A month or so ago, I put out the feelers to track down more contacts to get supplies of wine grapes for the coming harvest season. I have found it is not hard to get lots of advice and some good contacts from any number of wine making enthusiasts (who are mostly of Italian or Macedonian decent). So, based on the information I was given, I started making some calls and now I have a feeling my plans to “make a few bottles” is possibly growing a little beyond my expectations. "Joe the Italian", was the contact I was given to [View Full Entry]

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Lorenza and I recently bottled our first vintage of Riesling. I am surprised, it tastes ok! [View Full Entry]

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Lorenza and I decided to take a car trip west of the mountains, heading along the Bells Line of Road to Bathurst, via Lithgow. From Bathurst we did a quick tour of the country north of Bathurst, toward Sofala and the tiny village of Peel. We then went south to the village of Rockley. Our route took us through rolling hills and undulating grazing country, typical of the western plains district. The country is looking in great shape after some good falls of rain in the last few months. The village of Rockley is about 240km west of Sydney. Not much [View Full Entry]

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Over the last month or so we have had a few overseas visitors drop into our place. One of the places we have taken them to in the local area is the Vale of Avoca Lookout at Grose Vale. There is a short fire trail to the lookout, which has been suffering some damage from off road vehicles, so it has now been fenced off near the lookout, where a rough parking area has now been built. Until a few years ago this spot was almost a local secret, but now there are 4WD tour buses taking folks there. The features [View Full Entry]

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17/11/05 - 19/11/05 Green express to CDG My alarm on the mobile phone starting beeping and buzzing at 5.30am, the phone was vibrating all over the table, it took a few moments for me to realise that this meant it was time to get up and get set to depart for the airport and my flight to London then Singapore. Jean and Beatrice drove me to the airport in the green bus. On the autoroute, we passed by the turnoffs to some outer Paris suburbs which had recently become infamous due to rioting and Molotov cocktail parties (this was as close [View Full Entry]

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Half a day of warfare 15/11/05 - The Invalides Hospital in Paris was originally built at the request of Napoleon to ensure his injured troops were taken care of. On the same site are the Musée l’Armée and the Tomb of Napoleon. The Musée l’Armée consumed most of my day; it has an incredible display of everything to do with warfare, arms, uniforms and armour. You can imagine, it is definitely the kind of museum that I could spend most of my day in, but perhaps not Lorenza (so a few days alone in Paris have a positive side). There was [View Full Entry]

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My second last evening in Niedermorschwihr was an enjoyable occasion. Bernard (Jean & Beatrice’s friend), his wife Eliane, daughter Miriam (plus her boyfriend, who’s name escapes me - could be Franz?), joined Jean, Beatrice, Ella-Pauline, Nellie and myself for dinner. It was good to share a meal and drinks with them before I departed Niedermorschwihr as they have all been so friendly to Lorenza and me on our two visits to Alsace. Miriam is the president of the local organization responsible for raising funds to maintain and restore the church tower. She is very passionate about her [View Full Entry]

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Les Trois Chateaux 7/10/05 - This morning was the coldest it has been so far (except for Chamonix), it was about 5 degrees at 8am. It looked like it could snow, rain or clear up, it was one of those days that cannot decide how it wants to continue. I took a short drive to the village of Eguisheim, which is famous for being the home of Pope Leo, in around the year 1029. There is a church in his honour, plus many statues and as you can tell the village is very proud of it’s ancestor, even if his claim [View Full Entry]

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4/11/05 - Mulhouse, not far from Colmar, is the home of the Musée National de Automobile. It includes exhibits of about 400 vehicles and the world’s largest collection of Bugatti cars, including the amazing Bugatti Royale. Some other features of this museum include …. A Peugeot 205 which you can sit in and experience how it feels to roll a car, multiple times, at high speed (not something I want to repeat in real life thanks). A German car called a “Trabant” which is made of “Duroplast”. Sounds a bit like Elastoplast bandages and it is; the body [View Full Entry]

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3/11/05 - The Vosges mountain range which runs through Alsace is truly amazing. You can easily explore many interesting places in the Vosges via the Route des Crêtes (Route of crests). I took the trip to the peak of the Grand Ballon (1423m) and then onward to Le Hohneck (1362m). Sure, judge on height above sea level both do not come anything close to Mount Blanc. But, on a clear day you can see Mount Blanc way off in the distance form both these peaks. I stopped on the way through Guebwiller to grab some sandwiches and a drink for lunch. [View Full Entry]

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