As it is still January as I write this (but took me a while to post this…) I felt at the time I could justify saying ‘Happy New Year’. A New Year for me is the opportunity to reflect on the previous year and a chance to think about what I want to achieve for the New Year.

I also reflect on what’s happened in the wold and be thankful for what I have. There are so many wars in the world today and for many of us living in the west, we are so lucky; the freedom to buy a coffee or go for a swim at the pool or beach, go shopping, have fun and hang out with friends.

But terrible things happen even in Australia. I went to Melbourne in January on the Monday after the Bourke Street tragedy. It was so confronting to see all the flowers and notes and teddy bears. Life is so precious.

I went to Melbourne for a course and stayed for the rest of the week and weekend exploring the city with friends and enjoying the night life. I’ve never been to this city before so it was great to walk around and sample the delights of this city.

Going during Chinese New Year and Australian Open meant the city was alive with probably more tourists than usual. China Town was alive with people and celebrations! And it’s the year of the rooster this year which is pretty cool as I was born during the year of the rooster….. decades ago!

I met up with a few friends in Melbourne, one who used to live there so he took me round some of the great sites including the WA State Library; what an amazing building and the rooms, wow! Plus he took me through many of the cool arcades and down the laneways. We walked around the city through Queen Victoria Markets, down to Flinders Street Station then to Federation Square where there was a great atmosphere and for watching the semi-finals of the Australia Open but also great on a Saturday where there were quite a few market stalls and I managed to find the 1980s version of Dr Seuss Green Eggs & Ham, brilliant book!

I went to quick a few great wine and beer bars while I was there, pretty impressed with my efforts if I do say so myself!

Wine & Beer bars:

• Kirk’s Wine Bar: Little Bourke St
• Siglo: 161 Spring St
• Loop Roof: 23 Meyers Pl
• Beer DeLuxe: Federation Square
• Rainbow Hotel: 27 St David St, Fitzroy
• Blackcat:252 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
• Naked for Satan: 285 Brunswick St, Fitzroy (rooftop bar)
• Rockwell & Sons:  288 Smith St, Collingwood

Food:

• MoVida: 1 Hosier Ln
• Pellegrini’s: 66 Bourke St
• HuTong Dumpling Bar: on Market Lane in Melbourne)
• The Meat & Wine Co: Southbank
• Rockwell and Sons

Coffee:

• Seven Seeds: 106-114 Berkeley St
• Auction Rooms: 103-107 Errol St, North Melbourne
• Code Black Coffee: 119 Howard St
• Ample Cafe and Bar: 123/129 Howard St
• Slowpoke: 157 Brunswick St

And some rather cool streets; Nicholson Street and Brunswick Street.

Open spaces and gardens:

• Botanical Gardens
• Carlton Gardens
• Princes Gardens
• Princes Park
• Edinburgh Garden
• Royal Park
• Flagstaff Gardens
• Parliament Gardens
• Alexandra Gardens
• Royal Botanic Gardens

On the Sunday post eating and tasting too much, I headed south of the river along to the gardens. I passed by the Victorian Arts Centre; just to the west of Alexandra Gardens. Here there were market stalls selling fantastic paintings and jewellery and more, just couldn’t carry it back on the plane. It was a great atmosphere.

I headed over to the Yarra Valley on one day which was fantastic. I hired a car with 2 friends who also love wine and went to:

Yering Station – Melba Highway, just before you get to Yarra Glen. Oldest vineyard in Victoria with a lovely and bright tasting room. Spacious with art exhibition. Gift shop next door. Restaurant in an old beautiful house set amongst tranquil gardens.

De Bortoli – Melba Highway. I’ve always wanted to come here as I used to manage the PR for De Bortoli in London. As it was the holidays, I wasn’t able to meet Leanne or Steve but we were able to taste some of their wines at their cellar door which also included a cheese deli and a gift shop with the restaurant upstairs.

Mandala – Melba Hwy. We headed here for lunch but were early so decided to taste at the cellar door. You never know who you’re going to meet when you go to a tasting room, we ended up speaking to Charles Smedley, the Managing Director who was pouring the wines that afternoon. It was wonderful to talk to him about the history of the winery and the wines. We had a delicious and inexpensive lunch next door, I would love to go back as soon as I can!

Oakridge – Maroondah Highway. This tasting room overlooked the beautiful vineyards below and was bright and spacious. I enjoyed the wines too and the person who looked after us was kind enough to tell us more about the styles of each one.

Dominique Portet – Maroondah Hwy. This was our final winery of the day. As we came up the drive, with the pétanque set among the grounds and the beautiful building, it felt like I could be in Provence. The cellar room and gift shop was cool and spacious. Lovely wines and great staff!

Bring on 2017 and I hope it will mean a healthy life for all of us; health is wealth.