Category: General Interest
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Indigo Valley – Home Grown Produce!
Several years ago, Barry and Liz wound up their professional jobs in teaching and accounting-law in East Gippsland, and moved to the Indigo Valley in north-eastern Victoria. That enabled them to relocate to Liz’s family home and farm, where several siblings live nearby. We recently made the four hour trip up from Melbourne to see…
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We Invite The Neighbours In: For Drinks and Nibbles!
This is a continuation from We Invite The Neighbours In: Perfect Weather! Easy to prepare nibbles With Launceston and the Tamar region having very agreeable summery weather from November to March, we can plan events at Olive’s Cottage with a high degree of confidence. We aim to be outside and use the main deck or…
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We Invite The Neighbours In: Perfect Weather!
Summer Climate Launceston and the surrounding region, including the Tamar Valley, has a remarkable summer climate. Daily maximums are consistently in the mid to low 20s (Celsius), rarely dropping below 20oC and rarely making it above 30oC. On average, the region’s maximum is a couple of degrees higher than Hobart and a couple of degrees…
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Nature, History … And Clafoutis!
Note: Recipe for clafoutis with ricotta updated May 2020. New Norfolk is an historical town 35 kilometres and 35 minutes’ drive north-west of Hobart. It is there that the sea water of the Derwent estuary ends and the fresh water of the Derwent River takes over, with the river taking on a totally different character…
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Visiting Old Favourites!
A recent visit to Olive’s Cottage, in early spring, meant bulbs in the garden. And new season’s ingredients, and the freshest of produce from lush pastures. But it also meant some variable weather – from brilliant blue skies to grey ones – though not bad enough to stop us repeating some of our favourite experiences,…
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King Valley – Food And Wine Trail!
The King River Valley is about three hours’ drive north of Melbourne. It is accessible from Mansfield (to the south-east), Benalla (to the west) or from Wangaratta (to the north). Whitfield, Cheshunt and Moyhu are the main small settlements in the valley. Some years ago we would sometimes drive through Whitfield when returning from skiing…
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One of Australia’s Great Drives – And Food And Wine Trails!
The Tamar Valley is one of the most beautiful parts of Australia, perhaps the most beautiful. This blog post is about a day we spent in July, 2017, where we started at Windermere, headed into Launceston and drove down the West Tamar to the Batman Bridge. It was a perfect day, starting with a light…
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A VFT System for Tasmania!
Why is a food blog interested in a VFT (Very Fast Train) route from Burnie through to Hobart via Devonport and Launceston? Well, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to board a train in Launceston at 6.30 pm, for dinner at a Hobart restaurant at 7.30 pm, then be home by bedtime! In the…
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European Delights and Challenges
We have had the good fortune to be able to visit Europe numerous times over many years. Of course there are marvellous experiences to be had, but there are also frustrations. Here is a compilation of what we see as some of the delights and challenges of travelling in Europe; many experiences fit both criteria.…