My last full day in Mornington was spent walking in the sunshine and enjoying a spot of lunch at The Rocks restaurant down by the harbour.
Nice view....
............pretty average food though. I'm sure it's better than I've experienced through the reviews I've had from others. I ordered a couple of king prawns for starter and they had salad and herbs piled on top of them which made the whole thing very difficult to eat, taste wise it worked but getting it on the fork in the first place was the issue, not very well thought out.
For main course I had some slow cooked pork shoulder. It was nicely cooked and nicely presented but they spiced the pork far too much. For me the point of having pork shoulder is to make sure you get all that full flavour from the extra fat you get in the cut so over spicing it just completely takes all that flavour away and makes it pretty much pointless.
I liked the broth they served with it which came in a separate jar for you to add as you wished however when combined with the pork it made the whole thing tasted like a watery pot noodle. If I was paying pot noodle prices I wouldn't mind but at $34 (£22) I was less impressed.
After that I took a slow wander back in the blissful sunshine and retired to the sofa absolutely shattered but stayed awake long enough to sample one of my hosts home-made pizzas.......delicious !!! Not only tasty but inspiring too........Stone based pizza oven is the next purchase that we'll need to make room in the kitchen for. I'm sure we can squeeze it one the end next to the electric mixer.....and the vacuum packer....and the water bath !!!
So that was Mornington. Thanks to everybody there for making it such an enjoyable time. All the guys on the Stag/Bucks were brilliant Ben, Al, Sarge, Sasha, Malcolm, Jimmy, Rick, Gino, Louis Walsh, James Anderson.....I've missed a few out I know but it was all a bit blurry and I'm rubbish with names at the best of times.
The wedding was beautiful as mentioned many times before but apart from that it was great to meet all the partners of the bucks and the other guests
The Newlyweds, their families and their other friends etc etc etc are just brilliant
So enough of all that cause it's reading a bit like a terrible award acceptance speech. If you're reading this you know who you are :-)
The next day was an early start but it was spent exploring the city of Melbourne and after a spot of brekky I headed over to the mecca that is the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground for those not in the know) and it's just immense. I took a tour so got to see the ins and outs of the entire operation there. The most amazing fact I learn't was that the biggest crowd ever recorded there numbered 130,000 back in 1959 but it wasn't for any sporting event but for a TV evangelist nutcase called Billy Graham.
Even though I had an travelcard which I bought from Frankston station (about the same distance from the city as Oxford is to London) for a mere $11! I must add I walked most of the way to the stadium mainly because I wanted to see how much it imposes itself upon you as you get closer and closer.
All around the ground there are statues erected in honour of famous Australian sporting legends. There are plenty of different sports represented as the ground has been used for far more than just cricket in it's history including Olympic and Commenwealth games and even as a base for U.S. soldiers during WW2.
To be honest I'd only heard of a few of these sporting legends and I was more interested in the cricketers anyway.....
Pace master Dennis Lillie (AKA FOT or F**king Old Tart) at the top and the worlds best ever batsman "The Don" Donald Bradman at the bottom.
If standing outside the stadium and looking at the sheer size of the place is enough to make you giddy then inside is just as impressive.
This picture I particularly like because it reminds me of all those southwards facing smiles from the Aussie batsmen returning to the pavilion during the last Boxing day test... (Englands dismissed used the steps to the right)
The funny looking framework on the pitch is actually a halogen lighting system that aids the natural grass to grow in shaded areas of the pitch. Apparently it was developed by a Dutch guy who used the method to cultivate his tulips.............Yeah right !!! The only tulips that guy had we're firmly attached to his mouth and his bong.
Halfway through the tour we were taken out onto an balcony that gave great views of the Melbourne Park tennis centre where they hold the first of the worlds four major tennis events of the season the Australian Open and also give a wonderful chance to get a good picture of the Melbourne city skyline.
The rest of the tour took us round the changing rooms and other players areas and onto the media area where somehow I just so happened to sit in this seat.
Which was next to this seat.
Then it was into the MCC members club. Our guide was pointing out the dress code needed for the long room and used me as an example saying that I wouldn't be able to enter because I was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. I replied by saying "Oh good I thought it was just because I was only Englishman on the tour and we have the Ashes"......I couldn't resist.
All in all it was a very worthwhile tour but my favourite thing by far was just one photograph, the only one of it's kind in the world and the only negatives are held by the people in the picture or at least their family in the case of the elder statesman.
In mine and many others opinons the two greatest players that have ever graced the game - Sir Donald Bradman and the little wizard Sachin Tendulkar.
I wanted to get in a trip to the Queen Victoria market as well but as it's not held on a Wednesday that posed a bit of a problem however as luck would have it my buddies up in Caroline Springs suggested a trip the following day when it was open. What a place it is too, it's huge! Fruit and veg all over the place. Bundles of Meat, fish and dairy in the indoor part too with all kinds of other bit which mean't prezzies for my girls.
This was just one small part of it.
I want one of these at home.....I'd buy everything from there....in fact I'd probably live there :-)
It's my final night here in Australia but I'm hopeful I can come back soon with my girls so better start saving.
I wish it was me going to the airport tomorrow to welcome my girls here rather than it them be picking me up at Heathrow at 5:30am on Saturday morning but whatever the situation or location I just cannot wait to see them.
Toodlepip xxx
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