Marvellous Mildura

I spent my Easter break and a few days extra in Mildura, a town about 1hour flight from Melbourne or a seven hours drive. It's known for orange orchards, grapevines and the Murray River - one of the longest river's in Australia. The weather during this time of the year is always gorgeous - it even got to 29C.
The very famous Italian-Australian, Stefano De Pieri , has a renowned restaurant, Stefano's, located in the cellar of the Grand Hotel. We had an intimate dinner in a very rustic setting and were served a seven-course degustation. His food is simple Italian with a focus on fresh local ingredients. Melburnians fly to Mildura for the weekend just to dine at his restaurant - it truly is that good. He also has a Cafe/Bakery and adjoining gallery as well as his own range of food products and Italian-style wines. http://www.stefano.com.au/
We saw a great exhibition in Stefano's gallery by Philip Hunter which were studies for his paintings. The colours are very earthy and the imagery at first looks like landscapes but they twist and mould into different shapes that sometimes look like marine life. http://tiny.cc/03nUz

Autumn leaves

Autumn has set in. The leaves have turned from green to yellow to deep red. It's my favourite time of the year - maybe because I was born in May, married in April and had my daughter in May. Crisp mornings with clean air that when you breathe it in, it fills your lungs with a sense of purity and feeling truly alive. Then we're blessed with early evenings with the scent of wood burning fires and beautiful pink skies that I never tire of.