A Day at the Beach

St. Kilda is a resort town just south of Melbourne on Port Philip Bay. It has a lively esplanade filled with shops, restaurants and bakeries. The city is home to many of Melbourne’s sub-cultures, inlcuding artists, musicians and a large LGBT community. Luna Park is a popular attraction with a large wood roller coaster and other amusement park rides. St. Kilda beach attracts wind surfers and kite boarders.



First, we met up with Colleen Mulcahey, the daughter of one of my oldest friends from New Jersey. Colleen now lives in St. Kilda. We had brunch on the esplanade and then walked through town.



Afterward we all walked on the beach and watched the water sports.

St. Kilda is a perfect place to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon.

How to Eat Mongolian Barbecue in Australia

Kublai Mongolian Barbecue was so good that we decided to make return visit to the restaurant. I took the opportunity to document the process so it can be tried at home (without the traditional Mongolian hot plate). Here are the basics.



Choose your meat and vegetables and combine in a large bowl.



Create your own sauce using one of Chef Alex’s recipes. Quickly fry it all up and eat with steamed rice.



Enjoy with family and friends! (Left to Right: Linda, Barbara, Andrew, Jeanne, Bernie, Doris)

Hot, Dry and Windy

The return of high temperatures (33 Celsius / 91 Fahrenheit) and strong winds prompted officials to close schools and child care centers around Victoria State today. A smoky haze has covered the area for a good bit of the day, and the sun’s heat has caused everything to feel and smell DRY. People are very worried that conditions are ripe for another “Black Saturday,” the day the fires first broke out (2/7/09). Five fires are still burning out of control with 10 others listed as contained. The terraced garden in front of Barbara and Andrew’s home, which is usually lush and green with colorful flowers, shows how dry and fragile the environment is here in Victoria State. You can find more information about the current status if the Victoria bush fires here:

http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenfoe.nsf/LinkView/519C51D981DAE41FCA257257000A5163DC25C965BDA0CAF5CA2573B400013504

Queen Victoria Market

The Queen Victoria Market has been in operation for over 130 years, and houses stalls with everything imaginable… clothing, jewelry, toys, produce and more.



The meat market has more kinds of sausage than I’ve ever seen, including kangaroo! The stall owners compete for shoppers’ attention much like circus barkers try to attract customers to the big top.

A separate building houses row upon row of produce stalls. Australian “pumpkins” are what we call squash in the US.

The QVM offers guided food tours that include cooking, tasting, history and - of course - shopping.

More Exotic Birds

A group of cockatiels has been hanging around the neighborhood here in Park Orchards.

Yarra Valley Wine Tasting

After checking on the current status of the fires and road closings in Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges, mom, Barbara and I set out on a wine tasting tour. We began at the Yarra Valley Dairy, with a sampling of various locally produced goat cheeses, including camembert and feta, fresh baked bread and Asian grown coffee.

The next stop was Yering Station Winery, where Peter treated us to a number of sparklings, whites and reds. I particularly liked the 2007 Pinor Noir, 2006 Chardonnay and 2006 Shiraz Viognier. Fortunately, Yering Station distributes internationally, and can be purchased in New York State.

We drove north on the Melba Highway where we saw quite a bit of devastation from the Victoria bush fires. On one side of the road, entire vineyards were completely destroyed, while on the other there was no sign of fire. A number of fields were already in the process of being replanted.

The final stop was Balgownie Estate, a vineyard, resort and spa that features a tasting room (cellar door), restaurant and conference center. I particularly enjoyed the Chardonnay. Balgownie’s international distribution is pending; so I’ll have to check back on this wine.

Tomorrow - the Queen Victoria Market!

Melbourne Sightseeing

Today was really beautiful, sunny and 70 degrees. So we decided to explore Melbourne with Andrew’s sister Linda and her daughter Heidi. Here are some views of the Flinders Street Train Station, Saint Paul’s Cathedral, and the tram we rode around the city.

Mongolian Barbecue and Exotic Birds

Last night’s dinner was a spicy adventure - Mongolian Barbecue at a restaurant called Kublai on Maroondah Highway. It’s set up “buffet style,” where you choose your meat (beef, chicken, lamb or pork) and vegetables (sprouts, chopped cabbage, onion, shredded carrots, etc.), combine them in a large bowl rather than a plate, and create your own sauce using the recipe posted on the sauce bar. For example, hot and spice consists of soy sauce, sesame oil, wine vinegar, garlic oil, sesame oil, crushed hot chilis and so forth. Then you hand your bowl to the Master Chef, who quickly fries it all up on a large hot plate and puts in back in the bowl for you to take to your table and eat with steamed rice. It’s an “all you can eat” restaurant; the record is eight bowls. Anyone who breaks the record gets a free dessert. I barely made it through two bowls! The half-price margaritas were a nice addition to dinner.

This morning’s wake up call was musical. Out here in the bush there are exotic birds everywhere - cockatiels, mynahs, parrots, and lots more that I can’t identify. This little guy like to sit on the back porch railing and beg for bread.

A Real Scorcher

The first full day in Australia brought sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 90s… perfect weather for a boat ride. We took the train to the Flinders Street Station in downtown Melbourne, and caught the Yarra Empress at the Federation Square Riverfront.




The Yarra River runs through the middle of Melbourne, and a boat cruise is a good way to get your bearings in the city. The first half of the cruise took us west through downtown, under some very low bridges (everybody down!) where Queensbridge Street and Kings Way cross the river, past the Victoria Harbour to the Westgate Bridge at the mouth of the Port Phillip Bay. We turned around and came back to the Riverfront for lunch. Then we went upriver past the Royal Botanical Gardens, Rod Laver Arena where the National Day of Mourning obervances were held yesterday for those who died in the bush fires, around Herring Island and back to the Riverfront. We then took the Lilydale line back to Park Orchards and headed home for a cold beer. Here's a great set of postede instructions we saw on the train; I especially like the one about indecent language!





Today’s high temperature was 35 Celsius, or about 95 degrees, which is quite warm even for late summer in Australia. Another serious bush fire has broken out, but not near where Barbara and Andrew live. Because of the weakened ozone layer in the southern hemisphere, the UV levels are quite high and we are living in thick layer of sunblock. Tomorrow promises to be quite a bit cooler, and I’m hoping to take in a market or two.

I'm Finally Upside Down!

Mom and I arrived in Melbourne on Sunday morning (Saturday afternoon US time) and met up with Barbara and Andrew. We went to Warrandyte Bakery on the banks of the Yarra River for lunch and met up with Andrew's sister Linda, brother-in-law Bernie, niece Heidi, a friend Jacqueline and her daughter Kirsten. Here we are enjoying a pleasant summer day in February!

Pacific Premium Rocks!

It took a little over 12 hours to fly from Los Angeles to Auckland, NZ. Air New Zealand Flight 005 was the biggest plane I’ve ever traveled. We had a private cabin that we shared with just 8 other passengers with a dedicated flight attendant. Our bathrooms were at the top of the steps (!) on the second level, and mom and I were also allowed to use the larger bathrooms in Business Premium because she was a passenger using a wheelchair.

It was a relatively smooth flight, so we didn’t need to “do up our seatbelts” most of the time. But, in the preflight safety video, we did learn how to do the “brace position” in the event of an emergency landing. It’s the same position that Americans call “bend over and kiss your butt goodbye.”

With dinner we were treated to quite a bit of Marlborough Ridge, a New Zealand chardonnay that I will have to track down and try to bring or send home. After dinner we were given duvets which were much thicker and softer than the usual airplane blanket. The next thing I knew, breakfast was being served and then we were landing in Auckland. The final leg of the trip is the four hour flight to Melbourne.