So today ends the driving portion of my short holiday. I woke up in Wangaratta after another crapulent sleep and after not seeing the kettle yesterday when I checked in found the kettle and some instant coffee. After a shower I packed up and set off for Beechworth. I had been told by a number of friends that the best bakery to visit in Victoria is the Beechworth Bakery just east of Wangaratta. I thought a detour was in order.
My jeans are already tight and what is a few more calories going to change?
I plan to write a specific post about vanilla slices on this trip so I won’t go into detail about what I think makes for a good vanilla slice. Suffice to say, the vanilla slice from the Beechworth bakery is good but not amazingly good and is still not a patch on the Gumnut Patisserie in Bowral. The pink icing was subtle with little or no flavour besides the sweetness of the sugar. The custard had a very nice flavour and the custard wasn’t too gelatinous, and was probably the best custard of this trip.
This bakery though has another pastry that I adore and again it’s a custard filled pastry. Can you guess what I’m buzzing at? That’s a clue there too.
Take a look at this photograph and you’ll know what I mean.
So my next stop was in Holbrook, I’d already tried the central Holbrook Bakery so today I went to the southern one and enjoyed a cottage pie. So far on this trip every bakery I’ve been in hasn’t had a potato pie, either they had sold out or they just didn’t have them.
I finally got into Canberra sometime after 3 pm and after grocery shopping went for a walk to move my legs after sitting on my big fat arse all day
It’s Monday and you know what that means right?
Curried salmon with peas, corn and fried onions on brown rice.
Today I started five days recreation leave from work. I drove from Canberra to Wangaratta and stopped at the Dog on the tucker box (near Gundagai), Holbrook, and Wodonga.
I’m on my way to Geelong to spend a couple of days watching Miss13 compete in the WAG National Club Championships at the Geelong Arena.
I’ve never driven through southern NSW and Victoria before so in preparation I spoke with many friends who have lived in Victoria. A recurring theme is the food in Victoria is better than anywhere else and the bakeries can’t be beaten.
The dog on the tucker box near Gundagai SONY ILCE-7S with FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 70mm and f/4, 1/1600sec, ISO 100The dog on the tucker box near Gundagai SONY ILCE-7S with FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 52mm and f/8, 1/500sec, ISO 100
The next stop was Holbrook because I heard the bakery was amazing and the vanilla slice there was the best in NSW. That is a big claim given my love for the vanilla slices from the Gumnut bakeries in Mittagong and Bowral.
Before I got to the bakery I stopped at HMAS Otway. Holbrook is the adopted home for the submarine.
HMAS Otway SONY ILCE-7S with FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 24mm and f/4, 1/1000sec, ISO 100HMAS Otway SONY ILCE-7S with FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 24mm and f/8, 1/200sec, ISO 100Public art SONY ILCE-7S with FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 67mm and f/22, 1/25sec, ISO 100HMAS Otway SONY ILCE-7S with FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 24mm and f/8, 1/800sec, ISO 100
Then I got into the bakery and asked for a vanilla slice.
Vanilla slice from the central Holbrook bakery Apple iPhone 6 with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/30sec, ISO 40
It was good but it wasn’t great. It certainly wasn’t as good as the vanilla slice from the Gumnut patisseries.
The central Holbrook Bakery Apple iPhone 6 with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/1600sec, ISO 32
The drive was made more interesting by podcasts. I love the fact with my iPhone I can listen to podcasts rather than having to rely on the radio or a CD. Today I listened to a couple of Star Trek podcasts from Trek.fm, a Jared Polin “I shoot RAW” podcast as well as a Trevor Long “Your tech life“ podcast.
The next stop was Wodonga just over the NSW/Victoria border. The Murray River at the cross over is fairly narrow. I was expecting a more substantial river.
I stopped at Henri’s Wodonga Bakery and enjoyed a nice pepper steak hot pie with sauce.
Pepper steak pie with tomato sauce from Henri’s bakery in Wodonga Apple iPhone 6 with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/15sec, ISO 50
I also had another vanilla slice. This is the first time in decades I’ve tried a vanilla slice with pink icing just like when I was a kid buying them at school. This one was very good, although the icing was a little too thick and very very sweet. The custard was nicer than the Holbrook bakery vanilla slice.
Vanilla slice from Henri’s bakery in Wodonga Apple iPhone 6 with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/30sec, ISO 50Henri’s Wodonga Bakery Apple iPhone 6 with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/1300sec, ISO 32
The next stop was Wangaratta and the motel I’d booked.
I love how motels in Australia always seem to place this strip of paper or a variation of it over the toilet seat.
Toilet seat hygienically cleaned in the Park View Motel Wangaratta Apple iPhone 6 with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/60sec, ISO 40
The room is pretty good and it has free wi-fi. I’ll write a review in TripAdvisor soon.
Parkview Motel Wangaratta SONY ILCE-7S with FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 32mm and f/5, 1/125sec, ISO 100
For dinner I went for a walk to find a restaurant. I found Cafe Martini and decided to ask for a steak.
On the way to Cafe Martini though I shot some photographs of some public art and the King River
Public art Wangaratta SONY ILCE-7S with FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 46mm and f/8, 1/400sec, ISO 100King River Wangaratta SONY ILCE-7S with FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 39mm and f/22, 1/60sec, ISO 320Public art in Wangaratta Park SONY ILCE-7S with FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 53mm and f/5.6, 1/60sec, ISO 125Public art in Wangaratta Park, Wangaratta SONY ILCE-7S with FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 65mm and f/5, 1/80sec, ISO 160
I asked for the rib eye fillet on the bone cooked rare with vegetables. The steak was rare and well rested. It was very good. I’d eat here again.
Rib eye fillet steak at Cafe Martini, Wangaratta Apple iPhone 6 with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/40sec, ISO 32
For dessert I had the tiramisu. It was also pretty good.
Tiramisu at Cafe Martini Wangaratta Apple + Pro HDR iPhone with iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at 4mm and f/2.2, 1/180sec, ISO 32
So that’s it for day one.
Have you driven through southern NSW and Victoria? Tell me about your experiences.
While I was thinking of replicating Liz’s version I had some left over ciabatta in the freezer as well as an avocado that needed eating. In my mind there is no point wasting good food.
Saturday BLAT for lunch. Bacon lettuce avocado and tomato sandwich. With the top off. NIKON D7100 with 90.0 mm f/2.8 at 90mm and f/16, 1/8sec, ISO 400
BLAT Bacon lettuce avocado tomato sandwich
Recipe Type: Lunch
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Gary Lum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
Ciabatta bread
Vine ripened tomato
Streaky bacon
Cos lettuce
Avocado
Lemon
Grapeseed oil
Pepper
Butter
Instructions
Add a little butter to the bread and grill butter side down in a hot pan until golden brown
Cook the streaky bacon in a bench top oven at 200 °C for 15 minutes
Make an avocado spread with avocado, grapeseed oil, lemon juice and some pepper
Slice the tomato, drain on some kitchen towel and add pepper
Cut the cos lettuce to fit the bread
Apply the avocado spread to the bottom piece of bread
Lay on the lettuce
Lay on the streaky bacon
Lay on the tomato
Shoot a photograph with the top piece of bread artistically positioned over a corner of the sandwich
Shoot another photograph with the rose from my garden
Put some avocado spread on the top piece of bread and put the sandwich together
Cut the sandwich on an angle
Shoot a close up photograph showing all the internal goodness
Eat the sandwich
Wash the dishes
Write the recipe
Blog (verb)
Hope that people like the recipe and the photographs
3.2.2807
Saturday BLAT for lunch. Bacon lettuce avocado and tomato sandwich. The rose is from my garden. NIKON D7100 with 90.0 mm f/2.8 at 90mm and f/22, 1/5sec, ISO 400Saturday BLAT for lunch. Bacon lettuce avocado and tomato sandwich. Close up after cutting in half. NIKON D7100 with 90.0 mm f/2.8 at 90mm and f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 400
If you have any comments or questions please send me a comment in the space below.
But for me the best thing about Bowral is the vanilla slice at The Gumnut Patisserie
Sunday morning tea. Vanilla slices from Gumnut Patisserie in Bowral. The best vanilla slice in the world I reckon. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/1000sec, ISO 100
The day started well with scrambled eggs from Bron. These were so buttery and so delicious. Bron does good scrambled eggs.
Bron made scrambled eggs on sourdough for breakfast | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/80sec, ISO 2500
The point of going to Bowral though wasn’t so much to enjoy a vanilla slice but to do a little exercise and get some fresh air on a fine Spring day.
After the vanilla slice and a coffee we went to the Bowral Cheese Shop and bought some food for lunch before going for a walk along one of the trails. While we were at The Gumnut Patisserie Bron bought some sourdough and a rye sour bread.
At the cheese store we bought some quince paste, some duck and peppercorn pâté, some Small Cow blue cheese, some truffle brie cheese and some chicken, pork and pistachio terrine. This would be an indulgent lunch.
We drove to the base of the Mount Gibraltar walking trail and walked up the stairs to the Mount Gibraltar lookout. The walk took about 40 minutes and involved some stair climbing, some trail walking and some lookout gazing. I tried to shoot some photographs but most of them turned out badly. I forgot to set my white balance properly and I forgot to bring my circular polariser. It was a very glary day and so most of the shots were not very good. We came across a wombat hole and I didn’t adjust the ISO properly and ended up with a very soft shot with a 1/2 second shutter speed. By the time I was at that point I was huffing and puffing and my heart rate was high so the shot was soft and blurry. Anyway, enough excuses, it was a good day out.
We decided to drive to the Mount Gibraltar Jellore Lookout for lunch. It’s a nice place with a good view of Mittagong.After our strenuous walk to check out a number of the fantastic views around Gibraltar rocks, we set up our picnic at the Jellore look out, which is on a little outcrop and is usually quite serene. Today it was not so, with the arrival of a number of groups, including a particularly large and boisterous family that felt the best place for their numerous selfies was half a metre from where we were sitting. After they left we were able to enjoy some peace and quite looking over the hills around Bowral before heading back to Canberra.
This was a very indulgent but utterly delicious lunch.
Perfect picnic lunch at Mount Gibraltar Jellore Lookout Bowral. Quince paste, duck and peppercorn pâté, chicken pork and pistachio terrine, truffle brie and small cow blue cheese | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/8, 1/125sec, ISO 200Perfect picnic lunch at Mount Gibraltar Jellore Lookout Bowral. Sourdough bread, rye sour bread, quince paste, duck and peppercorn pâté, chicken pork and pistachio terrine, truffle brie and small cow blue cheese | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/100sec, ISO 200
Eating the pâté with the rye sour bread was like eating smooth dark chocolate. It was just amazing!
This is where we were sitting for lunch.
Sunday midday. Bowral Mount Jellore Lookout. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/500sec, ISO 200
Sunday. Bowral Mount Gibraltar Lookout. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/8, 1/1250sec, ISO 200
Sunday. Bowral Mount Gibraltar Lookout. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/8, 1/500sec, ISO 200
Sunday. Bowral Mount Gibraltar Lookout. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/8, 1/500sec, ISO 200
Sunday. Bowral Mount Gibraltar Lookout. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/8, 1/160sec, ISO 200
Sunday. Bowral Mount Gibraltar Lookout. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/8, 1/640sec, ISO 200
Sunday. Bowral Mount Gibraltar Lookout. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/8, 1/320sec, ISO 200
Sunday midday. Bowral Mount Jellore Lookout. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/250sec, ISO 200
Sunday midday. Bowral Mount Jellore Lookout. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/800sec, ISO 200
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Bron and I had a brilliant day. The weather was good and the food great.
Have you been to Bowral? What did you do? What did you eat?
If you have any comments or questions please send me a comment in the space below.
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