Showing posts with label Yarra Valley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yarra Valley. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Welcome Gladys!



It has been a long time since Matt, Rach and Family were here, so we were really excited to have a visitor this weekend. Gladys (an ortho resident with Scott in London who is now in Sydney doing a fellowship) popped down to Melbourne for the weekend. It was great to see a familiar face and show her
around the city. Georgia loved her and was glad to have someone else
to hang out with besides Scott and I! On Saturday, we went back to the Queen Victoria Market to explore more of what it has to offer. Despite another few hours spent wondering around, we still haven't seen it all. That afternoon, we visited Brighton Beach. It is only a 5 minute drive from where we're living in St. Kilda. What sets this beach apart from the numerous others in the area, is that it houses the most expensive real estate in Melbourne (per square foot), and arguably the most colourful as well. These neat beach shacks are passed down from (wealthy) generation to generation and are used to store beach gear.
On Sunday, we took Gladys to the Yarra Valley. We had a great lunch in Healsville and stopped at a winery on the way home. It appears from the picture the Gladys took of us in the winery, that Georgia has inherited our growing love of wine (we're hoping we don't have a little boozer on our hands, so we're trying to encourage her to master drinking water from a sippy cup before she develops her wine tasting skills). That night, Gladys and I went to the St. Kilda Pier to watch the fairy penguins come back to their nesting grounds after a busy day of fishing. Who knew this happened almost in our own back yard? They were as cute as ever.
Monday came too quickly - time for everyone to get back to our usual routines. I find it interesting that, even though I no longer have a work schedule, Mondays are still total downers.
Gladys - it was great to have you. Thanks for a fantastic weekend! We'll look forward to exploring Sydney with you in May.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Yummy Yarra



Yeah Canada! What an amazing show you put on. We've been proudly sporting our Canadian attire around Melbourne for the last couple of weeks, and totally hooked on watching the coverage. Even G was interested in all the action...snowboard cross was her favourite. The question now: how are we going to cope with Olympics withdrawal?

In addition to cheering on the athletes this weekend, we ventured to the Yarra Valley (1 hour north of Melbourne) to explore the area and taste some of the amazing wines made here. We had a yummy lunch at a cellar door called Giant Steps. We tried some great wine here, and at another winery/modern art gallery in the same area. The vino is plentiful in Victoria, but we're slowly making a dent in our 'must try' list.
In these pics: G, with eyes peeled, on one of the snowboarding events and sporting her 'Go Canada' gear. Scott at TarraWarra winery and art gallery in Healesville, Yarra Valley.