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Published: March 5th 2010
MONICA'S ... THE CHONG HOUSEHOLD!
We arrived at Monica's house around 8.30pm on Thurs 7 Jan and were immediately whisked in and warmly welcomed by her and her mum and dad. Before we had set our bags down we had a glass of red wine in our hands and were being offered a plethora of homemade snacks and nibbles.
Monica's dad, Peter, was a legend! He was SO knowledgeable about wine, wine makers and the wine making process. He could even name families and wine makers who were behind some of Paul's favourite wines! Peter was a chef and learnt about wines in order to match them to foods and tastes. Next thing we knew he kept disappearing out of the room and then returning with different bottles after various years of cellaring. Shortly after the fourth bottle Paul admitted he never kept any bottles long enough to cellar them. Peter promptly decided to give us an introduction to the concept of cellaring wine, how the wine matures and why the complexity develops improving and adjusting the taste. It was a most enjoyable and educational evening and it even convinced Paul about the attributes of cellaring wine so much so
that he has vowed to try and cellar a few bottles when we return home! Before we knew it, it was the wee hours of the morning! How time flies when your having fun! We promised to continue the educational activities the following day and hit the sack!
THE YARRA VALLEY - Fri 8 Jan 2010
Being the bad influences that we are, Paul and I coerced Monica into taking a day off and coming with us to visit the Yarra valley - yet another wine producing area! Yet another few pounds in weight bound to be put on!
The Yarra Valley was exquisitely beautiful - rolling hills covered in vines. Over eighty of Victoria's best small wineries were located in this Valley. We visited several vineyards but found a few a little more snooty than those in the Hunter Valley or Coonawarra. Then Monica took us to De Bortoli. This winery had a vineyard in the Hunter Valley and it was not amongst our favourites however, before tasting the wines here, Monica insisted we buy a blue cheese platter to analyse the different tastes when combining fortified wines and cheeses. Again it was an education!! Cheese
which I would normally have found overpowering and would not have eaten, mellowed and tasted really good with certain wines. Whereas other cheeses became more tasty when combined with a different wine. Dependant upon the wine we were trying and the cheese we were sampling the tastings varied totally. I had never considered matching food with wines before and it opened up a whole new world to us!! That's what happens when a professional takes you wine and cheese tasting!! (Love ya - you insane but lovable Auzzie if your reading this ;-) - ha ha!)
After analysing a multitude of vineyards (and not having bought a bottle - another advantage of learning from Monica and her dad, they told us the mark up on the cellar door was normally more than you pay in the bottle shops so unless it was a cellar door only sales bottle not to buy it!!) we moved on to a Brewery. I passed on this not being a huge fan of ales but Monica and Paul got a tasting rack each. It worked well really because the only one that neither of them liked was the Guinness style brew so being half
Irish and a lover of the black velvet I finished those samples off for them! Paul doesn't believe in wasting beverages by spitting into a spittoon and obviously me being a lady means I would never spit. Hence we always drink all the tastings - ha ha!
Poor Paul was driving so only sampled a very tiny range throughout the day and then had to contend with taking an ever so slightly inebriated Monica and I back to Melbourne. Derek even called him on the way back and thought he was at a party there was so much noise ... obviously he wasn't, it was just Monica and I talking, singing and laughing!!
We returned to Monica's to an absolutely, gorgeously luscious meal made by Monica's mum and dad. We have never eaten so well and after so many months travelling, real, good, home cooked food is an absolute luxury. Not to mention when its cooked by a top chef!!! Peter was always non-stop. If he wasn't preparing stuff for dinner, he would chop and cut fresh fruit into bite sizes pieces and leave it out for us or homemake goodies such as wontons or spring rolls. It
was all so, so, so good! Peter even made his own prawn crackers - from scratch and with real prawns (apparently real prawn crackers are pink in colour not white like the artificial ones from restaurants)!! Monica, Peter and Christine looked after us SO SO well, a little too well as I discovered when trying to fit into my shorts the next day ... not only could I now not do them up ... I couldn't even pull them on over my huge thighs and ass!!! Time for drastic action, Paul and I made an oath to loose weight before we returned back home, starting from ... well ... starting from Tuesday (three days away) as it would be rude to refuse hospitality as outstanding as Peter, Christine and Monica's!!
MORNINGTON PENNINSULA
First thing the next morning (Sat 9 Jan 2010) Monica gave Paul a cooking lesson on how to do the perfect poached egg - the little ball shaped ones like what you get when you go to a good restaurant. The lesson consisted of an impressive whirling of the pan of water into a small cyclone with one hand whilst cracking and gradually adding the egg
with the other! Paul was more excited than a small child at Christmas! He just wanted to make more and more, not eat them, just practice making them!! My fear now is that we will be living of poached eggs with every meal for the foreseeable future!!
After the cooking class, Monica drove us down to the Mornington Peninsula. A stretch of land reaching out into the Ocean, South-West of Melbourne. We forced ourselves to do a few more wine tastings at the vineyards around that area ... just as a comparison you understand!! The rest of the day was spent exploring the area, we took a walk across the beach and rocks and then went for fish and chips on the promenade. Again ... all part of the pre-weight loss plan!!
On the way back to her house, Monica said she had a surprise for me. She stopped the car around he corner from her house, used the GPS on her Blackberry and drove round a little till she arrived at a street in the neighbouring suburb to hers. The street was called Pin Oak Court. That might not mean anything to you, it didn't to me
- however, upon seeing the street, I recognised it instantaneously ... it was ... Ramsey Street! Ramsey Street where Neighbours is filmed! Although I haven't seen it for years, no actually scrub that - I haven't seen it for decades!! I used to watch it when I first started senior school. It was incredibly nostalgic reminiscing about all the old characters and plot lines. I was very excited and so chuffed to have actually seen Ramsey St in the flesh!! What a great day! Even after being moved on by the security guard who was patrolling the area to prevent any rogue fans like myself slipping in for a closer picture - very amusing!! We concluded the day by returning to Monica's for yet more fabulous, delectable, tasty scrum at Monica's!
HEAT WAVE!!
Sun 10 Jan was the day we were supposed to drive down to Wilson's Promontory and complete a trek with two nights camping. In the lead up to this day it had been widely reported on all the news stations about a heat wave which was gong to top 45 degrees. On Sunday morning we received the news that the forecast was indeed correct and as
a safety measure they were advising all travelers to vacate the National Park and people not to venture out there but to stay put indoors and to stay well hydrated. After much debate and deliberation we decided we needed to heed the news and as the National Park was being closed off to visitors anyway we would have to leave it out on this trip and return at a later date to explore Monica's favourite part of Australia. Subsequently, we also realised we would no longer need the car so we returned it to Melbourne city and then Monica chauffeured us back to hers ready for lunch!
Monica's folks were entertaining and had friend's round for lunch, as we hadn't left, they very kindly offered us to join them - we were ecstatic! I can't even begin to tell you just how good the food at Monica's was and just how lovely it was being in the company of such wonderful people as Peter, Christine and Monica! They were awesome!!
Lunch passed in a drunken, bloated haze and after the guests had left and the washing up was finished we all just crashed out in the front room.
It was SO hot, sticky and humid. It took your breath away and you didn't feel like doing anything (I know that was to do with all the food and wine also but the heat was also a huge factor!) By late afternoon we understood why Monica and her folks had advised us not to visit Wilson's Prom. The searing heat and complete exposure out on the trek could have been potentially fatal. It was unbearable just sitting in the front room let alone having to exert any effort, we had never encountered heat like that before - it felt like you were being cooked alive!!
PAUL AND I PEAK AT MONICA'S IN MELBOURNE!
I woke early on Mon 11 Jan as Monica left for work determined that enough was enough. Paul and I had put on far too much weight and were eating and drinking in excess. We couldn't wait till we left Monica's, it was the start of a new week, the second week of the year and I was determined to shift the massive weight gain we had accumulated. Before Monica had left for work I was out running before the heat got too high. Straight
after my run Monica's mum allowed me to accompany her to the gym and we did a Body Balance class together.
The class was excellent, a good teacher and a challenging combination of old tracks. What impressed me more however, was the gym! Monica's mum, Christine, took me for a tour of the facilities - it had two studios, a highly equipped gym with all the latest resistance training machines and cardio-theatre, two huge outdoor swimming pools, a massive indoor swimming pool, a shop, two cafes (indoor and out) and much more - sounds like a standard gym back home you think ... think again! This was a council run and funded gym! All of these facilities and for mere pennies! Christine explained that in Australia, they want to encourage people to get fit and active so provide facilitates for them and incentives to encourage people to join and improve their fitness, general health and well-being. A bit different from the types of gym I am more acquainted with back home where you pay a yearly membership which you can't get out of whether you move away, break a leg or suffer a complete breakdown. The type of gym
which once it has your money for the year doesn't actually want you to attend, it actually relies on the fact that you will not go so there is room for new members to sign up and then drop out, accumulating money for the director who couldn't actually give a stuff about people being fit and healthy but wants a fit and healthy profit margin!! You have to give it to Australia - they have the formula right, encouraging people (all ages and different backgrounds) to get active and get fit!! Admirable!
THE STALKERS MAKE A FINAL RETURN!
Tuesday morning (12 Jan) we said goodbye to Monica's folks and left the comfort of their house to return to Melbourne central and our hostel, Nomads. We had literally only been there five minutes and Derek and Leanne arrived! The stalkers were back in town - yay! We spent the day catching up again over drinks in the city centre before meeting Monica after she finished work and going to have a nosey at what was to be her new house (she was moving out of her parents house the following weekend) God knows why ... we did offer to
move in to take her place but thought you lot at home might be a little put out if we didn't come back, honest - ha ha!
We had a fabulous final evening in Melbourne, said our goodbyes to Monica and entered the hostel ready for bed. That was until we were ushered into the downstairs bar just as the music dramatically increased in volume and a tall blond lady with thee most to-die-for-legs stalked into the room singing. We had walked straight into the hostels Tuesday night entertainment which seemed normal enough until the lady singing turned round ... she was a man!!! She introduced herself as Miss Man and was the sharpest, most quick witted comedian I had seen for a long time. Between the jokes, comments and singing, she ... he ... well, Miss Man had a host of games for people to join in and win prizes. We spent the rest of the night, bent over double with our stomachs hurting and our eyes crying from laughing so much. Just when I thought we couldn't laugh any more they announced the final game and selected four participants from the crowd, one of whom was Derek!!!
Thankfully, as the winner got a vat of free drinks and we couldn't take any more, Derek came second! Miss Man ended the entertainment singing part of the final song sat between Paul, Derek, Leanne and I and after an excellent final day and evening in Melbourne we all said our final goodbyes until we were back in the UK. It was a little sad knowing that on the rest of this trip we would not bump back into our stalkers. It was great to meet such a lovely and easy to travel with couple. Traveling with them really made China, Byron Bay, Crimbo and New Year much, much more enjoyable experiences and I think we will miss them a lot whilst we continue our adventures! Looking on the positive side of things though, when we are back home, they are only down the road! (Thats why we didn't tell them are exact flight details home in case they turned up in Blackpool as we were arriving home - ha ha ... see you soon stalkers!!)
First thing the next morning (Wed 13 Jan) we returned to the airport and boarded our flight to the next country on
our list (and my utmost favourite!) New Zealand!!
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Barbara
non-member comment
How about bringing Peter home?
Peter sounds like an amazing cook! - the pictures look fab! - think you should bring him home with you! He can come round to me - I don't mind if he cooks the dinner! As for the cheese - don't get any ideas about cows in your garden - I don't think your dad would be too pleased! Missing you! Not long now! Lots of love, light and hugs, Barbara and George xxx