Ridin' the Winebus - Part 2

As we left Tokar Vineyards and headed towards our next stop, the landscape began to change noticeably. The terrain was definitely more hilly and it definitely began to remind me of the Italian countryside. Our next stop was Hanrahan Vineyards, interesting for many reasons. It was definitely the least "commercial" of all the places we visited. There was nothing slick about it, in fact, it was kind of ramshackle.

Hanrahan Vineyards

They only grow three grapes - pinot noir, chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon. They also don't make any of the wine on site, but use the facilities of another vineyard, which I gather is not that uncommon in these parts. The Yarra Valley had been planted with vines fairly early on in the 19th century, but then abandoned in the early 20th century when many growers lost their land during the depression. Viticulture returned in the early 1990's and so there are no vines more than 25 years old. It would appear that, as the number of growers began to increase, the decision was made - conscious or unconscious, I don't know,to share resources. The Hanrahan wines were quite good. They have made a name for themselves by being a reverse BYO. The open their grounds to the public ad offer them the use of grills and a pizza oven. Guests bring the food, but they have to buy the Hanrahan wine. Seems fair enough. And the property is gorgeous with great views over the countryside.

Our fourth and final winery was called Helen & Joey. Of all the places we visited, this was definitely the most touristy, in fact, there were two other groups in the tasting room when we arrived. Once things got organized we began the tasting. This winery had the greatest variety of wines to taste, but, I am sorry to say that none of them really impressed me. Most of them seemed fairly unsubstantial, though the current wine-maker is said to have a great reputation. perhaps the most memorable  part of this winery was the abundance of unicorns scattered throughout the property. Apparently this is a thing for one of the owners. I don't get it, but to each his own.

Our last stop was the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery. This nothing more than a tourist trap, but It was doing a booming business. I could have done without this, but it seems like an obligatory stop for any tour bus anywhere near this area. People were buying chocolate by the kilo, but I resisted. My suitcase is already way too heavy...

Dan and I did manage to get our driver, Ian to take a picture of us before we got back on the bus.

We can say it now, "We rode the winebus!"

Ridin' the Winebus

In the planing phase for this trip, I had investigated the possibilities for visiting some of the wine growing areas. Visiting the wineries outside of Melbourne seemed like the easiest, since they are roughly an hour outside the city. I never really acted on this though. I e-mailed Dan on Wednesday and asked him whether he'd like to do this on Friday and he said yes. I went online, but almost all the tours seemed to be booked. On my last shot, www.winebus.co.au I found space. Honestly, based on their advertising, this seemed like the least serious of the tours offered, but it was available. I sent the link to Dan and he was OK. If you read Thursday's post, you know the rest of the story.

The Winebus!

Dan and I met up at the designating pick-up point, but again, it was rainy and cold. The bus arrived on time and we were cheerfully greeted by our driver, Ian, who seemed delighted to have some Americans on board. It turns out his son lives in Philadelphia. Of the 12 guests on the van, we were the only non-Australians. Our first stop was around 10:30 and it seemed pretty early to be tasting wine, but that was the program. This winery was run by Italians, so we got a good espresso out of it as well. We were o the balcony overlooking the vineyards when our driver pointed out the kangaroos. Finally saw my first kangoroo in Australia, albeit at a distance.

Our next stop was Tokar Vineyards. By now the sun had come out and the group was starting to meld. We were having lunch at Tokar so the first order of business was to select our food. Interestingly, many vineyards have full-service restaurants  open to the public right on the grounds. While we were tasting, I got the first questions about the state of affairs in the U.S. Dan and I had discussed this  and knew it was very likely. I imagine this will continue during our time at the conference. Lunch was delicious and Tokar turned out to be the most attractive of all the vineyards we visited.

Arriving at Tokar Vineyards

To be continued . . . Gotta catch a plane!

Thursday

While all of you back in the States were celebrating July 4th, it was already Thursday, July 5th in Melbourne.  It was going to be a sort of one agenda item day for me. I was scheduled to take a free walking tour  of Melbourne which Dan had found on-line. It was the same group with whom we did the tour of the Rocks in Sydney. Unfortunately the beginning did not bode well - it was raining lightly and it was cold, not exactly the kind of weather that one wants to spend outdoors tramping around, but hey, it was free. If it really got bad, I could always abandon the tour.

How to hit a cop with a frying pan

As luck would have it, the rain stopped just as the tour began. I won't give you the blow by blow, but suffice it to say that we got a bit of Melbourne's early days- Australians seem to relish in their criminal past - the glory days of the Gold Rush and new-found prosperity, its fall from that prosperity, its uncomfortable role as Australia's second city, and it's revitalization and modernization in the the late 20th century. Yes, all of that and then some in a 2 1/2 hour walk around the city. It was actually quite interesting, especially learning how the different states in Australia got started. I realized how little I knew about Australian history, but I suspect that I am not alone among my fellow countrymen and women.

The tour finished in the heart of "downtown" near one of the city's major train hubs, Flinders St. Station. On the way there we walked through several of the many lanes and arcades for which Melbourne has become justifiably well-known. In an attempt to make the central business district more "lively" and attractive after business hours, the city government began encouraging citizens and entrepreneurs to both beautify the lanes and to create businesses in them. They are now the home to a vibrant cafe culture and some amazing street-art. We were there during lunch hour and the place was hopping.

When the tour ended on the other side of the Yarra River in the Arts District, I was happy that I had taken it, despite my sore feet. Dan and I parted ways at this point, because I wanted to see the Queen Victoria Market and he had already done that. I headed off to hop on the free tram, but somehow managed to get myself turned around and it took me a while to get where I was going. When I finally arrived at the market, it was already past closing time and many of the vendors had shuttered up their stalls. A few were still dealing with last minute clients, but clearly I had missed the show. I had heard about the amazing food stalls, but most of them were closed or closing as well.





Just I was about to give up,I came up to the door of  a permanent looking place called "El Rincon" that billed itself as a tapas place. There was no one inside except one young fellow who might have been in the process of cleaning up. I gingerly opened up the door and asked if they were still serving, "Sure" he said, "Come in." He explained that the cook had just taken a break but would be back in 10 minutes. I said I would wait, mostly because I wanted to get off my feet, but also because I wanted to finalize the arrangements for our tour on the Winebus for the following day. I had been in touch with that tour company before today's walking tour and had obtained a verbal commitment for two seats, but I still needed to pay in order to confirm them. The person with whom I had been e-mailing, Mai, had been very accommodating and she didn't disappoint.

My pulpo a la gallega

In the meantime, the cook had returned and I placed my order. My "pulpo a la gallega" arrived almost at the same time as the confirmation e-mail for the Winebus. We were on for Friday!  I felt like celebrating." Waiter, I'll have a glass of albarino!"

Exploring Melbourne

Fortunately for me, the saga of the missing phone ended happily enough. When I went downstairs for breakfast, the woman at the reception asked whether I had heard anything and I said that I hadn't. Neither had she heard back from the taxi company. "Did you try calling the phone?" she asked. I hadn't but was determined to so  thinking that perhaps it had slid under the seat and that the cabbie didn't know it was there. Armed with dialing instructions from the front desk I went back upstairs. The first time I tried the phone rang, but eventually went to voicemail. I tried again, but this time the message said that the phone was either switched off or unavailable. Now I was worried that the battery was dead. I was about to go back downstairs but decided to give it one more try and lo and behold the driver answered. He said he was on his way but that I would have to pay the fare from his starting point. So when I went back downstairs I described the conversation. Apparently he had already alerted the hotel and was on his way to return it. So when he arrived I said,"OK. Let's go pay the fare." He just shook his head and said, "No,no. You just give me something."   Aha, I thought to myself, a little something off the meter." I gave him probably more than I should have, but I got my phone back and that's all that mattered right now.

The statue of Irish statesman, Daniel O'Connell,
outside St. Patrick's Cathedral.

So, freed from the concerns about my phone, I set out to explore Melbourne. I decided to start with St. Patrick's cathedral which was close to my hotel. It's a massive Neo-Gothic structure. Perhaps because it was fairly dark and overcast, it looked kind of brooding. The stone, too, is apparently a local bluestone that has a dark gray cast. It is a beautiful space inside, suitably grand. Compared to St. Mary's cathedral in Sydney, however, it seemed heavy. The cathedral in Sydney was much lighter in feel and color. There's a lovely park surrounding the cathedral and some wonderful sculptures. All in all, it is an impressive tribute to the mostly Irish immigrants who paid with their hard earned money to build this cathedral.


Close to the cathedral was the Mary Mac Killop Heritage Center. Mary Mac Killop, or Sister Mary of the Cross Mac Killop, is Australia's only canonized saint. I remembered reading about her when she was canonized about 10 years ago and she seemed to have had a colorful life. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about her. She founded an order of sisters of St. Joseph to work with the poor, especially running schools for poor children. In addition to schools, her sisters ran shelters for women in difficulty and had soup kitchens for the poor.

 The center itself is in a house where she lived for a time; and, where her sisters still have outreach to the poor. The gallery space is small, but very well organized. In one of the displays about Mary's family history, I learned that they,too, were among the Scottish Catholics who were forced  to leave after the clearing of the Highlands. She had a grandmother named MacDonald, so maybe we are related. I left very moved by the memory and missionary zeal of this holy woman.

Following my visit, I made my way towards the former center of Italian immigration in Melbourne. My route took me through a large park, in the center of which sits the enormous Melbourne Exposition Hall, built in the late 1800's, a testament to the city's civic pride.

Little Italy, or what's left of it, is in the Carlton district of the city, mostly along Lygon St. As you walk along, there is one Italian restaurant after another, cafes, a few old-school shops, but lots of non-Italian things as well. The mixture reminded me a bit of Little Italy in Manhattan. I also visited the Museo Italiano, the little museum that celebrates the presence of the Italian community in Australia in general, but more specifically the Italian contribution to Melbourne. After grabbing a quick bite, I hopped on one of the free trams to head to the downtown area.

Walking through Chinatown

The main shopping area is typical of any modern urban landscape. You see almost all the same stores. The one difference in Melbourne is the presence of many arcades and lanes which are filled with little eateries and shops. I walked back to my hotel, passing through Chinatown, which I am told is the oldest in the world - even older than San Francisco's. It, too, is filled with restaurants but seems devoid of a living community. It feels, rather, that it is maintained primarily for the tourists.

On to Melbourne

I thought it was strange that I kept getting these e-mails asking me how I liked my stay at the Doubletree in Melbourne. I looked at them and thought, but I haven't been there yet. Strange. Of course, it's like some pain or ache that one has but ignores. One does so at one's own peril sometimes. So I got up on Tuesday morning prepared to have a leisurely departure for the airport. I had done most of my packing the night before, I had taken myself back to Alpha, the Greek restaurant near my hotel, and figured I could work on my blog entry for Monday. Then I thought, "Well, let me just get my next reservations in order before leaving the hotel." So, I took the folder out of my bag, found the flight info and then went looking for the hotel reservation confirmation. I pulled the papers out of my folder and stared in disbelief. My reservations were for June 26-27! Now I knew why I was getting those e-mails. But it made absolutely no sense. I was never going to be in Melbourne on June 26-27. Why had I made reservations then and only for one night? I had no answer, but I also had no hotel room waiting for me in Melbourne. So Booking.com to the rescue. I got right on-line, plugged in the dates and found a room. Not the greatest hotel, but hey. The price was right and since there was no need to pay the cancellation premium, the room was very reasonable. OK. Great.

Boarding my flight to Melbourne

I get to the airport with plenty of time to spare. I found a nice spot and had a leisurely breakfast - my first ham and cheese jaffle -  before heading to the gate. As always, in my experience, flying on a Virgin flight is as good as it's going to get; and Virgin Australia was no different. The flight to Melbourne was about an hour and a half, roughly like flying from Newark to Chicago. We landed and I headed to the baggage claim area which opened to the outside. The first thing I noticed was the cold. I thought, wow, it's chilly in here. That's because it was chilly outside - about 52 degrees. I collected my bag (next to last, of course) and got in line for a taxi. The driver pulled up and away we went. When we got to the hotel, I gave him my credit card, which he put in the reader. After a bit, he said "It's been declined." I said, "it can't be. Try again." He inserted the card again and this time was prompted to indicate which account, and I told him "Checking" which he entered. Declined again, he said. Hmmm. I thought. Very odd. "Do you have cash?" he asked. I said that I did, but preferred to use a credit card, but under the circumstances I gave in. Needless to say I was a little distracted by all this and got out of the cab.

When I got inside to check in, the nice young woman said to me "I need a credit card to check you in." I handed her the one I had just tried to use and told her that it had been declined in the cab, so I wasn't sure what was going to happen. When she swiped it, it went right though. "No problem" she smiled and handed the card back to me. It was then that I began to have doubts about my cabbie friend. Had he just said the card was denied so he could have cash? I'm just saying . . . I went upstairs, stowed my bags and went off to find a quick bite. Found a little funky joint and ordered soup and a salad. It's when the food came and I wanted to take a picture that it all began. I didn't have my phone. I searched all my pockets, but nothing. "I must have left it in the room" I thought. "It will be there when I get back to the hotel" all the while trying to stave off the growing sense of panic. I paid for lunch with the previously denied credit card and rushed back to the hotel.

I got to the room, rushed over to my things and make a quick search. Then my heart sank. I must have left the phone in the taxi. With all the distraction over the denied credit card, I had probably left the phone on the back seat. No big deal. A quick call to the cab company . . . and then I remembered. I paid cash - no receipt, no cab number, no driver I.D. Ugh! I went down to the reception desk and the nice young lady said "Not a problem. We'll put a call in to the cab company." Which is what we did and were directed to file a report on-line, which we did. Nothing left to do at this point but wait. . .and wait . . . well, finally I thought I'm not just going to sit in my room. So Melbourne has a great tram system and they even offer a free circular route which takes you around the major parts of central Melbourne. So, I did that and was reasonably distracted. I got back to my room as the sun was setting and e-mailed Dan to tell him of my plight. He e-mailed back with encouragement that the phone would turn up. . . but what if it didn't? Coming from a long line of Divenys who have perfected the art of fretting, I just couldn't stop thinking about my phone. Here I was, 8,000 miles from home an no phone! At least I still had my laptop, so I wasn't totally cut off from civilization. I tried to reason with myself that I could survive for another week without a phone, but I was already having withdrawal symptoms. There was only one remedy - food, and possibly drink, lots of it.

Fortunately just steps from my hotel there was a place advertising authentic wood-fired cooked pizza. The place was named S.P.Q.R. and had been hopping when I went by at lunch time, so comfort food to the rescue. Was promptly seated and was given the menu. Lots of mighty tempting things to eat, but I went with the classic - pizza capricciosa - red sauce, prosciutto, mozzarella, anchovies & mushrooms. All your food groups on a pizza! When I ordered, I said to the nice young waitress. "I'll have a glass of the house white" to which she replied rather conspiratorially "We just opened a bottle of this" and pointed to an Australian Fiano. "It's really good" she said. Things were starting to look up. "Yes", I said, "that would be perfect." The pizza was excellent and the wine delicious. I was beginning to throw off my gloom. When I was finished eating she asked whether I wanted coffee or dessert to which I said, "No, but if there were some grappa in the house, I'd be interested in that."  And, lo, grappa was produced. Tomorrow is another day, I thought, as I sauntered back down the lane to my hotel. Twenty minutes into an episode of "Midsomer Murders" that I'd seen multiple times, I dropped of to sleep.

So, dear reader, ended a downright dreadful day; but, so as not to leave you hanging, I shall reveal that the phone was restored to its rightful owner the following morning. But, more about that later.

Monday,Monday

By Monday morning, I was feeling a little weary. Being a full-time tourist can be hard work, plus I don’t know when the last time was that I have walked so much.  The weather was also a little iffy. I had planned to take the ferry to Manly Beach and spend a few hours there, but with the possibility of rain, I decided to try something closer to home. The Chinese Garden of Friendship was nearby and that seemed like a good idea. In fact, it turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of the trip so far. The garden lies right in the heart of the Darling Harbour development district. The garden itself is a walled enclave in the midst of this frenetic modernity.  The Chinese Garden respectfully recreates the philosophy and harmony of a traditional Chinese garden in its waterfalls, lakes, exotic plants, pavilions and hidden pathways.

The view of the koi pond from the boathouse.

 Once inside, one feels immediately a sense of calm and serenity. Even the woman in the ticket window radiated graciousness and calm. In a relatively small and confined space, the designers have created a variety of “landscapes”, skillfully using rocks, water and vegetation to simulate different settings. One follows a path that ultimately takes one to the highest point in the garden. The climb to the top  of "the mountain" is a spiritual climb as well as a physical one. In fact, the whole garden is designed to focus one on the powerful forces of nature. From the pavilion at the summit, you can see the garden in its entirety and revel in its beauty.

Water plays a special role alternating the yin of running water with the yang of reflecting ponds. The abundance of wildlife – especially birds and fish contribute to the sense of being immersed in nature, despite the fact that you are in the middle of a modern city. It was almost hard to leave the tranquility of this special place to return to the hustle and bustle of Sydney.


And now for something completely different. Realizing that I was very close to the light rail line, I decided to hop on it and go out to Sydney’s fish market. I had read about it and it seemed like it would be a fun thing to see and experience. I also looked forward to getting out of the center of the city to see another part of Sydney.

The market is both the wholesale market for fresh fish, and a retail center with a food court. Clearly, this market is in every Chinese guidebook for tourists in Sydney. Sydney itself would appear to be a mecca for Asian tourists, but this seemed like the absolute epicenter. There were tour bus loads of people coming and going. There were groups of school girls, multi-generational families, young, old, you name it, all converging on this one spot.

One of the food vendors

The food court was borderline chaos, but it was fantastic. The array of seafood for sale was incredible, but the prepared food was nothing short of unbelievable. A casual observation would suggest that the lobster tails were a major draw, as were the fresh-shucked oysters. Though every table I saw was filled with diners consuming industrial quantities of fresh seafood. I’ve never quite seen anything like it.

Sunday, Sydney

I attended the Vigil Mass on Saturday evening in St. Mary's Cathedral, which is fairly close to my hotel. As one would expect, it was well done and there was a good congregation. Sydney is a very diverse city and that was evident at Mass as well.

Sunday morning dawned bright and chilly again. I actually managed to sleep until almost 9:00, so I was feeling pretty good. I only had two things I knew I wanted to do today: one was to visit the Art Gallery, and the other was to acquire an Opal Card, the card for the city's transportation system.

The Cadet Band

I left the hotel to head to the gallery a little after 10:00. My route took me through Hyde Park, Sydney's oldest and most famous public park. As I approached, I could see a lot of activity and wondered what was going on. As I got even closer, I could see that it involved people in military uniforms, flags and bands. I had stumbled upon the Australia Reserve Forces Commemoration Celebration. I always enjoy seeing these kind of events in another country, so I picked out a good spot along the parade route. The park is the site of the Anzac war memorial and that's where the dignitaries were seated. There were a few presentations and then the parade began.s

The parade was lead by the Cadet Band, a group of youngsters that I reckoned to be between 12 and 15 years old. I felt sorry for the pressure that they were under, but they stepped off smartly and sounded pretty good,too. They were followed by marchers in period uniforms and a pipe and drum band playing "Waltzing Matilda". What followed then was line after line of veterans who were clearly proud of the service they had rendered to their homeland. My thoughts turned to my own father as I watched his allies parade past. It was time to go, now.

The Art Gallery

The Art Gallery of New South Wales sits in a broad green expanse known as "the Domain". Its Neo-Classical facade is typical of so many museums that were build in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The builders clearly wanted the public to know that they were building a temple to and for art. The permanent collection of this museum is free to the public, you do have to pay, however, for the special exhibits. The current exhibit showcased the winners of two national competitions - one in portraiture, the other in landscape. I thought that could be interesting, so I bought a ticket. Clearly the interest was shared, because the exhibit was packed! I found the portraits more revealing than the landscapes. I spent about an hour in the permanent collection as well. As you might imagine, the collection focuses on Australian artists. I was fascinated by the labels for each work which gave the artists name, birthplace; and, if the artist had't been born in Australia, the date of his or her arrival in the country, and, of course, the date and place of death. I enjoyed my visit immensely.

All that artwork made me a little peckish, so I set off in search of lunch. I decided against going back the way I came and went off in a new direction. A long set of stairs led down to an area along the water that seemed promising. When I reached the bottom, I realized that I was in the Wooloomooloo district. I had looked at a few hotels in this area, but in the end decided to stay more centrally. There's a long promenade flanking the docks on both sides and it was filled with people out enjoying the sunny Sunday afternoon.

The Wooloomooloo promenade

All along the promenade are restaurants with outdoor seating, most were hopping. A couple of Italian places, a few seafood, a Chinese place that must be very good, because I don't thin I could have gotten a seat here. In the end, I opted for the lone Indian restaurant, mostly because it wasn't very busy and it was time to get out of my comfort zone. It was a good decision. I'm not very familiar with Indian food, but my very nice waitress helped me out. Always good to let a native help you choose, if you are not sure. I thought that the food was excellent. When I went inside, I saw that the place was filled with Indian families. Always a good sign.

I walked back to my hotel, stuffed and satisfied. That evening, I met up with my colleague, Dan, to take a guided tour of "The Rocks", the area around Sydney harbor that was settled by the convicts brought here by the English. I must say, Sydney had a very colorful start! I now want to know more about it. The tour lasted about 1 1/2 hours and was excellent. The best part about it was that it was free - well, kind of. You don't buy a ticket, but at the end you give what, as the tour guide said, "you think the tour was worth." I'd say it was definitely worth it.