to Australia, we read Bill Bryson's book "Down Under" in which he writes abundantly about the "300 things that can kill you in Australia".  As we finish up our days here, I'm happy to report that we have survived just fine!

DINNER:  The second half of a pasta mix our chef daughter made and sent to us.

After dinner, we watched a DVD with  a very old BBC comedy called "Are You Being Served?"  It is one of our favorites.  One episode was  in black and white, from 1972.  Even back them, it seems a little risqué.  Fun!

June 26, 2016. Fireside story-telling

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Overcast and cold. Highs in 40s

The temperature dropped to below freezing, colder than predicted, and the day just didn't seem to warm up.  The homeowners kindly cut a lot of firewood for us before they left, so we just kept the fireplace burning.

The highlight of the day was a "Fireside Story-telling Session" at our town's pub, about a block away.  We walked there, and were immediately enveloped in warmth, both temperature and congeniality.

  

One of the town's committees had set up this session.  About 15 people attended.  A few brought books from the Historical Society, and they read stories about Learmonth from the 1800s.  Really interesting.

We had beers from the bar, then later enjoyed cakes and tea.  After the story-telling, we chatted with several people.  The main topic today was the surprising news about Britain's exit from the EU.  

Back home, we stoked up the fire, ready for a relaxing evening.

DINNER:  Leftover cassoulet, with additional beans.  

June 25, 2016. Seriously Shiraz!

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Crisp and cool.  Sunny.  Highs in 40s

Today's big event was Seiously Shiraz, a wine-tasting in Ballarat.  

First up was Ballarat's visitor center to collect information (and discount coupon!) about Sovereign Hill where we hope to visit next week.  A nice lady helped us, then asked where we are from.  The usual....."Canadian"?  We explained that we are from a border state.  She said that she is always hesitant to ask if people are from the USA.  She said Canadians get upset if they are mistaken for Americans.  Americans, however, don't mind being considered Canadians.  Interesting......

We had lunch in an Irish pub, then walked around town.  The Winterlude Festival is going on this month, something like Christmas in July.  

We watched ice-skaters in a temporary rink.

Then, on to the wine tasting.  It was held in the historic Miners' Exchange building.  

There were about 30 wineries there, from wine regions we have visited,,,,,the Grampians area and the Pyrenees foothills.  Nice to recognize some of the owners and winemakers.  It was fun chatting with them.  We tasted some excellent Shiraz, the most famous wine in this area.  There were a few whites and Cabernet Sauvignons, too.  We bought a snack of French bread with pate.  Yummy!  

What a pleasant afternoon!  Then, back home before dark.

DINNER:  Pistachio-encrusted lamb burgers.  Very good.  It was a recipe that I have been wanting to try.  

June 24, 2016. A winter wonderland!

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Cold, sleet, hail, snow,  sun, and clouds.  Everything!  High about 39

The weather forecast was dire today, but since the morning was sunny and nice, we decided to go on a short excursion.  We got as far as the supermarket, where we lost sun and encountered wind, clouds, and  sleet.

So, after buying some groceries, we just headed back home.  The sky was bright in the north, but really menacing looking in the west and south (think Antarctic winds).  

The storm was beautiful to watch.  The kitchen window soon gathered a beautiful pattern of ice...

The cactus plants on the back deck got sprinkled with pretty sleet.

The sleet turned to a hail mix, and we could hear the little pebbles beating at the windows and skylights.  I thought  about ice-skating on the deck...

We were cozy inside in front of the fire with a piping hot bowl of soup for lunch.  The hail then turned to beautiful snow.  It stuck quite a bit in the front yard.

The black driveway turned a pretty white.

We heard that it hasn't snowed here for about 5 years.  The TV news showed delighted children throwing snowballs.  The ski resorts at higher elevations were thrilled.

After all, it is the equivalent of Christnas Eve, December  24, in the northern hemisphere.  

Being Friday night, we walked to our town's cafe for Friday night pizza.. The cafe, also a renovated historic building, is open most days for breakfast and lunch, and then on Friday nights so that locals can gather and  chat about their week.  Last Friday, we were seated at a separate table;  tonight, we were part of a long communal table, just for locals.  We had great conversations with several people.  We split a delicious roast vegetable pizza.  Great fun! 

June 23, 2016. Making the most out of miserable weather

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat,Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  All-day rain.  Highs in 40s.  Very windy

The rain beat against the windows in a strong wind all day long.  The sky was inhospitable.

So, we did nice things inside....watched a few old movies, read, and stoked the fire.  The highlight of the day was Skyping with our daughters.  One lives in Minnesota, one in Michigan.  We haven't seen them since December, and we miss them.  Skype is a wonderful invention, although I seem to spend quite a bit of time asking, "can you hear me now?"  And fiddling with the camera.

After a hard day of napping and reading, we watched the musical "Hairspray".  So fun.  I couldn't help, though, thinking of Baltimore's current unrest.

DINNER:  Leftover pasta with seafood, to which I added garbanzo beans and peas.    Somehow leftovers seem to grow when I cook them.   

June 22, 2016. Loving Learmonth

LOCATION:  House-sitting outside of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Mostly sunny. Highs around 50

We took a nice walk around town.  George stopped to chat with everyone he saw.....ladies from the mobile library, gentlemen tending the bowling club lawn, the caravan park (RV park) owners, and our neighbor.  While he chatted, I took photos.

This is the bed of Lake Learmonth.  It sadly has almost completely dried up.  Some people say that it will fill up again; others say not.  

There is a beautiful trail along the lake with nice picnic areas.  This is some new artwork....

Years ago, when the lake was full, this was quite a resort town.  When the resort business "dried up", they turned the resort motel into a long-term care home.  How brilliant!  

Too many times, people just let buildings decay, rather than do something like this clever repurposing.

We had lunch in our local cafe, bruschetta with avocado and mushrooms.  It was a full house.....glad to see they are doing a good business.  We confirmed a seat for Friday night pizza with the locals.  

As I've said, residents seem to take great pride in this town, Learmonth.  They have a Facebook page called Loving Learmonth.  Today, we received an email via our homeowners from "friends of Learmonth" inviting us to a fireside story-telling session at the pub on Sunday.  How delightful!

DINNER:  Leftover chili.  Even better this time....seems to have grown, too! 

June 21, 2016. Day trip in the country

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Dreary again, I'm afraid. Drizzle. High about 50

It is always interesting to go grocery shopping in Australia.  I've learned to search for crackers in the biscuit aisle.  I ask for mince, not hamburger in the deli, and quickly try to calculate how many grams, not ounces,  to order. I love the cheese section, with its many varieties of cheddar, including "tasty".  Eggs are often not in a refrigerated case.  (Why do we do that in the USA?). To make shopping go faster, I split the grocery list, giving George his "assignment".  This is always a risky business, as he ALWAYS ends up with additional items.  His favorite item is Australian bacon, much meatier than the USA variety.  

The last time we shopped, I put tuna on his list, thinking that I'd make a tuna sandwich for lunch one day. He got so excited about the 20-25 interesting vanities of tuna here, that he bought gobs!  To name a few, he bought....smoked, seeded mustard, lemon pepper, and spring water with olive oil.  All sound  yummy....

We will be eating tuna a lot, I think, in our remaining week.  After today's tuna sandwich for lunch, we headed off in the direction of Smeaton, a village with a beautiful old grist mill.

We were on very narrow country roads.  When another car approached (thankfully not often), we each had to pull way over onto the shoulder.  We missed a few turns, and almost got lost, except for the guidance of these helpful signs...

The bridge to the mill was closed off, as it looks like it is collapsing.  We got a look from the parking lot and headed back home.  Not too exerting, as George is still a bit under the weather.

DINNER:  George has had a hankering for leek & potato soup, so he cooked up a batch for dinner.  Warm in the tummies!

June 20, 2016. Quiet day at home

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Mostly cloudy. Highs around 50

George has a cold, so he spent the day relaxing.  We're hoping that after a rest that he will be ready to do a few more things around here before we leave.

We made reservations for a wine-tasting event this Saturday in Ballarat.  Should be fun. Hopefully, he will have recuperated by then.   We did some internet researching for our trip to England and Ireland.  

While he watched DVDs, I took a walk around town.  This is the general store/post office.

And this is one of the churches.  It seems like each little town has at least one lovely church; ours has three!

DINNER:  A modified gumbo in honor of our homeowners who are traveling in southern USA, where they hopefully can taste the REAL thing.  Mine lacked okra and the herb called file, pronounced "feelay".  Still pretty tasty.  

June 19, 2016. Market day.

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Cool and sunny.  Really pleasant. Highs mid-50s

Our homeowners had recommended that we go to the Talbot Farmers' Market, held the 3rd Sunday of each month, so off we went this morning.  Talbot is another cute village nearby, probably usually quiet, but today, teeming with people.  

There were all kinds of vendors....vegetables, fruit, cheese, olives, antiques, breads, meats, crafts, etc. They were doing a raffle for this wagon full of goodies from the market...

One of our daughters is named Meredith, which is the name of a popular dairy nearby....

There was entertainment....

And food.  We shared some tasty paella, served up by this cute kid...

Somehow, we drifted, not surprisingly, to a vendor with wine-tasting.  

The Amherst Winery is near here.  We struck up a conversation with the owner, and after the usual....."where are you from?" question, learned that his uncle is a retired physician from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where we used to work.  The aunt owned a boutique called The Crate which I had shopped in, in Rochester.  What a small world!

The town of Talbot has interesting historic buildings.

From Talbot, we drove a few miles to Clunes.  Clunes is one of 17 designated "booktowns" in the world.  Book shops everywhere!  We were there to attend a monthly literary program where authors come to discuss their books.  This one was about the decade of the 1980s in Australia.  We didn't understand most of the discussion, but it was very interesting to listen to.  Members of the audience seemed extremely intellectual and articulate.

Back home, we watched a whacky show on TV called All Aussie Adventures.  

DINNER:  My chef daughter is starting up a business selling packages with a dried vegetable mix.  She sent us a package, and I made it tonight over pasta.  Very gourmet and easy to fix.  

June 18, 2016. Culture and pop culture day!

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Cold and overcast again.  High around 50

Last night at the Learmonth Cafe/Cidery, George struck up a conversation (no surprise here!) with a local man who is the editor of the Learmonth quarterly newsletter.  He asked us to write an article for the newsletter about our impressions of the town and our activities while we have been here.  So, this morning, I started drafting  the article.  What fun!

We took a walk around town on a trail that was converted from a railway bed.  This town continues to amaze us....such pride in making and preserving things.  We looked at an art installation next to the lake area.

Then, we fired up Ole' Smokey, "our" pickup, and went to Ballarat.   Today's destination was Hop Temple, a craft bar.  This is the mural out front.  It is located in a restored building down a small alleyway.  

, 

Really cozy inside.

We passed on Vegemite/cheese paninis on the menu, and had their grilled lamb ribs instead.  George stood by the real fireplace.  We watched an old Cary Grant movie on the black & white TV.  

After some tasty beers, an IPA for me and a porter for George, we decided we need some REAL culture, so we visited the Ballarat Art Gallery.  It is huge, and beautifully done.  

Australia thankfully doesn't have too many chain stores, but they do have Aldis.  We stopped there for some bargains, then headed home, 

DINNER:  Chili soup.  Really hit the spot!

June 17, 2016. Learmonth 321 Cafe

LOCATION: House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Another rainy day. High around 50

It rained most of the day.  We won't complain, as Australia badly needs water.  There is/was a huge lake here in our town that has dried up.  

So, we did indoor activities.  We made more of our England travel arrangements.  We leave here on a Thursday morning.....5 minutes after midnight.  Our flight, with two layovers, is 29 hours.  With the time zone differences, we land in London, still on Thursday, at 8:00 PM.  (Retrieving some of that day we lost on our flight here, from California 4 months ago).  We made hotel reservations in London, and a train reservation for the next morning to Sheffield, where we will do another housesitting assignment.  We will be sleepy zombies, I'm sure.

Our big event today is dinner tonight at the restaurant (only one) here in our cute town.  Our homeowners told us that the locals gather there on Friday nights for pizza.  So, we were quite excited. The cafe also makes cider, and is located in one of the town's historic buildings.  We walked there in the afternoon (half a block) to say hello and to confirm that it is open tonight.  It is very cozy.  In the afternoon, a few customers were drinking coffee next to the fireplace.  The manager said reservations would be necessary....they could seat us at 7:30.  

So, after a relaxing afternoon, and an early evening of MASH re-runs, we strolled  back at 7:30.  

We tasted their 2 kinds of hard cider, one with strong apple notes, and one made in the  champagne style.  

There were two other tables of customers.  We were the last to order for the evening.  After we finished our delicious pizza, the owner/chef joined us at our table.  We had a nice long  chat and promised we would return, probably for both a lunch meal as well as next Friday's pizza night.  She said she would seat us at the "locals' table" next Friday.  She said she opens the restaurant on Friday nights so the locals have a place to get together.  

I left as George launched into his lecture about the USA's electoral college.  I will go mad if I hear it one more time......

The cafe is tiny, but has extra seating on the back patio for warm days.  It was quite lovely. The chef's children were playing quietly in the back room.  There is something special about little towns like this.  

June 16, 2016. Ballarat delights.

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Cold and dreary.  Rain. Highs in 40s

We had to return the rental car today, so that means I had to drive it, while George took the pick-up into town.  Oh no!  This time, since I have the GPS, we decided he would follow me.  Again, I thought I had driven brilliantly, not crashing into anyone in the round-abouts and only forgetting about driving on the left a few times.  But, when we stopped at the Hertz place, he ranted, criticized my driving......too slow on the highway, too far left almost wiping out parked cars in the downtown area,, almost hitting the far left guardrail in the roundabout.  Well!  I just smacked him!  :-)

Ballarat is a city of about 100,000, I think.  For its size, it offers an amazing amount of culture (beautiful art gallery that we want to visit) and a very wide range of restaurants.  Today, we stopped at a very hip wine bar.

At the risk of sounding like winos, I had one of the restaurant's/winery's wines and George had a beer from their extensive menu.  We split an order of pork balls in a kimchi sauce.  Very unusual and superbly cooked.

Being lunch, it wasn't too busy, although they were preparing for a huge function tonight.  The building has served many purposes;  it was last a mechanics shop.  The exposed brick and decor are cool...

After lunch, we stocked up at the grocery and headed home.  We want to do more things in Ballarat, but the weather just didn't cooperate today.

DINNER:  Shrimp and veg served over rice with crumbled feta on top.  (spelled fetta here).  Very good.