Food, Glorious Food... and Drink

What a tasty day!

Yesterday morning, we had an extra look round the town of Yarrawonga. Back in 1971, a friend offered to take me out for a drink in the evening in the town and the venue turned out to be at this Milk Bar (not a pub!) where I had a milk shake.

Heading back over the Murray river into New South Wales, we made our way to Corowa. This was where we had spent a weekend in 1972 for the Rutherglen Wine Festival. This time, we called in at Chambers' Winery, a family owned vineyard and we were shown around the cellar door by Vanetta. It was very interesting seeing all the old oak barrels and learning how the grape gets from vine to bottle. A few sips later, we left armed with some bottles of cabernet sauvigon and muscadelle.

Needing more substantial sustenance for lunch, we later had a great steak pie, an Aussie special!

Next port of call, was Beechworth, a living legacy of the 1860s gold-rush era. Many of the distinctive honey coloured public buildings still remain, including the courthouse and jail where Ned Kelly was charged and remanded for the murder of three Mansfield policemen. Beechworth is also very famous for its bakery. Yummy!

We then continued towards Bright in the Ovens Valley, driving through Myrtleford and Porepunkah, where we spent our honeymoon in 1973.

Back in the 1900s, many Italians farmed in The Ovens valley and their crop was mostly tobacco. There are still some drying sheds to be seen. However, today the crops of chestnuts, walnuts, apples and grapes are more likely to be found.

Again, we are camped just on the river bank and the owner of the site assured me we should be able to see platypuses at dusk.

Highlight of the day: Wine tasting. What else?!!