We were very tired already from our Sydney trip that when we got to Melbourne, we just wanted to relax. We just walked around the nearby sights to our hotel which was already so beautiful! And of course we took the bus that took us around the city and we saw a lot of beautiful buildings which were very “artsy.” They say this is the most European part of Australia.
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On the way home, we stopped by Melbourne for 2 nights. Our hotel was beautiful
and location was perfect for us – near the Finders st. Station and near the Yarra River
Website: Westin Melbourne
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Heart2Heart loves foodhalls especially the Japanese foodhalls in the basement of their department stores ( Mitsukoshi Food Hall January 13, 2009) . In London, Harrods foodhall and in Australia, I made sure to take a peek at the David Jones Food Hall. And as usual, the place was very different from the others – it was not crowded, it was not noisy, it was a relaxing atmosphere. I liked the signs posted in the different walls around the food hall. This is my most favorite one!
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Thanks Tito Ralph Joseph for arranging this wonderful visit at Wyndham Estate! It was a perfect way to celebrate Dads birthday which I am sure he enjoyed. We had wine tasting, then a very very delicious lunch. Everything was good but our most favorite was the dessert especially the pavlova!!!! We thought we were full so we ordered one of each dessert, we ended up ordering maybe 3 or 4 of the pavlova!
Again, we had a very slow and relaxing lunch. That is one thing I like about Australia. Everyone seems to enjoy life and cherish every moment of it…instead of always rushing and trying to run after something. We had finished lunch at maybe 4:30 pm! So we decided not to do the wine tour anymore because we had to go back to the city before dark.
Thank you to Wyndham Estate for a warm and kind reception and to Tito Ralph for arranging Dad’s birthday lunch! I wish we stayed longer so we can have more 3 hour lunches!! 🙂 enjoying the food with family
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Thanks to Mom for discovering this beautiful place through one of the guidebooks. Right after breakfast we went here. Aside from the beautiful gardens..it seemed like everyone enjoyed taking photos 🙂
website: Hunter Valley Gardens
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Breakfast is included with the room, so we had a nice buffet breakfast at The Mill
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Of course Heart2Heart loves wine country because what goes better with wine than cheese!!! YUMMY! 🙂
Beside Brokenback Bar was a dairy shop which we went to while waiting for the food to arrive.
Wow! Look at the gigantic bread from Bacco’s leaves in different flavors
Other gourmet products to go with the bread and other dairy products
Very interesting – FRUIT PASTE which you can add to your cheese and food
Mom of course bought!! And she got mad at me for taking her photo carrying the box 🙂
After the good lunch we had at Brokenback Bar– we continued to eat! and we sat outside in one of the picnic tables and had our cheese and port wine…YUMMY!!!
And I saw this CHEESE SHOP in one of the areas there while driving!!! I LOVE IT!!!!! CHEESE HEAVEN! 🙂 It is called the SMELLY CHEESE SHOP! They were closed already but they opened the shop for us so we got to take a quick peek! Sorry photos are not clear- was hiding the camera 🙂 I always wanted to open a cheese shop here!! I hope someone does!!
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We arrived around 1 pm and we were so hungry! So after checking in, we went right away to the resort’s restaurant and we ordered lunch. Oh my gosh! Apparently when people eat in this area, they eat very slow and really take their time!! So you can imagine how hungry we were 🙂 The food started to come at around 2 pm and we finished almost 4 pm
This is where you cook your own bbq
Coffin Bay Oysters
Wood Fired Pizzas
Margherita
Roast Beef
Chili Prawn and Black Mussels
Cajun Spiced Chicken
Sticky BBQ Ribs
From the kids menu – Veal Schnitzel
Spring Rolls
Fritters
Three Mushroom Ravioli
Sardines
Dessert!
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We rented a van to fit the whole family and James drove us to Hunter Valley! We timed it to celebrate the birthday of Dad who loves wine
We made sure of course we had a GPS to guide us in getting there. It was a two hour drive to get to the resort
We chose Tuscany Estate and Resort as recommended by Tita Tess…It was beautiful
There are two kinds of rooms… those facing the vineyard
And those facing the olive grove..we stayed here
Each room had a door opening to the grove..it was so nice and peaceful. A nice way to relax and get away from the city
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