Throw another egg on the outdoor cooker
We spent a few days in Margaret River, in the South Western part of Western Australia. Similarly to the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia, it is a cooler area where all kinds of crops grow. Much as I enjoyed the tea from the Highlands, Margaret River’s produce got me even more excited - wine!
We visited a few wineries during our stay, and of course we tested the wines to make sure they reached our strict quality standards. The best one we went to, in my opinion, was the first one we went to - Eagle Vale. The winemaker there was a French man who had some very forthright opinions, but generally they seemed to be valid. We found out later that he is not very popular among the locals, but he was charming to us. His wine was good and he appeared to take a lot of care over it.
There are also a few breweries in the area. Unfortunately, I woke up one morning feeling a bit under the weather (not alcohol related I hasten to add), so I volunteered to be ‘Des’ that day (although they call it ‘the skipper’ over here). That means I missed out on the brewery’s sample set. While Pie and Paul were enjoying their beers, I was ‘enjoying’ a lemon, lime and angostura bitters.
Another highlight of Margaret River is the Jewel Cave. There are actually three caves around the area, but all the guidebooks say that the Jewel Cave is the biggest and most spectacular. We certainly weren’t disappointed by the impressive stalactite and stalagmite formations.
Now you may be wondering about the title to this blog entry. Everywhere in Australia has outdoor ‘barbeques’. We saw some in South Perth, and now our accommodation in Margaret River had one. However, to my mind, barbequing involves cooking on charcoals that you’ve spent ages trying to heat up, and then when you actually cook on them, they are far too hot and all the meat gets burnt. The outdoor barbeques are just gas or electric hotplates and grills. So I don’t think that counts as a barbeque. We had a few eggs left over from an earlier meal, so we simply cooked them on our hotplate. I somehow don’t think that would be possible on a charcoal barbeque.
We visited a few wineries during our stay, and of course we tested the wines to make sure they reached our strict quality standards. The best one we went to, in my opinion, was the first one we went to - Eagle Vale. The winemaker there was a French man who had some very forthright opinions, but generally they seemed to be valid. We found out later that he is not very popular among the locals, but he was charming to us. His wine was good and he appeared to take a lot of care over it.
There are also a few breweries in the area. Unfortunately, I woke up one morning feeling a bit under the weather (not alcohol related I hasten to add), so I volunteered to be ‘Des’ that day (although they call it ‘the skipper’ over here). That means I missed out on the brewery’s sample set. While Pie and Paul were enjoying their beers, I was ‘enjoying’ a lemon, lime and angostura bitters.
Another highlight of Margaret River is the Jewel Cave. There are actually three caves around the area, but all the guidebooks say that the Jewel Cave is the biggest and most spectacular. We certainly weren’t disappointed by the impressive stalactite and stalagmite formations.
Now you may be wondering about the title to this blog entry. Everywhere in Australia has outdoor ‘barbeques’. We saw some in South Perth, and now our accommodation in Margaret River had one. However, to my mind, barbequing involves cooking on charcoals that you’ve spent ages trying to heat up, and then when you actually cook on them, they are far too hot and all the meat gets burnt. The outdoor barbeques are just gas or electric hotplates and grills. So I don’t think that counts as a barbeque. We had a few eggs left over from an earlier meal, so we simply cooked them on our hotplate. I somehow don’t think that would be possible on a charcoal barbeque.
posted by Gaz man at 1:06 pm
3 Comments:
We seem to have the same view on the BBQs, that they aren't BBQs. You boys look like you're having loads of fun, certainly did more in the Asia bit than we got too. me and Matt stayed in the lovely 'Freo' and are still recovering from those fish and chips from Joes to Go. Am thinking of getting you all some Xmas crackers, hats, balloons for our crazy Xmas. can't wait to see you three, even though am going slightly mad with the lack of female company-at least Matt's a good woman, ha ha. See ya soon hun xx
Don't forget the wineries Gaz man. Plus your failure to shorten everything down to an acronym form. Hence, Pie and I were also getting through the SSB (Semillon Sauvignon Blanc), while you still had the taste of LLB (Lemon, Lime and Bitters) in your mouth.
TTFN and WOFPSS.
Gaz, I'm enjoying the updates. I also agree on the BBQ comments. It's just not right - BBQ's should at least have flames of some sort - otherwise how do you get the chicken to turn black on the outside whilst remaining raw on the inside? (Just a couple more minutes...)
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