Hanging in the Hunter Valley

On Saturday (aka Boxing Day) I went for a swim, we went for lunch, and then we loaded the car up and hit the road for the Hunter Valley.  It is about a 2 or 2.5 hour drive from Sydney, and is another one of Australia’s great wine producing regions.  We rolled into our accommodations in the Hunter at Parrot Stump Farm just around 5 pm.  Just like the Barossa this place was a self contained cottage in amongst a vineyard.  The owner met us at the cottage just as we arrived.  He was quite concerned that with it being Boxing Day, and everything being closed, that we would be somewhat out of luck for dinner.  He was planning on having a few folks over for ham and he wanted to invite us over.  It wound up being a really fun evening full of good food, good wine and good times as we met a few of the locals from around the area.  Everyone was so nice and friendly that they wound up feeling like old friends by the time the night was over.  It was a great way to start our trip to the Hunter.

Rain, rain…and a bit of running

Sunday I had decided to take as a rest day, and I was definitely happy with that decision when I woke up in the morning.  It was pouring down rain.  It continued to rain all day and well into Monday as well.  Somehow or other I just wasn’t in the mood to slog through the rain.  I had thoughts of heading to the outdoor pool in Cessnock for a swim, but unfortunately I wound up missing the lap swim times in the morning so…another rest day it was.  By Tuesday morning there was a break in the rain so I figured I’d better hit the road!  Much like the Barossa the Hunter is quite hilly although the scenery is very different.  Rolling green fields for as far as the eye can see as opposed to the more dessert like scenery in the Barossa.  Vineyards still dot the landscape though. 

I headed out the driveway away from Parrot Stump and just ran along the road.  There was very little traffic, but there was plenty to see.  This little colt came running up to the fence as I ran past to check things out.Along the way there were also lots of other horses, and some cows, including one very amorous bull.  The area was mostly a few vineyards, olive trees, some houses and the odd bed and breakfast/cottage type of place.  I was hoping to spy some kangaroos as I know they sometimes are nearby.  But no luck…  I ran up the driveway to the cottage and just as I crested a hill I saw some brown lumps way off in the distance.  Could it be?  Might they be kangaroos??  I couldn’t tell directly, so instead I had to get the camera out so I could check it out via zoom and picture.Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have some kangaroos off in the distance!!  Just as I was taking another picture on of the air guns in the vineyard to scare off birds went off and the guy on the left gave a big ol’ leap.Success!  3.1 miles and a kangaroo sighting.

I was wavering on going for another run on Wednesday morning before leaving the Hunter, but as it felt quite a bit cooler and less humid out I figured I’d better take advantage.  I left the camera at home, which was somewhat too bad as I spied a few goats and alpacas out today.  No kangaroos, although I did meet a very boisterous and friendly (thank goodness, although maybe too friendly) sheep dog who was determined to keep jumping up on me and had me wondering if I was going to be able to make it home without him.  Luckily his owner was out checking his olive trees and he was able to grab his dog for me.  Then it was time to pack up and hit the road back to Sydney shortly thereafter.

And what about the wine??

Ah yes, we did do a wee bit of wine tasting in the Hunter.  This region produces some really great Semillons that age nicely in the bottle, along with some good reds too.  We had some fantastic tastings in the area, but the highlight was probably at Keith Tulloch’s.  When you walk into his winery you head upstairs, are given a tasting glass and told to find a spot to sit down.  There are comfy couches inside along with tables on the veranda overlooking the vineyards below.Some of the other places felt a bit like a zoo as you tried to find a spot by the tasting bar to stand, but at Keith Tulloch’s it was so quiet and relaxed.  Every few minutes someone would come by to pour a tasting sip in your glass.  It just so happened that the owner Keith was outside on the veranda that day.  He came by to say hello and we chatted about Canada (like the differences between importing to Alberta versus British Columbia) along with some of the spots that he and his family have skied at in Canada.  And all of his wines were absolutely fantastic.  Lucky for me that he imports to Alberta!

With that the trip to the Hunter is over (along with all of the wine touring) and we are about 20 minutes away from Sydney at the moment.  It is so hard to believe that the final day of 2009 is TOMORROW!!  How did that happen?  Where did the year go?  I am looking forward to spending a few days around here playing tourist and going for some great runs.  Thanks to the lovely Mel I have a few ideas for some great pools to check out too.  I hope everyone is enjoying their final days of 2009 and have a safe and happy New Year!!

The Barossa – Part II

Tuesday

I started the day off with another run on Tuesday morning.  I decided to turn right outside of the cottage and run in that direction instead.  The run was just as beautiful in this direction, with more vineyards, sheep and hills.  The heat felt a little less oppressive as I started to acclimatize just a bit more.

After the run it was time to explore the wineries around the Barossa just a bit more.  One of my favourite places that we stopped at was Two Hands.  The Barossa is a perfect spot for growing shiraz, and Two Hands have more shirazes than you can shake a stick at.  It was a really neat exercise to sit down and find out about how much shiraz can vary from one area to another as we ran through about ten different wines (although only about seven of those were a shiraz).

Some of the wines were just massive fruit bombs and others were much more refined.  Two Hands also exports quite a bit, so if you happen to see them in your local wine shop I would highly recommend them.  And if you really want to try them and you happen to live in Calgary, give me a shout.  I know a great wine shop were they stock a lot of their stuff at.

Wednesday

There is a really lovely looking outdoor pool in Tanunda (the town that we were close to), and I had really hoped to manage a swim there.  Sadly it was only open for swimming from noon until 6 pm and it just didn’t really work with the schedule.  So instead on Wednesday I rented a mountain bike from the cottage owner and took it out for a spin.

I haven’t ridden a mountain bike for awhile, and this one was definitely a lot heavier than my old road bike.  And…I didn’t exactly bring bike shorts with me either.  Funny how you get used to riding in those things..!!  I was a little worried that I’d forget that I should be riding on the left hand side over here, but luckily I managed to remember that important fact just fine.  I rode down Seppeltsfield Road, a really lovely road lined with palm trees along much of the way.  And, very much like my runs so far, it was hilly.  I went out for about 15 miles, and it was great to see the area from a different perspective.  I even rode past the pool that I had hoped to swim at.

In the afternoon we checked out Peter Lehmann for a tasting.  At the winery you can buy port (or fortified wine) in bulk.  Only $3.70 a litre, unless you are filling a container less than 5L and then it is $3.90/litre.  Interesting, eh?  Apparently people bring in everything from pop bottles to other containers that still have “Caution: Poison” labels on them to fill up with port.  Hmm…hoped they washed that container out well!!

And after that our stay in the Barossa was over!  We flew to Sydney on Thursday (aka Christmas Eve)…

The Barossa – Part I

Monday

We stayed in an absolutely gorgeous self-contained cottage out in the Barossa called Stonewell Cottages.  This place was close to everything, yet it felt so secluded.  The cottage was on a little lake, and in amongst the vineyards.  We had quite the assortment of wildlife around the lake, including three very friendly ducks who quite liked to be fed. 

The cottage is owned by a family that also owns a winery.  Back in the 1980s Australia was going through quite the wine glut and this family decided to diversify by going into the B&B business.  It is quite different from a traditional B&B in that when you arrive your fridge is fully stocked with fresh eggs, milk, bacon, tomatoes, pancake mix, juice, coffee and tea and it is up to you how you want to use it.

Luckily jet lag didn’t really affect me too much and I was up and raring to run early Monday morning.  Wow, you would think I hadn’t run in a month!  It was not pretty.  I’ll choose to blame the heat, humidity and the hills.  Ah yes my friends, the Barossa is not very flat, a piece of information that had escaped me on the drive in the day before.  And even though I was out running around 7 am the heat was definitely something I was not used to.  Oh well, ignore the Garmin and pay attention to the scenery, right?Sheep!  These guys were so noisy that I heard them long before I saw them.Vineyards everywhere… Just one of the big hills, off into the distance.  Imagine rollers like this your entire route.

After my run and some breakfast it was time to get down to business and taste some wine.  Our first stop was at Penfolds.  There certainly is a lot of Penfolds wine available outside of Australia, and they really run the gamut from inexpensive to incredibly expensive.  In fact, their latest release of their top end wine, Grange, retails for almost $700 AUD.  The fun thing about tasting at Penfolds is that they have a lot of wines that are exclusively available at their cellar door.  And would you like to taste one of their $200 wines?  No problem.  I am quite happy to report that they are both extraordinarily yummy.We also wandered over to Henschke and Yalumba.  Yalumba was a wee bit intimidating as they had a massive book of wines that they make and that you can taste.

Once we were done tasting for the day we stopped in a small butcher shop to pick up some sausages, went back to the cottage to grill them up, fed the ducks, and called it a day.  Not a bad start to things in the Barossa!

Getting to the Barossa

Friday - Sunday

Merry Christmas all!  So much has been going on, but thanks to a decisive lack of internet I haven’t really sat down to write about it.  I left Calgary on Friday night for a marathon journey to Australia.  The plan was to fly Calgary – Vancouver – Sydney – Adelaide.  I’d meet my folks in Sydney, we’d fly to Adelaide together, then hop in a car and drive to the Barossa.  It was an interesting trip – flight delays out of both Calgary and Vancouver and what wound up being a very tight connection in Sydney.  Drunk row mates who ask you in line for immigration if they look okay.  Sure…if you ignore the completely bloodshot eyes…  But thanks to a little bit of luck I made it to Adelaide on time and nearly cankle free thanks to a pair of fuchsia Recovery Socks.

So in true Runner Leana family vacation style, we hopped in the rental car and took off south of Adelaide to the McLaren Vale to hopefully catch one wine tasting before things closed down.  We made it to d’Arenburg for an absolutely lovely tasting.  Their wine is pretty readily exported and more than likely you can find their Stump Jump series in your local wine shop.

After running through the wines at d’Arenburg things were starting to close down (it was about 4:30), so we stopped at a restaurant for a bit of dinner first.  A lamb pizza with tzatziki on top, plus another meat lovers type.

And with that, it was time to make our way back to Adelaide and on to the Barossa!

Hello October!

Wow…it is really hard to believe that October is here.  Where is the year going?  October in Calgary generally means that the snow will start flying, and luckily this year I left town just before the first snow fall of the year.  This weekend I flew off to Kelowna, BC for the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival! 

The first order of business on Saturday morning was knocking off a couple of workouts.  I had 8 x 2:00 intervals on tap.  I took off to one of my favourite places to run in Kelowna, the Mission Creek Greenway.  The greenway is nice and flat, and it is so quiet and beautiful out there.  Immediately when I started running I knew this was going to be a great run.  Maybe the change in elevation from 3900 feet to 1100 feet had something to do with it?  The intervals were great.  I was pushing but they still felt really good.  It was drizzling out and it just felt really nice and fresh.  A great 6 mile interval run, done!

Once the run was up it was time to get on to the next order of business…a swim!  I still wanted to get in Thursday’s swim workout so I decided to check out the new H2O Adventure Centre.  While the facility is a part of the YMCA it is one of the few ones where you can’t use a membership from another facility to gain entry.  I paid my drop in fee though since I was keen to check this place out.  The pool is huge!  It is a 50 m pool that has moving bulkheads so they can section the pool off for different activities.  Plus there are water slides, a hot tub and all kinds of play areas for the kids.  The middle of the pool was sectioned off for 25 m lane swim.  I knocked out the workout which included a lot of drills and that was about it.  The swim was neither great nor bad, but the pool was definitely worth checking out.  I would have liked to get a trip down the water slide in, but I was running late so I had to hurry up and get out of there!

After that is was down south to Oliver for a the Tinhorn Creek Crush Club wine pick up party……then a wee bit of tasting at a few other wineries and a winemaker’s dinner at Sumac Ridge.Sunday was the See Ya Later Ranch pig roast…which was amazing!  (My apologies to my vegetarian friends…)

In the evening we went to an event at Cabana Grille called Gourmet and Grapes.  It was a pretty neat event where 6 different restaurants had food stations with little tasting bites, plus different wineries were pouring wines to complement the food.  In the mean time there was a bit of an Iron Chef style showdown happening between two chefs as they whipped up a few dishes centered around the secret ingredient, matsutake mushrooms.  Once the competition was over there were a few plates that were passed around so if you were lucky you may get a little taste.

The best part of the evening was probably the food station from El Dorado…the tastiest meatball ever, some lamb, and some seared tuna on risotto with a papaya salsa.

The weekend isn’t quite over yet…time to get out there for a long run.  Hope everyone had a great weekend!

What’s Next?

Ah…so the triathlon season for the year is over.  What now?  It is a little early to start training for Ironman, so…what is on deck for the next little bit?  After the Goofy Challenge in 2008 and the Disney Marathon in 2009 I’m not really up for another marathon in January 2010.  My heart just isn’t in to the distance training right now.  So instead:

• Discover my inner domestic goddess: It is time to get back in the kitchen.  Taking the time to create delicious meals between all of my training this summer was really tough.  But I do love to cook, so it is time to get my nutrition back on track.
• Raid the wine cellar: If you have been reading this blog for any length of time then you know I love wine!  I had a few cases just sitting in my basement thanks to a lack of storage.  It was time to organize so I picked up a new (larger) wine rack from IKEA yesterday.  Going through my collection was fun as I filled up the new wine rack…but it made me realize that I need to start drinking some of it!
• Become one with the paint chips: Um…I’ve lived in my home for almost three years and I still haven’t repainted at all?  Maybe this fall I’ll have some time to put into that.
• Declutter: I still have moving boxes in my garage…that were packed up in July 2006.  Time to finally go through them!  (Although I think I’ve been saying this for awhile…)
• Say hello to a little speed: Endurance training is not conducive to getting faster.  So expect to see a lot of speed work on the run in the next little bit!  And some 10K racing (that Angie says will help me get faster)!
• Set a goal: Don’t mistake all of this cooking, wine consuming and decorating to mean that I won’t be training…  I am setting my sights on the Austin 3M Half Marathon on January 24th.  Why this race?  I have several friends in Texas that I need to visit.  A half marathon in January is a manageable distance to train for – less commitment than a marathon!  If you check out the elevation profile for the race you’ll notice that it is a whole lotta downhill…  So my goal?  To see if I can train to go sub-2:00 on a half marathon.  I still have to register and get a flight down to Texas…so it isn’t a sure thing (I normally wait to make an announcement until the cash is committed) but it is most definitely the plan.

I’ll still be swimming and biking of course too, not to worry!

Okanagan Spring Wine Festival - Sunday

Sunday morning was absolutely amazing out. I had only planned on running on Saturday so I just enjoyed hanging out in the morning. Check out the view from the balcony..!

We took off to Peachland to have lunch at Gasthaus on the Lake. This is a great German restaurant and pub that makes a mean schnitzel. They also have a gorgeous patio. It is worth checking out if you are in the Okanagan! From there it was on to more wine tasting. We hit up See Ya Later Ranch where they have a fantastic Brut and a Riesling. From there it was on to Inniskillin...where I got carded! Haha! She looked at my ID and just said, "Wow..."There are a ton of marmots along the road to Inniskillin. They normally run away whenever a car approaches, but I actually managed to get a few half decent shots.From there it was on to our final stop to taste - Road 13. I hadn't actually tried any of Road 13's wines before, but it was a fantastic surprise - they had some really tasty stuff! In addition, they also had the cutest pair of weiner dogs - Meg (for Nutmeg) and Fil (for Filbert). They were absolutely adorable. Here's Fil:Dinner was an amazing evening at Quails Gate Winery. It was a fantastic end to the trip! I wasn't flying out until early Monday morning though... Finlay did not look too impressed at being woken up at 4:30 am...

Then on home!

Okanagan Spring Wine Festival - Saturday

I flew in to Kelowna on Friday evening and arrived just in time for dinner. We went off to The Keg in town here, which is a really great steak restaurant. Except I have broken up with beef! So what is a girl to do? Order crab!! This Dungeness crab was amazing!!

On Saturday morning I decided to head out to the Mission Creek Greenway for a quick run. I love this trail - it is flat, quiet, and the scenery is amazing! Since Wednesday's run was so painful I figured flat would be just what I needed for a run. Since triathlon season is starting I swapped my regular laces out for Yankz, and this was my first run with them in these shoes.

The shoes felt awesome - not too snug, not too loose. It was a gorgeous day out there. I decided 4 miles seemed like the right amount to run today. Everything felt great - no shin pain, no knee issues...nothing. Yay for recovery!! As I was heading back to my car there was a lady running with a little dog and I made it my mission to catch up to her and pass her. Just as I was coming into the final stretch I finally caught up with her and took off in front! Every once in awhile you need to have those little things to motivate you.

After the run it was time to head home, shower up, and head down south towards Oliver to start celebrating the Spring Wine Festival! We had lunch planned at Burrowing Owl Estate Winery, which just happens to be on the bike course for the WCOC Olympic triathlon that I'll be racing in a few weeks. We drove a ways on the bike course and I was able to check out all of the hills, the condition of the pavement, and any obstacles along the way (like the two cattle guards that advise cyclists to dismount and walk their bikes across...that should be interesting...). Lunch at Burrowing Owl was amazing. I had a baked Sockeye salmon sandwich on a homemade croissant. Good stuff!

After lunch it was back to driving the bike course and visiting a few other wineries! The scenery along the bike route is just amazing. It should be a fantastic race!!

We also stopped by Tuc-el-Nuit Lake, where the swim is going to be. Once we were done tasting and checking out the course it was on to a special Seafood & Chardonnay Winemaker's dinner at Sumac Ridge. We started off with a sparkling wine reception...

...and we were then treated to some amazing food and wine. My favourite by far were the fish and chips. I also sat next to a really interesting couple who enjoy cycling. They were telling me about a bike tour company that they took a trip with to bike through Provence. Now that sounds like an amazing vacation!!

Anyhow, on to more winefesting today!! Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!!

Special Tea

I have three rest days on the schedule this week...and the first one is today! I might wind up moving a few thing here and there so it won't quite be three days, but we'll see how that plays out later in the week. With a rest day (and a general lack of training to talk about), how about a random post?

• I am trying to make a 4:30 wake up a regular thing during the week. Which means trying to make a big effort to go to bed between 9 and 10 every night. That's the challenge. If I get used to waking up at 4:30 it will be that much easier to make it to swimming on time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, plus I have some flexibility to work 6:30 to 3:30 on the other days if I want. Coming home at 3:30 is nice!
• I picked up the niftiest to-go tea cup ever last week from Totalitea in Bankers Hall here. It has a strainer that screws on to the top of the tumbler, so you can brew loose tea in the mug and drink straight out of the cup. So much handier than the Bodum press that I was using before. No picking tea leaves out of my teeth in the middle of meetings now!
• This morning I was drinking a new loose tea - black and green teas with apple, almonds, cinnamon and flavour. As I was drinking it I started to feel a little dizzy and nauseous. At first I thought it was just me, but after the second cup I knew it was the tea. Maybe there is something in the "flavour" that I'm allergic to? Or maybe there is something "special" in the tea? I passed the tea along to my tea lover coworker and it turns out it affected him too. Weird... I'm going with the "special" angle...
• I've been feeling like I could use a weekend away. On Saturday I found a cheap ticket to Kelowna for the Spring Wine Festival the first weekend in May. You know how much I love my wine festivals! I'll be back a few weeks later for my first triathlon of the season, but this weekend will be all about fun! (Plus no doubt a nice run or two...)
  

Winefesting

First off, here’s a shot of the yummy Quinoa Salad that I made the other evening. I really liked this dish a lot – super easy and quick to throw together, especially if you make a few servings of quinoa in one go. Anyhow, tasty stuff.Saturday I had a 12 km (7.45 mi) run on the schedule and I was supposed to add in 2 x 2:00 hill repeats at the end of my run. At the end of each hill repeat I was supposed to stop and do 1:00 of lunges or squats. I just ran my neighbourhood, and since I live at the top of a hill it wasn’t too hard to find a place to get my hill repeats in. Probably the hardest part about it was stopping on the sidewalk of a fairly busy street to do my squats. I may have felt a little bit silly. Once I finished up the run I did a few more squats, some forwards and backing walking lunges, zig zag lunges and push ups. Then I had to hurry up and get ready to head out, because my brother and sister-in-law and I had tickets to Winefest.

A ticket to Winefest gets you entry, a Reidel wine glass that you get to take home, all of your sampling, plus appetizers. There were about 64 different booths with wines from all over the place. One of the more interesting ones was billyrock – wine in a can…

I ran into a few friends that I hadn’t seen in quite some time and all in all, it was a really fun night. I didn’t taste anything that blew me away, but I really enjoyed the evening out with family and friends. I’m not sure if people didn’t realize you could take your glasses with you at the end of the evening, or maybe they just didn’t want them. Once the ugly lights turned on a few folks were making mad dashes for any glasses that were left behind. Not that I’m pointing any fingers… :)

Today I’ve got a spin on the trainer and a 20 minute run. Plus I’m on the hunt to see if okra is available here in Calgary…

And by the way, thanks to Rainmaker for the tip on Windows Live Writer! Writing and editing posts is so much easier rather than through Blogger…