For the weekend, we borrowed a car and drove into Orange, the nearest largish town.
One of Margaret's daughters was head of one of the many wineries there, the Phillip Shaw winery. We hung out at their tasting room and restaurant. They have done a lovely job restoring some older buildings on the property, and moving other historic or simply old buildings and using them as part of their space.
This is the painting one of their labels is based on: their sparkling Pinot Noir Chardonnay called Edinburgh.
The tasting room:
Their terraced gardens, out door areas, and the old shacks in the distance.
A very good use a space. For such a dry and hilly area, it works well.
After a few good glasses of wine, we headed to the local Botanical Garden. It seems like every city has one, and Orange was no exception. Not quite as nice as Sydney's, obviously, but still interesting.
An arch across one of the pathways.
And it's caption.
The section of Exotic Flora was...well...underwhelming.
As you can see. Australia doesn't look kindly upon foreign plants, I think. Or at least it's climate doesn't.
Then a climb to Mt. Canobolus. It's the tallest mountain between the Blue Mountains in the East and the West Coast of Australia. A series of much eroded volcanic cones, it is tall enough to get a bit of snow in the winter, even in the middle of such a dry place. (Not quite the Outback, but to us, it felt like it.)
There's a great vista point, a view towards the east:
And the west, towards Canobolas.
And of Orange. As dry as it looks, this is as green as it gets.
And our last dinner at Wallington Wines. These didn't come out great, but they're of kangaroo steaks (the 'roo was shot on the property). Evidently, the best way to cook them is extremenly rare (30 seconds a side, and a five minute rest).
But they are tasty.
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