It was a dark and stormy night, no really it was I thought the roof would come off and it bloody nearly did but the worst was still to come. Anyway I headed off to tealicious for some eggs benedict and a very large cup of java. I then headed off feeling stuffed and cramped in the car as it was full of the fab four, its quite hard to navigate the small roads and work the iPhone so I was at the mercy of a playlist. I have a tom-tom cradle for it and it works well the gps never loses it’s position and the Bluetooth is flawless, however my big fingers and failing eyesight pose me a new challenge every day. I headed for a winery that I had sampled many times at the food and wine show but I had never ventured down there, by this time the eggs had started to play havoc I think the sauce was just too rich so I needed something to cut throughout it. I came across Thompsons wines which have won many awards for their fine Chardonnay, the building is a big concrete warehouse so I knew this was all about the wine. I tried the Chardonnay and it was buttery and full of oak a real mans wine a real contrast to that unoaked rubbish that appears to be the fad du jour. Surprisingly I liked all there reds and walked out with some vintage Chardonnay and a cab merlot. Tasting the wine really settled my stomach down which was nice as I headed north to a winery that I like but my winemaker friends don’t.
Many years ago I stumbled across this place as it apparently was famous for its Pinot Noir a wine that normally does not do well down here as its a bit hot. I asked the chap if I could sample some and he told me that the kangaroos had gotten most of it and he only had two barrels left. Next he did something that no other winemaker has done down here in all my 20 years of coming here, he gave me a barrel sample. I was really taken by this and then went on to sample his wine which I must say is very good (sorry Karl), I had made a mental note to visit this winery every time I come here and indeed I have,
This year I was greeted by a young girl who I would say likes botox, not a good look really, they remind me of a duck bill. Anyway I sampled the whole range which was marvelous and just as I thought I was finished she brought out a just released red, needless to say it was spot on so much so that I could not resist a wee bottle to add to my vastly depleted cellar, yes a divorce will do that to you lads.
I then headed back home as the sky was rapidly turning a nice shade of black, and I really did not want to be driving on roads filled with wine laden drivers in the torrential rain that was about to fall. I made it back to the black hole, well it just might be as Vodafone have bugger all coverage in bunker bay. However my trusty iPad with it’s telstra microsim and a healthy dose of RDF from uncle steve works bloody well and I have been trying to work out a way to send SMSs from the ipad, which apparently you can in the us but not here, its only a matter of time.

First stop is Saracen wines and Duckstein brewery.
This place is amazing towards the top of caves road and set in one of the most picturesque places i have come to visit so far, well not hard really as it’s my frost stop.
The building is very large and open planned built overlooking a lake that today has a green hue to it as the water levels are down, something that is to be rectified this week apparently. Inside the building is a mixture of stone glass and wood, not quite designed the same as an apple store but it is aesthetically appealing. The food is nice and traditional German which is a nice change to whats normally on offer down here, needless to say the beer is German but today as i have a long road ahead Im sticking to a non vintage san pellegrino! I would have fought that there might be a bit more national pride give that that the side is on the verge of winning the world cup. I must say the rustic table i am on is the perfect Hight for typing on, I really like this device. The stone wall contained a huge fire that could seat six! But alas no gas which is a bit strange as it’s wood .
The meal was good and I had a few minutes to relax before I headed to have a wine taste next door, which is a winery that I have not been to before. I am really after a straight Semillon which is proving rather dearth down here. Anyway i tried the Chardonnay and i was disappointed it really lacked body and flavour not really an ideal way to start the day.
I headed off to flying fish cove where i was greeted by a delightful girl behind the bar, i had mentioned that I had just received their e-mail alerting me to e specials which are a good bargain to be had. In front of me were some poms who were salivating over sweet wine they thought was on offer, I hate to burst their bubble but rose is not really a sweet wine. Needless to say that they left and I had her er the wine all to myself, perfect i could indulge my senses without fear of looking like too much of a Pratt . The wine was very good so i managed to succumb to a bottle of Shiraz as i will be going back on Saturday for the specials that she has, their Chardonnay is perfect. Anyway i needed a coffee to keep the senses moving and i had a quick look at the sky, o dear! Talk about black clouds.

Hi folks
Decided to take a week off and ensconce myself in luxury at a 5 star resort.
I had to leave the dog which for her it’s always a treat to sit in the front of the landis with her new harness previously when I had both of them they travelled in the back which I must say Missy did not like. However she really likes the front seat and was pissed off when we stopped as she knew she was staying without me. Anyway I plugged in iphone to the the tom-tom cradle and off we set, it’s quite a cool device but it is rather expensive. I guess you know your in oz when it say 135km to the next turn and that was a roundabout, i have worked out that once I get on the freeway from my house it’s just two left turns to get here! Barring the roundabouts it’s one turn just passed ECU and the other just over the railway lines then straight on to dunsborough. I turned in the resort drive and it was getting dusky, and I was greeting by a big kangaroo just sitting there not sure if she should cross in front of me, she looked up and turned away which was a blessing disguise.
The resort is rather nice the room is big with a huge bathroom and 2 tv’s why I don’t know i guess it’s what people wanted. I made it down here just before five pm so a whe to unpack and then i headed to he bar, as there is no phone reception in the room but the iPad works, you gotta love telstra! Anyway although it’s not quite sub zero I decided on a refreshing ale to quench the thirst after a few hours in the saddle, then some pub grub as the restaurant had that five star feel about it that made my wallet nervous, I then asked the polite lady at the checking about wine tours yes i may succumb to one but as I was reading the brochure I had my glasses on and i noticed that the dear young thing had arms that would put Robin Williams to shame, and no she was not Greek.
Today is a leisurely start, morning coffee before a wee bit of shopping then off to plan the day wandering around, I’ll try and load some pics via the iphone as the camera dock is nowhere to be found in oz!

Well after almost a year, I finally have my house.

I have bought my ex wife out and I finally have the house of my dreams, the one that I helped plan, design and build .

To be honest it is a bit overwhelming ,as after so much stress, and I can tell you there was a hell of a lot of it, it is over.

It feels strange, but tonight I will celebrate with a bottle of bubbly….

Well what an interesting week, I finally got my job , woo hoo! fuck what a relief.

To say it was hard was an understatement, the interview was tough  I was required to do a presentation on the spot on one of the driest subjects known to man, which was a surprise as I did not expect it. To think on the spot and then be coherent takes skill, thank fuck I have a degree in BS! Anyway that’s over and I now look forward to the whole of health restructuring,which means applying for other jobs, o fucking joy!

I was updating safari this morning and the update apparently fixes a bug with iphoto, well one thing led to another ad I started to look through some pics.

L-R the 1st pic is of Eaglevale winery in Margaret river where my friend is the winemaker, he is French and makes some of the best wine in the region and is a great help to me as I also try and make wine… The second is an old pic of Tim in the car he built with his Dad, Tim and I had some fine times hooning around in it. Third contains my Norwegian students who became good friends and we shared many nights of food and wine.

Lastly is my wine label for 2004, yes its a mans wine, full bodied, a voluptuous wine and this label does it justice.

What a week its been, battling flu like symptoms for the past week and I’m finally getting better.

Had a bugger of an interview for my job, had to do a presentation which was a shock, as the topic was dreadful. Mind you if they let me go on

I would have described the harvesting and making of wine! Still don’t know the outcome, should find out this week!

Went out to a place called Dreamland that night with the crew from work, where we had a karaoke  booth, not a bad night, expensive but bloody good fun.

Had some fun at work with this after my interview

Bloody hilarious

I updated my facebook the other day and I took a quiz and apparently I’m Brian

Well this is the new site, set up by Cousin Tim, you’ll get to hear and see a lot  about him in the coming months as I will be planning a vacation in January to the US, and yes that’s Tim the thin one!

Most of you will have seen my old blog, Ramblings of a Highlander, I’ll post a link and you can see what I’ve been up to.

Today in sunny Perth its actually bloody cold, not cold like the Northern hemisphere folk, but for us sun worshipers its bloody cool, well its 14 degrees, too warm for beer but cold non the lesss.

I configured the site so I can post from my iphone so no doubt I’ll get the hang of that soon, which will surprise my students as they were amazed to find out that someone my age had A: a facebook account and B: a blog, well anybody over 30 is OLD for them!