Travel Photo of the Month - May 2016 - On the Road to Gundagai

On a recent EPIC road trip around NSW and Victoria I stayed over a night in Gundagai and stumbled across the old train station. 

Left just the way you would have rode the rails back in the day. 

It's a beautiful old building and station and wandering around I could only imagine what it was like.

Chiosco by Ormeggio @ The Spit

Being whisked over to Mosman for a team Christmas lunch is always welcomed and most definitely appreciated. It is a glorious sunny December day (amid some bad weather days) to dine alfresco on the jetty overlooking the marina and Middle Harbour at Chiosco by Ormeggio, the more casual dining restaurant sister to Ormeggio (just on the other side of the jetty). The concept is Italian Trattoria and it's modern, fresh and judging by other diners good portion sizes!

 

 

Enjoying a glass of bubbles and admiring the view we peruse our menu for today and we are all excited about what is about to be served.

 

 

There are 15 people dining with us today so we have the Chefs Sharing Feast.
 

We start with some Pane. Fresh from the Ormeggio bakery the organic sourdough has a wonderful thick crust and fluffy dough. The bread is served simply with extra virgin olive oil.

 

 

The Burrata is served broken into creamy mozza chunks scattered on the plate with crispy kale, capers and crispy organic sourdough crumbs.  Each dish serves 3-4 people on the table.

Boxes (and I do mean boxes) of Fritto misto arrive next. School prawns and baby calamari coated in a semolina batter and deep fried to a crunchy mass of deliciousness. Served with a tangy lemon mayo. This was definitely my favourite of the day.

 

The Baccala fritters are moreish. The creamy potato centres were fluffy and the salted cod hinted of salt. topped with a creamy herb mayo this were good little bites.

A bowl of mussels arrive that are sauteed in a garlic, chilli and tomato sauce served with garlic bread. The mussels are plump and delicious.  The bread was soggy as it had soaked up a lot of the sauce.

 

Next up, Gnocchi with a pork cheeks, peas and a pea puree arrived.   The gnocchi were pillowy soft and the pork cheek was rich and had a depth of flavour that was surprising. Fresh peas are delicious!  this was topped with crispy strips of bacon.

 

A platter of the Gamerboni, Pollo alla Diavola and Corn arrived.

 

The plate consisted of grilled split king prawns with a lovely chilli and lemon dressing, free range chicken with chilli, rosemary and grilled lemon and cobs of corn dusted with paprika and pecorino.

The chicken was spicy and crispy and very tender and juicy.

 The grilled king prawns were fabulous and easy to eat as they were already split. The char on them gave them a great flavour.

I think the corn speaks for itself. Corn with spice and cheese is always a winner in my books.

 

We finished the meal off with a box of Bombolone and Cannolo. Some may have had coffee, I continued with bubbles.

The bombolone are donut balls filled with nutella and dusted in sugar. These are addictive! 

The Cannolo is filled with sweet ricotta. The shell is on the softer side but the sweet filling is light.

Chiosco has a great wine selection but it is also BYO (which we did as it was easier for us). As you can see I took a bottle with me on the boat.

We finished the afternoon off on the boat cruising around Middle Harbour and around through the heads before being dropped off at Darling Harbour. Bubbles on board and good banter amongst colleagues topped off a perfect afternoon!

Cowboys & Utes - A weekend at Deni Ute Muster 2015

As part of the 'travel' part of the blog I thought I would post about my recent weekend away.Hittin' the road Thursday of the long weekend found me heading South West towards the country.

Where did I end up (some 10 hours later)?

The Deni Ute Muster.

Held on the Friday and Saturday of the long weekend 50,000+ visitors descend on the small town of Deniliquin.  The paddocks and fields near town hold the event.  With 95% of visitors camping in the fields and event staff acquire every available bed in town this event is not to be missed. 

Although there was some carnie food and BBQ by the pool involved this weekend was more about the experience rather than food centric. A long weekend of cowboys, rodeo, suped up utes.  Cowboy boots, denim jeans, akubras and thousands of blue singlets (they even hold the Blue Singlet Guinness Book of Records!

there was smokin' wheels too

First up we have the Barrel races.  Where States compete ute against ute in a timed barrel run around a paddock.  It's dusty, loud and a lot of fun. 

Next there is some junior cowboys with their whip crackin'.

let's get crackin'

There is plenty to eat too!  Gotta love a bit of carnie food.  Burgers, dagwood dogs, hotdogs, bacon and egg rolls, chips and dim sims!

Can't pass up on a Dagwood Dog.

What about some salt n' pepper calamari and chips from Squid Inc.  These were so tender and tasty(although could have been a little crispier). 

The burgers were pretty good too.  I had stuck with the classic.  I grabbed the burger from one place and grabbed some chips from Squid Inc.  They were chunky, fluffy and crispy hot. 

Thirsty?

Fear not, there is plenty of booze. 

 

bundy bar

 

Head to either The Bundy Bar or XXXX Gold Bar which was the drinks of choice for the muster and they even had branded XXXX Gold!  A cold beer on 30+ day is the only way to quench the thirst right?

Want to be a little classier, this year there was the Cider and Wine bar, which is set in front of the main stage in a little garden setting and a silver bullet caravan, serving 5 Seeds apple cider and wine...although in this 33 degree heat, wine was not really something I wanted. 

Cold cider it was.

No problems walking around the grounds with your beverages.  Just gotta be over 18 to enter the bar areas (and have a wrist band to drink).

One of the not to miss events was the IWA Wrestling (okay I was part of their crew).  This was highly entertaining as the boys and the girls fought their way to potential victory. 

Just hangin' with the wrestlers.

Here I am with Harley Wonderland, just before her round.

Below is Keegan and Josh Ghat on the left and Mikey Lord and Tyson Gibbs on the right

 

Here we have Mikey Lord doing a moonsault on Randal

The Demo Ute Muster is also known for their awesome line up for music.  Over at the Ice Break Day stage where rising Australian country singers do there thing were Courtney Conway and Christie Lamb amongst other local talent.  Grab a bite and a cool beverage and kick back and listen to some great tunes.

Then there is the main stage and we got a sneaky sound check session during the day on Friday with the man himself.  Jimmy Barnes!  I just need a moment.

Birds of Tokyo, Morgan Evans and my favourite Cold Chisel were headlining on Friday night along with Adam Eckersley Band, The McCymonts and Lee Kernaghan on Saturday night.

Having back stage access meant we had a great little chill out area with a fire pit where we were hanging out before the show.  It was great.  Now I have been a fan of Jimmy Barnes since I was about 8 years old - so we are talking nearly 35 years.

So you can only imagine how I am feeling right about now.........

What a legend.........Jimmy ain't to bad either!

My friends and I were also had the pleasure of standing in the pit and watch Cold Chisel on stage. What an absolute highlight to top an awesome weekend. (Perhaps you saw a glimpse of me in the pit on 60 minutes last Sunday night when they interviewed Cold Chisel?) 

Cold Chisel

 

Day two...cannot pass up on a little bull riding.  One of the most dangerous sports in the world.  It's a crowd pleaser.  Hard core riding.

There are loads of stalls selling all your country necessities.  Akubras, boots, work shirts, saddlery, whips and you can't forget jerky.  For all your protein needs out on the farm.

We stopped by Nick's Jerky for some sampling and purchasing.  Loved their Chilli and Lime jerky and nearly blew my head off with the Trinidadian Scorpion Jerky...that was a scorcher!

 

Jim's Jerky was there too.  Was quiet partial to the Beer Sticks.

 

 

Now you cannot go to a car weekend without the Coates Show N Shine where ute enthusiasts have the pleasure to showcase their suped up utes.  Here we have the Playboy Ute.

 

 

My favourite of the day was the 1954 Chevy in cherry red.  Heart!

 

The Snail, which is a Toyota cruiser decked out for camping was the winner of the weekend.

The Snail

All I can say was the weekend was awesome.  It is hot, it is dusty, it is crowded and it is a little feral but it is one of the best weekends I have had the pleasure to be part of.  I was not only introduced to a bit of country life but also to a world of wrestling that I never new existed!

Thanks to my lovely friends who included me in this amazing weekend.  It was truly a fun weekend full of laughs, new experiences and friendship. 

All I can say is pack your swag and esky and get down to the next Deni Ute Muster (2016) and experience for yourself.  A bucket list contender for sure!



Sydney Cellar Door @ Hyde Park

My backlog of blog posts is getting longer and I am busy trying to work through the list so bare with me and enjoy.  If you missed out this year...there is always next year!

 

Sydney Cellar Door which was part of the NSW Food & Wine Festival was held in Hyde Park on the first weekend in March 2015.

 

The park played host for the abundant winemakers of NSW wine regions which included Orange, Hunter Valley, Mudgee and Southern Highlands.

 

Pre-purchased tickets which included a wine tasting glass (essential for any wine tasting event) can be arranged and collected at the beginning.

 

First stop for us is Bunnamagoo Estate from the Mudgee region.  I have not had the opportunity to taste Bunnamagoo before.  A friend highly recommended I do. 

 

 

I particularly liked the Shiraz and have now added this to my bucket list to visit.  Bunnamagoo is also known for Mudfest, an International Short  Film Festival event (another thing added to the list).

 

Another Mudgee wine is Moothi Estate, an award winning boutique winery from Mudgee.

 

 

 

I cannot pass up a stop at Ross Hill Wines.  I discovered  Ross Hill Wines at a Taste of Orange event in Martin Place a few years ago and instantly feel in love with their Pinnacle Series 2011 Shiraz, which to this day is still my favourite wine (and so sad I don't have another bottle).

 

 

Told you I loved Ross Hill wines!  Their shiraz is peppery and robust.

 

 Twisted River is from the Orange region and their wines are more focused on reds, although they do do whites and a rose too!

 

Feeling a little peckish we head to Salt, Meats, Cheese for some cheese and olives.  I love their olives.  Always plump and full of salty goodness.

 

Sometimes you just have to do a cheese platter and olives with a glass of wine.  Forgive me as I cannot remember what cheeses were included!

 

 

 

Over at Hungerford Hill there is a competition running and you can't stop me entering to win a weekend in the Hunter Valley.  Helps alot when Hungerford Hill also do a bloody great drop!

Moppity Vineyards grab my attention.  A new cool climate wine growing region at Hilltops is emerging.  Moppity have recently won many awards for their wines and are growing strength to strength.

 

Throughout the festival bands and DJ's are playing, people are milling about eating from the many food stalls and also tasting testing at the Mudgee Region markets. There are breakout areas hosted by various companies to chill out and kick back with.

 

Serious eats are calling and I had to grab a tray of chicken and pork belly bao's from Bao Stop to share between the three of us.  They were delicious as always.

 

This is a fabulous event that gives you access to a huge selections of wineries throughout NSW and I can't wait until next year.