Pretty soon after coming home Tim was being sent down to Shepparton, Victoria for work. Since I had some free time we decided to make a little road-trip out of it. We drove down on the long weekend, then had one weekend in the middle and one at the end to explore. During the week days I would get to know Shepparton and just chill out on a country escape.
In the morning of public holiday Sunday we woke up to get ready for the trip. We had a lot on so we decided to get some incredibly lovely coffee at Maldini's Espresso in Strathfield along with a steak and mushroom pie for me and a cheese and bacon pie for Tim from the local bakery. The pies were nothing to rave about, but it was unwittingly the start of our pie journey along the rest of the road-trip.
After the pies Tim went to pick up the car from Hertz and he got back in great spirits with a bright blue SUV. It may not have a lot of power but it was at least big and comfy for the long drive.
So once we got the car packed with all our luggage - the great benefit of car versus air travel! - we were on our way. It was good to leave later on the Sunday since the traffic was good. Also, having only planned the details of the trip that morning we didn't have a reservation for the night yet. We wanted to stop at Tumut, New South Wales so we called the Best Western Motel Farrington and asked if they had vacancies. An older woman had answered the phone and let us know that they did. We asked if we needed to book in advanced or could we just turn up. She chuckled as she let us know there was no need to book ahead, only to arrive before 8:00 pm when the reception would be closing that night.
The deadline was no problem, we estimated we would arrive between 5:00 and 6:00 pm. The problem was that we did not realise the sun would set at 4:45 pm and it would be pitch black by 5:00 pm! To get to Tumut we had to exit the highway and take a very curvy and hilly road with roadwork in the dark for 45 minutes. Tim was getting a little on edge on the somewhat perilous road and said he was also beginning to think we had made a bad choice in choosing Tumut as our first destination. "What if there is nothing there?" he asked. I told him about some of the lovely places I had googled while he was collecting the car. "What if they are closed for the public holiday or close early like the Motel?" I doubted this since city people come to these places for the long weekend.
We finally arrive at around 5:30 pm (perfect timing), and checked in with no problem. It really was a no-frills motel but they had lovely customer service and were very nice and helpful with all our questions / requests. So with their directions we headed out for an early dinner at around 6:30 towards the Oriental Hotel which was only a 15 minute walk.
It was a lovely classic Australian Pub but with a revitalised, loved feeling to it. Starting with the huge Brumby Sculpture on the side of the building, following through to the warming fire in the hearth of the the Hotel and ending with the very attentive family feel to the service. So once we walked it seemed like most of the town was gathered there to dine or party. We had to excuse ourselves as we squeezed past a boisterous crew having drinks at the bar who wanted us to join them. We went straight to the Bistro line, I think I accidentally pushed in front of two other people but they insisted that we were there first and of course we had to go before them. Everyone was so friendly, it was almost unnerving.
As we waited in line we perused the menu and were most impressed with the selection of Beef which was sourced 15 km from the hotel where it is grass grazed by local farmer and then locally butchered in town. Incidentally Tim and I just watched Food Inc this weekend and we had this sort of thing in mind and we were discussing it on the way down. Our food industry is thankfully not so bad as USA but doesn't mean we are not headed that way. So that is why we were also very happy to be supporting the local farmer and industry especially for a cow grown in ethical conditions and eating it's natural diet : grass. But I digress. We also ordered local smoked trout from Mount Kosciusko region. Tim was not sure if he would like it, but it was so beautifully fresh and flavoursome that we both really enjoyed it.
So after our delicious dinner we enjoyed some lovely fortified port which was also very good but then just had an early night since we still had a big day ahead the next day to complete the journey to Shepparton.
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