Travel: Good Bye Yarra..Hello Mt.Dande!

Can you spot the city?

As we now say adios to Yarra Valley, on the way back we stopped by Mt. Dandenong. Since my parents were essentially the tourist, I role played as a tour guide and brought them up to what is Melbourne's highest point which is Mount Dandenong, or as some locals call it as Mt.Dande (pronounced as Dan-dy).

What can you see at Mt. Dande? Well if you have clear sky and not foggy, you can see that the Melbourne's city is right smack in the middle of all the suburbs. That is probably the place where you see more tall buildings and you will also notice that the land in Melbourne is pretty flat. Apart from that, like what most tourist do, we pose, stand around to snap photos of ourselves. The best way record every single moment in life. Don't  you agree?

[My first encounter with Ms. Marple's in 2009]

The scones, we never got to have..



The pies we had made my DAD a full and HAPPY man, lol.

For tea break, we thought of popping by Ms. Marple's tea house as I just wanted to let my parents try a different style of scone. Too bad, we missed a turn or took a different route back. This directed us at Olinda-Monbulk Road. Now, here's the part I didn't tell you. Since the day my dad arrived, he wanted pies so badly, but I've been delaying his crave. I think finally my dad got his wish, as I knew he must be secretly churning his vibe to the entire universe wishing to have PIE..lol. As we know it, we ended having pies at Pie in the Sky; apparently their pies are the best. A quote taken from their website "Pie in the Sky prides itself in offering not only an award-winning selection of pies..."

In my opinion, the pies are not too bad, and I'm not sure if they were the greatest. Selection wise; is plenty and you can be spoilt for choice. Now.. back to the city!

StephAnna

Travel: The Dairy Farm

aviator jacket- thrifted, blouse by Dotti, DP jeans, Viktor and Rolf sunnies

 

cheese, cheese and more cheese.. YUMM

If you're a dairy lover like me, or let's be exact, a cheese lover like me, and then you have come to the right place. I stumbled upon this place while still out gallivanting around Yarra Valley. When I saw the sign board, I knew I just had to pop by to check out this place.

My first thought when I arrive? Oh my.. am I in the right place as all I see was just a barn. However, my heart relaxed when I saw there were cars parked up front at the visitor bay. Okay, let me warn you though.. the first whiff of air is not exactly the most pleasant thing. After all it's a farm, so go figure. But don't let the smell divert your attention to CHEESE.WINE.FOOD!

Once step foot into the old barn, you see old vintage decors and the smell fresh brewed coffee dominates the air. That got my tummy hungry, and what did we have? We had a variety of cheeses with crackers, raisin bread, white bread and tomato crisps. It's simple and yet delish. To complete the meal, and enjoying the view, we sipped latte. I'm usually a non coffee person, but I love my lattes. Yup, I'm strange and weird.. lol..
Aussie got me in love with lattes ;)

StephAnna

Travel: Wine Country-Yarra Valley

I was trying to bend down to my mom'ts height..lol..bad take. let's just focus on the huge wine barrel.

While everybody is sipping hot coffee and heading down to the city for work, I was heading another direction to start the day off with some wine tasting at one or a few [Who's counting? I was just being modest..be assured as I'm no alcoholic ;)] of Melbourne's couple finest vineyards. Ahh.. and that my friends.. is life!

Our mission for the day? The answer is; to stop by every single vineyard that we discover along the way. We [my family and myself of course] took a drive down to Yarra Valley, while soaking in the scenery along the way. As we went further, you will see loads of black and white spotted or brown cows grazing on grass, furry sheeps' sitting around like cotton balls and the next, rows and rows of grape trees.

Surrounding area is filled with various shades of green land, mainly levelled or flat ground and the back drop, is complimented with clear blue sky and fairly minimal clouds. Another beautiful day and fantastic weather.

To our excitement we found Chandon [hear: bells chiming and ringing]. Obviously, we stopped by and the rest as I recalled was smelling, swirling and sipping.. Am sure you got the picture.

StephAnna