Last.FM
Tag / Honeymoon
Sep
13
2009
0For the first time today I really felt like I woke up in a foreign country. Because we were no longer in the central business district of Melbourne I could hear birdsong when I awoke. What was really noticable was that I hardly recognised any of the bird calls. They all sounded to exotic. It is odd that it takes something as simple as this to alert me to the foreign-ness of my surroundings.
The really overhelming thing that I have noticed about Australia is how famliar everything is. So to find that it *sounded* alien in the mornings was something of a shock. (Well that and the fact that it is 6:30 in the morning.) When we were being driven to the Yarra valley yesterday even the place names were familiar. There were signs for “Doncaster”, “Croydon”, and “Kent” and other such familiar places each one raised a smile.
Sep
13
2009
2
Today we were up early to have breakfast and check out of the hotel as we were heading to the Chandon winery for Sunday school. We learned how to taste (not drink) wine and how to match wine with food. It was an entertaining day. Good job that I was spitting out all of the wine as I would have been terribly pissed.
After the “school” we were treated to a short tour of the winery and given the opportunity to sample some really young (i.e. Not ready) wines.
After the tour we had lunch in the dining area and went to the Christensen’s house where we will be staying for the next few days. I was pretty tired again and went staight to bed for a 3 hour nap. There is a theme developing to this holiday. We had dinner, ice cream and talked until 11.30. When I say “we” I of course me me as Cat zonked out on the sofa.
Sep
12
2009
0
We spent the morning booking trips for next week and tickets to the opera in Sydney Opera House. Then we pottered off to the Immigration museum which was very cool. When we came out of the museum it was summer. About 30 degrees and sunny.
We met up with Cat’s cousin Aileen for lunch which was fun. After lunch I had a serious dip. I wanted to go back to the hotel for a nap. Catriona wanted to go to St Kilda. Of course she won and I’m glad she did. St Kilda was a really cool seaside town that reminded me of any English seaside town that I have ever been to only with a clean beach and lots more sun. After a coffee and some cake we wandered to the beach. I lay down and promptly fell asleep. Seriously good nap.
We headed back to the hotel to get changed. We had a dinner appointment with some friends. Helen (a friend from Amsterdam) who couldn’t make it to the wedding because she was travelling wuth work, happened to be in town. Also Liz (an Aussie that used to live in Amsterdam), her husband and Anne (a new friend from the Elsevier Sydney office) were there. We had a lovely dinner at Tjunabi on Federation square and then spent the rest of the evening drinking bubbles and watching AFL on Fed Square. Superb evening, too too short. We had to take it a bit handy as we are being picked up at 9am tomorrow to go to a wine tasting at the Chandon winery. More bubbles to come.
Sep
11
2009
0
The weather today was much better. It felt like summer (around 23 degrees). We first headed off to the Victoria Market which was rows and rows of cheap t-shirts and tourist tat. Not terribly exciting but worth a look.
Ate lunch in Little Creatures, Fitzroy. It is a large industrial looking space with long tables and booths. They serve beer brewed in their own microbrewery and hearty no nonsense grub. The pale ale is recommended (Catriona ordered something pink and bubbly).
The scrummy food arrived (chicken and veg pie for me, pizza for Cat) and was devoured with many a hmm and lekker sounds. Anyone that is in this neck of the woods should definitely sample the delights of Little Creatures. We may go back tomorrow.
We did a spot of window shopping and then headed back to the hotel for a sit down that turned into a nap. Then it was time to plan excursions around Melbourne.
The evening just proved that I was still jet lagged. I’m such a lightweight these days. In bed by eleven-fifteen.
Sep
10
2009
0
Our first night in Melbourne is nearly over. To be honest we slept for a lot of it. We had lunch in Walter’s wine bar on the south bank. I had a burger that was more like a meat samosa in a bun with a nice glass of merlot. Catriona had tagliatelle with prawns and a glass of Riesling.
We both tried to keep awake while wandering around the city during the day but jet lag finally caught up with us. At 5pm we had to give in to sleep but I set the alarm for 8pm so that we didn’t sleep too much. Need to get into the rhythmn of this time zone.
We got up at 8pm and head down Flinders Lane (this is where we encountered ACDC lane). The we headed up to Chinatown for some Thai food. The restaurant (Sawasdi) was really nice but it was nearly colder than outside which in itself was not warm. We were really worried about catching a cold so after dinner we came back to the hotel. We are now warming ourselves by the fire drinking bubbles (Cat) and brandy (me). I may retire after this drink although I feel I might be dangerously getting a second wind.
Sep
10
2009
0After what seems like forever travelling we have arrived in Melbourne. We were met at the airport by a couple of Cat’s cousins (Raz and Aileen) and taken for a coffee on the bank of the river Yarra and then on to the hotel. We are are staying in the Hotel Lindrum on Flinders Street. www.hotellindrum.com.au
Lovely hotel, stylish without being pretentious.
We were both kind of disappointed with Malaysia Air. Despite all attempts we received no special treatment for a honeymoon couple on a 24 hour journey. AerLingus hovever gave us 2 bottles of champagne and some chocolates for our hour and a half flight to Heathrow.
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