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I think it was this time last year thereabouts that we spent the weekend in Healesville with the Demerys and the Timberts. One year on and the Demerys have baby Harriet and the rest of us decide to continue the tradition with a weekend away. We stayed at Furmston House last time and it really worked for us in terms of location and set up so we returned and again, it was a great place to stay.
Like last time, I did a lunchtime shop at the Food Hall in David Jones to stock up on supplies for the weekend and we headed off after work. Friday night traffic was reasonable and we arrived in Healesville around 7pm with the Timberts not far behind. Work has been busy and challenging for us all for different reasons so there was no delay before beer tops were opened and the cocktail shaker came out for some espresso martinis for Shern and I.
Drinks in hand, fire stoked and the promise of Cheezels meant that we were set up for a wonderful weekend of relaxation and good company.
Like last time, I did a lunchtime shop at the Food Hall in David Jones to stock up on supplies for the weekend and we headed off after work. Friday night traffic was reasonable and we arrived in Healesville around 7pm with the Timberts not far behind. Work has been busy and challenging for us all for different reasons so there was no delay before beer tops were opened and the cocktail shaker came out for some espresso martinis for Shern and I.
Drinks in hand, fire stoked and the promise of Cheezels meant that we were set up for a wonderful weekend of relaxation and good company.
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We all had roles to play - Shern was cocktail maker, Steve beavered in the kitchen, Jon kept an eye on the fire and made sure it was blazing and I, well I like to think my role was before it all happened as I made the reservations and found our driver for the winery tour on Saturday!
Unfortunately Steve in his cookery duties, managed to slice the top off his little finger. The Timberts sprang into action; Jon raided his rowing kit and found tape they fashioned a dressing for him so more roles were allocated. The medics were obviously the Timberts, Steve was the patient and I took photos!
Unfortunately Steve in his cookery duties, managed to slice the top off his little finger. The Timberts sprang into action; Jon raided his rowing kit and found tape they fashioned a dressing for him so more roles were allocated. The medics were obviously the Timberts, Steve was the patient and I took photos!
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The kitchen is well equipped, with sharp knives as Steve found out the hard way! But also with a good stove and other things which meant that he knocked up a lovely Friday night dinner for us. We had one of Steve's signature dishes which is the sundried tomato, black olive and Parmesan crusted lamb racks with little sliced potato stacks cooked in stock and roasted veggies. We enjoyed a bottle of the Oakridge 864, staying true to the region. This bottle of wine was kindly gifted to us by my friend Shabana and her lovely husband Barry from when they visited Melbourne and we had a day out in the Yarra Valley. It was a beautiful drop.
The Saturday was spent with Geoff Cooper from Yarra Valley Private Winery Tours and he drove us around some small boutique wineries that he knew. We really enjoyed discovering some new ones and we tasted some wonderful wines. It's good to have a driver as there's no guilt or raw end of the deal for the driver. Our day included lunch at Tokar Estate (review on the reviews page) and in spite of the grey cloud, the Yarra Valley still was pretty as a picture.
We went off plan and Geoff was flexible enough to drop one off the wineries we didn't want to go to and instead we had a look at Levantine Hill which is the new kid on the block and the new playroom of chef Teague Ezard. That was probably the most commercial winery we visited and it was more to satisfy our curiosity. The wine is expensive there and whilst there were some good ones, we felt it was overpriced and we were paying a premium for the shiny new building and brand as opposed to the wine itself. I guess Teague has a helicopter to fund a big house atop the the hill so the money has to come from somewhere! It reminded me of Jacob's Creek in the Barossa with all the glass and the signs in Chinese except it didn't have the sprawling lawn to lie on beanbags. In fact the grass had only just been laid so wasn't really ready for visitors.
Saturday night was spent relaxing by the fire and we had a quick dinner out at the local curry house. And Sunday morning was all about breakfast at a local cafe and Shern and I had a quick mooch around the gift shops and we both bought cashmere ponchos in different colours! Somewhat impulsive but fun was had.
I do like to get away for the weekend and we've not really had too much of a chance to do that this year. Last year Steve and I had a lot of weekend camping trips especially when the weather was warm but this year has been about the longer holidays what with the family visiting in the Summer and then our recent 5 week trip to UK and Turkey so I guess we just haven't had the chance for as many weekend getaways. There's one coming up in November though over Cup weekend and I'm sure that will be here before we know it!
We went off plan and Geoff was flexible enough to drop one off the wineries we didn't want to go to and instead we had a look at Levantine Hill which is the new kid on the block and the new playroom of chef Teague Ezard. That was probably the most commercial winery we visited and it was more to satisfy our curiosity. The wine is expensive there and whilst there were some good ones, we felt it was overpriced and we were paying a premium for the shiny new building and brand as opposed to the wine itself. I guess Teague has a helicopter to fund a big house atop the the hill so the money has to come from somewhere! It reminded me of Jacob's Creek in the Barossa with all the glass and the signs in Chinese except it didn't have the sprawling lawn to lie on beanbags. In fact the grass had only just been laid so wasn't really ready for visitors.
Saturday night was spent relaxing by the fire and we had a quick dinner out at the local curry house. And Sunday morning was all about breakfast at a local cafe and Shern and I had a quick mooch around the gift shops and we both bought cashmere ponchos in different colours! Somewhat impulsive but fun was had.
I do like to get away for the weekend and we've not really had too much of a chance to do that this year. Last year Steve and I had a lot of weekend camping trips especially when the weather was warm but this year has been about the longer holidays what with the family visiting in the Summer and then our recent 5 week trip to UK and Turkey so I guess we just haven't had the chance for as many weekend getaways. There's one coming up in November though over Cup weekend and I'm sure that will be here before we know it!
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