"Go fetch to me a pint o' wine, an' fill it in a silver tassie"

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Greetings family and friends!


I trust you are all well as not had really any correspondence from most of you since at least two emails ago. Please feel free to reply/send me a message at any time!


Sooooooooooo, where did I leave you all last time? Wow, it was around mid-January (although please bare in mind I'm a slow typist and these messages take a long time for me to put together, and that's not including time to try and attach emails and upload photos... something my computer is becoming less a fan of by the day).


Since January then what have I been up to? Well, truth is, after the Alice Springs trip and trying to stay sensible with cash, I decided to work as much as I could. I told you in the last email that my old boss David Wilson was going to visit in February so I guess my plan was to save up cash, take a week off to spend with him. David soon got back to me explaining how he couldn't make it up to Sydney, so the decision was made that with saved money Vicky's Valentine's gift would be tickets to shows at Melbourne Fashion Week in the middle of March, that way it's a reason for her to go, and I get to visit Dave. So work and save, work and save...


Not all overwork and unhappiness though as I'm really enjoying the craic at The Winery. For example, every now and then you'd work a shift that you would just have a ball working. The majority of people working at The Winery are genuinely fun loving, hard working individuals, exactly what you want in a hospitality environment. I've attached some photos of some of those days at The Winery (yes, I even started taking my camera to work!). Occasionally you'd be checking the rota and there's be a sign up saying “This Saturday, we're dressing....” and then there'd be a theme. It sounds fantastically cheesy and somewhat childish but everyone always puts in a lot of effort no matter what the theme. I'll attach photos of theme's such as “In the Navy” and “Sparkles” (on the night of Sydney's Mardi Gras Parade, largest gay and lesbian parade in the world). Myself and a couple of others have even started doing stupid (rehearsed) dances behind the bar much to the enjoyment of the customers. The Winery on a weekend is truly a happy place to be and there is nowhere like it in Sydney.


Australia Day at the Winery was also a fun day to work, despite being quiet. Everyone had to dress up as something Australian (I was aiming for Steve Irwin with a giant inflatable stingray but a close Aussie friend advised it's still too soon after his death for that). I ended up having Aussie flags all over my face and arms in an aussie t-shirt, a big aussie sun hat, and even an australia tea towel to wipe me hands on behind the bar! Australia Day for those that don't know is 26th January and is a day for Australians to commemorate the arrival of the first fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788, the hoisting of the british flag, and the proclamation of British Sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia. Interestingly enough, in 1938 some of the aboriginal community protested on the same day as a “Day of Mourning”, a protest against 150 years of callous treatment and seizure of land. There have since been many significant protests by and on behalf of the aboriginal community, so much so it has given birth to the alternative name “Invasion Day”. Alternatively, “Survival Day” celebrates the survival of a people and culture that not so long ago was expected to die out. For the majority of Aussies though, it is a day to stay off work, grab some friends, barbecue, beach, beer and be proud. Not many however went to the Winery... easiest shift ever!


Another fun day at the Winery was a day of training a few weeks back. We had a representative of a local Winery in New South Wales come and give us a day of training and tastings. I missed my train into town so was a bit late but the scorching sun soon made an appearance and by the afternoon we were split into teams, blending our own wines, submitting them, being graded, crushing grapes in barrels with our feet, having spitting contests and seeing the effect different types of yeast had on fermentation of grapes. Very interesting day (for me, being into wine) and a lot of fun had for those not interested! We grabbed a few beers from the bottle shop and headed over to my friend Daniel's house (he has an awesome balcony 3 stories up overlooking the inner city). We kicked back, flicked on some music and chatted the night away with the remaining others who had the night off. I even witnessed Sydney's Flying Fox (big bats!) community flying south for Autumn, it was a beautiful sight, one however that was too fast to get on camera for you all, ah well. I've attached a picture that I googled to give you an idea, just use your imagination to replace the lake in the countryside with Sydney's skyscrapers.


I had an old friend and his missus come and visit. Dave Shedan, I used to know him (sort of) in Aberdeen when Djing at Po Na Na. But he was also Opal Lounge's resident DJ on Saturdays. Good guy, similar taste in music to myself, and he and his girlfriend had both visited her sister in New Zealand and were stopping over in Sydney on their way back to Scotland. We caught up for a beer or two, had a good catch up, went out for dinner and were pleased to hear the news that they'd just got engaged... arwwww.


Keystone, the company that owns the Winery and a handful of other Sydney venues held a rather MASSIVE staff christmas party in the first week of February. They's hired ou the rooftop of Bondi Beach's Swiss Grand Hotel and had a “70's Pool Party” theme. Think Will Ferrell in “Anchorman” meets “Boogie Nights” in sunshine. I didn't go too mad on the 70's aspect, donned a rather camp floral shirt, an even camper tie... and of course my Kilt. Needless to say I was the only one there wearing a kilt too haha, many a comment made, and after perhaps too many people seeing my Bondi Bits, boxer shorts were swiftly worn haha.


Free bar, swimming pool, 30 odd degrees at least and about 500 staff members glammed up (or down) in their 70s finest. It has to be said that The Winery, being almost the newest (and easily most successful) of the venues stole the show with staff awards, and definitely with most noise made. At one point we had commandeered a set of stairs and were feeding most the management various drinks through funnels, and screaming at the top of our voices. My most vivid memory of such a great day was seeing the Swiss Grand's Food and Beverage Manager overlooking the antics at her hotel, her jaw dropped and head shaking. Hilarious. Even one of the owners of the company got booted out the second venue we went to... last seen screaming “if I'm going, everyone's going!!” so we all had to leave early. Great example to set. Keystone staff took over most the venues in Bondi that night, with the exception of us who visited the bottle shop, grabbed beers and wine and sat on the beach together for a good few hours. A truly special atmosphere there, smiley faces on a team that was before today, feeling tired, overworked, unappreciated. Staff nights out DO work.


So the biggest news is that I went on a wee trip south to Melbourne last week. Well, let's just say there is always a Glasgow/Edinburgh sort of rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne. Melbourne wins.


Melbourne is much more relaxed than Sydney (less business types/less pretentious). Melbourne is far prettier (parks, trees, architecturally brilliant too). I can see why Melbourne hosts it's own Fringe festival, Melbourne is pretty similar to Edinburgh, but it is sunny.


Vicky spent the majority of her time shopping so you can understand my first impression of the city was seeing the outsides of shops for hours. That, and the first day there I was stupidly tired as I probably got home from work at about 3am and was up at 7.30am or so to get to the airport. Sleeping on the plane was a pointless exercise also as it only takes an hour. Flights around Australia by the way are pretty cheap! Sydney - Melbourne is generally about $50 (£25!). I was seriously tired and pretty grumpy in melbourne on the first day, especially once I'd realised that I would be following Vicky around shops everyday (nightmare). Vicky had sorted the flights out and thought we were visiting one of 2 fashion shows (no interest to me) on that first night. Vicky got the dates wrong. We now had nothing to do that night. We got changed, went out for a bit of dinner at an amazing French Restaurant, very good fillet steak, perhaps even better than The Bentley in Sydney on my birthday. I kind of wanted to walk around the city at night but again, I was too tired.


The second day was taken up by shopping basically, with a little bit of walking through parks, taking photos, general relaxation as both of us have been working mighty hard. We also, for the first time on our holiday caught up with Dave Wilson, former General Manager of North Bridge Brasserie, and one of my best friends. Dave (or “Spanky”) relocated to Melbourne 2 and a half years ago, realising that he was nearly 30 years old and hadn't seen much of the world. Dave has been assistant manager of a very respected restaurant in Melbourne called Vue De Monde and is now GM of Cafe Vue, owned by the same Chef as the original venue.


It was so good to see Dave, we had a good catch up over a beer (or two) and laughed about bungled table reservations, MTV parties, nights out in Edinburgh, live gigs and all the other hilarious memories we shared. A great afternoon that sadly had to draw to a close as we had commitments to the sodding Melbourne Fashion Week.


We taxi'd it down to The Docklands where the fashion shows for Melbourne Fashion Week were taking place. We were a wee bit late so we had to stand up throughout (nightmare turned worst?). I really don't understand fashion shows, or fashion in general. I asked Vicky in the bar next door after the show what the whole point was. I thought, and apparently I'm wrong, that girls and those types go to these shows to preview clothes that aren't in the shops, and gather ideas of what to wear (or rather what the designers think you should be wearing). Nope, all clothes at these shows were readily available in stores to buy on the day (?). So it's window shopping but the mannequins walk and you sit still.


After the show, I was straight on the phone to Dave seeing if he fancied a pint (yes, they sell pints in the state of Victoria!) and if he good be bothered showing me around some of the amazing bars I'd heard so much about. Dave had literally popped into his flat, thrown on a pair of jeans and come straight into town again. We met in a small pub called The Imperial (me and Vicky got lost and waited for Dave in nearest bar to rescue us). A swift beer there we then moved onto a bar called Siglo. The entrance to Siglo is an unmarked Brown door in between a couple of shops, you would literally NEVER find it without knowing about it. You walked up a flight of stairs into a large cigar lounge with businessmen chatting about the financial crisis etc. This wasn't Siglo. Up another flight of stairs and you're standing in a restaurant. This wasn't Siglo. Up a final flight of stairs and you're in a bustling, outdoor rooftop bar full of the more cultured drinkers in Melbourne. This place was class. Dave essentially high five'd and handshaked most members of staff on entry, it was clear Dave Wilson had charmed Melbourne's food and beverage community as well as Edinburgh's.


Dave and I had always had a personal vendetta against the classic cocktail “Negroni”. Not being fans of Campari we always cringed when someone would order one at The Scotsman. We had however returned to this conversation in the afternoon and had both admitted to having grown to love this drink. I think the sunshine and heat has something to do with it. Truly the perfect after dinner beverage and strong enough to stand on it's own to the more discerning palate. “Two Negroni's and a glass of Sauvvy please...” a long night of well earned catching up begins.


As if by some strange move of fate the music in Siglo starts to play an old “Electric Soul” compilation that myself and Dave used to hammer out in the brasserie on weekends, we start to reminisce once again the music scene in Edinburgh and how great the Nu-jazz scene was at that time, how Australians don't really “get it” and how the music scene over here is generally pretty poor. We share stories with Vicky about bands we've seen, late nights out in Edinburgh an Glasgow, our free vodka sponsored trip to Finland. This turns out to be one of my favourite nights out I've ever had, even Vicky said it was the happiest I've looked since arriving in Australia.


We wandered (or swaggered) out of Siglo, made our way to a bar that was “a surprise” on Dave's part. We turn down many a wee back alley or laneway (which Melbourne is famous for) and are greeted with yes, another doorway with simply the letters GP. We venture in. I at this point only really fancied a beer so as it was Dave's round, I ask for a Peroni. Dave retorts with “You can't drink beer when you're in the Gin Palace”. I laughed and ordered a Tanqueray 10 Martini, up, with a grapefruit twist (i'm picky with martinis). We pull up a pew in some rather comfortable 70's armchairs and couches and continue to blether about anything and everything (the conversation at this point is a little blurry). A quick visit to Hungry Jack's (or Burger King to you reading this), and we're off back to the hotel.


Sick to death of standing outside shops waiting for Vicky to come out empty handed, I put my hungover foot down on Thursday and dragged Vicky out early doors to see the city, and actually do something. We poke our heads into the Australian Centre of the Moving Image and ask what's on (and more importantly free as I was holidaying on a tight budget, especially after the previous night's reunion). They had a sort of, history of television and moving image exhibition on for free. From the invention of cameras through to the early cinema age, to Nazi propaganda via old beer adverts from the Australian 1970s. All very interesting stuff, an interesting look at how news reporters in Australia had televised reports on the theft of Aboriginal land bringing it to the attention of the Australian public who otherwise, wouldn't have known. There was a hugely interesting section on Australian cinema and film making, from Mel Gibson's car in Mad Max to Neighbours collector's cards, from the hilarity of The Castle, to Scott and Charlene's wedding (very funny watching it all now!). Watch me jumping Matrix-style at


http://www.acmi.net.au/timeslice/Timeslice.htm?file=ts-20100318-77f207e2b6d0b3fea18d6fffc1bc320c.flv


In retrospect I should have pulled out some Kung-Fu! Most interesting thing I learnt today? Darwin, at the furthest most northerly point of Australia, didn't receive television until 1971.


Vicky and I had my fave Sushi for lunch and spent the rest of the day happy snapping photos of everything, riding the (soon to be in Edinburgh!) Trams and sightseeing. On the Friday we visited the Old Melbourne Gaol (jail!) which was a pretty eye-opening hour or two spent. This is where, the criminals of old were sent to their death should the crime warrant it. Remember Australia was populated by convicts and criminals when first being populated after discovery, so it follows that organising and upholding laws was a nigh on impossible task. We wandered from cell to cell reading records and stories of murderers, burglars, ladies of the night that were all punished within the walls of this daunting building. Favourites were Frederick Bailey Deeming who caused a sensation in Melbourne in 1892, and became one of Melbourne's most notorious criminals, some even believing him to be Jack the Ripper!


Arriving with his second wife from England in 1891, he also rented a house in Windsor under the alias Mr Drewin. In March 1892, John Stamford, the owner of the house he leased to Deeming, was showing a potential client around when he noticed a funny smell. He ordered the floorboards to be lifted and the police found the cement encased body of his wife Emily. Contacting the English police it was revealed that another murder had taken place. In Deeming's old home near Liverpool, the bodies of his first wife Marie, and their four children were found beneath the hearthstone. In March 1892, Deeming was masquerading as the dashing Baron Swanson in Western Australia, and was arrested on the point of marrying an unsuspecting Kate Rounsefell. The future prime minister defended Deeming by means of insanity. The jury disagreed and Deeming was hanged on 23rd May 1892 aged 37.


Emma Williams, who moved to Melbourne from Tasmania in 1893 were her decline would unravel. Work was scarce because of the Depression when she fell pregnant, her husband died of typhoid. She tries desperately to give the new born child away to a baby farmer, or orphanage to no avail. She takes up prostitution to survive. In 1895, the body of a small boy is found in Port Melbourne lagoon, with a stone tied round his neck. Emma is arrested, her pimp, told police she was always complaining of the noise the child made. Emma was found guilty an sentenced to death, this was delayed as she announced she was pregnant. This turns out to be untrue, and after various public petitions against capital punishment, Emma has the misfortune of being hanged at Melbourne Gaol on 4th November 1895, aged 27.


Another, slightly morbid favourite piece form this now museum, is a display titled simply... “The Art of Hanging”...


Written in his book “The Handbook of Hanging”, Charles Duff wrote of how successful hanging techniques were developed in the 19th century for the method of execution known as the 'long drop'. In a successful hanging, the victim's neck would snap when they fell through the trap door on the scaffold causing instantaneous death. The art was not to bruise or cut the skin. An english hangman was famed in the 1800's for his table he compiled of length of rope to be used versus the height and weight of the doomed! Brilliant stuff eh? I also read of how things occasionally went wrong... sorry kids but I have to tell the morbid tale... I spoke of Emma Williams, her execution was miscalculated in that she weighed 10 stones 2lbs, and was 5 foot 2 inches tall. The wrong length of rope was used, and her neck was badly torn, causing death, not by the means a successful hanging should cause! I've attached a photo of a post-hanging report, which describes a successful execution.


The most famous of these executions was of course, Mr Ned Kelly. Something of an Australian hero and legend. Heath Ledger played him in a recent movie adaptation, as did Mick Jagger in the 70s. Basic story is Aussie-Irish Ned Kelly is banished from Melbourne with the Kelly Gang for killing 3 police officers. The Kelly Gang are then outlawed following other related events (bank robbery etc). The police falsely arrested and jailed his mother in order to lure the gang to their executions. Public support rises for the outlaws and faith in policing is decreasing. Letters to Victoria's parliament raise little or no interest. At a showdown between the Kelly Gang and Victorian Police the Kelly Gang don armour, forged from ploughs and metals, stolen or donated by their supporters... possibly the world's first bulletproof vests! Ned Kelly is injured, arrested, and hanged at Melbourne Gaol. When asked if he had any final words, he simply utters... “Such is Life”.


The Heath Ledger movie is not entirely factual, and completely misses the political side of the whole story, for those really interested visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Kelly


The most interesting thing I learnt from my time in Melbourne Gaol (!) is that Capital Punishment was legal in Australia until 1975, yes 1975!!! And the last execution was as recent as 1967. Of all the 250 or so executions listed at the Melbourne Gaol, the majority was murders, with only around five people having been killed for adultery (!) or robbing someone's home. Bit mad eh? Nice bunch the British sent over here.


That afternoon we get on the tram to St Kilda, the closest thing Melbourne has to a beach. And not much of a beach it is. Dave Wilson lives down this way and we meet him for a fairly average meal, and wander out onto the pier. Now, of all the birds I've seen in Australia, all colours, sizes and noises, the last bird I thought I'd see, is a penguin. But sure enough, sat atop the deck of a docked yacht, the cheeky fella was enjoying the dip in temperature, as the clouds loomed over. Photograph is attached.


We trundle uninspired to Dave's local pub. Knock back a couple of pints and giggle about the state we got into the other night. We move pubs, catch up with Dave's sister Jenn and get introduced to her boyfriend, whose name escapes me! I'd met Jenn in London a few years back, as Dave and myself stayed at her flat upon returning from our Finland trip. She's nice, and asks me when I'll be moving to Melbourne.


Now, I don't know if I've mentioned this before but even from conversations years old, I'd always been told how much I would love Melbourne. Upon making the decision and announcing to move to Australia, everyone has always questioned, “why go to Sydney? Melbourne's much better.” Jenn asking me when I was moving sparked food for thought. Yes, yes I would be happier in Melbourne. The people are almost as friendly as the Scots, there are pubs here, not just stylish cocktail venues, plenty of work available, sun, not much of a beach (but I don't enjoy the beach anyway!), they have a Fringe festival like Edinburgh's, a strong music scene, especially in the live jazz, funk mould that I have yet to discover in Sydney, so the answer I guess is I agree with everyone who told me in the past, Melbourne is where it's at. Vicky I think, wouldn't need much persuading either, just mention shopping and she'd be sold quicker than the January sales! However, her work is in Sydney, so Sydney she will stay. Shame really, but to quote Mr Kelly “Such is life”.


Up early on Saturday morning to head to the National Gallery of Victoria, where, Dave Wilson has arranged a bus for 9 of us to travel outside of Melbourne and visit the Mornington Peninsula. Home of South Australia's wine-making country. Today, is going to be my favourite day in Australia so far, by a very very long way.


Wishing Dave a happy 32nd birthday, we popped open the Moet on the bus at what mst have been about 10am. We got acquainted with Dave's girlfriend-not-girfriend-yet Brooke, a charming queen called Matthew, and a couple whose names I've forgotten but will always remember them being the epitome of the “foodie” (fans of fine foods, wines, dining and all that).


After about an hour and a half of travelling on the bus, we arrive at our first destination. The sun is pounding down at a comfortable 32 degrees as we enter the Crittenden Estate (http://crittendenwines.com.au/). Paths and walkways lined with grapevines as we stretch our travel tired legs into the cellar door. A friendly aussie-european voice echoes down the hallway “Crikey, you guys are early, bang on opening time!”. This lovely lady would be taking us through a vast selection of their wine and how they make it. Including a couple of wines that joe public would not normally get to try but because Dave Wilson knew friends in high places, and was no doubt selling their wine by the barrelload at his venue, we could splash away at some of the finer vintages. Dave has certainly settled in to the relaxed Aussie lifestyle. We are treated to delicious canopes and nibbles half way through the tasting. Vicky informs me she'd never attended a wine tasting before, I could barely believe it as I've probably got a good hundred or two under my grape crushing feet! I explained to Vicky that she should be thankful as this lady that talked us through everything was brilliant at what she does, with a flair and precence you couldn't help but get hooked on her every word. From bubbles to chardonnay, merlot to shiraz, blends, younger wines, to mature wines we tried it all, and not always spitting it out either ;-) We heard of albarino grapes the winemaker had shipped from Italy, only to find out 10 years or so later that it wasn't Albarino he was growing/making, it was a different grape called Savagnin, a tad embarassing for an established winemaker. And all wines he'd bottled had to be relabelled. Favourite drop? A wine that we wouldn't have tried had it not been dor Dave's presence... “The Zummer”, a 2007 Pinot Noir... unbelievably tasty red. One thing was for sure, while enjoying a taste of wine in the sun outside, I could certainly get used to sitting in the sun, picking grapes, at this, a very modern, successful winery that clearly made the money back when Aussie wines were so popular in Europe. Unlike the rustic, desolate, personality-rich winery that was up next...


The bus driver helpfully rounds us up and wisks us off to our next destination.


Quealy Wines (http://www.quealy.com.au), essentially a vast crop of vineyard, and a couple of sheds! Kathleen Quealy, dubbed the “Australian Queen of Gris” because she practically single-handedly started Australia's growth of the gris grape variety, is not only the winemaker, but also a little bit bonkers...


You'll get a little insight into her amazing, passionate personality by reading this, Kathleen describing in an article a red blended wine called “Rageous”, the name of a rather stubborn mule that resides near the Quealy vineyard...

http://www.quealy.com.au/exfiles/Winefront%20Campbell%20Mattinson%20280709%20Raggeous%2007.jpg


The Quealy estate reminded me of the sort of farm setup you'd see in Aberdeenshire, except a hell of a lot sunnier of course. Kathleen let her colleague Danny do most of the talking as she explains “Danny's better at it than me, Danny should have his own TV show, shouldn't you Danny...” Danny proceeds to give us the speech from the basic winemaking process to trends and shifts in the wine market, giving his reasoning as to why Australian wine is less popular now than it was in say, the nineties. Danny tells us of how most winemakers will have a good sized stock of Chardonnays ageing and foresees a turn in the future where the currently unpopular grape, Chardonnay will eventually u-turn and a blend of these aged chardonnay will perhaps turn around Australia's wine marketshare. I'll be keeping an eye on that, so come on Europe, start buying Aussie Chardonnays again!


We tried some rather different stuff at Quealy. Like very early stages of grape fermentation, various reds that still had the skins floating in them, Kathleen's own experiments into strange French grapes that no-one in Australia would dare to make, as well as a range of there bottled wines that are on the market.


Kathleen has arranged lunch for us at a restaurant she co-owns with some other winemakers in the neighbourhood. Awesome food, good wines, a bit of the old “sing happy birhday to embarrass the poor Dave Wilson” and all that. Lunch runs over, the Stonier vineyard we were going to visit next gets cancelled, and we're on the way back to Melbourne, more wine “tasting” on the bus ensues also.


We get dropped off at Dave's flat where he lives with his sister Jenn, and we crack open some beers, more wine, turn the music up and round the day off nicely. A great day and a fitting end to my Melbourne trip to visit Dave. As I'm leaving, giving goodbye hugs to all, I get a whisper from Jenn in my ear “when are you moving to Melbourne then?!”, “Don't joke” I reply, “it could well happen I've enjoyed the city that much”.


Considering I started writing this on 22nd March, it's now 9th April and I'm struggling to come up with anything else I've been up to. My days whether I'm working or not have become a little more productive than that of in Edinburgh. I get up, cycle 15-20 mins to the local swimming pool, swim and sun bathe for an hour or two, get back on my bike and cycle the scenic route home around the bay. It's always a great way to start the day I find. Get home, get showered, put the kettle on, a swift cup of tea and cycle to the train station to go to work.


What else? Oh, I had my appraisal at work the other day. Toby my Bar Manager sat with me and discussed my work at the Winery. I've decided I've had my fun splashing booze behind a bar for 5 months, I'm telling Toby I'm ready to be a Keystone manager. And I'm responded with “good, keystone are desperate, and we've more new venues opening soon”. So I can see myself being fast tracked through their management training program pretty soon. Which is good news. I may speak to Paul Schulte, the co-owner about potential sponsorship. But for the time being, I really need to get off my arse and fill out the rest of these forms for the De Facto relationship visa. I also need to get to a bank so they can write a cheque to the UK police for a screening I have to have done also... so much to do, so little time!


On that note, I'll leave it at that. Again, don't be afraid to reply to my emails, I like hearing from you in the UK. Send me some photos of all that snow you've been having for what seems like forever or something.


Anyhoo, love from down under, hope you like the photos, the Melbourne ones are a bit blurry for some reason which is annoying.


Love to all,


Gary xx

Down Under

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Photos

Winery Dress Ups
Spitting contest

Melbourne
Eureka Tower