Oh yeah Spring and moving forward

I’ve recently spent a week in Dunedin and I just love the Spring there. It is so different from Tarras and after two years of planting our garden it is looking lush. I did return with a bucket of Tulips and filled the house with colour! We were thrilled to make the best seasonal plant sale at the Botanical gardens on Sunday the 16th and a chance to walk in the Rhododendron dell which always looks stunning at this time of the year.

I started this newsletter 2 weeks ago while sitting in the morning sun watching the farmer across the river endlessly tilling his fields which seems to go on for weeks, as this is such a busy time of the year for farmers. He will be planting a fodder crop soon ready for the visiting cows next winter. Fast forward a week and I am now back sitting in the same spot. All of a sudden the grass has come through and it looks green across the river.

We have an unexpected pheasant visiting at the moment – he sauntered past the bedroom window this morning. Plus we have Mum and Dad Quail who pick the bugs from the gravel. I hope to see some babies soon. The worst aspect of having a house with lots of windows is the number of birds that fly into the glass. Our cats are well behaved when it comes to birds but I never thought the windows would claim so many.

We have had lots of Tulips flowering over the past month and I am so thrilled to see last years have multiplied. Consequently, an abundance of orange along with white in the white border and black in the Lilac bed! I know it’s a bit much. I am busy nurturing thousands of seeds in our new greenhouse so the summer garden is bound to be quite full this year.

At the beginning of the month I returned to the kitchen and taught a class for 5 days at the Bannockburn Arts School. It was called ‘Travels in my Kitchen’ and each day I focused on a different country. Turning a school camp kitchen into a work place was somewhat challenging. But, it was smartened up with pots of herbs, bowls of ingredients, flowers and the Cromwell Polytech equipment (which I couldn’t have done without.) Before starting to cook the daily set of recipes we enjoyed a chat over coffee with a biscuit, followed by a powerpoint and demonstration. After everything was prepared we ending up sitting around a table eating lunch with a glass of wine. I had the best group of women and the week was fun revisiting regional New Zealand, Italy, France, Turkey and back to Central Otago .

Travels 2023

Covid has certainly changed our world and travel has been hit extremely hard. The difficulty of restrictions, travellers contracting the virus, the closure of hotels, the changes in bus companies, the nightmare of missing luggage, plus the huge increase in costs has made me consider the future of taking tours. However, as time progresses the difficulties are getting easier and after nearly 20 years of hosting tours I am missing it terribly. Consequently, I have been researching and I am ready to depart as I know many of you are.

17th April – 1st May – Victoria, Australia

I have visited Victoria several times over the past two years and I’ve planned a 15-day tour into the regions cute little towns and the countryside that wraps around Melbourne during Autumn 2023. Based on gardens and food we will visit Melbourne, Yarra Valley, Daylesford, Grampians, Ballarat and return to Melbourne. The tour runs from the 17th April – 1st May and is now full. I am getting lots of enquiries and I am thinking of offering the same tour on the back of the first.

If you are interested in looking at the itinerary please email me and I’ll send you the details. If I have enough interest I will look into hotel and restaurant bookings.

Late August 2023 – Turkey

I am talking to Alison and Hasan about returning to Turkey. I miss this fabulous journey from Istanbul to Cappadocia. The outstanding food, culture and history makes this a must in a lifetime trip. This tour is going to have a new twist and will include the Foodie regions of the East around Hayer and Gaziantep.

15 – 30th September 2023 – Italy

Unfortunately, here is where I’ve had to make changes. My bus company has lost many drivers including my lovely Alberto and Daniele, the owner of the bus company can only travel in Italy. My mentor, friend and amazing guide Charles can no longer travel since his darling wife Lissa has had a life changing stoke. Not to mention the risk of travelling from one place to the next if someone becomes infected with Covid.

Consequently, for 2023 I am about to confirm a very gorgeous Villa in the Val D’Orcia countryside in Tuscany for 7 days. It comes with beautiful facilities including a swimming pool. From here, we will do day trips to the surrounding iconic countryside, villages and cities. My fabulous friend Alessandro will cook for us each night, plus he will teach some of his favourite Italian recipes. Prior to the week in Tuscany my plan is to spend 7-8 days in Rome and the Amalfi Coast.

Despite the trip being in its very early stages of planning, word is already out and I have 8 people wanting on the tour. I will be working on an itinerary and a very rough estimate for this tour over the next week. If you want on the ‘interested’ list please get back to me.

I know many of you are itching to travel and hopefully one of these tours will work in your favour. I am still in the early stages of planning but over the next month I should have detailed itineraries.

Best wishes,

Judith

Ps: We got to go to our local ‘Esplanade’ for pizza and salad in Dunedin – our favourite and so delicious!