Day 5 – A day of royalty and winery

15th April

Due to the cancellation of the seaplane flight in the morning, we were only required to meet at 9.30am for the Rolls Royce ride. John would be driving us to Yarra Valley and Rod and Andre would be joining us on the ride. The car looked really vintage and cool and I felt like some kind of royalty cruising down the streets (it was really nice that the part of the roof could open and close and I could feel the wind right from where I was sitting but the car was kinda of short so my head would hit the roof whenever I sat up straight) The journey was very smooth and even though I was sitting in the middle between Juliet and Andre (and the middle seat was usually a bit uncomfortable), I fell asleep!

When we reached Domaine Chandon, which was our first stop, Pree did a video of us coming out of the Rolls Royce like some big shots and then we proceeded to our guided wine tour. It was amazing how the factory, where wine was made, was opened to visitors so that they could understand better what they were drinking. Got to know what they did to the harvest during the 4 seasons, how the bottles (after 2nd fermentation) were placed in wooden holders in a room and were tilted at intervals to allow the yeast formed to settle near the neck of the bottles for easier removal. After hearing these, I got to know wine better (though I am still not a wine lover..gee) We got to taste 5 different types of wine in the Green Point room, which provided a scenic view of the vineyards. The red sparkling wine was very special coz I thought sparkling wines were always white. After the wonderful wine-tasting session, I proceeded to take some great photos of the scenery while Juliet bought a bottle of the red sparkling wine for her friends.

I was a little red from the wine tasting session (it’s a rather embarrassing thingy that always happen when I have wine) and Rod & Andre were making fun but that didn’t deterred me from proceeding to our next wine tasting session (plus lunch!) at De Bortoli Winery and Restaurant which was located on the top of the hill. Brett, who was our host brought us to the trophy room which was where we had our wine-tasting session. He had a unique way of teaching us to taste wine, like gurgle the wine in our mouth so as to let all sides of our mouth get the taste of the wine. Women like Angelina Jolie and Audrey Hepburn were linked to the wines, just like how words like gorgeous, sexy could be used to describe the taste. We tried 5 different types of wines also and I liked the last one (Noble One – Sweet Botrytis Semillon) coz it was a dessert wine and it was very sweet!

Next was lunch at the award-winning restaurant, which was a simple yet beautiful restaurant. I didn’t know that we got to choose either beef or fish for main so I was a bit shocked when the waitress got me beef (which looked delicious and also very huge at the same time) and I didn’t think that I could finish it. Luckily, Brett who was sitting just next to me offered his fish and I gladly accepted it. It was sword fish and man! The meat practically melted in my mouth and it was awesome. And how we could miss out the great wine? After the wonderful lunch, Brett offered to show us around. It was rather cute to have the name “De Bortoli” placed on the greenery like how they put the word “Hollywood” but the former was laid down flat. We took some beautiful pictures of the place before heading back to Melbourne in the cool Rolls Royce.

We reached our hotel at around 4.45pm and as there was some time before we needed to do the broadcast (at around 8pm), we decided to do some more shopping in Melbourne since today would be the last night. Pree joined us and we decided to go back to the arcades which we went to during the Hidden Secrets tour. Well, I thought I could remember how to walk back based on my memory of how we got back the other night but perhaps in the midst, we missed a street or turn so in the end, we were lost and had to ask around for help. We tried following the directions given by people but to no avail. When I saw a visitor help booth, I thought that someone reliable could finally help us but it turned out to be some maps. I was so dismayed and disappointed and didn’t realize that Alix was just next to us. Just in time! And to our embarrassment, the Royal Arcade (which was our destination) was just a few steps away! As it was getting late (actually it was going to be 6pm), we hurriedly grabbed some more stuff and also explored some other shops.

At 7.45pm, Tony picked us up and we proceeded to the Eureka Skydeck for the broadcast. Before heading back to the hotel, I managed to snap a picture of the gold bumblebees on the building coz I really thought that they were really special and unique (couldn’t find such stuff in S’pore). I was rather sad when I bided farewell to Tony coz this might be the last time I saw him and he had been a very nice and gracious host. Well, I guessed I would have a lot to miss in Melbourne but what awaited me at Tasmania would also be exciting and perhaps even better for I was on an unexpected adventure! =)