VERY sadly we checked out of the Priory Country Lodge. Had to say farewell to lovely Lisa and Greg and gorgeous pup Hugo. We have had such a terrific time here. It's only a 7 bedroom property but the love and attention we all received made it one of the most memorable, delightful and happy stays for the show ... ever. Greg (owner) puts 100% of himself in the Lodge and I know that it will such an enormous success. Anyone who comes to Tasmania or indeed Australia MUST visit the Priory .. it's just .... purrrrfect.
A lamb jam on the way to The Agrarian Kitchen in the Derwent Valley - 35 minutes from the Priory.
On arrival I met with Pretty Girl and Myrtle - the two milking goats!
The Kitchen is a cooking school where you basically pick all the produce from the "back garden" and are taught how to make a meal of it. On the menu - goats cheese ricotta & greens wrapped in pasta with a butter/garlic sauce! The teacher is Rodney Dunn - ex-food magazine editor and apprentice of Chef "famous Japanese" Tetsuya. He runs the place - a wonderful old converted scholhouse - with his delightful wife Severine.
First up, I get to milk a goat -- Pretty Girl to be exact! It was not easy and she didn't mind! Teat squeezing ... who would have guessed??
The "garden" has piggies, chickens, geese .. chickens ... I said "hello" ...
and stole eggs (for the dish of course).
I did help create the dish ...
which Severine gave 11/10 for! whoo-hoo!
The wine we tasted at The Agrarian Kitchen was Domaine A .. down in the Coal River Valley. The owners Peter & Ruth Althaus are Swiss ... and have turned a once small vineyard into 11.5 hectares of the BEST wines in Tasmania ... if not Australia.
Harvest for one grape is tomorrow which we will miss as we leave ...
I was VERY impressed by the vineyard and the wines ... the pinot noir, cabernet, sauvignon blanc ... all very tasty and reassuringly expensive ...
The last photo of the trip ... the boys go home and I visit Singapore for 3 nights! Yay!
I am staying in Hobart tonight and dined on pizza. Outside was a water fountain for humans ... and pooches! How cool?Song of the Day: Trash - Suede
Weather: Muggy and stormy ...
