Kings Birthday weekend - and what a good one it was
Alex had asked us a while back if we were going to be in Inglewood this weekend, and wondered if he and Jane could come too
And then advised that he and Jane were going to stop for dinner in Kyneton at Fook Shing and then stay the night at the funky motel down the road.
I twisted Justin's arm to do that also
We had also been invited to Echuca for a day from Chris E - to see his Steam "nerd" friends and what they got up too
So we did both
Given that it was a long weekend - I didn't want to leave early - as there would be traffic - so thought that we would leave around 6pm - but we looked at Google Maps - and it didn't look too bad, so we left around 5.15
Was terrible weather - pouring rain - I drove Justin's car, but the traffic was ok
Got to Kyneton about 6.50pm, and checked into the Kyneton Springs Motel - which had been done up in a Palm Springs 60s vibe
Obviously the below photo is from their website - it was dark and rainy when we got there
I'd booked us a "suite" and I guess I was expecting 2 rooms - it was one room and a bathroom - nicely done up - but not what I would consider a suite. Alex and Jane had booked the same type and had said they wondered what a "room" would look like
Once again this is a stock photo - but our room/suite did look like that
I took this photo - thought it was cute to have an image of an old tv on a new tv
Unpacked a bit, and then grabbed our umbrellas and walked across the road to Fook Shing - once again another stock shot
We were early - around 7.15pm, we could have gone straight to our table - but thought we'd sit in a lounge area and have a cocktail - delicious - and we were by ourselves - so it was like a private area for us
Once we'd finished our drinks we went to our table - central booth area - and ordered the feed me menu - delicious yet again
Given that we were staying the night in Kyneton - no one had to drive - so we had a few bottles of wine with dinner - all very pleasant
Finished up and walked back to the motel - it was not only wet, but very cold. Prior to this we had been enjoying an Indian Summer - it was rather mild - but today was bitterly cold. We turned our electric blankets on, and the manager had told us to keep the heater on overnight too
Saturday morning - and Justin went to charge the car, and he also picked me up a danish and a coffee for breakfast
We left for Echuca around 10, and got there around 11.30 or so - it was still raining - but stopped before we got to Echuca
Wasn't sure what to expect - but didn't expect what we saw...
It was a huge compound - lots of rough sheds, some train tracks, train engines, carriages, many weird steam engines, and lots of junk - oh and 5 or so peacocks strutting around
We had advised Chris of our approximate arrival, so he was waiting for us, and showed us around/introduced us to some people
Below are a whole heap of photos taken by myself and Justin
Chris also introduced us to Lesley the Matriarch - and she said that Justin looked familiar - turned out she recognised him from Restoration Australia (I must admit I was a little miffed that I wasn't recognised, as I had a more prominent role ...oh well)
So, we stayed an hour or so and then into Echuca to charge the car a bit more before heading onto Inglewood
Got to Echuca, and there was only one working charger - and the car on it was at about 10% - so we weren't going to stick around
We made it back to Inglewood with I think just under 20%, and the public charger there wasn't working either, so we put it in our garage to slow charge
Alex and Jane were already there - and had very kindly offered to make dinner - who was I to say no?
They went off to the shop to get supplies and Justin and I unpacked and relaxed a bit
Had some drinks and nibbles in the kitchen. I made up some mulled wine - which Jane and I drank. The weather was so miserable so it was just perfect to have a warm drink. Justin and Alex abstained - they had non mulled wine (they missed out)
Dinner was in the dining room - a delicious apricot chicken, and then a peach crumble
Didn't stay up the late, and had a leisurely start to Sunday.
Justin and I had breakfast in bed, and then continued to do our quizzes, read the Saturday Age - didn't have to "entertain" family - so very relaxing
Had yummy Aga toasties for lunch in the kitchen
After lunch Justin dropped Jane and I at Old Kingower as they were having an open day in conjunction with Both Banks who were having their annual wine release
Before we left I dug out some gum boots for us both as it was still quite rainy and therefore muddy
It was surprisingly busy at Old Kingower - lots of people in the little tasting room area where Terry was serving wine from behind the counter, and also lots of people in the "storage" area where 12 wines ranging from 2001? were set up with tasting notes. Arlene had also made up some delicious food
Jane and I had a great old time chatting with all sorts of people - including a guy who had just bought the old pub in Tarnagulla. He used to be a chef, and so might reopen (fingers crossed)
We also chatted with Mark C who has the WineBank in Bendigo - they have occasional special dinners so Jane and I might go to one, and stay at their accommodation - would be fun
So stayed here a while, and then wandered across to Both Banks
Given that I had my gum boots - I thought I'd splash around a bit in the puddles
Got to Both Banks and chatted with some new people
At both places - people told me that they'd seen our program...(so my self esteem went up a nocth after having been bruised at the Steam rally yesterday)
Carole and Geoff kindly gave us a lift home - so we didn't have to call Justin
We had roast pork and vegies for dinner - which I'd organised earlier - and some more mulled wine
On Monday morning Jane and I went to the Bridgewater Nursery and I bought a bare rooted Medlar (had seen and admired a Medlar in a lovely Tasmanian National Trust estate with Susan and Mark last year) and a couple of blueberry plants
I planted the medlar in the "heritage" orchard
And planted the blueberries in the herb garden (where I'd taken out the chillis). I figure that blueberries should be frost tolerant (didn't take a photo of them)
I also planted the dwarf mulberry that I'd bought a few weeks ago in the orchard
But first had to bail out of lot of rain water from the ring
Alex and Jane left early- ish on Monday as they wanted to avoid the long weekend traffic
Justin took a lovely photo of the back garden - I think on the Monday - as the previous two days were too wet and miserable for this
and also a photo of my jonquils in water
We pottered around and left for Melbourne around 5pm - just normal traffic, so happy days
