Victorian Family Gathering & Further Adventures

We flew over to Melbourne last Thursday late afternoon and were picked up from the airport by car and driven to Hawthorn where we would be staying with Brian's family.
There was a lot of preparation going on for Brenton's sixtieth birthday party on the Saturday.
On Friday we went with our host's  young son to firstly "Readings" which is a fabulous book store on Glenferrie road and then he took us to a quaint little Japanese lunch place where we had the most amazingly delicious food at a ridiculously low price. It is geared towards all the Swinburne uni students who live in digs close by.

 The new BBQ, which is standing like an alien creature in the back yard, was in full swing early in the morning as the charcoal has to be at a certain stage of heat for the meat to cook very slowly. It appears that a lot of men are now taking an extreme interest in cooking with their chosen BBQ's When we went up the street early Saturday morning to get some last minute boerewors from the butcher, the talk turned to lamb ribs and lamb shanks. I mentioned that we used to feed all that to our working sheepdogs, but that there were occasions when I would bone the ribs ( which were mutton in my day and home killed I might add) and put on a great stuffing on the resulting flap, roll it up and tie it with string, cook it slowly in the woodstove oven for dinner.

The father of the butcher was standing outside with a flatplate BBQ and was grilling various sausages for passersby to try.
What a great way to advertise their very good meat and other wares on busy Glenferrie road....I am interested too in getting a new BBQ as the one we have has deteriorated badly and there are some very interesting units available. I do like cooking outside and it is also a good way to have friends over for an uncomplicated lunch now daylight saving is here again.
I also love curved paths, and the one leading up to the front door here is very attractive. It is a lovely Villa style house and is beautifully kept. There is an old farmhouse around the corner on Lidyard street which was built in the 1860ies or there abouts ,  so this is an old area.

Yesterday we were taken to see the Melbourne Hills. We stopped at an interesting secondhand book store first and then drove through the Yarra valley where we just had to stop at a couple of wineries and sample their wares.
St Huberts were first and I liked their Pinot Noir but wouldn't buy any as we have enough luggage as it is.
We then went to " Oakridge  " who have just finished building their new premisses.The photo on the right is taken out of their tasting room window, just a stunning outlook. They only have a small acreage of vines there and seem to buy most of their grapes ,as does St Huberts, from local grape growers. I especially liked their Pinot Grigio which tasted flinty and dry with lovely citrussy overtones.

 We then drove to Healesville to the pub there as it had been recommended by several people for their food. I chose the quail which was on special and was absolutely to die for, hardly any bones and grilled to perfection.The men both had the fish and chips and of course I had to taste Brian's chips. They, too were lovely and very like the wonderful chips that "Eat @ the Whalers"do in Victor Harbor.
I wondered if CJ Dennis may have frequented the pub as he lived in Toolangi which isn't far up the road.

When we came out of the pub and walked towards the car, there was a juvenile Echidna snuggling up to the tyer of the next car. As he was inclined to want to cross the busy road it was decided he better be picked up and carted to safety. They are prickly customers of course and hard to pick up as they want to bury themselves in the ground so are amazingly strong. However he was wrapped in a towel and carefully carted to a creek nearby well away from the road....
We drove home via the hills and went through Kingslake which suffered so badly in the fires.
Getting back to Melbourne you realize what a huge,busy city it is.......