Going Down Under - Australia

G ‘day possums.

So I am a naughty naughty blogger and haven’t posted for quite a while. Apologies my lovelies so an extra long one for you this time about my recent business trip to the merry old land of Oz. (I know it’s a tough life)

 Australia. Once the land largely populated through penal transportation often mocked for its lack of culture by us stuck up Brits it main export being crocodile Dundee, Rolf Harris and Timmy ‘where’s your mallet’ Mallet, now it seems that perhaps the joke is on us. Australia has become awesome and with an economy booming where everywhere else is largely, to put it bluntly, buggered, it’s no wonder people are emigrating in their droves. When I was a kid I actually always had this fascination with Australia mainly due to watching Neighbours, a life in the sun, stunning white beaches just round the corner, where everyone is tanned and beautiful like the delicious Jesse Spencer who had pride of place in a poster next to my bed in my youth and where barbeques are an almost daily fixture is about as far removed from an upbringing in a cold midlands town eating faggots and peas as you can get. Here is Jesse aka Billy for those of you that like me fancied the pants off him when we were 10 …..now to be seen in episodes of HOUSE by the way and even though a right hottie as a Dr He’ll never beat Mc Dreamy. Oh no sir, it the hair that clinches it mmmmm......Right concentrate….oh yes Australia and good old Billy from back in the day. 

Melbourne

You probably saw in the papers recently that Melbourne just got voted the most livable city in the world taking the title from Vancover. It’s easy to see why. The city has a very eclectic vibe, the architecture is similar to London but is organized in grids like an American city, then a huge China town thrown in where you can even get some great Sichuan, the people are relaxed, friendly and to be quite honest quite chuffed, and why not.

On arrival I checked into the Holiday Inn on Flinders lane – I would have preferred to stay somewhere more boutiquey and different but this being a business trip and Australia being super expensive to travel to at the moment this was my only option. I wasn’t looking forward to it and had images of a dingy crappy room with a dirty bathroom and sheets you would rather not sleep on.

I was however very pleasantly surprised. Even though it was round the corner from a Spearmint Rhino (my company always seems to have a knack of putting its employees up in red light districts) it was actually really really great. The staff were friendly, knew exactly that I had sent a package (full of mags) direct to the hotel and was already waiting for me on my room. Normally on trips I have to go with the staff on a wild goose chase and shout at someone until somebody can be bothered to get off their arse and help the customer i.e. me. Not so here which was a great surprise. The room was clean, spacious with a very comfy bed and even labels on the pillows in case you wanted a hard or soft pillow, which made me giggle. Having had a long 10 hour flight, I had a lovely bath, popped my laptop open to do some work, watched the re-run of the Wales vs. South Africa match which was a corker and then chose a soft pillow to sleep. Marvelous.

The city itself is marvelous and quite similar to HK in terms of its size and higgledy-piggledy nature of small little alleys with yummy eateries running off main streets, it also even has trams which run through the city and were very useful as a relief for my tired feet. I came upon a lovely little restaurant for a nice lunch just set deep in the laneways just off the very pretty little Collins street called Harry Joys’s (shop 4). It’s a vintage inspired café with mis matching chairs and was a perfect antidote to the for the cold morning that I had spent wondering around; their feta and spinach pie with a Mocha was just the job. A little jem down a great street that I sure has lots to offer time and time again.

On the Monday evening some of my very lovely clients took me out for dinner, having had a great supper with them back in February I had high expectations. They didn’t disappoint as we went to a fantastic restaurant called CODA. CODA epitomizes for me what is so exciting about Melbourne, a relatively new restaurant having opened 2 years ago whilst the restaurant was packed even at 7pm on Monday there was no complacency with regard to the staff or food. The sommelier was fantastic and provided just the right wine (of which there was a red, white and 2 bottles of delicious dessert wine) to compliment the vast array of food we had over the course of the evening. And so we get onto the food which was quite simply absolutely fantastic. The menu at first looks quite confusing as it jumps around the globe mainly incorporating the influences of Asia and Europe, much like Melbourne itself. The product of this produces items on the menu that literally make you drool ‘spanner crab, galangal, roasted chilli and lime betel leaf’, ‘yellow fin tune, daikon, green apple salad with ponzu and fresh wasabi’ to name but two.

The menu is initially quite confusing as dishes are divided into 3 categories with a tapas-esque feel of ‘smaller’, ‘bigger’ and ‘on the side’ however this is also actually quite clever as the restaurant suits a special dinner or a quick bite after work (that is if you can get a table, reserve in advance). Owing to the mouth watering menu we were completely lost with what to order however our waitress was wonderful and offered to surprise us with a range of dishes that we could share. We probably had about 6 dishes in total but the absolute star of the evening was the roasted scallop, pearly tapioca and salmon caviar which was a little taste of heaven and had the most beautiful sauce I have ever tasted. It was so so good that even when we had finished our food we ordered another round!

For dessert we chose our own, mine was the beautifully presented soufflé. When choosing food I often try to pick dishes that I feel I am unable to cook adequately myself, soufflé is notoriously difficult however it tasted as delicious as it looked;

CODA provides a great culture mash up in a casual but sophisticated environment that I would happily go back to again and again. There is an energy and unpretentiousness to the city all over that is so welcoming and exiting  which is why it also has such a vibrant culture made up of great new bands – Temper Trap, Nick Cave and Flea of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers being notable exports, standup comedy, theatre, dance and numerable great museums and art galleries. It seems as though they just aren’t afraid to put themselves out there, give the arts a place of priority and just give things a try which is why Melbourne, you’ll never cease to impress me.

Brisbane

I spent just less than 24 hours in Brisbane so unfortunately not too much to report here. However every time I have been to Brizzy I’ve had some lovely weather and a great time strolling up and down the riverfront which is very peaceful. For a sizeable city Brisbane feels very much like a quaint quiet town and being on the gateway to the Gold Coast you rather suspect that people take is easy during the week and then head up the coast of weekend for some surf. I stayed in the very nice but a tad boring Novotel which thankfully was for a change not in the red light district, although old Brizzy feels so safe I’d be surprised if they had one. Many professionals working in Brisbane are working within the Natural Resources market so maybe it felt quiet due to that – natural resources are what’s helping Oz to do as well as they are so all these people must be busy bee’s trying to make their buck while the market is nice and hot, in fact Brisbane enjoys the largest economy anywhere between Sydney and Singapore! Here is a view of the Brisbane River and this lovely city from Victoria Bridge (a nice place to sit with an ice cream if you have a spare 10 mins)

Sydney

So after a quick pit stop in Brisbane I flew to Sydney for my last 2 days down under and I was welcomed by some nice hot weather, blue skies and the beautiful people that roam about this fair city – seriously they are everywhere! I was again treated to the Holiday Inn at Darling Harbour which is pretty adequate and a good location for getting around, in fact there is a lovely running route that you can do that follows the river round – spectacular! The city is super easy to get around and kind of compartmentalizes itself according to what it needs, business, beach or living. This photo of the view of Sydney Tower kind of illustrates this perfectly;

I’d planned to catch up with friends, a welcome relief from the tiresome nature of business trips where you tend to repeat yourself quite a few times, so was nice to swich from the work chat and a chance to kick back, I met friends down at a little bar down by Darling Harbour where we passed the time easily with couple of beers until the sun went down. From there we wandered along the harbour until we got to Opera Bar http://www.operabar.com.au/ as I was craving a good cocktail which, yep you’ve guessed it has a fantastic view of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Bridge. I decided on a delicious cocktail called ‘Get Even’ which included square one cucumber organic vodka, st-germain elderflower liqueur, cucumber syrup, lime juice, fresh cracked pepper. Bonza mate!

For supper we continued on along the harbour and by this point I was hungry. I had a real hankering for Oysters and in Australia they are normally excellent so we settled on one of the many seafood restaurants that dot along the harbour,and indeed they were predicitbly outstanding mwah! After supper we wandered along toying with the idea of a nightcap before bed and my friend suggested we check out Café Sydney http://www.cafesydney.com/ which is just down the harbour. Located on the roof of the customs house in circular quay this place is something special and next time I am in Sydney will be my first port of call for a nice supper. I was eyeing up the food at other tables and it certainly looked like something special. The restaurant was beautifully designed and the view simply stunning whist retaining the feel of being intimate and cozy, as it was quite cool up there they even gave little blankets for your cold knees. We decided to have a quick drink and as I hadn’t had any dinner I went for a sweet cocktail – a crème blanc which included melted white chocolate infused with beleverdere vodka, crème de cacao and vanilla liqueur – in truth it tasted just like a milky bar! 

So after my last meeting on my final day down under  I was very tired, popped back to my hotel to get changed and then met another friend for a final Aussie farewell drink before the flight back to honkers. We went down to Bungalow 8 Bar on King Street Wharf http://www.bungalow8sydney.com/ which I have been to before and both times has had a fantastic post work TGIF vibe with easy chilled music in a great outdoor space and a view of the harbour, although get there early those lucky dingos in Oz finish work at 5pm on a Friday so by 6pm you’ll have no chance of a table!

After a couple I made my way to the airport and started wandering around gift shops looking for the perfect opportunity to spend the last of my Australian dollars when I spotted the dermalogica counter offering free facials for passengers on flights. Well I jumped at the chance - Ladies you will know what havoc can be caused from a dehydrating flight and I hadn’t had time to take off my make up so I wandered over to the counter be met by a Danni Minogue lookalike (see I told you everyone was beautiful here) who offered to clean tone and moisturize me before my long flight, pretty perfect really just like Danni herself before all the botox.

If you are English you may remember that a few years ago the Australian tourist board ran a very memorable ad campaign that carried the slogan ‘Where the bloody hell are you?’ embodying all the eloquence of Australia that I love  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TebeNC-_VjA Well  in answer to you fair Australia - if my recent trip is anything to go by then my answer to you is’ I’m just bloody well trying to find an excuse to come back’!

V xx