Bells at Killcare, Australia

May 2013

 

 We've been to Bells for dinner about three times over the years but I've never blogged about it.

The food is fabulous, the service casual and the portions generous.

The a la carte menu is seasonal and Bells utilises the vegetable garden on their property as much as possible.

They bring a bowl of olives and bread to start, the bread keeps DH happy, and the olives keep me happy.

We started with the antipasto - cured and preserved meats

Preserved and cured meats - prosciutto, pancetta, sopressa served with pickled vegetables $28

For mains we both had the red meat, DH had the beef and I had the lamb, both were nicely cooked and delicious.

Grilled Cape Grim Beef $50

Roast Spring Lamb with Brussel Sprouts $48

To complement our mains we have the rocket and parmesan salad and the green beans.

Rocket and Parmesan salad $14 and Green Beans with Parsley and Garlic $14

Unfortunately there was no room for dessert, but there's always next time...

Boy Charlton Pool Cafe, Sydney

May 2013

We had a late brunch at Boy Charlton Pool Cafe on a nice sunny day in May.

The serving sizes were generous.

DH and my father had the poolside breakfast, which was like a big breakfast option, Eggs, Bacon, Chorizo, Mushrooms, Roast Tomato and Sourdough Toast.

Poolside Breakfast $19.50

I had the Vegetarian Breakfast which was Eggs, Mushrooms, Avocado, Feta, Roast Tomato and a side of Bacon...

Vegetarian Breakfast $19 with a side of Bacon

It was definitely a great place for breakfast and we'll have to put it on the list to try for lunch one day.

Blue Woolloomolloo, Sydney

May 2013

I've always wanted to stay at the Blue Woolloomolloo (it use to be a W), and it was the perfect place to stay pre the She Runs the Night 10K.

Located in a renovated Wool and Cargo facility on the "quieter" side of Sydney harbour, I loved how a lot of the old structure remained to remind us of its history.

We stayed in the Loft Room and it was large, with 1.5 baths!

Of course an added advantage is that its located right next store to Harry's Cafe de Wheels, which made a great post race meal

Wollgan Valley, NSW, Australia: The resort

March 2013

The Wolgan Valley Resort is a whole lot more than a stunning room.

The lobby

The bar

The dinning room

The Heritage Homestead and Garden

The country kitchen

The pool

The "grounds"

Other areas

She Runs the Night, Centennial Park, Sydney

May 2013

This was a female only 10K night run, 6000 females in fact. It was very empowering ;)

They had a wall at the start/finish with all the participants names on it, it made me a little bit emotional.

It was a really fun race, with tons of cool things along the course.

This year was a 10K, last year was a 13K. To be honest I was initially disappointed in the shorter course, but on the day I decided it was perfect, not too much of a challenge which allowed you to have more fun!

My favourite part was at the end, when the screen had the cats follow you to the finish line.

 I can't wait to do the race again next year, hopefully my sister will have started running by then and we can run it together.

PS. Did I mention my PB of 66 min, last year I ran the 9K Sydney Bridge Run in 72 min, not a bad improvement for adding an extra km!

Wolgan Valley, NSW, Australia: Activities

March 2013

One advantage over Wolgan Valley vs. some of the other luxury accommodation we've stayed at was the included activities. It was easy to choose daily from a list or simply do nothing.

Horse riding: You have the choice of arena riding, trail riding or a carriage ride depending on your experience. We chose the carriage ride as I'd injured my arm on the Thursday night before leaving.

Bike riding: I'm not much of a rider but DH loved his early morning guided bike ride

Nature Walks: Not too strenuous but takes you through the valley with some fantastic views

Wildlife tour: Occurs at 5:30 pm. The main attraction is the wallabies, wallaroos, kangaroos and the famous albino wallaroos (there are five in the area, we saw 2, one up close)

Night wildlife spotting: Leave at 9:30 pm. The main attraction is the wombats. We saw at least a dozen. It with the albino wallaroo above was one of the highlights

Hang by the pool/spa (or swim in it): Once again each chair has a great view, it gets sun most of the day and even with kids around was a quiet place to chill.

Go for a private run/walk/bike ride: We choose a run by ourselves one afternoon, the view was again stunning

Lounge in your room: Its spacious and does have the plunge pool after all