Hunter Valley

It was just fantastic!



We got up at 6am packed our bags, headed down to the bus station around 8am, and began our journey to Hunter Valley. It was only about a 2 hour bus ride, and I got a book from the library before we left that's called 101 questions, so we did that for most of the trip up there. We've been dating 5 years, but there was a lot of stuff we didn't know about each other. It was fun, at least I thought it was :-D



When we arrived at the hostel around 11 am, we checked in and walked around the grounds, had a cup of tea for like an hour, then got on a mini bus to start our wine tour. Our guide, Gordon, was the only person on duty at the hostel (just to give you an idea of how small this hostel was) and we had a total of 17 people in our mini bus. Gordon has worked in the Hunter Valley for quite some time, befriended a lot of the workers/families from the wineries, so we got to visit a few of the very small boutique wineries. He picked each winery for a different reason, the first place was family owned, and because of that the prices are a bit lower. They ferment in the "traditional" way with wooden barrels, and we got quite a range of wine to taste. Kent found this absolutely amazing Shiraz. When ever I drink wine, there has always, ALWAYS been this bitter after taste, not this stuff. It is the smoothest wine I have ever drank before. so we got one bottle of that. Then Gordon took us to a cheese shop to taste cheese......OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!! Australia specializes in soft cheeses, there were two kinds that kent and wanted to get soooo bad. they are $14-$16 a jar, im seriously thinking about going back to buy them. and then there was a chocolate shop, bread and olive oil tasting, and this jam cart. i was in heaven. Kelli, you would have died had you tried these cheeses, SOOOOOO GOOD. they put gregs cheese sauce to shame! So after i pried myself away from the cheese we all got back on the bus and headed to winery number 2.

This place fermented it's wine in steel barrels, i guess it makes the flavor a little truer to the fruits used. The guy that guided us through the wine was good friends with Gordon, so we tried a LOT there. they had two wines i had never heard of before. a pinot rose and sangiovesse (sp?). Both were very good. We only got the pinot rose, kind wish we had purchased both, but i think we can find this particular winery's wine in the shops in Syndey.

Then we stopped for lunch and went to the tempest two winery. wasn't impressed with anything they had. Then we moved on to our final winery. As Gordon said, he didn't pick this place for the quality of the wine, he really like the owners and the land. It was just gorgeous!!!!!! and the guy that owned it was named Diamond and was a horse whisperer.

I can't say enough about this trip, the price of that package was a steal and we have some great memories. eventually i will post pictures....

also, this is zach braff's blog. i find it halarious. http://www.zachbraff.com/

I need to use the loo

As the title may suggest, this isn't going to be a long post...

I've been a bit remiss with blogging lately. Sorry about that. My computer at work decided to blow up (figuratively, not literaly), and I've been busy at work SOOOO deal.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have an interesting surprise picture posted for you all. It will not disapoint and a few might even be jealous (even more so i guess). It will just demonstrate how awesome I am of a girlfriend.

I made Mrs. Morton's stuffed shells for everyone at the apartment, along with Mark's parents who just flew in from Ireland. They all loved them and had second and thirds, so your recipe has been spread around the world Lorna! I think I used a bit too much ricotta and the casserole dishes were a little shallow, so I didn't get to use as much sauce as normal, but I think I did your dish justice. It's not the same without Greg's breadsticks and cheese sauce though.

Kent finally got his hands on Harry Potter, he's been reading it since Saturday. I did get him out of the room long enough to go to the Aroma Festival (coffee, tea, and spices). that was a lot of fun, it rained, but we had good $1 coffee to keep us going. We went to this cafe that Dave's friend works at and had more coffee and he brought out these AMAZING desserts which he gave us for free (yeah he got a GREAT tip). Im not kidding you, these things were fantastic. It has a bakery at the cafe so its all fresh and yummy....im drooling just thinking about them. I think Dave has pictures, I may just ask him to give me a copy so you can see them.

I was going to talk about something else, but the desserts have taken over and I can't remeber...

~D

models everywhere

Well another event of mine has finally gotten underway. Sony Vaio organized a photo shoot on the square so there are models out and about. Earlier when the first model came out, there wasn't much of a crowd, but then the second one came out (with a lot less clothes) suddenly out of no where, men were standing all around! MAGIC!

Work has been crazy lately, my computer is freaking out so I am on another one right now. I can't do any work till its fixed. YEAH! My desk is just full of folders of new clients and because its all happening so fast when I finally get around to putting it away I have to pull it out again! I find myself wishing for a vacation...then i remember i am on vacation.

Kent and I made reservations for Hunter Valley, finally. We said we would do it in July and we stuck with that. I am proud of us. We will be heading there the 28th, we are going on a wine tour and staying at a hostel. I am really really excited. This is something that both Kent and I REALLY wanted to do, especially since Hunter Valley specializes in Riesling, which is Kent's favorite wine.

Shepard's Pie

Well a while ago Mark (Irish) made Shepard's pie and let me try some, and it was YUMMY. So i decided to make it last night. It came out almost perfect, I think next time I will use a bit more gravy, but other than that it was so good. Kent ate 4 pieces :-) It surprisingly easy and its a great winter dish. Yeah for my improving cooking abilities!

Kents now banned from the Blog

So last night around 3am kent comes into the room and says in a whispered tone, holding back giggling laughter "i updated the blog while drunk" then he left to go play medieval again. So this morning I signed on to read what damage he did. Besides suggesting that i am upset all the time, he did alright. he was even able to type decently, i am impressed, but that doesnt mean that he is going to be doing it again...SO he is now banned from blogging while drunk....

The Future is in the Future

Those are the lyrics to an electric six song. but my point is still valid. Danielle started getting upset today and my whole point was if you think that will happen then it will happen. Think positive. So As of this week I have been offered a postion to stay here, but I didn't have to turn it down before they offered it to someone else. I didn't want to take it, I'd rather fulfill my plan of working at schnieder and getting an IT degree, but it was nice to feel wanted. But at the same time, restaurants will give full time Visas here it's not hard. but again, it was nice to feel wanted.


Right now I'm sitting watching the tour de France pissed out of my mind with my roommate dave he's probably pissed because i've been on the PC so long. Matthias has long gone to bed and I should too soon. danielle and I plan on taking the ghost tour this weekend or going up the tower. I'm a great typist.it rules, I really am awesome.

we were supposed to go out to get drinks but I ended up telling a bunch of mom's ghost stories as well as dads! and we just got pissed here, even though lou was to scared to goto bed, it's been a really great time here. the bow flex LOVEs australia, and so does boxed wine.

My job seems to take more time in Morning Tea and Afternoon BBQ's than actual work. which is fine I'm well fed. Danielle seems to get a little upset, but I'm well fed. Despite the fact that after the second time I had a Morning Tea, I said to her doesn't this seem like a great waste of time and resources. I'm hammered right now, and LOVE how much my company feeds me.

the wings signed Rafalski who should help them out defensively and offensively. but if they plan on going on with Lilja as their 4th they should just resign Danny Markov because he's better and they could Trade Lilja for a Bag of pucks and get fair return.

Dallas Drake signed, or should I say resigned with the wings, the player once called the dumbest player to play hockey by Senoir Scotty Bowman is now a Wing AGAIN, which isn't TO promising, but whatever, they say they've wanted him for 6 years I find that hard to believe.


in my opinion Sign Mike Johnson, and Danny Markov or JUST DAnny Markov and let the rest fell it's self out. I gotta goto bed because I'm tired. but Our forwards are stocked. just let the rooks play. Just my comments on the wings offseason moves. Also let the lions die, just move them out of detroit so they aren't so bad anymore ahh whatever. I'm sure they'll last.


love


KMO

Success!

Last night wasn't bad at all. I got a really nice free dinner (wine, appetizer, and dessert included). Met some VERY interesting people. Most of the night I talked with this one guy (currently practicing artist, but came from the 70's). I thought he was about 70 years old, but Jennifer informed me that he was only 55. Must have been all the drugs. Seriously though, this guy has the long crazy hair, gestures wildly, and if he was from the states i swear he would have said "man" at the end of every sentence. He is a total hermit. I guess it was a big deal he came out to dinner. BUT ANYWAY, despite his hermit like existence he was very up on new technology, and Jeff and Jen you would have LOVED talking to him. Poor him, got stuck trying to talk to me about math and geometry on they molecular level, and how everything can be reduced down to that and how he thought it was an artists responsibility to represent what technology can't see yet. When i said, oh my friend did research in nanotechnology he said "oh what did he do?" then I said "SHE did something with something...it was over my head." then he went off on this tangent about molecules and I think silicone and all I could think was, I bet Jen and Jeff would love this guy.

Then there was this famous Asian photographer that was there...again, these people were wasted on me. But he was very nice, he spoke very broken english, but he seemed genuinely interested in what i was saying and what i was doing in Australia.

its 5pm, i will write more tomorrow.

Schweppes Dry Ginger Ale makes my teeth hurt

I couldn't think of a title, and my bottle of Ginger Ale was next to the computer so that's where the title came from.

So tonight I am invited to attend a celebration dinner for the exhibit that just opened up at Customs House. I'm a bit nervous, most of the people are artists...and we all know how they can be. Kent won't be going with me (I was specifically told no significant others) so it should be interesting. Normally I wouldn't mind him not going, but its the whole artist scene...that scares me a bit. I will just drink/eat constantly so no one can ask me questions... Maybe Aussie artists are different though. WE SHALL SEE.

I think we are going to another Sydney Swans game this weekend (Aussie Rules Football). That will be a blast. It's a really fun sport to attend and the fans are fun too. Good environment to be in. Plus the drinks and food are a reasonable price. Still not cheap, but not the 9 dollars a hot dog crap we have at home. Its probably because its such a huge part of the culture, well American football is a huge part of our culture, and they still price gouge, so maybe its just the Aussie attitude.

Kent and I did not go to the Zoo this weekend. It just seems to always be canceled. We did go to the Aquarium though and that was great. It was a rainy Sunday so the place was packed, and I do mean packed. It took away from the experience a bit, but once you got down in those underwater tunnels, you forgot about it. I got some great pictures and video. Who knows when that will be posted.

Speaking of posting pictures, I'm a bit slow and I forgot that with my library card, I have free access to the internet at a bunch of libraries, including the Customs House, which most stations have a USB port, so Kent and I can post as many pictures as we want. YEAH! We just have to come down here on a weekend and do it, so we no longer have the excuse of lack of internet bandwidth, we are just lazy :-D

We also made the trip down to Kings Cross to check out the US aircraft carrier docked there. That was pretty cool. I wish I could have gotten a chance to board, but you either had to be on the list or a prostitute....

Ok well thats enough for now. Back to work!

My Sister is the BEST!

Yes, indeed she is. In case you haven't seen it yet, Jacqueline was nice enough to post Kent and I's aussie pictures on her facebook seeing as we can't. If you want to check them out, go to her Facebook!

TGIF

Even though I am exhausted (due to a week and a half of terrible sleepless nights), I am glad its Friday. Out my office window right now the sky is cloudless, the Sydney Harbor Bridge is in view and I can hear the ferries in the Harbor. Can't get much better than that. Yesterday after work, I crossed the street and watched the sun set at what is considered to be the most beautiful harbor in the world. You all can be jealous, it's ok :-) Did I mention its the peak of winter here and I don't need a coat?

Yesterday it was very windy...again. In fact it tore the roof off one of the trains crossing the Sydney Harbor Bridge...now I don't know if that's a testament to the wind, or the quality of public transportation here. You be the judge.

I bought Kent and I tickets to the Sydney Aquarium, so now we have to go. No excuses this weekend! We plan on doing that on Sunday, it's supposed to rain, so it's a perfect day. On Saturday at least Kent, myself, and Matias are going to the Torango Zoo. We also plan on checking out the US Ships that sailed into Harbor yesterday. I saw some footage from one of the photographers here at the Customs House and they were impressive. I know my Dad will enjoy any photos I take.

My boss and co-worker have left again, I figured they left for lunch, but it's been an hour and a half now, so they probably had to go to a meeting. They've been especially busy today. So i am here, updating the blog again. I think thats going to be it for now though!

Oh and jim, your webbles (sp?) are great!

My New Life Goal

So I decided what I want to do with my life. Jackie Sue, you already know this, I told you like 3 years ago. When I grow up Iwant to be the host of a travel show. Before I was just kind of tossing the idea around, but now I'm starting to be more serious about it. So far its the only career that gets me excited. Everything else just doesn't really suit me. So anyone know how I would go about becoming a host for a travel show? Do you think I need to take acting lessons? god i hope not.

Happy 4th of July!

I meant to post this yesterday, but I kinda forgot. Seeing as it's already 6pm back in Clarkston, it's a little late, but I wanted to wish all the park people good luck. I hope it's not too hot and you only have a couple assholes to deal with.

Kent and I spent our 4th eating Subway (ode to my tradition with my family) and lighting sparklers on our balcony. We went out there and didn't tell our roommates what we were doing and Mark ran out saying THE BALCONY IS ON FIRE! He was pretty freaked out, then we gave him one and he was happy again :-D Wasn't the same as spending it with my family in Clintonwood, but Kent's surprise of sparklers made it very special.

As for everyone else, HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!

To my family, try not to have too much fun without me, I know UNO just isn't as vindictive when I'm not there :-) I miss you guys!

5 Years

Yep, it's true, Kent and I have been together for 5 years. CRAZY! I can still remember the time we played poker at Jen's with Jeff and I kicked their asses and got all the Cheezits. Was that really five years ago?...wow. Dinner was really nice and this whole BYO policy saves so much money. I had hot sticky toffee pudding for the first time and ohhh man, it is amazing. I want to go back and have a cup of coffee with it. Champagne was great, but I bet coffee would be even better.

Before we went to dinner we walked around Crown St and met this really nice guy named Glen and his puppy. That made our day. She was very sweet and very loving. I offered Kent and I's services any time he wanted a dog sitter :-D We also watch Eurovision (sp?) and oohh man my life is changed. Jackie Sue, you would really love this. Look up Eurovision, Ukraine, 2007 on you tube. thats all im gonna say. prepare to be AMAZED. i was and i am in love.

On Sunday Kent and I finally got up to Le Perouse which was this beautiful little fishing town. It was more than that, but so great. We felt like we had the place to ourselves and got to see this guy and his snake show (we missed most of it and plan on going back). we climbed all around this old fort which is on its own little island. (we didn't get to go inside, it was closed and tour guided only). We sat on the beach and ate sandwiches and cookies that i made. Then we just walked around a bunch and watched the sunset. A couple hang gliders scared the crap out of us, we were taking pictures of the sunset and they just came out of no where in front of us, but other than that, it was great. It was a perfect Sunday evening. Then we went home and I made tacos....so really it was a perfect day :-D

Work is going well, it has picked up a lot. Friday was a blur and I'm still not sure what all happened that day. So much all at once....

Ok well I think thats going to be it for now. TTYL!

This weekend

Thursday danielle and I went to a pub with a group of Irish, and a Kiwi, we both got sick. it was generally a bad Idea. Friday my boss got mad at me for working to much, which is kind of weird but I guess it's unreasonable for me to want to work SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS A DAY. completely unreasonable.

I haven't Posted in awhile, and Danielle continues to gets shit about it. :)

Saturday we did laundry and went out and had a VERY nice dinner at a little place on Crown street for our 5 year anniversary. Then we went to the clock hotel for drinks afterwards. They were packed so we went on to their balcony and drank in a reserved area. Oops!

Today we went to LaPerouse, which is just a little town. It has a fort and a museum but by the time we got there those were closed down. It was still probably my favorite part so far. Just little seafood restaurants and people fishing off rocks. I think after I make my hundreds of Millions of dollars I'll buy a fishing charter boat and live on the east coast somewhere, like the guy from the fog. Either the new one or the old one, If it was the new one I'd be a lot sexier, but i'd also be a complete tool.

I just heard that there was a Yahtzee stabbing in the states. Crazy americans. But work is going well, everyone wants to ask me question about what it's like being hated wherever I go for being american and I make a joke about them shutting up or I'll bomb their ass, if they're english I'd say that they'd be speaking german, or germans would be speaking russian right now. Danielle and I celebrated FIVE YEARS which is official tomorrow. Tomorrow smoking is Illegal in every indoor areas in australia. Bar owners are pissed because they figure people on their gambling machines will have to take breaks to go smoke outside. I hate not being able to drink smoke and gamble at the same time.

That's it

-Kmo