Category Archives: travel

Monterosso

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A short boat trip along the coast from Vernazza brought us to the next village of the Cinque Terre, Monterosso.

1.Monterosso

Dating back to Roman times, the oldest and most populated of the Cinque Terre villages is divided into two parts. The old, medieval village

2.Monterosso Vecchio

and the new, modern area known as Fegina

3.Fegina

are separated by San Cristoforo hill.

4.San Cristoforo hill

A strong defence system was built on the hill in the 16th century with only three of the thirteen towers still standing. One of those is the Aurora Tower, with pride of place on the promontory it is now a private residence.

5.Torre Aurora

Ancient lookout turrets and fortress walls adorn the hillside.

Dominating the headland, the Convent of the Capuchin Friars has had a turbulent history since construction in 1619. Closed for the Napoleonic laws in 1816 and again for the Savoy laws in 1867, it has been used as a hospital and warehouse and eventually returned to the friars in 2006.

8.Convento Frati Cappuccini

Across the bay on the other side of the old town, the Hotel Porto Roca clings to the rocky foundations of Punta Corone.

9.Hotel Porto Roca

In 1960, Giacinto Jacazzi, a fashion creator from Milan, fell in love with the village and bought the land. Rather than a family home, he decided to build a hotel so more people could enjoy it. Workers had to construct roads to the isolated site and fearless excavator drivers manoeuvred their machines on the edge of sheer cliffs.

10.Hotel Porto Roca

Three years later, the dream came true. I will definitely be staying here if we are lucky enough to return one day.

11.Hotel Porto Roca

The boat tied up in the harbour of Monterosso Vecchio,

12.Monterosso vecchio

we climbed some stairs and walked along the path to the new part of town. Fegina Beach is the biggest sand covered beach in the Cinque Terre and is a popular destination for tourists.

15.Fegina Beach14.Fegina Beach13.Fegina Beach

We enjoyed a seafood lunch overlooking the bay and then, armed with gelati, wandered along Via Fegina where majestic hotels and apartments afforded uninterrupted views of the coastline.

16.Via Fegina

Returning to the boat, we farewelled Monterosso for a sedate cruise back to Riomaggiore in time for aperitivo.

17.Monterosso Vecchio

Kangaroo Ground

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On a crisp, clear winters morning, we left Healesville after another delicious breakfast at Cherry Tree Cafe to fortify us for the drive to Werribee. We had only been driving for half an hour when we passed a sign announcing Kangaroo Ground Memorial Lookout Tower. Executing a U-turn, we went to investigate. Kangaroo Ground is a tiny town about 26km from Melbourne and the tower is located on the highest hill in the area. Unveiled on 11th November 1926, the 12 metre tall edifice was erected in memory of local men killed in action in World War I.

1.memorial tower

The memorial now commemorates those who also lost their lives in World War II. A large bronze plaque above the doorway lists 107 names of the fallen. In 1974, the rather unattractive box on top was added for the purpose of fire watching and is still in use during the summer months.

2.memorial tower

We didn’t climb the tower to take in the 360 degree views across Melbourne, the north eastern suburbs and the Dandenong and Kinglake Ranges. We were quite happy with the ones we had from ground level.

3.panorama4.panorama5.Melbourne city6.panorama7.panorama

A single pine tree near the tower, succumbing slightly to the prevailing winds, drew our attention. Planted as a sapling on 11th November 2005, it is a direct descendent of the original Lone Pine from Gallipoli.

8.lone pine9.lone pine plaque

Vernazza

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The village of Vernazza was our first onshore experience of the Cinque Terre, arriving late morning with a plan for coffee and pastries.

1.Vernazza

Dating back to the early 11th century, the fortified military base defended the coast from Saracen pirates. In the middle ages, the water went right up to the buildings and the boats would tie up there, as they do in Venice.

2.Vernazza

These days, they remain on buoys in the harbour unless rough weather is forecast, then they can be found in the main piazza.

3.Piazza Guglielmo Marconi4.boats outside Albergo Barbara

Seated on a base of rocks at the entrance to the inlet, the parish church of Santa Margherita d’Antiochia was built in 1318.

5.Chiesa di Santa Margherita d'Antiochia

The views would be spectacular from the tower, almost as rewarding as those from the cemetery on top of the hill where, rather than being buried in the ground, the coffin is slid into something like a drawer in a wall, known as a loculo.

6.Chiesa di Santa Margherita d'Antiochia

In October 2011, Vernazza was devastated when torrential rains, resulting in flooding and mudslides, buried her under four metres of mud and debris. For months the village was uninhabitable and years later, restoration work still continues. It is hard to imagine the peaceful harbour

7.harbour8.harbour

and beautiful pastel shades of Liguria under siege from nature.

9.Vernazza

We wandered up the main thoroughfare, Via Roma, my aversion to crowds and having people in my photographs meant my eye was drawn to the upper level of the streetscape.

10.Via Roma

Returning to the harbour, houses seemed to be suspended above a cave entrance

11.cliff houses

which, it turned out, led to another beach.

12.beach beyond

From this side of the harbour we could see the next town, Monterosso, in the distance.

13.view to Monterosso

The remains of Doria Castle and its lookout tower stand proudly on the rocky promontory

14.Doria Castle

while below, on the terraces of the medieval watchtower, Ristorante Belforte has been serving quintessential Ligurian cuisine for the past fifty years.

15.Doria Castle & restaurant16.Ristorante Belforte

We had time to admire the stunning rock formations

while waiting for the boat to take us to our next destination, Monterosso.

21.Monterosso

The Great Divide

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The Lyell Highway traverses Tasmania from Strahan on the west coast to the capital city, Hobart, in the south. Driving the 300km through the West Coast Range and Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park along the tortuous route is both tiring and exhilarating. On an unusually straight stretch of road, about 75km past Queenstown, we noticed a couple of cyclists taking a break at a small roadside rest area and stopped to investigate. We learned from the information board that this was the point of The Great Divide. Tasmania is divided into two distinct regions when it comes to climate, geology and vegetation and this divide is known as Tyler’s Line (named after Peter Tyler, a Tasmanian limnologist). The west has higher rainfall, poor acidic soil and the strong westerly winds of the Roaring Forties. The vegetation comprises rainforest, moorland and wet sclerophyll along with rugged mountain ranges.

1.westward2.westward

Frenchmans Cap is the highest peak in the West Coast Range, named because of the similarity to the shape of the Liberty Cap worn during the French Revolution.

3.Frenchmans Cap

To the east of the divide, conditions are much drier and warmer with lower rainfall and more fertile soil. From our vantage point, the King William Range rose majestically on the horizon, similar in shape and geology to the more famous Cradle Mountain.

4.King William Range

Made up of three separate peaks, named Mount King William I, II and III,

5.Mt King William I6.Mount King William II7.Mount King William III

the King William Saddle is equidistant from Tasmania’s three major cities – Hobart (190km), Launceston (186km) and Devonport (193km), each one a three hour drive. Fortunately, we were only 10km from our destination of Pumphouse Point.

Four Pillars

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There was no better way to cap off our rainy day out than a visit to Four Pillars Distillery, just a kilometre up the road from our accommodation.

1.Four Pillars Distillery

The gin distillery started in late 2013 when three farsighted Aussie blokes, Cameron, Matt and Stuart, launched a crowdfunding campaign on Pozible, offering their first batch of Rare Dry Gin as incentive. Two years later, they completed a purpose built distillery in a former timber yard in the heart of Healesville. We couldn’t wait to get inside.

2.Four Pillars distillery door

The first thing we noticed was the enticing tasting table, all set up and ready to go.

3.tasting table

The light, airy space was warm and welcoming

4.distillery door5.retail

with plenty on offer for something to take home.

6.retail

The name Four Pillars relates to the four building blocks that are the foundation of successful distilling; the magnificent copper stills, pure triple filtered Yarra Valley water, a mixture of ten local and exotic botanicals and finally, a hearty helping of love.

7.spices

We didn’t have long to wait to join in a tasting, opting to share the samples between the two of us when we discovered we would otherwise be consuming 2.5 standard drinks during the 45 minute session.

8.tasting table

We learned the history of the distillery, including the purchase of the custom built stills from CARL, the oldest distillery fabricator in Germany, producing only twenty five stills a year. They really are a work of art. The first still was named Wilma after Cameron’s late mother who, apparently, enjoyed her gin. She was joined by Jude (Stuart’s mum) and Eileen (Matt’s mum) and finally, Beth (first full time employee Scott’s mum). Our vision of the distilling room was limited but I’m sure any mother would be proud to have such beauty stand in her name.

11.distillery

The five gins we tasted each had their own unique characteristics and in the past two years, they have all won multiple gold medals at international competitions. In 2015, Yarra Valley Shiraz grapes were added to the tanks of Rare Dry Gin, stirred daily for eight weeks, then pressed before blending with more Rare Dry Gin. A brilliant concept and very drinkable drop, three bottles of 2019 Bloody Shiraz Gin came home with us.

12.Bloody Shiraz Gin