August News

29 August 2007

OK, well Spring is just round the corner, although judging from the weather this week one could be excused for thinking it was early summer. 21 degrees max today, although rather breezy. It will cool down for the weekend but should still be very pleasant.

The vineyards are at the point of budburst on their early varieties and the dairy farmers around here have mostly calved their herds down so it’s all beginning to happen for the new season. South Gippsland looks very pretty with green grass around and most dams at least half full after quite good rains over winter. Farmers are hopeful of a good season to help them over the crippling costs of last year’s drought – the first time ever that South Gippsland and Bass Coast were declared for Exceptional Circumstances support because of drought.

* With Spring comes Leongatha’s Daffodil Festival. This is serious – if you want to understand the heart and soul of Leongatha, after the Parrots (the local footy team) is the Daff Festival. It goes for a week, starting next Wednesday and involves many local groups and businesses. More details of actual events next week.

* The Koonwarra Farmers’ Market is on this Saturday (always the first Sat of the month) from 8am – 1pm. (Pictures here.) Not the biggest market, but very pleasant under the trees in the Koonwarra reserve. After stocking up on produce you can have a cup of coffee (and cake) at the Koonwarra Store just down the hill.

* The Kongwak Market will also be on during Sunday morning (it’s run every week). It is certainly worth a visit – some produce, plants, bric-a-brac and clothing. We’ll post some photos of this before long. Likewise, the Jumbunna Bush Market is on the same morning, starting at 8.30am. They’re only a few Km from each other so why not visit both?

* We thought there was to be Biker’s Ball (leather and sequins more or less compulsory) at Koonwarra Hall on Saturday night, but haven’t seen any more notices recently. If you’re interested (and why not?) you could probably find out more by going to the Farmers’ Market next door in the morning…

* If the Bikers’ Ball isn’t actually on (or doesn’t appeal) then how could you resist Safona playing brazilian music on the piano accordian on Saturday night at the Grand Ridge Brewery in Mirboo North. (Details here.) Perhaps not one for the younger heavy metal addicts and serious classical music followers.

* OK, if it’s not the Bikers’ Ball or piano accordian for you on Saturday night, what about a Trivia and Silent Auction Night to support the Leongatha Children’s Centre? Details here. You can’t say we don’t try.

* The other thing that might interest some is that the RACV are having an open day on Sunday at their new resort centre 5 Km outside Inverloch on the Cape Paterson road. This has been quite a substantial development and will definitely have some effect on local businesses and activity, apart from employing 30 local people. They claim to have developed it in the most environmentally conscious way possible. Go and see for yourself: 11am – 2pm, Sunday 2nd Sept., jazz band, kids activities and sausage sizzle included. Enquiries on 5674 0000. (How did they get that number!?)

23 August 2007

* The weather this week has been absolutely delightful – and this should continue into the weekend.

* On Sunday (25th) there is a Community Tree Planting event at Corinella run by the Bass Valley Landcare group. They are an active group and people who go to these say they enjoy it; Being outdoors and doing something worthwhile for the environment (in several ways) helps and whenever you drive (or ride your bike) past you can have a look and see how the trees are growing. Further details here.

* The big news here this week is the cancelling of the 48 turbine wind farm at Dollar (North Foster) – all over the front page of both local newspapers. There has been considerable, if somewhat muted celebrations by the local residents.

* Lo-tech photography using throwaway and pinhole cameras has been the rage in USA recently. We haven’t been to this gallery yet but the exhibition of photos of Tarra Bulga and Wilson’s Promontory sound fascinating:

“TRIPTYCH” images by Rod Bechaz at Gecko Studio Gallery:
…using conventional plastic & pinhole cameras to create images with a sense of mystery and drama. Tarra Bulga National Park and The Prom like you have never seen them before. Gallery open Friday to Tuesday. 10am to 5pm . Details here.

If you don’t know it, Fish Creek is a fascinating little town well worth a wander round. It’s on the way to the Prom, but stopping off at Foster (larger, but also a lovely place) and Windy Ridge Winery (friendly, stunning views, interesting wines but check opening hours) are also highly reccommended.

By the way, the Toora Prom Challenge we reported on last week turned out to be a great success – 194 runners (well, some walked) about twice the number last year. The Loch Skate Park Auction we mentioned also took off with about 100 people participating and $11,000 being raised. Events like these (and for that matter the tree planting on Sunday – above) welcome all comers and are a great opportunity to get involved with local communities.

19 August 2007

Well, a week of lovely weather ahead for the last full week of winter. You can get an up to date weather report, including current conditions by clicking here.

* This week there is a new exhibition by Janet K.Howard and Bee Mellor called “Shorelines” opening at the Meeniyan Art Gallery, next to the book shop. Details here. Meeniyan is a lovely little town known for its craft workers and shops, particularly the one called “Craft Merchants” in the main street. There is a good choice of places to eat there as well. The Eileen Harrison exhibition at Leongatha is still on – until the 30th August (see last week’s post and piccy below), so this weekend coming would be a good opportunity to go to both.

* There are a few local markets on next weekend: MIRBOO NORTH MARKET on Saturday 25th, 8.30am start. Also LEONGATHA ROTARY MARKET on Sunday 26th 7:30 am – 12:00 pm. Details for both here. Not sure what’s for sale at these – probably everything under the sun. The 25th is the fourth Saturday of the month so the Churchill Island Farmers’ Market will be held from 8am to 1pm. A stunning setting and various types of produce, some local and some not. An excellent place to get fruit and veg at the moment, given the current supermarket prices. Last time we were there there were peacocks wandering around and Cape Barren geese nesting over the fence.

* It seems that more people are coming to enjoy South Gippsland during winter than ever before. (ABC report here.) This confirms our general impression that more and more people are coming here all year round rather than just the peak holiday season. These are very often people with a with a stake here such as a holiday house. This is all good; residents will happily admit that this adds interest and life to the region.

The wineries of South Gippsland released their website this week (it’s on the blogroll – Southern Gippsland Wine). Still in development but it’s a good starting point to find out about wine in South Gippsland. Get their brochure (including a very good map) at any of the information services around.

15 August 2007…

* If you are coming down to South Gippsland next weekend (18-19 August) there are a few things that might interest you, especially if it’s a bit cold for the beach:

* The weather down here this weekend is forecast to be rather cool with the odd shower on Saturday but fining up for Sunday as a high pressure cell arrives. Those days are often gorgeous here if there’s some sun and no wind. Anyway it doesn’t sound any better in Melbourne, so you may as well be here.

* Somewhat out of left field is a Fundraising Auction at Loch Public Hall on Saturday 18th for the Loch Skate Park. “All sorts of donated goods and services are on offer… Accomm. vouchers, tourist attractions, joyflights, food & wine hampers, electrical goods… dinners, memorabilia, beauty vouchers plus lots more! $5 entry covers lucky door prizes and supper. Refreshments available for purchase at the venue from Sybil and Staff at the Royal Hotel.” These auctions are a bit of an institution in the country and by all reports everyone has a good time. Maybe take a designated driver… More details shortly.

By the way, the Royal Hotel at Loch is one of the best country pubs you’ll come across. Sybil is wonderful and the atmosphere is comfortable as. You can have a pint and play darts in the bar and have a good meal as well. Do go and see.

12 August 2007…

*There are art exhibitions in Leongatha and Korumburra, both with a Koori connection.
LEONGATHA GALLERY EXHIBITION From 02 August – 30 August
Eileen Harrison 2004 Gippsland NAIDOC Artist of the year painting exhibition. Zac Chalmers Pottery exhibition. Trading Hours: Weekdays 10am to 5pm CLOSED TUESDAYS Saturday 10am to 2pm Sunday 12pm to 4pm.
KORUMBURRA ROTARY FEDERATION GALLERY 11 August – 19 August
Children of Hermannsburg Exhibition. Open Daily 10am to 4pm

More details on both here.

* In Inverloch on Saturday night (18th August) you can go and hear some jazz (Remember, Inverloch is famous for its Jazz Festival):

“Come along to South Gippsland Jazz Society’s monthly social jazz night on the third saturday each month, commencing at 7.30pm. Non Members welcome. Drinks at RSL bar, bring your own nibbles..”
This month features the Intajazz band. More details here.

* For the athletic there’s:
PROM COUNTRY CHALLENGE Sunday 19 August
“30km challenge. The course is mainly undulating to hilly, with 400m winding climb to Mt Best,panoramic views and stunning countryside. 6km walk for fun, 4x6km relay team, 6km and 12km run, around the historic township of Toora and countryside.” More information here.

** And don’t forget you can come and visit us at Paradise Enough (directions here) Open 10-5 each day, except there will be a bus load in on late Sunday morning, 2.30 pm now, so it might be better to come before or after that.

11 August 2007…
* Well, this is an experiment. We are planning to keep our news page in a blog format. The aim is to keep it up to date with news of local events, other happenings and what’s worth doing in South Gippsland. For news of the winery you should go to www.paradiseenough.com.au where we will be keeping an update on winery events and what’s happeing in the vineyard as the season goes by. Also new releases as they come on and so on. But here – anything you want to say can be added, so let us know what you think – please add any news of your own.

Sue says to say that the wattles are flowering and the daffodils are out. Here’s proof…

1 August 2007…

This will be the last post of the vineyard site – just for nostalgia’s sake.

* Winter is more than half over – only four weeks to budburst and the days are noticeably longer now. (The vines respond to changes in daylight hours as much as to temperatures.) Pruning is well underway with all the pinot and cabernets now finished. Only the Chardonnay in Sue’s vineyard to go now…

* This year’s wines are all ‘asleep’ in barrel now. The ambient temperature is very low; only about 6 C and too low for anything except the slowest finishing of the primary fermentation. With spring they wake up and start the secondary malolactic fermentation. In the mean time they are naturally ‘cold settling’ which reduces acidity a little.

* This year has been relatively kind to us in our vineyard – having avoided irrigation for twenty years the vines now have roots down so far that they have stood up to even this “season from hell” and produced top fruit. However all around us are dairy farms have suffered the worst drought of a century. Although there have been average rains for a couple of months they are still not out of the woods so we encourage everybody to visit South Gippsland, enjoy everything it has to offer and by being here encourage everybody to keep going!

* After having relocated our website to a new host (who is providing excellent support) we are slowly revamping it. The wine notes are now up to date, although still rather brief. We will soon be completely redesigning and rewriting the website in new code, so do bear with us. We do it ourselves, in between making wine… In the mean time any suggestions as to improvements we can make or queries can be made to our email.