Deck Treat

We're home from a lovely treat of lunch on the back deck of John and Pip's.

They gave us the most beautiful selection of cheeses for starters and then a perfect Asian noodle salad that contained the nicest, freshest ingredients. The chat was so interesting and the wine chilled to perfection for a Brissy afternoon.

Eggs in the Morning

Oops, look like a startled rabbit. Anyway this was the five-star omelette at Egg Bistro, East Brisbane . It is a brand new eatery run by Granite Belt lad Chris Einem - we first caught up with him when he ran the cafe at the Cottage Garden Nursery a few doors down. The omelette was filled with provencal vegies and provolone cheese. Nice. Cath had granola with some of the preserved apricots that Chris makes on the premises. He learnt the art of preserving from his grandmother on the farm at Liston. The window shutters at rear are from the antique ship next door. Egg Bistro is in a lovely old building and the fit-out is quite special. Check it out. It is opposite the Lord Stanley Hotel at 989 Stanley St

treattrackers our haus brekky!

our haus is a nice coffee shop just around the corner in Riding Rd, Hawthorne. They have excellent service and nice food. We're back to our Saturday morning routine after the holidays.

Liz and Danielle share the pepper. Danielle liked her baked beans and eggs.

Sweet potato cake with smoked tomato compote, bacon, poached eggs and spinach.

Amy's very healthy after the fresh fruit salad.

Victorian Adventures

treattrackes went to Rye Pier, Vic. What did fisherpeople do in the old days? Now they all text each other to say what's biting.

Picknics (they put the 'k' in says the teacher in me) is a lovely coffee cafe at Rye. We went there nearly every morning.

Oh dear, what did you do if you had typhoid, leprosy, or Spanish flu? You were put off your boat at Port Nepean and sent through these shower blocks and your luggage was sanitised in huge steam vats. Then they assigned you a dormitory to sleep in. I felt a few rather unhappy vibes here.

- Gun emplacements(picture below) at Point Nepean in Vic. There are tunnels and still a few faded WW2 signs. These guys kept Melbourne from being invaded by those revolutionary Americans, Russians, Japanese, and Germans. So interesting!

David's dinner of John Dory fillets with lemon cream sauce at The Capel restaurant at Rosebud West on the Mornington Peninsula. I had flathead. It was a nicely run establishment!

Our lovely winery guide for the day was Maria. Her parents came here from Germany to help build the Snowy River Scheme. They had a big family and Maria is the baby. She's originally from Albury.

We were so interested in seeing Cheviot Beach where Harold Holt disappeared. I remember seeing the unfolding events on tv. Silly man was mad to go in here for a swim. We thought it looked pretty wild.

David remembers being at a Liberal Party barbecue in Brisbane as a kid when the news broke. His parents' friend was a minister in the qld government, John Herbert. John got the phone call and the story goes he came down the steps into the back yard 'ashen-faced'.

Melbourne Zoo is on a beautiful tram trip through parks and gardens. We loved it! I'm so privileged to have seen Dewi the much publicised baby orangutan. Mum was very protective but I caught a 3 second glimpse.

What a coincidence! Peter and his lovely family in Victoria at the same time as us. We met for lunch and Pete and David had a black beer at Little Creatures at Fitzroy to toast in the new year!

Sunny Ridge strawberry farm at Red Hill in Vic. For $8 you pick a large box of strawberries and honestly we did NOT imagine that they taste amazing straight out of the sunshine!