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 their property for the first …
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 lower than Melbourne, while those …
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 at Falls Creek. Then the …
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 frost, but turning into a …
A Tassie Dinner Party – In July!
Tasmania does get cold, let’s be honest. So entertaining at Olive’s Cottage in winter has to be done inside where there is limited seating and the cooking is done just a metre or two away from the dining table. Recently we had a dinner party for four of our family members on a Saturday night in July. At one stage, …
Showing Friends Around – Part 2
(Continued from: Showing Friends Around – Part 1) Our two German friends, from Bavaria, are on a tight schedule with just five weeks in Australia overall, and just six nights in Tassie! What to do, where to take them in Tasmania? Well of course they wanted to see Olive’s Cottage, our property at Windermere on the east Tamar, and see …
Special Experiences
(Continued from: Jobs and a Family Catchup) Tasmania is known for the quality of its produce and there are more and more outlets willing to showcase what the State can do. While it is renowned for its berries, it isn’t really known for Thai cuisine. A showcase of Tassie produce Wednesday was our last day. We had arranged with my …
An Afternoon Feast
(Continued from: Preparations for a Long Lunch) Back at Windermere after the cheese and vegies pickup, we had forty-five minutes or so before our friends arrived. Final preparation A quick check of the chicken in the oven showed all looked fine. The broccoli shoots and silver beet were quickly trimmed, washed and shaken dry. The white turnips peeled like a …