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!

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!

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....

Holiday in New Zealand

Caroline and I decided on an active holiday this year, so we searched for treks in New Zealand and eventually chose to walk the Milford Track. We flew from Melbourne to Queenstown and had a couple of days there before the walk started. I've only been to New Zealand once before, and that was to Auckland on what was essentially a business trip to validate a new visa. It was in the middle of winter, and Auckland was cold and wet and certainly not at its best. However we were still excited about heading to the South Island.

Queenstown

Sunset over Lake Wakatipu

Queenstown is a beautiful resort nestled on the edge of Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand's third largest lake. It is surrounded by mountains such as the Remarkables range, which reminded me of when I was Switzerland. Queenstown is a major snow sports resort in the winter and an adventure sports haven during the summer months. For the adrenalin rushed, activities such as bungy jumping, jetboating, paragliding, skydiving, canyon jumping, luge and much more can be attempted. For those of us who prefer things at a more leisurely pace, the natural beauty of the surroundings, including the botanical gardens is enough to take your breath away.

 Queenstown, nestled in the mountains

For the more sedate there are cruises on the lakes, cycling tours, views from Bob's Peak accessed by the gondola cable cars, and a fantastic nightlife with many good cafes, pubs and restaurants. Although we were only there for 2 days, we sampled some of this excellent fare. I can certainly recommend Speights Ale House which reminded me of an English Pub, something I've missed since my emigration to Australia. There are a number of haute couture establishments and one we found ourselves in was Les Alpes. This was a fabulous French cafe/restaurant with an excellent regional French menu. We went in for just a snack, and I had the best French onion soup I've ever had.

TSS Earnshaw

A charming cruise of Lake Wakatipu on the TSS Earnshaw was another outing we took. It is a one and a half hour round trip along the lake with excellent views back to Queenstown and of the mountain ranges which come directly to the lake's edge. The Earnshaw leaves from the Casino complex which has a number of high class restaurants and bars.

An oversized kiwi near the Casino complex

All in all, Queenstown is an excellent holiday destination. Whether you're looking for fun and adventure, or peace and beauty Queenstown is the place to be. The morning I left for the Milford Track walk I have to admit it was going through my head whether it wouldn't have been better just to stay and spread out around the town to see the environs fully. I was wondering whether the Milford track could top what I'd already experienced in Queenstown....

Caroline and I and a stunning sunset over Lake Wakatipu on our last night there.