OZtralia.tv Blog

Sea Tails: Endeavour Tall Ship

By: Phoenix Arrien

In 1768, Englishman James Cook set off in the Endeavour, to carry out scientific observations and geographical discoveries in the Pacific for the British Royal Society in conjunction with the British Admiralty.

Cook had learnt his sea craft on the merchant colliers which plied their trade along the northern coast of Britain and the Admiralty followed his recommendation that this type of vessel with its huge hold, flat bottom and sturdiness in rough seas would be the ideal exploration ship. It turned out to be a fortunate decision and the little ship proved ideal for the long hauls between land, coral reefs and the wild seas.

THE REPLICA

Two centuries later, in 1990, the Endeavour Replica was built, based on surveys from the original Bark and common 18^th Century designs. West Australian Jarrah was used to build the Replica (a departure from the English Oak used on the original) with Douglas Fir and Oregon for decks, topsides, masts and spars.

In ship talk, she is ‘ship rigged’ carrying square sails on three masts; t’gallant, topsails and courses on the fore and main mast and topsail and fore and aft course on the mizzen. The bowsprit is huge and supports a lighter jib boom from which, in typical 18^th Century style, hangs a spritsail and spritsail topsail. There are also a number of fore and aft staysails hanked permanently to their stays. Got all that?

Difficult to handle and very labour intensive, a crew of 16 lead a constantly-changing paying voyage crew of 36 on long trips (though short ones are also run), to do the necessary hard physical work over a four hour, three watch system.

Life aboard means sleeping in hammocks, living out of each other’s pockets and constantly helping to maintain parts of the wooden ship and her rigging, yet the experience is unique and many people return repeatedly.

Four supernumeraries pay a higher fee to indulge in being the ‘gentleman.’ They live in their own cabins, choose when to participate and live it up at Captain’s ‘teas’ in the Great Cabin.

However I was with the commoners in a hammock and being challenged…more next Friday.

Third Installment of Coonawarra Wine

By: Phoenix Arrien

Lunch at a winery is always good and we happily stumbled onto one of those dining events to which I am happy to fly anywhere to experience.

In rare places in often secluded spots in Australia there are restaurants (such as Stephano’s in Mildura) where freshness, food combinations, superb skill and the right ambience are put together in a perfect balance which sends one off into an altered state; a place where happiness is no effort, the world is rosy and every sound, movement and taste becomes an endless moment of ecstasy.

As you can see food has a profound effect on me and I am forever on the search for its perfect form. To find a place like Hollick Restaurant, above the Hollick winery tasting room, is like surfing the sound waves of a symphony orchestra in perfect pitch.

That large loft overlooking green vines will stay stamped on my memory as one of the great food restaurants in this country. Kate Murray has created a fine restaurant where UK chef Ian Perry sends out his sublime dishes complemented by Hollick’s own fine wines.

My roasted duck breast came on a braised leg tartlet with a beetroot jus. I took in each tender morsel slowly, savouring the subtle flavours and juices. Companions murmured appreciatively over their chargrilled yellowfin tuna and aged scotch fillet and there was much dreamy eyed contemplation of going off to lie under a tree and watch the blue Coonawarra sky, but patient Ken of the limousine waited. After swiping into waves of chocolate mousse and letting out our belts, we left that oasis of fine food and drink to purr our way over to the cellar door of the Zema estate.

Zema’s tasting room was functional and simple. It stated: ‘we concentrate on wines not aesthetics’. This is serious stuff. While many wines have been lightened up to capture the ‘drink now’ market reflecting the needs of an ‘instant gratification’ society, Zema is for the wine connoisseur. Traditional full bodied reds, deep and dense, need to be holed up for a while in a cellar and pulled out of their cool, dark prison to be opened some years down the track.

“I am spending time watching the grapes grow,” reflected Bruce Redman of Redman’s Winery. Above him the walls were plastered with gold, silver and bronze wine awards, attributing to the fact that he doesn’t just watch grapes grow. The tasting room at Redman’s was small, intimate and cluttered. Bruce is knowledgeable about his wines and spoke in a laid back way that in no way inhibits the obvious love for wine that characterizes the winemakers of Coonawarra.

We leaned on the small counter and sipped his very drinkable Shiraz’s and Cabernet Sauvignons while gazing at family photos. Companionable silence filled the spaces between relaxed chats with Bruce and we walked out of there and into the limousine feeling complete.

We couldn’t of course head back to the plane and fly off full of wine, our pilot had that glazed happy looks reminiscent of Snoopy the cartoon dog on a slow day, so we chose to hire a house in Penola, a pretty little town at the southern end of the ‘cigar’. Townsend cottage is a 100 year old house ideal for a large family, several couples or a group of friends. Comfortable and offering all facilities, it’s perfectly situated at the edge of town where it was only a small walk to the shops and Petticoat Lane.

In this appealing part of town curio and craft shops like the Petticoat Lane Herb Garden and Shop share a wide heritage street, which harks back to when Mary Mackillop, the nun soon to be Australia’s first saint, walked her talk. I stopped to smell the flowers with Jenni Hinze at the Herb shop and farm where she creates wonderful foods, body lotions and potions as well as craftwork with the produce she grows. It’s a step into a slower pace, a creative and very different lifestyle and we wandered around her shop, the lane and the town in pure relaxed holiday mode.

I love Coonawarra, for me it provides an escape and a basis for some very worthwhile eating and drinking.

South Australian Wine Part Two

By: Phoenix Arrien

The origins of Coonawarra is based on the humanitarian efforts of a Scotsman called John Riddoch who subdivided his large estate to stimulate employment and immigration in the 1800’s. Fruit was grown until after World War I when only the Redman family were able to keep up table wine production. Samuel Wynn is attributed to boosting the renaissance of the area after World War II when the winegrowers of the area combined their efforts to create a unique and thriving community of specialized branding.

The history surrounded us as we walked up to the sculptured horses at the entrance to the Rymill Winery. The two fighting stallions are all power and glory as they reared up, hooves trying to get a hold on the other’s metal skin, teeth bared as they threw their powerful necks towards each other for a bite on a neck or ear. It’s the time honoured tradition of fighting for supremacy and while the competition is very low key in Coonawarra, almost non-existent in a carefully cultivated environment of mutual support, each winery strives to produce the best wines it can in a competitive market.

Rymill is on part of the original Riddoch run and you know you are tasting long tradition and generations of careful grape cultivation here. Rymill’s tasting room is a grand affair, all chrome and glass, spacious and airy. Apart from their trademark Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Merlots, on offer are exclusive cellar door sales of a Pinot Noir Chardonnay and a rich red intriguingly called Bees Knees.

With the red wine man, Andrew Rymill himself, pouring the drops, the rich red and sparkling white fluids swam around our mouths, teetered on the edge of our throats for one extra tastebud explosion before falling down into our stomachs with the ease of a professional Olympic diver. An especially nice 2000 Pinot Noir Chardonnay cleansed the pallet with its crispness just nicely to allow the passionfruit characters of the unoaked Sauvignon Blanc to roll around the mouth unhindered.

Our limbs tingling, we went upstairs for an appreciative view of the green shagpile carpets of leafy vines stretching to the horizon. The 100 hectare property baked in the sun and you could almost hear the grapes crying out for the coolness of the oak barrels inside.

A quick run in the limo and were inside the pretty triple gabled stone building on the Wynn’s estate. We were welcomed into the large tasting room where exposed beams held up the roof under which we settled in for a glorious session of wine, humour and titbits of grape information.

Starting with their Shiraz’s and finishing nicely with their very drinkable and well known Samuel Port, we chatted with the friendly staff and I contemplated how important the whole experience becomes when you undertake a winery tour: the wines, the transport, the scenery, the staff, the atmosphere in the tasting rooms….and so far Coonawarra had not disappointed.

Tomorrow it will be time to look at other things than wine (is there anything else in life?)

A Taste of South Australia

By: Phoenix Arrien

It did look a bit like a cigar, I wondered as we neared Coonawarra in the east of South Australia. The vantage point I had was special, for I was being flown in a light plane to taste the best reds in the country after deciding to search for the ultimate ‘good life’. Being flown in a private plane is a good start.

The ‘cigar shaped’ strip of soil splattered with the rich greens of leafy grape vines, emerged from the broCwn South Australian landscape more distinctly as we decreased in altitude, the little Piper Warrior II thrumming it’s little engine like the little red caboose; ‘I think I can, I think I can make it to the ground.’

The distinct color of this slice of soil comes from the rich ‘terra rossa’ soil which lends itself to the growing of the grapes perfect for the rich full bodied red wine, which people come from far and wide to taste. Highly oxidized iron in the soil gives this 20 kilometre long and two kilometre wide area its reddish colour and at $100,000 per hectare (when you can get land here) it is a highly prized piece of soil.

Reaching the Mecca of Australian Reds our winery tours could not be carried out in a light plane. Ground vehicles are required and we decided to keep to our pact by touring these wineries in nothing less than a stretched limousine.

I never realized how fitting it is to climb out of a private plane and into the mighty purring leather clad comfort of one of the luxurious stretched limousine’s owned and driven by Ken Rucioch, from the glorious stable of Mt Gambier based Barron Limousines. It works! They go hand in hand (or wing in wheel)!

Ken’s sleek white car purred down the road to the airstrip, stopping to wait for us as we tucked Piper away for the weekend. Ken’s neat suited form welcomed us to the Coonawarra region and smiling with anticipation we climbed into the car and sunk into comfort and style.

It’s useful to travel with a local and Ken told us about wineries, people, places and events which characterize the area, filling the region with personalities and stories. The wineries he took us to were all individual in their atmosphere, wines and people, making it a different experience fronting up at each cellar door.

This is the reason I love boutique wineries. You get drawn into the winemakers’ passions (and all small winemakers I have met exude a passion spilling over into obsession) and become absorbed in quiet explanations about the fruit they grow and the wine they press, as the precious drops of their creations are carefully poured into your glass.

It makes the wine taste better…somehow more personal…then just opening a bottle of red at the kitchen table back home. You feel you are part of the creative process, which started as a tiny seed in the soil, nurtured to a green plant, carefully pruned, watered and fed.

The fruit, picked, pressed and then stored in the cool oak barrels of the cellars has reached its final resting place - your stomach - the final step, the ultimate goal for the whole long careful journey of the grape. And you can feel the journey as you drink!

I shall contemplate on this further over a slow glass of red and get back to you tomorrow.

The Phantom Scares Again

By: Phoenix Arrien

I think it is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s best musical and one of the longest running musicals on Broadway. The Phantom of the Opera is playing in Sydney again and it is as good as ever.

The story about a disfigured musical genius who haunts the depths of the Paris Opera House is one of those productions you can see again and again. The Phantom loves a young singer whom he teaches to sing but when he realises she loves someone else, jealousy sets in and everything blows apart.

It’s an amazing production with wonderful stars and that chandelier. Best of all one of the greatest talents in Australia, Anthony Warlow, stars and makes this his own.

Star Opens Production In Sydney

By: The OZtralia Producers

From our Broadway.tv team in New York (www.Broadway.tv):

“The acclaimed actress Cate Blanchett joined husband and director Andrew Upton to launch of the Sydney Theatre Company’s 2009 Main Stage Season on Monday in Sydney, Australia. As part of the season, Blanchett will perform the role of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Liv Ullman. The production will come to New York at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) starting November 27, 2009. Earlier this year, London rumors cited a possible production of the classic Tennessee Williams drama with Britney Spears as Blanche. Glad to note, we prefer our Blanche Blanchetted not Speared. Tell us how the show goes, Sydney!”

For more, click here.