A Week Away in Mildura

The long weekend in Melbourne celebrating a horse race with obligatory drunkenness seemed a perfect time to head into the Victorian countryside with my wife, Caroline and our close friends Nick and Zoe. We hired out a houseboat on the Murray River in Mildura and planned a stop in Hall's Gap on the way back to break up the journey. And a long, boring journey it is up to Mildura from Melbourne. It is about 6 hours of driving, with the last 2 hours particularly mind numbing. There are some pretty little places on the way up, such as Bridgewater on Loddon.

Bridgewater on Loddon

But the drive is definitely worth the effort. Once in Mildura, and settled on the houseboat, time stopped and we all felt the strains of life melt away. We traveled a short way down the river and were pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to operate the houseboat.

Zoe and Caroline in front of our Houseboat

We spent a little time in Mildura, but most of the time we were on the houseboat. The cafe and restaurant precinct around the Grand Hotel is the place to be, and we particularly liked a cafe called The Office, though Hudak's Bakery was also great! Mainly though we had barbies and salads, which suited the climate, about 5C hotter than Melbourne, but we had one day in the high 30'sC!

Grand Hotel Mildura

Our time in Mildura was utterly relaxing. It was a combination of easy food, good drink (including beers from the local microbrewery and a beautiful Nebbiolo from Trentham Winery), great company, laughter, freedom and slow paced living that made this one of the most relaxing times of my life. On the trip back to Melbourne we stopped in Hall's gap in the Grampians which is a natural beauty spot. A drive around the lookouts is breath taking while there is plenty of local wildlife including some very friendly kangaroos!

Kangaroos on the Rec in Hall's Gap

All in all it was a total recharge of spirit and energy which has put us all in good stead for the final burst of work for the year, through to Christmas, though saying that getting back to work was tough after such a relaxing time. I was also able to run again, which I hadn't for a few weeks due to a bad back and tight chest. Running in Mildura was very pleasant, though a bit warm while running Hall's Gap was better from a climate perspective but did include some sharp climbs that got the juices flowing! It would be difficult to find a better place to relax and spend time with friends than on a houseboat in Mildura on the Murray!

 Murray River Sunset

Our great friends, Nick and Zoe with us at Trentham Winery.

My Strange Addiction

The first step in fighting an addiction is in identifying that you have it. The second step is rationalising that the addiction is bad for you. The third step is taking the plunge and doing something about it. This is my story about the development of my addiction!

In the early 1990's I spent some time in Paris. I played in a chess tournament and then stayed with one of the players in his apartment in Pigalle. I had a cool time there. I didn't have much money, but I busked in the side streets, juggling for cash. One day I even walked to the Seine from Pigalle. I explored the back streets of Montmartre and found myself for the first time of my life in the vicinity of 'cafe culture'. Coming from the pub culture of England, it was at first difficult to get to grips with, especially that my French was far from fluent. However, I became very comfortable in those cafe's, and even started conversations with people, mostly in French! In fact, one quick convo with some young guys led to me getting a couple of nights work juggling with their band in one of the venues on the Boulevarde de la Chapelle, Le Chat Noir.

During these Bohemian times, I found something that amazed my taste buds. I went into a Parisian cafe near Anvers (I have no idea what its name was, or even if it still exists) and tried an almond croissant. I had never had anything like it before, and immediately fell in love with the rich buttery taste which blended the nutty texture.

Anyway, as that was close to the end of my time in Paris, I only had one almond croissant before heading back to England. At the time I was living in Coventry in central England and I made a huge effort to find almond croissants. However, to my disappointment, it seemed that bakeries in Coventry (and nearby Birmingham) did not make almond croissants and as I didn't drive back in those days, it was difficult to travel to places where they may be found (ie London). So it was about 10 years before I had my second almond croissant, this time on a long weekend break in Salzburg with Caroline. We were looking for places to go to in Europe as quick breaks, and settled on the small Austrian city for 3 nights. If you ever go to Salzburg, among its many treasures is the cafe Tomaselli's, one of Europe's most famous cafe's and a place where once, allegedly, Mozart and Strauss frequented. It is like walking into a part of history when you enter Tomaselli's and the service and wares are fantastic. Here, I had the second almond croissant of my life, and this one was even better than the first.

Back in England I still couldn't find them, and it was a few more years before I had my third. In 2005 I emigrated to Melbourne, Australia little knowing that I was moving to a city steeped in European style cafe culture. I landed to blazing sunshine and a non stop summer (I didn't associate this with the 10 year drought suffered by Melburnians till much later) which encouraged outdoor living and beach culture. But it didn't take me long to start drinking coffee and finding cafe's to suit my taste. At the end of our first year, Caroline and I moved to the suburb of Elsternwick in Melbourne's inner south east and we have stayed here since. We are walking distance from the bay, and close to the city. It is convenient for my work, and Caroline has also found work not too far away in Richmond. It was in Elsternwick that I had my third almond croissant. I was walking down the main thoroughfare, Glenhuntly Road, and stopped in at a cafe called Rocley's. I'd already tried out others in the strip, but when I went in I saw a basket with French pastries, including almond croissants. Since then, I have been going back to Rocley's regularly for the past 6 years, and almost always have an almond croissant with a long black (making up for those lost years when I was denied them!).

Pastry Basket in Rocley's

What sparked me to write this blog post was an article I saw in Broadsheet Melbourne about French pastries. I was looking at the cafe's suggested in this article and realised I had been in a few of them: Chez Dre I have written about in this blog, Noisette I had a mediocre experience with a couple of years ago and haven't been back, and likewise with La Tropezienne, though I haven't been to the others. So when I think about it, I have actually had quite a few almond croissants, at quite a few different cafe's around Melbourne, and I think it's time to rate them. Here are the 3 best almond croissants I've had in Melbourne:

- the almond croissants at Rocley's are among the best. The filling is delicately flavoured, and the texture of the croissants is generally soft with a slight crispness to the outside. The best time to go into Rocley's is about 9.30 am, because the almond croissants will have just been made and they are excellent when fresh and warm. This is the big appeal to me of this cafe. They makes everything on the premises, pies, pastries, salads etc.

Today's almond croissant from Rocley's

- Chez Dre also make their own almond croissants and they are as good as Rocley's. Personally, I prefer the texture at Rocley's but the flavour of the Chez Dre croissant is unreal. Again, the filling is delicate but there is slightly less sugar coating which allows the croissant itself to retain something of its flavour.

- another cafe not mentioned in the Broadsheet article is Frou Frou in Malvern Road, Prahran. Again, the texture of the almond croissant was a little softer than Rocley's, but the filling was delicious with something other than almond essence, perhaps rum or vanilla, giving it a twist.

So those are my top 3 almond croissants in Melbourne (so far) and it's hard for me to pick an order as they are all so good. Of course, I am happy to have one in any of the Laurent Boulangerie's in Glenferrie, Brighton or the CBD, and am always happy to try a new one wherever I may find one.

Writing this post has helped me to identify that I have an addiction. However, I see nothing wrong with it and intend to keep searching for the ultimate almond croissant, making up for all those years when I desperately wanted one, but couldn't find them.

Planning a Holiday

There are times when you say to yourself, I feel like going somewhere for a long weekend, and you stick a pin in the map and head off by plane or car almost on the spur of the moment. There are other holidays that involve some detailed planning (and saving), and Caroline and I have just started the ball rolling on a fly-drive trip to Western USA. We started off with a basic idea of what we wanted to do which was go to San Francisco and drive to Yellowstone National Park seeing some natural wonders along the way. With a little bit of probing, and some imaginative timetabling we've decided we can drive a loop which hopefully will get us to some amazing places, seeing and experiencing some amazing things.



View Larger Map

The trip is to last about 2 weeks and involves serious driving most days, but it's not the first time we've done this sort of thing and our last fly-drive to New England in the Fall was one of the most memorable times of my life.

So here's the plan:

1. Fly to San Francisco - a brief stop in S.F. to catch some sights
2. S.F. to Twin Falls Idaho - 2 days through Nevada into Idaho and the Snake River

Shoshone Falls, Idaho

3. Twin Falls to Yellowstone - including a day in the National Park to see geysers and wildlife

4. Yellowstone to Cody Wyoming - this is a short trip, and includes a planned trip to the Buffalo Bill Museum

5. Cody to Cheyenne Wyoming - probably the most boring bit of the trip

6. Cheyenne to Breckenridge Colorado - a trip through the Rockies taking in Estes Park and Boulder

7. Breckenridge to Moab Utah - High country to the wild west, with Arches National Park a planned stop

Spectacular views in Arches National Park, Utah

8. Moab to Grand Canyon, Arizona - A day and a half through Navajo country including a trading post stop in Tuba City

9. Grand Canyon to Bakersfield, California - A long drive skirting Death Valley en route to S.F. Will stop at Sunset Crater Volcano to walk on lava!

10. Bakersfield to San Franciso - if time permits, a trip to Sequoia National Park to see the big trees!

This is a 'trip of a lifetime' type thing, and will cost a fortune but we both want to do it and will make it happen! Some of the itinerary items may change a bit bu this is the basic blueprint of what we want to do. However, for me, the scariest part is that we're planning this trip for about this time next year! That's a long time to plan, but a long time to wait to see some of the world's natural wonders.

Getting Back on Track

I had a really rough period at work for a few weeks and that was enough to shake the enthusiasm out of me for doing the things I wanted to do, running and finding good coffee. Well, I've had a couple of days off and am starting to get back in the swing again. Today, I went for my first run for a couple of weeks and I took it pretty easy. I ran to the bay and back (about 6km) at a slow pace with a break when I got down there to look for dolphins but unfortunately I didn't see any. The last run also took me to the bay, and when I stopped to look for dolphins I thought I was in a luck as a group of people were pointing into the bay. To my amazement the furore was being caused by the sighting of a duck! At least I had a laugh about it on the run back.

To be honest, I had lacked motivation for running. I was tired and found myself making excuses. I think the main problem was there was no goal, and so running was the end in itself and if I couldn't be bothered to run then I wasn't going to do it. So I have set myself a goal. In about 5 weeks I am going to Mildura for a short break, and I intend to run 15km when I'm there. This will equal the longest run I've done, so the aim is to get back to the best fitness I was at in 5 weeks. I will then try to run 20km when I go back to England over Christmas. A good long run will hopefully help to burn off some of the calories that will no doubt piled on me when I see mine and Caroline's families.

Motivation is an important part of life and I have found a lethargy in my life generally. For example, I have not experimented in my reading, drinking, eating or hobby habits and feel as if I've bee in a bit of a rut. While I enjoy having things that I trust and enjoy, it is good to try different things every so often. Just like yesterday when I went to South Melbourne with Caroline to try out a new cafe. If you're walking up Coventry Street on the North side of the market, down a side street there is Chez Dre patisserie and boulangerie. This sounds a bit over the top, and it looks like nothing from the outside. So when you get inside and see the converted warehouse with loads of space, a beautiful open kitchen layout and a great serving display with the most mouth watering looking cakes, you just can't believe your luck. I had a long black (sweet and strong) and a half baguette that took me back to when I was in France. I also had an almond croissant which was among the best I've ever had (and I've had a few!).

 Caroline's Cappuccino

 Open kitchen layout

Patisserie display at Chez Dre

Cottle on Coventry

It was a fairly lazy Sunday for me today. At a loss of what to do on a fairly nice early spring day, I decided that I wanted to restart my running program that has been on hold for a few weeks, and I would take a trip to South Melbourne Market. In South Melbourne coffee drinkers are well catered for. One of Melbourne's top rated cafe, St Ali's, sits on a back street behind the main Clarendon Street. St Ali's truly has magnificent coffee, but the last time I was there it was really busy, the price of fame I guess.

So instead of heading to St Ali, I tried somewhere I'd never been to before. Walking along Coventry Street on the way to the market I noticed Cottle on Coventry, and gave it a go. Funnily enough, I wan't expecting much and was pleasantly surprised.

I had a long black which was as good as any I've had in Melbourne, smooth yet strong and with a soft sweetness. What I liked best was the serving of the coffee, in short black form with hot water on the side so the drink can be made as long as the drinker wants. Cottle is more than just a cafe. It is a roastery, and has specialty teas and coffees for sale as well as coffee makers of all types. Today there was also free 'home barista' courses between 11am and 2pm. I have now found a new regular haunt for my trips to South Melbourne!

First Day of Spring

Well, actually it's the second day of Spring and only if you consider Spring is a monthly based season and not one that starts on the equinox. My God, I'm sounding like an old hippy! And what better thing for an old hippy to do on one of the first 20C days of the season than go to Melbourne Royal Botanical Gardens and look at the trees and flowers!

Caroline and I love walking around the Botanical Gardens. It is a total sensory experience. As well as seeing the amazing shapes and colours of the plants, there are the great smells (eucalypt gardens smelled great today, and touching herbs like fragrant sage, and mint bring beautiful scents to life), loads of different textures ranging from wispy soft ferns, rubbery succulents, sharp grasses and sticky pollen, and the sounds of birds above and around you, especially the unmistakable and haunting bell birds. I didn't taste anything, though I'm sure there was plenty edible throughout the gardens.

I guess everyone has favourite parts of the gardens. Personally, I like variegated leaves, and plants with interesting colour combinations, not necessarily pretty but for me interesting. We had a great day walking around in the sunshine and I can't wait for Caroline to post some photos.

Beautiful variegated leaves 

Beautiful colour contrasts 

Blue skies and Eureka Tower in the background 

 Magnificent!

The lakes were spectacular in the sunshine 

Furry textured Lamb's Ears :D

Melbourne Museum

I enjoyed a rare day off with my beautiful wife, Caroline, and took advantage of this by visiting the Melbourne Museum. I'm embarrassed to say that after 7 years in Melbourne, this is the first time I've been to the museum (I went once before for the Tutankhamun exhibition, but didn't go round the main part of the museum). For me, the joy of walking around a museum is being educated and inspired in whatever subjects the museum might specialise in. What I was really looking forward to was discovering Australian and Victorian history and the Melbourne Museum doesn't disappoint. The Melbourne Gallery has interesting displays charting the history of the city. To me it is most amazing how quickly Melbourne has grown. It was only around 100 years ago that new immigrants had to make new with a camp city on the banks of the Yarra River when they arrived.

Camp City

While Australia doesn't have the same historical depth as Europe, I still find primary evidence and artifacts the most inspiring details, and seeing photo's of a changing Melbourne through the ages is a powerful tool.

Melbourne in the 1950's

The natural history part of the Museum is also fascinating with dinosaur skeletons and bug and animal displays. But I was particularly interested in the geological exhibition which went a long way to explaining the formation of our continent. It is a subject I remember studying at school, but I don't recall much about it. I am inspired to look into this subject more. I also found the exhibition on the mind very interesting. Of course, this might have something to do with Caroline's work in the mental health sphere, though thought, emotion and the workings of the brain are subjects which I find fascinating anyway.

Situated in Carlton Gardens on the site of the 1880 Melbourne Exhibition the Museum is a stone's throw from Lygon Street with it's famous strip of Italian restaurants and cafes. This is where we went after the Museum, for a coffee and cake at Brunetti's. Like all big cities, the art and history in Melbourne is not limited to the galleries and museums. Melbourne Zoo has situated 50 fibreglass elephants around the city to celebrate its 150th anniversary. Of course, Melbourne Zoo's baby elephant, Mali, is a star attraction.

 Mali in Carlton

Caroline and Mali

This was one of the most interesting things I saw, a medal given to a seaman on the Carpathia for rescuing survivors of the Titanic

Working holidays

It's a half and half thing. A working holiday is neither work nor holiday, but will be more of one than the other depending on your outlook. Last weekend I was in Tasmania helping run a chess training camp. I had to prepare lessons, present lessons, oversee some activities and help to look after some of the kids. Some of the time I was able to do my own thing as well. I was pretty excited before going, and had a great time during the long weekend. The lessons I prepared went down well (I think), and I had some fun presenting them. The kids were great and it was a rewarding experience in helping them to have a fun camp.

We started off really early on Saturday morning flying into Hobart, and then went straight to Salamanca for an open air chess display. It was time to promote our sport to the public, and we all had some chance to go look round the market. If you've never been, it is a great treat. There is some great locally made produce, loads of great food and street entertainers, artists workshops and restaurants/cafes. My personal favourite is the Retro cafe which does a great coffee, smooth with a fairly nutty flavour.

Traditional buildings around Salamanca

After that we went to our resort which was on seven mile beach. Now Tasmania in the middle of winter is not exactly a hot spot, so no one took a dip (to the best of my knowledge) in the open air, though there was a heated pool in the resort. All the work took place at the resort but we weren't confined the whole time. On the penultimate day we took an excursion to historic Richmond and the nearby zoo. The zoo is small, but charming and we held a chess tournament for the kids at zoo while the traditional Aussie Barbie served as lunch.

The locals were pretty friendly

After the zoo, it was a short stop in Richmond which is a pretty little village with a 200 year history. The main attraction for us was the sweet shop, but I could easily spend a day walking around the old buildings (including the oldest Catholic Church in Australia) and the rolling countryside.

Historic Richmond Bridge nestled in the lush rolling countryside

The weekend was full on, starting for at about 4.30am Saturday morning and getting a flight back to Melbourne which landed close to 10pm on Tuesday. I was at work for 8am the following morning so I was feeling a little nervous about how tired I was going to be. However, the feel good factor of the weekend was a 'pick-me-up' and for the past couple of days I've been buzzing off the experience. Any exhaustion that I felt has been trumped by enthusiasm and I've had some great lessons this week. Going into the weekend with a positive attitude meant that the working holiday was more holiday than work and as a result I came back fully refreshed and ready to annoy people with my positive attitude!

Third Wave Cafe

The more good places to have a coffee and something to eat, the better in my mind. A 'local' is a must with familiarity being a nice comfort zone. However, it's also good to try new places, or even to go back to places that you visit once in a while. So I had a very pleasant surprise while I was walking around Port Melbourne the other morning when I came across a cafe advertising excellent coffee and great food. Big claims often fall down, so I had to try it out, especially as it has a Russian ethnicity to it. So I ordered a long black and had an absolutely delicious coffee, great texture and smooth flavour. It was so good, that I went back a few days later with my wife for lunch.

The Third Wave Cafe is modern, clean with indoor and outside seating areas. It's friendly and the food and drink is great. The staff are not hovering over you but are attentive to your needs, and it was an even bigger surprise that I actually knew the people running the cafe. Caroline wasn't feeling 100% so she had some fruit toast, but I decided to try something different and went for a cheese and cherry blintz. These thin Russian style pancakes were filled with cherries and mascarpone and were more like a dessert than the breakfast/lunch pancakes that I'm used to. However, the taste was amazing! And for the second time, the coffee was fantastic.

I will definitely be going back to the Third Wave cafe when I'm in Port Melbourne. There are plenty of other places to try out in the area, but I think I may have found my 'local' by the bay.

St Kilda

Very annoyingly, the injury to my knee reopened and I couldn't run for a week. I'd moved to 4 runs a week and was finding things getting more comfortable. I started back to running this week with a very heavy legged 10km. I started a bit fast and maybe over estimated how far I should have gone to start with. Probably an easy 7km would have made more sense. Anyway, I followed that up today with an easy 12km. After about 48 hours rest, the run today began with pretty stiff legs, but they soon eased and I actually found the run really easy. The plan is to build up to over 40km per week in the 4 runs I plan. I'm currently not working for 2 weeks so this seems plausible. When I get back to work it will be harder to maintain the enthusiasm!

Pigeons playing Pooh sticks

I ran along down to the bay and along to the neighbouring suburb, St Kilda. I'd driven through St Kilda a few days ago and saw a big tent on the waterfront so I went to investigate. Actually, it wasn't as exciting as I thought it might be. St Kilda is a buzzing sea front suburb in the summer but it becomes much quieter in the winter. The tent represented the winter festival and housed an ice skating rink. It's a nice idea, but Australia struggles to really "do" winter and to me it seemed a bit lame.

An empty St Kilda beach on a warm and sunny winter's day

St Kilda has is an amazing hang out for eating and drinking. Acland Street is full of cafes and restaurants, the Espy sits on the top of the Esplanade, which links Acland Street to the other major eating and drinking area in Fitzroy Street. In some respects, St Kilda comes across as Melbourne's version of Bondi in Sydney. Both areas have attracted bohemian and artistic elements, and now attract a young, party crowd. There is a European feel to both suburbs but a darker reputation also exists with drugs and prostitution linked to them.

Personally I can't stand St Kilda in the summer. It is heaving with people, the service in cafes is either rushed or unfriendly, and the suburb becomes badly littered. On the other hand, today in mid winter it was great. The beach was clean, the streets were litter free, and there was space to walk along the paths. St Kilda became a normal suburb, rather than a tourist resort. There were more families walking dogs than skateboard groups and St Kilda beach was beautiful on a mild, sunny day. In some respect it was a shame I was out for a run as it would have been great to hang out in St Kilda today.

Temporary ice skating on St Kilda beach

Maling Rooms

The Maling Room Cafe

My work follows school terms here in Melbourne and generally the term starts easily, sets into a rhythm, builds to a crescendo and eases off towards the end. Well, at the moment we are in the middle of the crescendo and work is fairly hectic. After next week it will ease off considerably and then the following week will see the school holidays. My working week runs from Tuesday to Saturday and each morning before I start work, I stop at one of my favourite cafes to pick up a coffee for work. If I'm heading south, I'll drop in Saloop in Gardenvale, while if I'm heading north I'll drop into the Artful Dodger in Elsternwick. The coffee in both of these is excellent, strong and flavoursome. So it was very disappointing when I picked up my coffee from Artful Dodger on Thursday morning and it was terrible. The coffee tasted awful, was not hot, and the wrong lid was on the take away cup so it didn't fit on properly. I drank some of it, and not long after felt pretty ill. This incident won't stop me going back to Artful Dodger as I reckon it was a one off, but when something like that happens from somewhere you expect high quality it seems worse than when you're getting something from somewhere you don't know or don't expect much from.

Sunday is my day off with my lovely wife Caroline so we try to make the effort to go somewhere or do something. Sometimes that effort is beyond one or both of us, and sometimes we can manage a quick trip out. Today we headed to Canterbury and Maling Road. I'm often in this area as one of the biggest chess clubs in Melbourne meets walking distance from Maling Road, but I don't often go there with Caroline. Besides the cafe scene, there is also an excellent antique market in Maling Road where we dropped into today. It is an eclectic mix of antique dealers wares all housed under one roof. You can find the weird and the wonderful in a place like this with old jewellery, glassware, furniture, collectibles, earthenware etc. We were on the lookout for an old perfume bottle, which Caroline collects. We saw some, but none that caught the imagination. I did, however, see an attractive amethyst ring which I bought for Caroline.

A new Amethyst ring

Maling Road has a number of cafes and restaurants. We tried out the Maling rooms (in the picture at the top of the post) on the corner of Maling Road and Canterbury Road. The cafe used to be a post office and has an unusual shape to it, being on the corner of 2 roads and having a rounded feel to it. The coffee was excellent, smooth and sweet. I was told it was an Ethiopian blend. We also had some breakfast which was not overfacing and full of flavour. My scrambled eggs were well done (I must be old school but I don't really like to see runny eggs on my plate, whether they be fried or scrambled), and I had thick cut smoked bacon. The service was friendly, and the prices were reasonable so I'd have to say that this is a great place to try out if you're in the area. The breakfast came before buying the ring. After antique market shopping we continued the treats with a hot chocolate in Xocalatl. I would be hard pressed to think of anywhere I've had better hot chocolate than here, and even I forego my usual long black to take in the beautiful drinks they make. My choice was an orange hot chocolate, while Caroline had her favourite Chili Chocolate.

So all told, today was a day of self indulgence and being in the company of the person I love most. It was relaxing and enjoyable. It was pretty much all I wanted from my day off this week!

Spout

I have rather neglected this part of my blog recently. It isn't that I haven't had things to say, I just don't seem to have got round to writing things. So I'm going to make a big effort to post here once a week. So first on the issue of coffee, I have to admit to becoming pretty set in my ways. I have a number of cafes around Melbourne that it is always a joy to go to to have a coffee if I'm in the area: Artful Dodger in Elsternwick, Saloop in Gardenvale, Dundas Street Cafe in Albert Park, Old Paper Shop Deli in South Melbourne, Amsterdam Street Cafe in Richmond, Cafe Nova in Fitzroy, etc. But I'm always on the lookout for somewhere new. One suburb that has had a distinct lack of decent cafes since I've been living in Elsternwick is nearby Ripponlea, which is a big surprise as it is the home of the culinary delight, Attica. Apart from this, one of my favourite Indian restaurants, Bala da Dhaba, is also in Glen Eira Road, Ripponlea. So it was with great hope that I went to the relatively newly opened Spout cafe in Ripponlea yesterday. Spout has only been open 3 months and is basic from a decor point of view. The walls are brick and the chairs and benches have little or no padding. There were no pictures or photos on the walls, and I didn't even see a menu jazzing the wall space. However, that didn't belittle the place, but actually made it feel quite intimate, and didn't detract fromt he coffee or food. It seems that more and more cafes are going for this basic look, and it has something to be said for it, in my opinion.

Now, because I'd just pigged out at my friend's, Nick and Zoe (thanks for the brekky), just before going out for this coffee I didn't order food, except for a biscuit with my coffee. Looking at food being served made my mouth water though, which is a good sign. I'll certainly be going back to try either the breakfast or lunch, which had a middle eastern flavour to it. Also the menu wasn't too big, which makes me believe that what is on it will be cooked to a good standard. I always tend to be a bit dubious when the menu is massive and has lots of different influences. The coffee was excellent. My long black had quite a strong acidic hit initially, but then rounded out to a fairly earthy and smooth flavour. It was full bodied and maintained texture throughout. I'd give the coffee an 8/10 and say it was the among best coffees I've had for quite a while. I suppose the main criteria for judging how good a cafe is, should be how comfortable you feel in there. Personally, I found the staff friendly and helpful without being pushy and didn't feel overcrowded or in too open a space. So, all in all, I really enjoyed the ambience and had a great cup of coffee! I also had a melt in the mouth piece of shortbread that will take a few kilometres of running to burn off!

Running

I definitely had a mid year lull to my running program. Earlier I had injured my knee which knocked the enthusiasm out of me. I then picked up a bit before the Puffing Billy Run, but it wasn't the greatest build up, and I didn't pick up my running program afterwards but made excuses to not run. About 3 weeks ago, I had a minor cold and was getting disgusted with myself finding reasons not to run. So I started again on a 3-4 day week running plan with the goal being a half marathon. My running program is not too stressful and I am not running to try to break records, but because I enjoy it! Of course, it is great to run faster, but I'm happy just to jog around and take in the sights as I go. Basically, my weekly plan is:

Saturday evening: long run 10-12km+
Monday morning: slow short recovery 5-6km
Tuesday evening: mid distance reasonably paced 7-9km
Thursday evening: mid distance steady 8-10km

Now my plan is to push these distances out a little. The Saturday run will hopefully get out to 20km. This week I did 15km for the first time and it hurt towards the end. The Monday run will stay where it is. I just jog to the bay which is a bit under 3km, take a break, and then jog back again. The Tuesday run will also probably stay the same as well, while I might try to push the Thursday run out to 10-12km as I get more used to the distances. Anyway, the aim is to run the Great Ocean Road half marathon next year so I will not only have to get used to the distance but I'll also have to get used to hills, as it is apparently a tough course. So there will be no excuses to stop me running. I have to go after work most days and if I'm feeling tired, then I'll just run less or slower. And the weather will be no deterrent. Today was a classic example!

Fog Shrouded Port Phillip Bay

Great Train Race 2012

Yesterday, Sunday 6th May, saw the annual Great Train Race held in the Dandenong hills. And it also saw me get up at a ridiculously early hour, to compete in my first race. The race starts in Belgrave and threads through the hills to Emerald. As an added bonus, a competitor in the race is the local steam train, Puffing Billy, though for me, the backdrop of the beautiful rain forest made the run pretty spectacular.

Rain clouds over the rain forest before the start of the race.

My build up to the race hadn't been too good. Earlier in the week I'd come down with a cold, and on Friday, I was seriously considering not running. But I decided to go along and see how I felt at the start. Well, with the adrenalin kicking in, my cold disappeared and so I decided to give it a shot. The race was seeded into different groups depending on a runner's best 10km time. I was starting near the back of the group and hoping to get around the 13.2km course in about 80 minutes. I travelled up to Belgrave with my good friend David who started in the group in front of me, and there were a further 2 faster groups as well.

David

Me

It was pretty cool at about 10C which was good for running as you were not going to overheat. There were some troubles with getting going for some runners, but from the back the big bunch kept us all fairly tightly packed. The course starts in Belgrave, and heads downhill for about a kilometre before the first of 2 pretty decent sized hills ending in Emerald with a couple of kilometres downhill at the end. I decided to take it very easy over the first downhill bit finding myself close to the back of the field, but then just kept a steady pace up the first hill passing lots of runners in the process. A lot of those runners then passed me back again on the next flat/downhill section which I took again quite steadily, before the second hill which is steeper and longer than the first. This hill took it's toll on runners at the back of the course with lots stopping or walking for a short while (me included) but once it was over, the race was fairly easy to finish even though there was still about 5 kilometre's left.

The buzz of running with lots of other people, and the cheers of encouragement from spectators helps you along, and of course there was the sound of the steam train tooting in the distance. There are 2 trains that race. The first will finish the distance in less than 1 hour which is out of reach of the majority of runners. The second train finishes around the 75 minute mark which is something to aim at (in fact, I will make an effort to beat this train next year). During the race there are a number of train crossings to pass, and as the race goes further the train becomes more of a factor. I was aware of the second train somewhere near me around 8 km into the race, and it passed me just before a crossing at the 10km mark.

All that can be seen is the smoke going into the distance as Puffing Billy passes me.

I eventually finished the race in around 80 minutes, though I'm not actually sure of the final time. My legs were pretty heavy at the end, and I was pretty weak on the downhill sections of the race. But I was glad to finish and complete my first ever race. On completion there were free Gatorade for all competitors and free trips back to Belgrave either by bus or on the train itself. David and I decided to take the scenic option and went back on the train. This took the best part of an hour which is great for sightseeing but not so good for muscles seizing up while sat on the cold, open sided, train.

Puffing Billy taking runners and tourists back to Belgrave.

Puffing Billy

Taking part in the event gave me great satisfaction, and a great sense of achievement in being able to finish the distance. Today I feel a bit sore, especially my calves which are not used to hill running like they had to do yesterday. And I noticed a small piece in the Herald Sun today about the race. Forgive me while I try to work out how anyone can run 13.2km in 41 minutes 33 seconds....

...never mind, I'm planning to be back again next year to try to improve upon this year's performance.

Autumn in Black Rock

Autumn is a beautiful time of the year, and some of my most favourite memories are associated with it. It was always holiday time for Caroline and myself when we were in the UK and chief among these was a fly-drive to the North East of the USA, where we saw the breath taking colours of the fall. Autumn in Melbourne is also beautiful, especially when summer lingers like it is this year. Today was a bright sunny day in the mid 20'sC, perfect for a walk by the bay.

We drove the short distance to Black Rock, and had a coffee before walking. We tried Cafe Odo which is right on the corner of the Beach Road and Balcombe Road and I had a great long black, full bodied, decent strength, gentle, with a pleasant after taste. There were plenty of snacks that all looked good and some bigger sized meals. I think this is a regular haunt for many cyclists stopping on the Beach Road, but by the time we got there, I guess many had been and gone.

Sun glistening off the waves at Black Rock

We then took a walk along the bay to Ricketts Point which is a couple of kilometres. The bay has beaches and rocks along it at this point so it is interesting to almost anyone. There were snorklers, swimmers, people looking in rock pools, walkers, runners, dog walkers and families enjoying a glorious day in early autumn. The deep blue sky reflected off the water, giving it a beautiful blue appearance, and the combination of resting sea birds such as Cormorants, Silver Gulls, and Albatross with a group of Black Swans added to gentle feel to the day.

The view to Rickett's Point

Rickett's Point has a cafe and rest area, which was really busy, not a big surprise for a sunny Sunday afternoon. We had an ice cream, admired the view and walked back to Black Rock and the car. Taking into account that Caroline has a bad back, and that I ran 13km yesterday and was feeling pretty stiff, this was the perfect day out. A gentle walk along the bay on a beautiful autumn day.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

For many, an ideal Sunday afternoon involves a Sunday roast dinner, a glass or two of wine or beer, and sleeping it off while the TV runs a film that everyone's seen a few times, or some cheesy series (Little House on the Prairie comes to mind). The traditional Sunday lunch takes a bit of effort, though, and some cleaning up afterwards. So today, I went out with Caroline, and our great friends Nick and Zoe, in a search for a great Sunday roast dinner in Melbourne.

Now the first thing that should be mentioned is that a traditional roast dinner is not complete (at least for us English) without a decent Yorkshire Pudding. However, we've come to accept that the typical Australian roast dinner doesn't necessarily include a Yorkshire Pudding and may include some unusual vegetables such as pumpkin which we wouldn't have in England.

The crackling on the roast pork looked amazing (courtesy of The Roast Kitchen)

The natural place to look for a Sunday roast would be a pub, and it was the first thing we all thought of. You start going through all the pubs in the country you've visited that aren't too far from home. But a quick google search for "best Sunday roast Melbourne" brings up a place not too far from here that specialises in roast dinners. The Roast Kitchen is in Kew and sounded too good to be true. So with a nothing ventured, nothing gained attitude, we headed North out of Caulfield and in about 15 minutes were parked outside and salivating. Walking in the door, you are first hit by the smell which tells you that things will be good. You are then greeted by a counter which houses the meats and vegetables in hot plates and which looks amazing. Chicken, lamb, turkey all look amazing. The pork has a beautiful layer of crackling, and would have been my choice if it hadn't been for the "special board" which announced Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding! Unbelievable!! Both Caroline and I had to look no further than this. I had roast potato, carrot, sweet potato and peas as well as gravy (delicious) and wholegrain mustard condiment. I think the only difference on Caroline's plate was a roast onion instead of the sweet potato, and a small dollop of mashed potatoes. Nick and Zoe both wanted the lamb which looked succulent but they also wanted the Yorkshire Pudding. It was no trouble for the friendly staff.

The food was excellent, the meat cooked tenderly and succulently, the vegetables still full of flavour and the gravy thick and tasty. I don't think any of us could face the stodgy desserts that were on offer (eg, apple crumble and custard) so we took a drive to nearby Canterbury and dropped into my favourite chocolate shop in Maling Road, Xocalatl. If you want to indulge yourself in chocolate heaven, then you won't go far wrong here. There was an impressive array of eggs on display for Easter, and of course, a great cabinet full of speciality chocolates, but a hot chocolate was enough. I had an orange chocolate hot drink which was rich and to die for (in fact, I probably will die when I next run!), and Caroline had her favourite chilli chocolate.

Drool, slaver, drool (image by yourrestaurants.com.au)

It was a fantastic way for me to start my holidays, on a binge with my beautiful wife and our best friends eating great food at reasonable prices.Has our search for the perfect roast dinner already concluded? Well, I doubt that as there are always other places to try. Now, I'm off for a snooze....

Why we do what we do.

About 2 weeks ago, I tripped while out on a run and injured my leg. I had a big cut on my knee, and the knee became stiff and swollen. I had trouble both bending and straightening that leg for about a week, but then the wound started to scab and the leg and joint started to ease and loosen. For the past few days, while I've been driving too and from work, whenever I've seen people running I've thought to myself, "I wish that was me running".

My knee after my tumble 2 weeks ago.

While I've been unable to run it has allowed me to think at times about why I do run. That sounds a bit weird, but let me explain. In about 2 months I'm going to be running a race over 13km, and I had built a training program to help build strength, speed and stamina. But really, I'm not bothered about how fast I go, or even how far I go. To me it's just important to be able to go out and run, and I really enjoy it. So when I couldn't run I missed the actual physical workouts. I didn't miss running certain distances, or running at certain speeds, but I did miss 'just running'.

This morning, I ran for the first time in 2 weeks, and it was pretty tiring. I ran a very leisurely 5km and found my muscles were aching afterwards, and I was short of breath during the run. The knee didn't bother me, though I was aware of it. All in all, it was nothing more than a short, slow recovery run, and that is the way things will be for at least this week. And after this I have decided to reset my goals. Instead of going for longer and faster, I am just going to run, however far and however fast I want to. I have a general aim of running half marathon distances, but it's the actual joy of getting out and doing what I do that is what I get a buzz from.

My new goal is to run 4 times a week, though this might not happen for a couple of weeks while I recover fully.  I have also set goals in some other activities that I enjoy, but learning from this experience may alter those aims, as I try to work out what it really is I want from each thing I do. I think that a short period of being unable to do something that I really enjoy has given me a different perspective on why I do that thing, and sometimes we get so involved that with details that we lose the bigger picture.

Run faster? Run longer? Or just run and enjoy the glorious views along the way?

A day in the Life....

I am a very lucky man. I have a job I love, I live in a place I love, with a person I absolutely adore. Life is beautiful. Take today for instance. A normal Wednesday for me starts with a class at 8am before school starts properly. This means getting up about 6.30am, getting ready and driving to wherever I have to teach. En route to my first school I pick up a coffee to start the day, and if I get to the school early, then I just sit and read a book to kill the time. So it's a pretty relaxed start to the day, and as I love my job as a chess coach, things don't get much more stressful. The first lesson, in a primary school goes sweetly enough with a mixture of kids who I taught last year and some raw beginners. Teaching groups of mixed ability is perhaps the most testing part of my job, but I've had plenty of experience and things run pretty smoothly.

9am and I leave my first school with a 4 hour break before my next class at about 1pm. Today I will not finish work until about 7.30pm, which some people would consider too long a day. However, the breaks I get in the day compensate these things for me, and during the morning break today, I visited Port Melbourne to check out the World liner which is docked in Melbourne. It was a beautiful morning, about 20C with mainly blue skies and a pleasure to walk along the promenade. While there it seemed natural to grab a coffee and some breakfast at one of my favourite cafe's in nearby Albert Park, and I was still back home for about 10.30am.

The World in sunny Port Melbourne

This gave me some time to do some admin work and preparation for my classes. Again, I got to admit that as my job involves teaching my favourite pastime, chess, preparing for classes is quite enjoyable for me. Then came the hard part of the day for me. From about 1pm through to 7.30pm I am either doing classes or travelling between classes. These were on the whole pretty good fun, as the classes had a range of different level kids. I have one toddler class, a couple of Primary School classes, and a Secondary class. These classes need to approached and handled differently, so I have a great diversity in the material I show and the teaching methods I employ. Boredom does not enter my job but with the amount of classes I do There is a fatigue factor, which can almost be described as burn out which usually starts to happen around week 7 or 8 of the 10 week terms we have in Australia. Luckily, to compensate for this I get school holidays mostly off to recharge. That works out as about 12 weeks of holiday per year, so I don't suppose I can grumble too much if my hours are slightly antisocial.

I'm currently at home writing this article and looking at some chess articles partly for work and partly for pleasure. It's 9pm and I'll be awake for a few hours more, relaxing with my wife and 2 cats and at some stage, I guess I'll wonder how it was that I became so lucky as to end up in this idyllic life.

Running around work

I recently set myself a running program based on a workout every second day. This would give me plenty of exercise, and some rest days. Well, I have my work timetable and it's fairly long hours for 4 days (Tuesday-Friday 8am-7pm) and a whole Saturday 9am-3pm. So it has become harder to fit my running schedule around this. I have therefore decided to change it, and will now try to run 4 times a week. The workouts will be:

Tuesday steady 8-10km
Thursday steady 8-10km
Saturday long run building up to 20km
Sunday recovery run

The plan is now to get the miles into my legs, and not worry about speed. I want to be able to run a half marathon in 2013, though I'm just concerned about the distance, not any time. Maybe I'll enter the Melbourne Marathon which is around October time, though there are plenty to choose from.

In the meantime, the entries have opened for the Puffing Billy Great Train Run. My boss has entered the race already so I better get my act in gear. The race is over 13.2km of pretty hilly countryside which should be a big test. My longest run so far was just over 13km last week and that took me about 78 minutes which gives me a rough guide to how I'll run. Although the course is harder than what I normally run, I will be running with others, whereas I usually run alone. I'm guessing these factors will wipe each other out and anything under 80 minutes will be good for me. The race is on May 6th which gives me 2 and a half months to train for it. I will hopefully have a 15km run behind me before May!

I've been using 2 websites a lot recently to do with running. Endomondo is an app for your phone which has GPS tracking that can monitor your workouts. It has a whole lot more on the website, including challenges and a community based feel. As an example of a challenge, I've entered a challenge to run 1000 miles in 2012. I'm a little behind schedule, but I intend to pick up the training over the year. The other site is a forum which is packed with information. Coolrunning Australia, is where I found out about the Puffing Billy Run and I've seen much more, including other events, health issues, equipment discussions and good old fashioned banter.

Milford Sound

The final day of our walk in NZ fiordland took us on a 21km hike from MacKinnon Pass to the sea at Milford Sound. Although this was a half marathon in distance it was a lot easier walking than the previous day as it was basically flat, with perhaps a little descent over the day. Still 20km is a fair distance and the majority of our group were carrying aches and pains from the day before. Once over the MacKinnon Pass the climate becomes a lot wetter with metres more rainfall during the year! We were fortunate enough to have a rainy day for our walk on this final hike. I say fortunate because we were walking through rain forest and the sights and smells came to life for us. Things started well as crossing a river which leaves our lodge behind we spotted a pair of rare blue ducks. This sight even got the guides excited! The rain cooled the air which made walking easier than on the first day, and it also added to the eeriness of the rain forest. Thick hangings of moss, tree ferns and mist on the mountains around us gave the whole area a fantasy feeling.

 Fantasy feel at Mackay Falls

Rare blue ducks having an early morning swim

The great thing about the rain that day was the effect on the waterfalls. Mackay Falls, and Giants Gate Falls were both spectacular (I was particularly wowed by Mackay which were gushing and booming magnificently). But saying that is was just a magical way for the tour to end, and breathtakingly beautiful and atmospheric. At the end of the walk, there is a short boat ride to the town of Milford Sound where we stayed for the night. The lodge was more like a decent hotel full of luxury, and Ultimate Hikes transported prepacked bags for us which were waiting in our rooms with fresh clothes and whatever else we wanted. We had a great final evening before turning in including a presentation of certificates to everyone for making it along the hike.

The following day was to start with a boat ride around Milford Sound followed by a bus ride back to Queenstown. The trip around the Sound was again spectacular. Every day on this trip saw different scenery and each day only added to the whole. On the boat trip we saw seals, and amazing mountainous scenery. To be honest, by the end of the cruise I was about ready to admit defeat when it came down to sightseeing. I just wanted to close my eyes and savour that which I'd already witnessed. Even the bus journey back to Queenstown went through the alpine road which was pretty spectacular. I'll finish with some photo's taken around the Sound and a full recommendation to anyone to go to this beautiful part of the World. Thanks very much to Ultimate Hikes who were excellent guides and got us through it with minimum harm!

 View from Milford Sound towards the sea

 Atmospheric views with cloud shrouded mountains.

 Plenty of waterfalls lined the Sound...it was photographers dreamscape

 View from the sea looking back down the Sound

Steady rain for 2 days ensured the waterfalls flowed magnificently 

Mitre Peak, which we could see from our room in the lodge!