Now for something completely different

[Blackduck59]

4 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Is that a seafood chowder?Yum!

It is, I had some mussels from an earlier dinner, there was salmon in the fridge and some prawns in the freezer. I also had some cooking liquid from the mussels. So I added some veggies,  some bacon and a carton of chicken stock. I  add cream at the table and a sprinkling of fresh dill.

[MMDown Under]

49 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

It is, I had some mussels from an earlier dinner, there was salmon in the fridge and some prawns in the freezer. I also had some cooking liquid from the mussels. So I added some veggies,  some bacon and a carton of chicken stock. I  add cream at the table and a sprinkling of fresh dill.

Sounds absolutely delicious.  That is great use of leftovers.

[Mareblu]

We can’t let this thread lapse to a second page., so although nowhere near a match for Lyle’s seafood perfection, tonight we had my version of a lighter chicken stroganoff.

[MicCanberra]

My starter last night.

 

[Blackduck59]

That looks a lovely plate Linda, am I seeing leeks in your vegetable ragout?  

Are you travelling Mic or is that an at home presentation? Either way it looks very nice.

On another note it is exactly 1 year until we meet up with Mic & Rosie (and whoever else would like to get together) in Sydney, before they head off on a cruise, and we start our long awaited Australian adventure. The booking windows are just starting to open so we will see what we can find for accommodation. I don't think we ever really had any good success with car hire bookings the last 2 times, we never actually got anything booked for that. We will probably wait a bit for that but will take any suggestions anyone has to offer. This will be a one way rental and we are aware there will be an extra charge, and for us this is part of the cost of doing business. 

[MicCanberra]

We are still abroad and aboard. We are currently on the Oosterdam off the coast of Chile, we debark tomorrow in San Antonio before heading to Santiago for our flights home the next few days.

[Mareblu]

What a wonderful voyage, Mic and Rosie.  Is that starter escargot?  🐌 Looks yummy.

yes, leeks, Lyle, I just realised they look like pasta or noodles.  Paprika, leeks, carrots, mushrooms, peas, lemon, a touch of cream, and parsley to finish.  A winter dish really, but felt like some comfort food in the humid conditions we have here right now.

[MicCanberra]

Yes, escargot.

[ceeceeDee]

9 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

My starter last night.

 

Is that escargot, Mic? Sorry, hadn't finished reading the thread before I leapt into print and see that you answered that question already.🙄 One of my favourite entrees. From memory I had it every night on a 7 day Caribbean cruise.😆

Edited February 19 by ceeceeDee

[OzKiwiJJ]

This was the first course at Virgin's Test Kitchen last week. The courses are only listed by one word each. This was Corn, but that is not a cooked piece of corn on the cob. It is a very delicious corn custard which came, naturally, with corn bread and some corn kernals as a garnish. I was very impressed by the mould they used as it looked very natural ie not too regular, just like a real piece of corn. It was a wonderful start to a very interesting menu.

 

[Blackduck59]

That looks very appetizing Julie, very artistic. Lynn would love that because she often has trouble with corn. She loves the flavour and will eat it when it is in season but pays for it for a couple of days after.

[Blackduck59]

So we are starting to get into the proper planning for this adventure, we are less than a year out and this time next year we will be enjoying our visit with Lyndon and seeing part of Oz that was not part of the original plan. From there it is down to Penrith to meet Neil and Tracey, that will also have us getting some local knowledge about the Blue Mountains. From there it is Canberra and a visit with Linda & Mario. 

For now we are working on accommodation in Sydney, I have looked back at what we booked before but some of those places are not available or now have unfortunate reviews. So I was hoping to get a few suggestions for hotels in Sydney that would be convenient to the Opera House and Manly ferry. I know that Mic may have some good suggestions, but please remember we are from a fairly small town and really not "Public transit" savvy. So any suggestions greatly appreciated. We look forward to meeting Mic & Rosie in Sydney in a little less than a year.

[MMDown Under]

5 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

So we are starting to get into the proper planning for this adventure, we are less than a year out and this time next year we will be enjoying our visit with Lyndon and seeing part of Oz that was not part of the original plan. From there it is down to Penrith to meet Neil and Tracey, that will also have us getting some local knowledge about the Blue Mountains. From there it is Canberra and a visit with Linda & Mario. 

For now we are working on accommodation in Sydney, I have looked back at what we booked before but some of those places are not available or now have unfortunate reviews. So I was hoping to get a few suggestions for hotels in Sydney that would be convenient to the Opera House and Manly ferry. I know that Mic may have some good suggestions, but please remember we are from a fairly small town and really not "Public transit" savvy. So any suggestions greatly appreciated. We look forward to meeting Mic & Rosie in Sydney in a little less than a year.

We have just had visitors from NY visiting.  Are you visiting the Sunshine Coast in Queensland?  We have just stayed at Mirra Chana on the boardwalk, beachfront, in Mooloolaba Spit.  It was a heavenly peaceful place, walking distance to everywhere.  We look forward to visiting again.  They are now staying at Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay,  This afternoon they have walked along the harbour waterfront, under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, to the Sydney Theatre Company to see a play at the Wharf 1 Theatre located on pier 4/5.  The Marriott is a great location for catching ferries at Circular Quay or catching light rail along George Street.  I will let you know what they think of the Marriott, which is popular with Americans.  

[MicCanberra]

Some details required.

What sort of rating/ budget are we looking at for the hotel, or do you want an apartment so you get a washing machine,

how many nights?

$ per night?

do you require breakfast included. Etc.

[Blackduck59]

we like the idea of an apartment style, it will be 4 nights Feb 19th to 23rd. Lynn has looked at a few places I think the high end would be $300.00 a night but if we can get it below $1,000.00 for the whole stay it would be good. Of course I'm working in Canadian dollars which at this point in time is apparently worth $1.13 AUD so a small advantage there. We don't require breakfast but it would be nice. I think you had suggested Brunch for the 21st before you board your cruise. We had vacation apartments in Europe and Hawaii and we quite like the idea of them.

[MicCanberra]

I have used Meriton, Adina, Quest, Oaks, Metro, APX and Sebel apartments over the years, I just pick which one suits my budget and location required best.

These are currently  ranging from around $1050 to $ 1700 for the 4 nights in a standard studio or 1 bedroom apartment.

[Mareblu]

1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

I have used Meriton, Adina, Quest, Oaks, Metro, APX and Sebel apartments over the years, I just pick which one suits my budget and location required best.

These are currently  ranging from around $1050 to $ 1700 for the 4 nights in a standard studio or 1 bedroom apartment.

Good suggestions

[Blackduck59]

So we booked the Sebel Quay West for Sydney and the Adina Apartment Hotel in Melbourne. We booked the Adina because of the race, there was an apartment available with free cancellation and no prepayment. We thought it was a fair price considering the timing of our stay and the race. So we have the first hotel and last hotel for the Great Down Under Meet & Greet tour booked. We are still looking at options for Auckland. It is still a little early for the booking window. For some parts of the tour we have had the good fortune to have our CC friends step up and offer to host us. Other stops are single nights in small towns as we drive from place to place. Of course we plan to stay at Craig's Royal Hotel in Ballarat. That stretch of time between Bateman's Bay when we bid farewell to Linda & Mario and we drop the hire car in Melbourne is starting to fill up. I think after the personal contacts of the first half of our time in OZ we will suddenly be strange people in a strange land. We do have a friend we met on our east coast Canada cruise who lives in Camperdown, Victoria. Apparently that is located along the road between Port Campbell and Ballarat so that works perfectly.

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

So we booked the Sebel Quay West for Sydney and the Adina Apartment Hotel in Melbourne. We booked the Adina because of the race, there was an apartment available with free cancellation and no prepayment. We thought it was a fair price considering the timing of our stay and the race. So we have the first hotel and last hotel for the Great Down Under Meet & Greet tour booked. We are still looking at options for Auckland. It is still a little early for the booking window. For some parts of the tour we have had the good fortune to have our CC friends step up and offer to host us. Other stops are single nights in small towns as we drive from place to place. Of course we plan to stay at Craig's Royal Hotel in Ballarat. That stretch of time between Bateman's Bay when we bid farewell to Linda & Mario and we drop the hire car in Melbourne is starting to fill up. I think after the personal contacts of the first half of our time in OZ we will suddenly be strange people in a strange land. We do have a friend we met on our east coast Canada cruise who lives in Camperdown, Victoria. Apparently that is located along the road between Port Campbell and Ballarat so that works perfectly.

We recently booked Quest Auckland Serviced Apartments in Queen Street, through Booking Co.  The studio apartment, which overlooked a beautiful quiet park, had a balcony.   It was self contained with a kitchen and laundry facilities.  There was a wide selection of restaurants in the street, as well as a regular bus which travelled down town to the wharf area.  

[OzKiwiJJ]

How many nights are you planning on staying in Auckland? 

 

We've stayed in the Auckland Waterfront Serviced Apartments on Princes Wharf a couple of times. https://www.aucklandwaterfront.co.nz/

 

They are very nice 1br apartments with wonderful views. Their minimum stay used to be three nights but that might have changed since the pandemic.

Edited February 27 by OzKiwiJJ

[possum52]

18 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

So we booked the Sebel Quay West for Sydney and the Adina Apartment Hotel in Melbourne. We booked the Adina because of the race, there was an apartment available with free cancellation and no prepayment. We thought it was a fair price considering the timing of our stay and the race. So we have the first hotel and last hotel for the Great Down Under Meet & Greet tour booked. We are still looking at options for Auckland. It is still a little early for the booking window. For some parts of the tour we have had the good fortune to have our CC friends step up and offer to host us. Other stops are single nights in small towns as we drive from place to place. Of course we plan to stay at Craig's Royal Hotel in Ballarat. That stretch of time between Bateman's Bay when we bid farewell to Linda & Mario and we drop the hire car in Melbourne is starting to fill up. I think after the personal contacts of the first half of our time in OZ we will suddenly be strange people in a strange land. We do have a friend we met on our east coast Canada cruise who lives in Camperdown, Victoria. Apparently that is located along the road between Port Campbell and Ballarat so that works perfectly.

Camperdown is a small town situated on the Princes Highway, a continuation of the road you will use coming down the coast to Victoria and which goes through Melbourne. It is about 45 mins from Warrnambool so I know it well. We usually stop there for lunch when we are visiting my Dad and brother in Warrnambool. It is about an hour and half south west of Ballarat and another forty minutes or so from Port Campbell. 

[Blackduck59]

Thanks Leigh. We have penciled in the itinerary right up to Philip Island, and have thoughts about the days between there and arrival in Melbourne several days later. From Philip Island we will probably drive around to the Sorento ferry to Queenscliff and then overnight in Geelong. From there we would take the Great Ocean Road to Port Campbell. From there we head north east to Camperdown which is on the road to Ballarat? It's hard to sort some of these things. I long for a proper, paper, road map; as clumsy as they are.

[possum52]

4 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

Thanks Leigh. We have penciled in the itinerary right up to Philip Island, and have thoughts about the days between there and arrival in Melbourne several days later. From Philip Island we will probably drive around to the Sorento ferry to Queenscliff and then overnight in Geelong. From there we would take the Great Ocean Road to Port Campbell. From there we head north east to Camperdown which is on the road to Ballarat? It's hard to sort some of these things. I long for a proper, paper, road map; as clumsy as they are.

The road to Ballarat from Camperdown is not a straight direct road. It is not a main road like the Princess Highway is. The map I have attached shows Camperdown on the Princes Highway which I have highlighted in yellow. You can see the road heading north east to Ballarat and the road from Port Campbell to Camperdown to the south east. These links may of usiplanning and driving in Victora Lyle -

Route planner, Travel information, Victoria, Australia (visitvictoria.com)

Victoria's road network : VicRoads

 

 

[possum52]

3 hours ago, possum52 said:

The road to Ballarat from Camperdown is not a straight direct road. It is not a main road like the Princess Highway is. The map I have attached shows Camperdown on the Princes Highway which I have highlighted in yellow. You can see the road heading north east to Ballarat and the road from Port Campbell to Camperdown to the south east. These links may of usiplanning and driving in Victora Lyle -

Route planner, Travel information, Victoria, Australia (visitvictoria.com)

Victoria's road network : VicRoads

 

 

 

Edited as I made a mess of my post - 

and the road from Port Campbell to Camperdown to the south west (not south east). These links may be of use planning and driving in Victora Lyle.

[Blackduck59]

Thanks Leigh. In my head we will de starting in Port Campbell and heading to Camperdown to visit our friend there for a few hours then carry on from there to Ballarat for our last night before we turn in the car in Melbourne. We then have 3 nights in Melbourne. Hopefully I haven't made too lofty of a plan for the port Campbell to Ballarat leg.