Barossa

Wednesday the pair decided to take a run up to Rosesale in the Barossa to see if their 1.5ha of vines were still extant (it's one of those MIS investments).

The vineyards looked pretty healthy and well tended so that was a relief. The pair visited the office to find two farmhands who told us that the office had moved to "Waltons" in Seppeltsfield. One of the guys generously offered to show us the way. The new office is an old bluestone farmhouse and it turns out Barossa Vines has set up a wine making operation, Rosedale Wines, with the actual winemaking contracted out to Martincellars and Barossa Valley Estate. The duo met with Rosedale Wine's winemaker Matt and sales manager Chris and sampled the 2007 Shiraz & Shiraz Grenache which were pretty damn good.

Had a stopover in very picturesque Tanunda and found a little cafe doing steak wraps which were delicious.

Made a nice coq au vin for dinner with a bottle of Rosedale Shiraz Grenache, Mt Lofty thyme and beautiful fresh swiss brown button mushrooms from Adelaide Central markets.

Mt Lofty

Tuesday dawned clear and sunny so the pair headed for the hills to visit Mt Lofty Botanical Gardens. The autumn colours were delightful and MDR & MB got a quite a workout walking up to the lookout, via some quite steep tracks.
Stopped in at nearby Hahndorf for lunch and spotted little cafe offering minestrone. Weren't disappointed either, it was lovely, hot home made soup, just the ticket for such a cold day. The Adelaide Hills are such a contrast to Adelaide, rolling green hills rather than flat desert.

Urbanised

Landed in Adelaide Mon. morning, a very grey day, cold and wet so headed straight for the Central Markets in the city, but not open on a Monday. Not to worry went to Chinatown next door and found an Asian food hall, MB opted for some Vietnamese Pho Po (beef broth) and MDR got a trayful of Yum Cha, a nice, cheap and cheerful lunch.

Lodgings are called Walter St Mews, just off O'Connell Rd in North Adelaide. Not a bad location, lots of pubs, restaurants & shops within walking distance. The Mews is a heritage listed cottage which is very quaint indeed, looks a lot better from the outside. Interior is a mix of seventies vogue and op shop shabby. Our first night there was freezing, got down to 9C and we didn't realise there was heating in the bedroom until the next day!

Picked up a fantastic takeaway dinner from a nearby Thai restaurant, "Basil & Lemongrass", one of the best Thai curries we've had.

Move over Hills Hoist

Browsing today's Google news MB stumbled on this headline: "Australia's CSIRO wins big Wi-Fi patent battle". Turns out the CSIRO registered a patent over wi-fi way back in 1993 and have successfully claimed royalties from many of the major technology giants.
This is sensational news but MB has not seen anything in the mainstream media, guess it's too positive!
Just last week an Aussie successfully sued Microsoft for using software he developed to lock software programs. The gist of the story was that he took his software to Microsoft in the 1990's, Microsoft declined to purchase it but then started using it in all of their software shortly thereafter. The judgment amount (which is being appealed) was around $500 million dollars, a great result for the Aussie battler.

If I had a week in Melbourne

Apart from eating herself silly, drinking lots of latte and reading The Age everyday MB would:

View the iconic photographs of Max Dupain on exhibition at the Victorian Archives - http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/online/dupain2009.asp

Visit the National Gallery on St Kilda Rd: http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/ngvinternational/

At least one visit to the Queen Victoria Market is mandatory: http://www.qvm.com.au/ Jam donuts there are the best. Prahran & South Melbourne markets are worth a visit too.

Take a stroll through the Botanic Gardens: http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/

On Mothers Day - 10 May: MB would head out to Langwarrin to check out Lady Elisabeth Murdoch's gardens which will be open to public - http://www.opengarden.org.au/regions/vic_calendar.html

MDR would love to do Foster's Brewery Tour in Abbotsford: http://brewhouse.melbourneaustralia.com.au/

MB would definitely catch some Cuban music http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/The-Bar-At-Buena-Vista-tickets/artist/1293942?tm_link=tm_homeA_music_header_r3

Browsing in Chapel Street, eating in Brunswick Street and at little Vietnam in Richmond. A kebab at Alasya always goes down well too.

Of course this is only the tip of the iceberg....

The Fat Controller

To keep little grandson LJ entertained during his frequent visits with the oldies MB bought a DVD of Thomas the Tank Engine which he enjoys very much, so much so he wants go to the Island of Sodor.
MB & MDR thought TtT, which is written by a Rev. W.V. Awdrey, was a very conservative, safe program suitable for very young children, so they were pretty surprised when the narrator, in his very best children's program voice, referred to the "Fat Controller". At first they thought they had misheard the narrator but it turns out to be correct and he's the manager of the railway company. The Rev. Awdrey has a very dry sense of humour indeed.