Wild Horses Don't Have to Drag Me

Although I spent a summer working at a dude ranch, I spent most of my time working in the kitchen, seeming as how I'm allergic to horses and prefer food to horse poop! So if I had known our LaW (Lunch and Wine) Review were going to an equestrian center, I may have thought twice about it.

Thank goodness I didn't have the opportunity to change my mind; we had our absolute best LaW outing yet at Brookleigh Estates. Even though Brookleigh's tagline is Equestrian Heaven, the place offers so much more than horses (or, as Aussies say, horse. Why is it they say maths, sport and horse when we say math, sports and horses?). Anyway, I'm off topic again. Good thing I'm not being graded for my essay-writing abilities on this blog!

Glen, our host from Brooker Furniture of Freo, was a hoot.

We arrived at 11:30 and were offered generous amounts of many different varieties of Lancaster Wines by their manager, James. Lancaster is a small vineyard that only sells directly to wine lovers. James was very knowledgeable about his stock, or at least he seemed to be by this wimpy drinker who sampled several kinds on an empty stomach. Fortunately, I had sense enough to quit after the third white and the sparkling wine. I kept thinking we'd eat lunch next and James kept bringing out yet another bottle to sample and then we went on a tour of the facility.

Do we look extraordinarily happy here or what?

I really didn't expect our own personal dressage show. What a treat! I knew absolutely nothing about this as Americans don't spend much Olympic air time on this event. I can't think of the rider's name - senior moment! Or should I blame it on the grape? However, she was wonderful with the horse and with us. I was totally blown away that she could train a horse to do such complicated dance steps without discernible moves on her part. If you ever have a chance to see dressage live, I heartily recommend you do so.

This lady competes at an international level and shared interesting facts to know and tell:

• It costs $10,000 to ship a horse on an airplane to most international locations with no frequent flier miles!
• Germany, where this lady trained, is the center for dressage excellence.
• Western Australia is home to Sonja Johnson, winner of a silver Olympic medal in the Beijing Games.
• Life expectancy of a horse averages between 20 to 30 years and varies just like with humans.
• It only takes her 20 minutes to braid the mane into this fancy look. I could sure use her manual dexterity in the morning with my hair!
  

She hopes to represent Australia at the world
event to be held in Kentucky in 2010.

I was also impressed with the relationship between horse and rider. When she answered questions afterwards, the horse was nuzzling and licking her with great affection. We were allowed to feed it black licorice but I passed as I didn't want horse hives in the palm of my hand. It's amazing that something that large could be so gentle.

She has worked with this horse for 12 years
and was present at his birth.

As much as I enjoyed the show, lunch was even better and not just because I was starving. The Brookleigh owners, Olga and Nikki, joined us for lunch along with Glen, James, our riding expert and a marketing person from Lexus. The food was the best I've had since we arrived and was so plentiful. First we were treated to incredible appetizers, which would've been enough for me. Everything was homemade and extremely fresh - focaccia bread with a hummus dip and dipping oil, garlic toasts with pate, calamari, out-of-this-world venison sausage, warm olives from their orchard, prosciutto, ham, salami, and cheese. It was extremely heavenly. We had a choice of mains (we call them entrees, but to Aussies, entrees are appetizers) - steak with a leek and potato pie, chicken with forest mushrooms in phyllo with a mustard seed sauce and salmon wrapped in proscuitto with the most scrumptious potato and spinach gnocchi in a lemon sauce. Can you tell what I had? It was sublime!

Meet Olga, wonderful woman of horse and hospitality.

It's a toss up though as to which I enjoyed more, the food or the conversation. I had the good fortune to sit next to Olga, the fascinating owner of the estate. Olga originally hails from England but lived for 30 years in Bermuda running a surf shop. After visiting her daughter, Nikki, about 15 years ago, she settled in the Swan Valley. Originally, they wanted to buy five acres so they could have horses and ended up with this 89-acre vineyard, olive grove, restaurant, indoor and outdoor arenas and accommodation for horses and their riders. They started out with a riding school and boarding horses and grew it into this viable business.

Olga had lots of fun stories and was delightful company but I was mostly impressed with the warm and caring way they run the business. It had such a good vibe about it. I commented on that and she said it's because they treat their employees like part of their family. They plan an outing every three months with all the employees. Last month, they rented a yacht and hosted a dinner cruise on the river. Too bad the commute would be so far - I'd be tempted to get a job there! If you ever get to Perth, do visit Stewart's at Brookleigh. You can visit their web site at www.brookleigh.com au to see some good photos and a menu. I plan to take George there and any visitors who come. You won't be disappointed!

An Early Halloween

What do you get when you cross Halloween, wine and a sunny day?

Spring in the Valley, an annual event in the Swan Valley, 20-minutes from Perth.

Our Dingo Bus was fun but the Purple Party bus even had Karaoke!

Our fearless leader dressed appropriately for the day -
she needed a lasso to herd those cats!

Here is the motley crew while everyone was still relatively sober.

The Swan Valley is home to wineries, microbreweries, a chocolate factory, honey and fruit stands, golf courses, equestrian pavilions and olive companies. There's even a cuddly animal zoo where you can hold koala bears. Here is a pdf map of the area for those who are really interested:
http://www.swanvalley.com.au/NR/rdonlyres/4FDA5EF1-CE07-4EF9-B938-1FFD07F44E65/0/SVTCMAP0708.pdf

Our first stop was at 10:30 a.m. at Lilac Hill Winery and Iron Park Brewery.

Believe it or not, I even tried a glass of wine here at that hour -
when in Rome!

I hear the beer was good here. Hope he's not really picking his nose.

Food offerings ranged from the simple, a sausage sizzle or pizza,

to the sublime, seafood platters and chocolate pear tarts.

Amelia tried almost everything -
where does that little thing put it?

We had name tags for our group that said Hello, I'm .... One was supposed to write his or her name in the blank space underneath. One young Australian lady in the group wrote Pissed (which means drunk here). By the end of the day, her name tag described her perfectly. I wouldn't have wanted to be her on Monday morning. She was definitely over the hung, as George's mother used to say! Our next stop was Lancaster Wines.

Some wineries were definitely more upscale than others but people were having fun everywhere. Where else could one meet Homer Simpson, Che Guevara, Jesus and Cleopatra all at once? I enjoyed chatting with two young men named Ryan who own a walking tour business in Perth. I bet they'd be great fun on a city tour and might see if the club wants to arrange an outing. If you ever get to Perth, here's their web site - www.twofeet.com.au

This is the Ryans - too bad I accidentally
deleted the better photo of them!

The police were out in force and monitored behavior strictly. They could come to search buses randomly or if people were acting drunk and unruly. If one person had a drink or open container on the bus, all the liquor on the bus was confiscated, including purchases of cases made at the wineries. Now there's effective peer censure! One young guy in our group tried to bring a drink on the bus. Not only did the bus driver stop him but several of those sitting up front also admonished him.

We saw a couple of fights break out and the police were there immediately to break it up. I was talking with one officer, commenting that this probably wasn't their favorite event. He said the costumes actually made it easier because people think they are disguised and won't be caught but the police know to chase the guy in the camouflage outfit. However, for the most part, it was like a giant cocktail party with people of all ages.

One place even had a merry-go-round and jumping castle for the kids.

The Black Swan was very upscale.

By the time we arrived at the Black Swan, I was ready to sit and relax. I enjoyed sitting and chatting with Joanne, Amelia, Paul, Lisa and Tom. We had a nice window seat with a nice view to the tasting area.

Michael and his buddies were delightful,
the epitome of Aussie charm.

It is a small world! Phil, the guy on the left, was born
in Fort Collins and lived on Hanna, the same street
on which our good friends, Jeff and Nancy, reside.

Fish Tail Wines was my favorite
of all the places we visited.

I don't know if it's because it was at the end of the day or if it's just because it was a laid-back family atmosphere, but I really liked this place and even bought a souvenir t-shirt. Fish Tail Wines also had a delicious sweet wine Tom discovered for me, knowing I'm not much of a drinker and definitely not a wine drinker. Thanks to Bernadette, it was a g'day, mates!

Those of you who do enjoy the grape should come and explore. In addition to the Swan Valley, there are other wine-growing regions nearby.