Melbourne ... at last!

Ah yes - it's been a long time coming this post! I actually did make it home to Melbourne in February for a visit and I had a lovely time catching up with everyone. It was brilliant to see Dom, and Matt and Caro, who managed to come home from Japan and Singapore too - back in the old house at Burke Road which managed to keep us all contained.

I spent most of my time just mooching with the boys, and catching up with other family members, all the kidlets are growing up so fast! I arrived just in time to see Lizby before the arrival of baby Sophie, a little sister for Chloe (although it was a bit of a shock because Liz and Miles had been told to expect bubba Jock)! Lovely to be back for that event.

And then of course there were the rounds to do. Yes, I dropped by to see Sammy and Ian at the wine bar, and pick up a bottle of the Bress Rosé whilst enjoying a new drop and catching up on everyone's news. And yes, I made a couple of visits to Bar Louriñha, the only downside to that was that Matt and Jo were busy in Spain gathering new ideas at the time - the food and the staff still absolutely fantastic though.

And Steph took me out to a fabulous new place called Gill's Diner in the city - we ate far, far, far too much - but enjoyed every mouthful. And I ate breakfast out as often as possible - and with apologies to Marcus due to an unfortunate incident at the Syama kitchen one Sunday, it may be hard for him to admire the ...


French toast with berries and cinnamon crème fraîche

that I chose at Ici when I had brekky with ...


Nicky!

I also joined Grace at Replete in Hawthorn, and the food was as awesome there as the queue to get in - who would have thought, in Hawthorn! We ate everything so quickly we forgot to take pictures - hopeless! I think I did well on that front because I'd had a preview with Monica a couple of days earlier for lunch, when I actually chose breakfast food again - their corn fritters are NOT to be missed!

And one of the things I had been really, really looking forward to doing was visiting Aireys again, and I couldn't have asked for better weather - just look at this!


Steppy beach and the lighthouse

I tried my hand again in my favourite kitchen in the world, and Sharon and Andrew joined me and we all enjoyed the results of my rather experimental ...


Fig tart

... with figs fresh off their tree in Geelong - perfect! Unfortunately, although it tasted fantastic, it turned out rather looking like a pizza, oh well.

And then for a night of completely insane, total indulgence, and with the perfect excuse of having Monica's 40th birthday to celebrate, I took her to Ezard and we went full tilt! We had the 8 course vegetarian degustation menu, which was truly sublime - I know that I made inappropriate noises while dining! The chefs took us to that happy place ... and no total indulgence would ever be complete without the ...


Ezard dessert platter

We did it!! The staff were impressed with us.

And of course something very exciting has happened, that's right Terri and Chris are having a baby too! It was a real highlight hearing that news and seeing them relaxed and entertaining like professionals in their lovely new home - how terrific to have all the girls together again - there's nothing else quite like catching up with the people who have known you for so long and through so many adventures!


The girls! (and Chris, and kids!)