Why I Didn’t Marry Heath Ledger

We’ve taken a day trip to the wine country of New South Whales and southern Queensland. The drive up was beautiful with rain forest and rolling hills. The roadkill was even very exotic and more interesting than the dead things at home. Lots and lots of rotting wallabies. We were able to visit 3 vineyards on our trip, with 3 very different experiences.

Currajong Downs: Our first stop was at this medium size boutique winery in Tenterfield for some gold medal winning Semillion. That’s the grape, not the Sensamillion, which is something quite different. Currajong has a cellar door (which isn’t really a door in to the basement wine cellar that I thought it would be) and a cafe. At this vineyard, we stood at the counter and told the girl which wine we wanted to taste. We then split a smoked trout salad with fresh cheese and sundried tomatoes. Yummy.

The Doctor’s Nose: Our second stop at The Doctor’s Nose was a much different experience with an elaborate tasting. This was a second, smaller boutique winery in the tiny town of Tenterfield. We were seated and the owner brought out each wine. The wines were presented in a certain order to keep a dry wine from being tasted between two sweeter wines. Each wine was named after a different ancestor and the vineyard was named after the ridgeline near the property. After the tasting, we had one hell of a kangaroo chase with the owner.

Ballandean Estates: Our final stop was in southern Queensland in Ballandean. This area has been under cultivation for many years and dozens of vineyards offer cellar doors. We chose the Ballandean Estates because they offer tours. This was a much larger commercial operation than the two previous vineyards. It had a counter with loads of customers, as well as a cafe. The family had been in the business in Ballandean for 4 generations. The ancestor came from Sicily, Italy, where he was a wine maker. I liked that the family was very open and even let us wander out to their vines to have a look. It was interesting to learn the processes and that there are something like 870 types of yeast that bring out certain flavors in wines. Hmmm. That’s part of the reason you can have 2 vineyards in 2 miles producing Shiraz grapes and get a completely different wine. Also, wine doesn’t have to cross-pollinate, so the vineyards don’t have to rotate stock or plant different types of crops. At Ballandean, we had salmon pasta with capers and cream fresh butter, which was great.

– Carrie

We visited the Aloombra Lavender Farm in southern Queensland on our trip to wine country. The proprietor is actually a WWoof host who I didn’t contact. Thank God. The store was weird anyway, full of smelly stuff and cat crafts. Not really my scene. The woman, who I like to call the Aloombra Lavendar Nazi, may actually be Satan himself. It’s funny how charming people can sound with an accent, until you really listen to what they have to say. This lady was actually the biggest white supremacist since Hitler. I’m sure she would probably get along really well with some people I’ve met in Mississippi. She actually said to us, “You take a white baby and you take a black baby and who can run the country? You give the black baby a house and he’ll destroy it. They’ll even burn the floor boards for firewood.”

It was UNREAL. It’s hard to believe people have those sort of prejudices and it’s REALLY hard to believe she’s so willing to share them with perfect strangers. She also made it clear that she disliked Korean people as well. She had a Korean WWoofer who apparently did EVERYTHING wrong. I’m sure I wouldn’t have done any better, considering the minor infractions that seemed like such a huge deal to her. I would have been thrilled to have someone give me hand massages.

WWoofers, I would avoid the hell out of the Aloombra Lavendar Farm.

– Carrie

If you can’t make it inland to the famous Hunter Valley, hire a car in Byron Shire and head northwest to Tenterfield and Stanthorpe. There, you’ll find “heaps” of wineries, from the boutique Kurrajong Downs (try the Semillon along with the smoked trout salad for lunch) to the larger, family-owned and operated Ballandean Estates (the wine isn’t stellar, but the tour with the Dad is worth the trip). Just down the road from Kurrajong Downs, the Doctor’s Nose features a wine tasting on the owner’s front porch and a kangaroo off-roading adventure with Peter. Indeed, the region offers a variety of winery experiences. Plus, you’ll have opportunity to master your Australian driving skills while keeping an eye out for speed cameras (fines double during the holidays) as well as wallabies. To keep you awake for the three hour drive, country western and reggae stations abound and “Driver Reviver” stations offer free coffee every thirty minutes. Happy trails – Elizabeth

You know how you just add an “o” to the end of a word to make it Spanish? Not really, but people seem to think so. Well, to speak Australian you add an “ies” at the end.

Like sunglasses are sunnies, poker machines are pokies, truckies are truck drivers (no kidding), mushies are mushrooms, etc.

If you want to order coffee….just don’t. It’s too hard. Or print out the coffee ordering instructions from the Australia Blog and take them with you. A flat white is probably your best bet for American style coffee/fuel.

Half an Hour: This is a blanket statement that can mean anything from 2 minutes to HOURS. Be weary if anyone tells you something will be half an hour.

– Carrie

In Tenterfield, we visited a really small boutique vineyard called the Doctor’s Nose, named after a hill in the nearby ridge line. We had a great tasting and conversation with the proprietor. As we were leaving, I asked how frequent kangaroo spotting’s really are. As in, is it a big deal if you see one like spotting a deer at home or is more like seeing squirrels in the park? According to our host, it’s a daily occurrence in the bush. He offered to take us on a ride through his property to look for the roos that had been around his house that night.

So we hopped in this little Datsun-ish truck and took off through the fields. At first we were on dirt roads, but we soon we driving straight through the grass. Tall grass, several feet high. He knew the land well enough to avoid hitting a hidden bolder, which was interesting. After scouring the area, he spotted a roo. It was laying beneath a tree in the next pasture. We approached the fence and they took off. Three of them. Apparently, during the day, one kangaroo will keep watch while the others sleep. Our guy had spotted the look-out. We followed them to an adjoining pasture and watched them until they were out of sight. A very impressive sighting.

I saw a few more on our trip home, but nothing close to the Doctor’s Nose.

– Carrie

Get a latte. No questions. If you visit Oz, just do it.

Also, get a Mocha on Ice. In Starbucks, that means a giant heap of ice covered with a half-the-normal portion of mocha. Maybe you get whipped cream, maybe you don’t.

In Australia, at least at the Espresso Bars, a Mocha on Ice means a large glass of mocha with the glass drenched in chocolate sauce and a large scoop of vanilla ice cream.

The perfect post-surfing drink.

– Carrie

We are surfers. I could probably just let that say it all. If you’ve known me for more than a few years, you know I have a thing for water sports.

* I water skied on my very first try
* I kneeboarded on my very first try
* I wakeboarded on my very first try
* I airchaired (?) on my very first try

And now I‘ve surfed on my very first try. No kidding. I got up on my first shot assisted and my first solo ride. Really, I did pretty well for a newbie. We’re going solo in a few days.

Mazar has also entered the world of grommets. Our pictures are great. She looks really happy in hers and I look like I’m taking finals. I was REALLY determined.

As a professional surfer, I’m going to need to go eat some fish tacoes. Hang loose!

– Carrie

Quote of the Day –
Elizabeth: Did you just see that sign for “Colon Hydrotherapy”?
Carrie: No, but I experienced that once while wakeboarding.
(Insert hysterical laughter here.)

Seems Byron has loads of alternative therapies to offer, from the aforementioned enema to the aura photo. Doubt we’ll need the former, but Carrie already has her eye on the latter. For those of you interested in drug therapy, the hippie hideaway of Nimbin is only a bus ride away. Don’t worry Mom, we’re not headed there.

Instead, we’re planning a day trip to the Tenterfield vineyards tomorrow. Today, after a bit of beach relaxation, we hired a blueberry Echo and I made it the six whole blocks to the motel. Mind you, three hours driving on the left side of the road may necessitate some form of therapy tomorrow evening.

Note: Be sure to bring your US driver’s license to Oz; you’ll need it to hire and drive a car.

Best, E

Those of you familiar with the famous Martha’s Vineyard-based company will now want to familiarize yourselves with the Aussie version – Black Dog Surfing. We had a blast this morning (and we have awesome photos to prove it). Should you ever find your way to Byron Bay, be sure to take your initial surf lesson with Black Dog. For $60 you’ll get all the necessary equipment (from wet suit to sunscreen to board), three full hours of training, storage for your valuables, and a couple surfer dudes to push you along. Well worth the money! Cheers, Elizabeth

That’s what my hand stamp says, anyway. We visited the famous Cheeky Monkeys in Byron Bay for some of their fabled cheap eats. I was pretty excited to visit this backpacker-loving bar and restaurant. But someone needs to send the girl at the front door to charm school. She’ll ask if you’re staying at one of the local backpacker hostels. Why? “Because we keep track of these things.” She then told us “We’re a backpackers bar, so backpackers get in for free and everyone else gets in free with a food purchase.” We were ordering food, so I’m not sure what the issue was. Let me tell you, for New Years in Byron Bay you take whatever accommodations you can get. And you’ll most likely have a 5 to 7 day minimum stay. No, we’re not at a backpackers hostel. We’re at a budget hotel.

Just because you aren’t sleeping in a hostel doesn’t mean you aren’t a backpacker. Especially when you haven’t showered or changed clothes for DAYS.

Anyway, if you go to Cheeky Monkey’s, just give them some random hostel name. They don’t check anyway and it’s a B.S. rule.

The food was good and pretty cheap, but I didn’t want to hang out after the ordeal. I’m still on US time anyway.

Coolest sign in the Universe: “Refuge Island.” It was actually WAY cooler when I thought it said “Refugee Island.” Sounded like someplace Survivor would be filmed.

– Carrie