The Yarra Valley

Last night, we went to CHINCHIN, another Melbourne institution, I am reliably advised.  To eat at both The Empress of China and CHINCHIN, one has to queue to book a table and then wait - no advance booking!! We adjourned to a nearby hostelry and were called two  hours later!! The food was amazing - a fusion of foods too complex to describe here but so delicious that even on a weekday afternoon, there is a queue for tables. There are fixed price tasting menus or one can order from the an a la carte menu.  We chose the tasting menus. 

Again the city was buzzing - a young person’s paradise with loud music everywhere!!   

The morning commenced with breakfast at Neds - a bakery in South Yarra. Having collected the car, we set forth for the Yarra Valley. It is a beautiful, warm morning with a balmy breeze. It's reputed reach 30 today. How will we adjust to the reported appalling weather at home??

Our first call was to the Chandon Winery, part of the Moet et Chandon group. 

It was very commercialised so we departed having sampled one sparkling wine. A few kilometers further on, we visited Helen’s Hill Winery. 

It was quieter here and they were generous with their samples. We lunched on a cheese platter. 

We continued our tour with a visit to the Four Pillars. 

This distillery is famous for its gin, including one made with the addition of a shiraz!!! Unfortunately, it is in so much demand that stocks had run out. 

Our final call was to Innocent Bystander. 

Though tastings were generous, it was in fact a wine warehouse in a village. 

We drove to Oscars - our overnight destination. It is located in extensive grounds on the banks of the Yarra. 

We planned to see the sunset on the deck but unfortunately clouds gathered and obscured the sun. 

Dinner consisted of Scotch steaks for CC and J and kangaroo sausages for me. Food was delicious but at this stage I’m fooded out!! 

Tomorrow, we explore the Mornington  Penninsula....,,,

Invercargill - Dunedin via Southern Scenic Route

Downtown Invercargill consisted of two pubs open for business tonight - one Irish and the other NZ. 

We had a drink at he Irish pub , where we met a girl from Limerick on a work visa. We also met an Australia couple from Canberra, who were well travelled and were shocked at NZ prices. We were surprised as we thought Australia was expensive considering their booming economy. 

We adjourned to the NZ pub to eat   What we have discovered since travelling in the south is the similarity of menu and price - whether in a pub or a restaurant. We ordered a calamari to start   It was not good as in The olive at Te Anau. This was followed by Nearby Stewart Island salmon and blue cod with bacon wrapped asparagus on a bed of delicious risotto. It was spectacular and not what one would expect from pub grub! 

The other consisted of Blue Cod but not as well presented as last night. I 

insisted on tasting the wine before we ordered a bottle tonight - no more nasty siurprises!! Both are delicious particularly my choice. 

It was 9pm and the restaurant had emptied - the Kiwis retire early. 

This morning , having quitted t he Hotel at 9, we made three unsuccessful attempts to find the scenic southern route to Dunedin. It is a less travelled route. We had intended taking the Tajiere Gorge Railway at 230 but with the loss of time we had to abandon that plan.  We were journeying in The Catlins Coastal Rainforest Park. Once the hunting ground for the Maori , by 1700 they had been supplanted by Eoropean whalers . In 1840 Captain Edward Cattlin came to investigate the navigability of the river and soon the loggers followed and sawmills were set up. Milling declined from the 1930s and the area is a shadow of its former self. 

A gravelled road some 14 km took us to Curio on the coast.

 It was certainly worth the detour. The peninsula was spectacular with the sea serving both sides of the peninsula. We were just in time to see the dolphins leave as it appears they only frequent the area early morning or late afternoon. We saw a baby penguin,

 who must have become separated from his family. It is too early for baby penguins to leave the nest It won't be for a month or two yet. The bird life was plentiful and unafraid of humans. 

The couple we had met in Wellington had highly recommended a visit here and we were not disappointed.

We visited the nearby Petrified forest. Here we're the remains of Jurassic forests which had been buried under volcanic ash. The only evidence now are rings of trees one can distinguish in the wave cut platform. Much evidence has been stolen over the years - stumps of trees by souvenir collectors. 

This is an earthquake zone as wa s evidenced by the signs. One tends to forget how much of NZ is earthquake prone. 

We continued to Florence Hill Lookout, where again the road met the sea with a magnificent panorama of Tautuku surrounded by sandy beaches - if only the weather obliged. It's like winter here. Yesterday it was 10 degrees in Dublin and 12 here and it's supposed to be summer here!! 

It was de rigeur to buy ones lunch from s mobile restaurant- of course fish and chips of course Blue cod and chips. 

We continued to Kaka Point , a minor deviation , where again the road met the sea. and great views of the sea surrounded by sandy beaches. 

 From there we drove to Balclutha , where we rejoined the 1 highway to Dunedin. We found the motel Alexis ion George's St without much trouble. It is very well appointed and right in the city centre. More tomorrow.....

A tour of Montauk

Montauk is named after the Montaukett tribe who inhabited the area. The Dutch arrived followed by the English. If you wish to read the history of the area, I refer you to en.m.wikipedia.org  Montauk is a hamlet of Easthampton, c.120 miles from mid Manhattan. Montauk is situated on the most easterly tip of Long Island and is surrounded by the ocean. 

The area boasts holiday homes of some of the great and the good of American society, including Paul Simon, Ralf Lauren and a host of other celebrities not known on this side of the pond!!

It has a winter population of c. 3,000 and a summer one of 30,000; being a favourite holiday spot for New Yorkers. As it is a heavily forested area, it has a very low population density. If one sells a property here, the local council retains a percentage of the price to enable it to  buy up all vacant land that comes up for sale, thus ensuring the low density continues. As a result the area boasts 6 National Parks, where one can hike and picnic. However, in the Parks Lyme's disease is a threat;  a disease that results from the tic, which is very prevalent in this area. The disease can debilitate one for years. 

It was a beautiful morning, c.75F. with a refreshing breeze, as we set off on foot for the short walk to the beach. September is a lovely month to visit here as the season ends on Labour Day weekend, when the crowds return to NYC.  The beach was almost devoid of people while on Labour Day weekend there wasn't a patch of vacant sand to sit on.. 

We returned to base and continued exploring by car. Our first call was one of the many resort areas,  very quiet now at the end of season!

Afterwards, we visited the Montauk airforce station, 

a radar station designed to protect the NYC area in case of attack during the Cold War. 

We continued further along the coast to see the glacial deposits deposited 22,000 years ago. Geographers, the coast here is being eroded, is very unstable and exhibits bluffs, named 'hoodoos' by the early settlers, derived from the word 'voodoo', namely 'evil thing'. 

We continued  to the 

anti aircraft base at Camp Hero. It served as a coastal defence from 1943-1947 and became a training station thereafter, until its  equipment became obsolete. 

From thence to Montauk airport, 

where only private planes can land. 

There were 70 planes on the tarmac on Labour Day weekend!! As we sat there, two men set off for NYC - flying  for 1 hour 20 minutes beats the road traffic jams or the 3 hour train trip!! 

Finally, we arrived at Montauk Point Lighthouse, the first lighthouse in NY State and 4th oldest, active lighthouse in the U.S. 

 Surrounded by water on three sides, Montauk sports numerous marinas. It is also a surfers paradise. 

Our tour concluded  by lunching on lobster roll from Sammy's cart, 

by the water's edge - a fitting end to a very pleasant morning. 

 

Lusaka - Dar Es Salaam Day 2

I awoke  at 0600, having slept rather well considering!! Breakfast was omlette, bread and a traditional sweet milky coffee, which I could not drink - too sweet. 

Around 10.00 hrs, we stopped at a station named Chozi, where the women were busy both buying and selling at market. 

At every station the children ran up to the train and looked at us with interest. 

Whatever my misgivings about the Tazara, I felt that I was getting a much more authentic view of Africa than when we were on Rovos Rail. While on Rovos Rail no one came selling their wares to us on station platforms nor had we any interaction with the people. For example, at a station stop on the Tazara, one young teenager mockingly asked me, in his best British accent, if I had any golf balls? He sounded as if he had a golf ball in his mouth! I replied in my best ' golf ball in mouth' British accent that I had not. As he had heard me speak earlier, he knew that I was 'sending him up' and he laughed! 

               No one at home? 

My fellow Geographers, to see the red, red soils of the Tropics was indeed a delight. Slash and burn appears to be practised here - even beside the railway line and particularly in the mountain sides. 

The landscape is woodland interspersed with cultivated field using artificial water in the form of sprinklers and intense market gardening. 

As we approach the Tanzanian border, the towns appear to become larger and more prosperous but one continues to see small settlements sheltered among the trees. 

At 15. 23 we crossed from Zambia into Tanzania at Tunduma. 

Unlike their Zambian counterparts, the immigration offices were uniformed and not as friendly. They demanded US $100 from each of us for a visa . I replied that I thought it was $50. At that point, three officers arrived in the cabin and many phone calls later, $50 each was acceptable.! I gave him $50 in $1 notes. He was not amused. He left and returned to say the auditor general would not be pleased as $1 notes were of less value.! ( when visiting East Africa bring $100 and $50 dollar notes as lesser ones yield only c. 2/3 of the over $50 dollar rate  - as for the € forget it - though the dollar is c.1.14 to the €, here in East Africa, its rate is less than the dollar! ) I told him that I hadn't any more dollars and he left again. It seemed an age before our passports were finally returned. 

Later, I asked Won how she got on? She said that she gave them a $50 note and they stamped her passport. She later told me that her guide book said that all nationalities were $50 EXCEPT USA and IRELAND?.  When I checked my guide I was amazed to discover similar information! DFA take note. This annoys me in that as far as I recall Tanzania is part of our bi - lateral aid programme. We have been giving development aid to this country for years!! This Visa processing delayed our journey by at least 11/2 hrs....

The day ended with dinner and a glass of wine!