From the Goldmines to the Vineyards...

Dom very excited to have found a grass fed butcher in town...and Leonie smelling the roses at the beautiful Cook Park.

This is the arrival at Ophir Goldfields near Orange NSW. 27km road of dirt track to get to Australia's first payable goldfields. Really interesting place to look at with lots of caves, old roads that lead to goldmines, decaying country houses, and a local cemetery too. It was pretty eerie though and the energy was a bit sad and dense there to be honest. We figured that there was lots of misery experienced back in those days by the men, women and children that went hunting for the gold stuff. We found out later that the cemetery has heaps of headstones that explain some really terrible things that happened to some of the people there such as; children dying from diseases, women falling off cliffs, etc. So a beautiful and interesting place to visit, but we'd say do it on a tour bus of 20+ positive people instead. If interested you can read more about Ophir Goldmines here

Us setting up for a fantastic lamb BBQ at the river at Ophir Goldmines. A real rural Aussie setting as you can see. We even got to do a bit of a play around with some of the local yabbies (as you can see above Leonie fishing for one off some rocks). Last picture shows what a typical gold panning area would look like. Imagine all day long, sifting through the dirt and rocks for the gold stuff.

Every winery seems to have some dogs...which is great fun we tell you. Above is 'Oscar' from Helberg Hill Winery (great Tempranillo Wine they had...yummmmm-y!) waiting for Leonie to throw his mangled tennis ball to him. The second photo shows just how close the grapes are to being ready for picking at Philip Shaw Winery, and finally Luka, the very relaxed doggie, at Philip Shaw. She had her own spot on the leather couch next to all the tasters. For your information, every single wine here was quite brilliant. Philip Shaw is one of the top wine makers in Oz...and it shows. We left with a sneaky 'Viognier' to enjoy on some summer day soon.

We finished the day off with a full (and hilarious) winery tour at Orange Mountain Wines with Terry (the owner). Terry is a bit of a larrikin, all round nice guy, and a bit of an inspiration we might add. He and his wife (Julie) did a trip around Oz like us, and just decided to give wine making a go. Terry and Julie had no official training or wine making qualifications at all, and all the locals thought Terry was a bit of a 'wine cowboy' that would fail and fade away pretty soon. 16 YEARS LATER...and they are doing just fine! Orange Mountain Wines has taken out numerous trophies over the years and last year took out first two places in the Orange Wine Show (Class 6: Dessert Wines - Mountain Ice Viognier, and Mountain Ice Rose). We bought them both!

If you are ever in the area make sure you get a chance to check out both Philip Shaw Wines, and Orange Mountain Wines. You won't be disappointed :)

This is Dom's asian mussel creation (coconut milk, tomatoes, kaffir lime leaves, etc). It was a bit of a chilly night, so we devoured these with a nice riesling in the lounge room...we mean....tent! The last pic shows our rubbish bins for the mussel shells...hee hee!

This is the sequence of shots Leonie took of herself whilst waiting for Dom to come out of the supermarket with all the goodies to make dinner (Chilli Basil Pork Stir Fry). You can see her go through all the emotions one goes through (anger, anguish, happiness, laughter, pouting lips, boredom, etc).

The finished product, well finished cooking anyway...and ready to devour. Washed down with Helberg Hill's Tempranillo. Leonie's glass seems to be getting bigger and bigger :)

Leonie sorting out the roof, and the damage to our stuff from recent rain :/

Us having a windy BBQ (in the back of the van) at the local river. Leonie is the most glamorous BBQ-er you could ever hope to see....

We know, we know....how many BBQ's can someone have. We seem to be having them at least 4 times per week. What else to do in the warm summer sun, waiting for the apples to ripen.