Life...is a beach!

 Life is a beach but someone must do it!  We have been truly blessed here in Melbourne this summer with beautiful warm days, azure blue and mostly cloudless skies and I have tried to take full advantage of all this summer has to offer. A favourite haunt of mine on these beautiful days is the bay side beach at Black Rock; a mere 20 minute drive from my house. Melbourne beaches are often maligned by those who live on the surf beaches in the more northern climes of Australia or those on the western and southern coasts of Victoria, and very rarely do they feature in the Melbourne tourist brochures, but Black Rock has much to offer even the most discerning of beach goers.

Surrounded by cliffs and native vegetation, Black Rock has the peace, tranquillity and gin-clear water so often absent at other beaches so close to the city. Never crowded but always interesting, it is well worth a visit next time you are in the vicinity.

The Black Rock/Sandringham area is also host to some of the more serious of Melbourne's yacht clubs, offering those old salts among you, world class sailing opportunities, and land lubbers like me, some excellent drinking and dining opportunities.

This evening however, I have eschewed yacht clubs and the like to join my good friends Kittie France and Ewushka for tonight's tipple. Comfortably ensconced on Kittie's terrace we have decided on an ice-cold trilogy of Australian sparkling wines: a Domaine Chandon Brut from the Coldstream district of Victoria, a Grant Burge NV Blanc de Noirs from South Australia's Barossa Valley and finally, a Devil's Corner Pinot Noir Chardonnay NV from Tasmania's Tamar region.

In such wonderful and convivial surrounds and feeling well settled in such good company, one can't help but enjoy! Bottoms up!

Warm evenings and shared memories...

Despite much wailing and renting of cloth, I have torn myself away from the paradise that is the lush surrounds of Ubud, Bali.  Gone from my reality are the green, rolling hills and the verdant valleys that have hypnotised me for the past month or so...but I shouldn't grumble. As I trawl through the myriad photos I have taken, already missing the warm evenings and tropical scents of Payogan, I know that Ubud is never far away...a mere 6 hours flight (albeit tedious and horrific) from Melbourne.
Back home and the promise of summer is with us.  The days are getting longer and the weather is slowly but surely developing a reassuring warmth. This evening is particularly warm for this time of year and my photo trawl has inspired me to sink back into holiday mode.  To complete the mood, I have selected a 2009 Curly Flat Chardonnay from the Macedon Ranges here in Victoria; a zesty drop with a stylish, new oak edge.  Mmmmm! An delightful evening tipple, a warm evening and warm memories of the tropics.  What folly!