Signing off from Melbourne

This is our last day in Australia for this visit. We've had a good visit, filled with family events, wine tasting in beautiful vineyards, and days in the city to see the sights of Melbourne, explore the "lanes" (small alley-like streets with interesting shops and restaurants). Plus the marvelous exhibits at the NGV. 

Our Sunday brunch with Virginia's sister, Ling, and Ron at a converted Chapel was enjoyable.

Virginia, Michelle, Christine, David, Ling, and Ron. Christine is the mother of the new bride, and Michelle is a niece

After brunch, we visited Yi's father's grave at the Lilydale cemetery. Yee Chong How

And then a visit to Strathdon, the assisted living place where Virginia's mother, Lum Poyang, resides. 

That's all folks. Hope to see you in person soon. 

Ciao, 

David & Yi (aka Virginia)

Pot luck lunch with the relos

 Friday was Australia Day...more or less commerating the "discovery" of Australia by Captain Cook. It is not without controversy; some call it "Invasion Day". Similar to the arguments against celebrating Columbus Day in the USA. In any case, since it was a holiday, most of the relos (relatives) had the day off work, and were able to attend a pot luck dinner hosted by Virginia at the Justina Street house (Wadan and Joan's house). About a dozen relos attended...with lots of great food...Fijian, Chinese, and Maltese. The star of the show was Zara, Sid and Candice's daughter...only a few months old.

Candice, Yi, Zara, David, Sid

...and lots more family...

Only a few more days before we return to California, so we took advantage of another visit to the City. We returned to the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) /Ian Potter Centre to see more Australian Art. 

The collection has everything from Aborigine art/artifacts to Australian Impressionism to Surrealism, and Contempory artists/installations.  

Yvonne Audette's abstract expression "Journey to Light"

Frederick Robert's "The North Wind"

Tom McCubbin's "Shearing of the Rams"

In the City

We're staying in Blackburn, a suburb about 40minutes by train from central Melbourne. So we don't visit the city every day. But we spent. Few mornings in the city this week...re-visiting the Triennial exhibit at the NGV International, the NGV Ian Potter Centre, Alexander Park, and the Hellenic Museum.

Since the Triennial exhibit is so big, we had to visit it twice. An exhibit of Guo Pei's (China) haute couture designs were on the bizarre side, but interesting. Some pieces were inspired from Rennaissance era ceiling paintings depicting heavenly scenes in a Swiss church. All of the dresses are made from unique materials; one even glows in the dark. 

A few examples of Guo Pei designs

The NGV/Ian Potter Center is dedicated to Australian art. We saw an exhibit by contemporary artist Gareth Sanson. I guess you could say that his work is abstract expressionism; there are some obvious references to Picasso with the cubist tendencies...plus some surrealism...plus use of photos in a collage-like presentation. Add a dash...make that a truck load of British artist Francis Bacon, and some gender bending sexual references, and you have Gareth Sansom. 

Here's an example, The blue masked transvestite

The NGV Ian Potter Centre is a new building which looks like it could be used in a Star Wars scene. Steel and glass with many dizzying angles. See below.

The Big Event

The big event--Chris and Reanna's wedding--was on Saturday. A simple ceremony, with about 150 attendees, was staged at a Yarra Valley winery. The sparkling wine and Shiraz flowed freely, making for a fun-filled evening of tales, dancing, and joie de vivre. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Chris and Reanna, the new Mr. And Mrs. Caruana.

A pre-wedding visit to Strathdon

Strathdon is the assisted living place where Virginia's mother resides. The raison d'être of our visit to Australia was actually two-fold: to attend our Aussie nephew's wedding with Reanna, and to visit Virginia's mother (Lum Poyang) and family. So a visit to Strathdon Assisted Living was just the place to be yesterday since the future newly-weds were there to receive a special gift from Lum Poyang, who will not be able to attend the wedding on Saturday. 

Photo: Reanna, Lum Poyang, and Christopher.

...and a photo including Chris' parents and Chris' sister Michelle.

The Mornington Peninsula vineyards...and a slice of the Andes

The Mornington Peninsula is about an hour's drive south of Melbourne, and since it is surrounded by the sea, the climate is cooler and less variable...ideal for vineyards. We visited three wineries: Paradigm Hill, Yabby Lake Vineyards, and Port Phillip Estate. We were surprised to find some nice, crisp, and clean Sauvingnon Blanc wines...and even a well made and not too sweet Riesling. The area is also known for Pinot Noir; indeed, we found two or three that we enjoyed. Certainly different from the Burgundies that we are used to drinking, but well balanced. Our main take away is that many of the Australian wines in the US are from big producers from some of the hotter climates of Australia, and are light years away from these small producers in cooler climates. 

During our foray into the countryside, we were always on the lookout for kangaroos, but instead, we sighted some  Alpacas! 

Photo: The Port Phillip Estate

All strings attached

Melting Melbourne, at least for today and the next few days, is the new moniker for this fair city. Ninety degrees F today, 100 on Thursday, and 103 on Friday. It is, after all, summer DownUndah.

But we hit the road, that is, the bus and train, early to beat the heat. And lucky us, the National Gallery of Victoria's (NGV) Triennial exhibit is now on through April 15. Our two and a half hour visit just scratched the surface. Lots of intriguing installations. I won't string you along any further...just look at Pae White's colored strings installation. 

There was a similar exhibit at the Renwick gallery about 18 months ago. Enchanting.

Another blockbuster is the "Eternity-Buddha in Nirvana"

 by Xu Zhen (China). This monumental installation combines replicas of a huge Buddha with classical & Renaissance western sculptures. One of the western sculptures is "The Dying Gaul", which was shown at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. a few years ago. The original Hellenistic sculpture (late 3rd century BCE) is lost, but a Roman copy is in the Capitoline Museum in Rome. You may also recognize some replicas of Michelangelo. While the Buddah is serene, many of the western sculptures are like action figures. I'm not sure, but I think the figure on the far right is Hercules. We could use him now to clear out a certain stable at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Another artist that may sound familiar is Yayoi Kusama...from her exhibit at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. At the Triennial, the "Flower Obsession" installation is a re-created apartment that has everything covered in flowers. And each visitor is given a stick- on flower to add to the walls, furniture, fixtures, etc. 

Artist Hassan Hahjaj's "Noss Noss" is a Moroccan street-style space in the NGV  cafeteria. And within this area is a studio space with a camera to do self portraits. Here's one of Virginia and me. 

What was the question?

Another beautiful day...just right for a trip to the wine country. The Yarra valley is only about a half hour drive from Blackburn where we are staying (east of Melbourne). The cooler climate, due to the higher altitude of the mountains, is well suited for the Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and other white wines, plus Pinot Noir. 

The first winery we visited, Helen's Hill, had a very nice, dry sparkling wine, as well as a clean tasting Pinot Grigio. As you can see from the sign that greets you, they are serious about wine.

We've been lucky to have Wadan, my brother-in-law, volunteer to be our designated driver on our wine tour. Here's a photo of Joan, Wadan, and Virginia at one of the wineries. 

And a few more photos of us at various wineries in the Yarra Valley...Helen's Hill, Oak Ridge, and Punt Road.

Conclusion: A Mellow Day in the Yarra Valley.

No koala in this eucalyptus tree

A big beautiful eucalyptus tree in the back yard of our relos (relatives) house. Although there are no koalas in the tree, there are loads of lorakeet and kookaburras to serenade us. Bonus item: it's summer here, so it stays light until about 9:30 pm!

At the Qantas counter

Our trip aboard Tesloop was great...the trip was about 2 hours 10 minutes. The pilot, Ryan, was Australian...from Melbourne! Checking in soon...and perhaps some sleep tonite on the Airbus 380.

How to loose a weekend

DATELINE
CASA SOMERA, PALM DESERT—Easy. Just leave California on Saturday evening, January 13, and arrive in Melbourne, Australia on Monday, January 15. And as usual, when we leave our desert paradise, it’s always the most beautiful day of the the past month (but don’t take this as a complaint).

We’re trying a new mode of transport from Palm Desert to LAX...Tesloop. Tesla cars driven by a pilot...at $49-59 per passenger. Glad we will have a driver. We’ll see how it goes. Next stop...LAX...then Mellow Melbourne.