Yarra Days

Quite the catch-up post… I’ve been slack with uploading and busy with touring the wine regions. As my mates may have heard me mention once or twice, Vic’s are pretty sensational, and Yarra Valley is undoubtedly one of the favourites. The region did very well in the latest top 100… I’m sure all completely objective and definitely not influenced at all by James Halliday himself residing in the Yarra Valley 🤔. Nonetheless, a good excuse to head out again and sample the latest vintages + tick off a few I’ve been waiting to try.

First time out with the kids was tough (Chloe kept asking them for icecream) so we did a 2nd trip for good measure without.

Wineries: Oakridge, Yering Station, Yering Farm, Giant Steps & Huberts Estate.

Oliver turns 1 @ the Tesselaar tulip festival :)

Celebrating Oli’s special day… he’s been the best baby we could have hoped for - sleeps like an angel, always smiling and having a laugh! Must take after Mum…

The tulip festival was awesome, really good atmosphere and everyone there was super friendly and helpful… And, I got to try my new lens! I’m incredibly stubborn when it comes to using a prime lens (a trait I’m generally not known for 😁), and basically rely upon a landscape lens (24mm full frame) and a portrait lens (85mm full frame). Which for anyone who’s ever taken a photo before will appreciate, it’s ridiculously impractical!

So, I’ve acquired a 35mm Sigma, which is ‘the’ street lens and perfect for lifestyle photography… essentially replicates the vantage point of a human eye. In simple terms, means I don’t have to run around like a tool getting in the right position to take the photo - a big plus!

Given I’ve used my current setup for close to 10 years now, will take a while to get the hang of it. Very impressed with the quality for my first run however, and lot’s of great memories to look back on 😊

Wines & Autumn vibes in the Macedon Ranges

Back in Macedon again… because when was too much of a good thing ever not a good thing?

And a rare day out sans kids - a throw back to our glory days.

Started with the gardens and stopped for a long-lunch at Mount Monument - a cracking restaurant which opened doors roughly 6 weeks ago. If you’re looking for fine dining on a budget, you couldn’t go wrong with this - $75 pp for 4 courses, and we literally had the place to ourselves. Both food & wine were incredible… highly recommend if you’re feeling the pinch of rate rises as we are.

Finished with Curly Flats winery… sensational pinot and chardonnay, served by the fire and coupled with great service & banter. You’d be hard pressed to find a better cellar door experience…

Chloe's 3rd bday! Melbourne Museum & Fitzroy Lunch

She’s growing up so fast! Bossing me around, running around the house yelling in Mandarin… but mostly just being super cute.

I took the day off to enjoy her special day together, with a play at the Museum followed by a pub-lunch in Fitzroy. It’s such a great area, I always leave wanting to come back again and explore more… when I used to come from interstate (in tourist mode) I always stuck to the main precinct/high-st, but the suburb is actually stunning as a whole. Reminds me of Potts in Sydney, only way bigger, leafier and just way more going on.
Unfortunately Chloe wasn’t keen to sit quietly while I enjoyed the surrounds with a wine in hand!