L and I took the family on a short campervan holiday to Far North Queensland. We flew into Cairns and headed up to Cape Tribulation for a rainforest stay, then drove around the Atherton Tablelands before spending a couple of night on the coast at Ellis Beach. One of our memorable activities was swimming at Josephine Falls pictured above. Just lovely…

There wasn’t time or $$ to traverse the whole of the Australian wine styles on offer, but I thought to try a number of examples that I wouldn’t get to taste at home from the local Bottle-O.

Evans & Tate Metricup Road Chardonnay Margaret River 2016 – $$
We have liked their Big&Buttery Chardonnay in the past. This is pale brilliantine straw colour. 13% alc. Lovely acidity and oiliness. Light and lean fruit. Crisp. Apples and melons on nose.

Langmeil Blockbuster Shiraz Barossa 2015 – $$
I really enjoyed wines from this producer from a showcase tasting a few years back. This is meaty and rich. Cacao. Cardboard box. Fine tannins. Expansive. Licorice and spice. Delicious.

Mount Pleasant Singing in the Rain Rose Hunter Valley 2016 – $$
Bitter mandarine nose. Phenols. Sweet entry. Thin. Grassy note.

Devil’s Corner Pinot Noir Tasmania 2016 – $$
Lightly scented herby and savoury notes. Good fruit weight. Fine tannins. Drying. Simple and straightforward. Not a patch on a NZ Pinot, alas.

Leeuvin Estate Art Series Riesling Margaret River 2016 – $$$
Fresh crisp and clean aromas of citrus and apples. Dry and lean and flinty. Flavours of citrus and grapes. Elegant. Short. Mouthwatering acid finish. A great wine to end our holiday

We could’t escape a good clean Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc. This was enjoyed with fresh prawns and Moreton Bay bugs on the Antonia, moored wharfside as the Prawn Star Cafe in the Cairns Marina. A magic meal!

Off Topic – Wynns Coonawarra Riesling, by the glass, on Circular Quay

No sooner was I back from Fiji, but I had to fly to Sydney to inspect a new client’s office premises.

After a whirlwind morning and afternoon session of meetings, walk-arounds, note-taking and photograph-making, I found myself back on the street outside the client’s building, finished, and with a couple of hours free before I was due to check-in at Kingsford-Smith Airport for the sleepy-eye back to Wellington.

So I headed for Circular Quay. I took the usual touristic pictures of the bridge and Jørn Utzon’s famous sails. I watched a piano accordion player accost the ears of passers-by with his (deliberate, I think) atrociously out-of-key playing.  I watched the yellowing and green passenger ferries come steaming headlong in to crash-stop at the docks, and watched the heavy wash from their reversing propellers heave and surge against the massive timber barriers that bulwarked the quayside. I watched meandering groups of aimless Maroons stink the place out, filling in their own time before Origin Game 2 kicked off.

Finally, I settled down at City Extra, below Circular Quay Railway Station, with a glass of Wynns Coonawarra Riesling, and watched the local world walk on by for a bit. I don’t recall anything about the wine. The waitress offered to go find out for me about the vintage, but I said, it’s ok, no worries.