Blogs from Richmond, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania

The camping ground where we holed up for the night overlooks acres of open farmland so we decided to take a morning walk out of the town. 88 acres of land was donated to the town in the 80s and Richmond now has individual sporting grounds set across from the green fields where the cattle and sheep graze. We've made it into cricket season and there were junior games and training underway and it felt good to be amongst the early morning activity. In the afternoon we headed to Springwood which had a terrific old town feel and the main street was busy as people went about their weekend shopping and enjoying lunch or a coffee out and about. Before long it was time for us to go and meet the owners of the house sit ... read more

Wednesday we headed towards The Hunter Valley, wine country time. As with most wine regions in Australia, The Hunter Valley is blessed with scenic surroundings which make the experience for those from home and abroad all the more pleasurable. First up we stopped off at the Hunter Valley Chocolate Company and sampled some fine Belgian chocolate as well as some delicious fudge. And who could leave a chocolate shop without a few choccie frogs in hand? Not I. We enjoyed the laid back drive and continued to look at what the region had to offer. Next on the itinerary was the Brokenback Bar where we enjoyed a coffee overlooking the impressive countryside and then walked around to the Hunter Valley Cheese Co. The cheese, sundried tomatoes and apple and rosemary paste that we purchased were top ... read more

Richmond Farmers Market is held the 2nd Saturday each month at the Richmond School of Arts. Just near this is the Lions Club Markets in Richmond Park. The Farmers Market is well worth a visit for fresh produce and gourmet foods that you will not find in the big supermarket chains. The markets are a great place to support smaller, local producers and also to find some produce from further afield as well. Lorenza and I decided on some curry pastes, fresh produce, cheeses and marinated quail breasts. After attending the market we decided to share our bounty with some friends for dinner. The cheeses we purchased were great, a “blue” cheese that to me looked more green than blue, but had a great taste to it. The double washed brie was very creamy. The blue ... read more

Just a quick blog to let you all know that I am still alive and kicking...for now anyway. The past few days I have been waking up to, not only Buff barking but also 25+ degree weather, and thats only at around 9:30am....The past few days the weather has been so sunny and getting up to +38 (not in the sun) and its not even summer yet. So for the past few days I have been pretty hot and sticky. I also got back into the city yesterday to do a bit shopping. I picked up some black pants for work and a pair of new sandels (last ones got worn out from walking so much). For this weekend I am just going to to relax and get ready to start working on Monday...I have to ... read more

So yesterday I decided to check out Richmond and see what its all about and let me tell you..not much. It kinda reminds me of a bigger Berwick, and I like it. Just a big park with a few shopping areas and resturants around. Also in the center of town is the trainstation. I was able to mail off some post cards and pick up some bubble envlopes to send some gifts back home as well. Once done looking around I had a cap. at a little cafe (seems like everyehere you go there is your choice of cafes). I then picked up some food from the local shop and headed back "home". Buff (dog) has been pretty good as well. I went to take him for a walk but he didn't seem to into it ... read more