Christmas on the rails.

Last night we attended the Maldon and Castlemaine Visitor Information Centre’s Christmas Party.  It was the Maldon Centre’s turn to host the party and Leigh organised to incorporate the Victorian Goldfields Railway into the party.  The plan was for the Maldon volunteers to meet Leigh at the Maldon Station, take a steam train to Castlemaine to pick up the other group of volunteers and then return half-way to Muckleford Station for a dinner.  We were waiting at the station for about an hour as the train we were supposed to take blew a compressor.  This is the one half of the conversation Leigh heard: “It’s blown a compressor… How bad’s that on a scale of 1 to 10?… 13?… oh.”

The staff at the Maldon station were very helpful and we soon had a new engine and were on our way.  Leigh had made up posters warning the volunteers of bush rangers who had been spotted in the area and to keep a close eye out.  As we were about to leave Castlemaine with a full train it was attacked by the felonious “Black Douglas” and his accomplice “Moriarty” who had just kidnapped the (in)famous Lola Montez!  Unfortunately they robbed all the volunteers of their Kris Kringle presents and made their escape however the presents later turned up, probably when they realised the loot was only worth $5.00 a piece!  Even still, with over 100 volunteers in attendance that’s a lot of cheap gifts!!

Leigh’s panic over catering for such large numbers was unjustified as everyone seemed to get a good sized meal at Muckleford.  Wendy provided a roast pumpkin and couscous  salad which was devoured very quickly!  We were indebted to Arthur & Lyn Chapple from Chapple’s Cairn Curran Winery who not only donated bottles of their very fine wine (which vanished rather quickly…) but also the use of their portable cool room.  As a token of thanks we held a raffle of two bottles of their wine to raise funds for a men’s health night at the Maldon Masonic Lodge in the new year.  This was a great success and raised $170 for this great cause and was a fitting end to finish off the night.

Below is a selection of images throughout the evening in chronological order… Merry Christmas!

Volunteers waiting at the Maldon Station

“How bad is it on a scale of 1 to 10… …13… Ahh.”

Volunteers in the Tambo Car

Debbie and Leigh serving drinks

Restored second class car

Wendy & Debbie slacking off!

Look out!

Black Douglas, Lola Montez & Moriarty

Sunset at the Muckleford Goods Shed

Paul getting ready to drive home

Presenting Arthur with the proceeds of our raffle

Leigh thanking everyone

Ode to the Haggis!

Last night we were fortunate enough to attend St Andrews Day celebrations at the historic Maldon Penny School Gallery & Cafe. St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and the feast of St Andrew is held on the 30 November (more info about St Andrew can be found here).

After a short stroll to the Penny School, we were greeted at the petanque piste by the sound of pipes and a complimentary dram (one of many throughout the evening!). Before long the old school ground was filled with tartan from many clans and we were soon piped into the building to start the festivities.

The building was very well decorated inside with beautiful table settings and St Andrew’s flag bunting adorning the ceiling. The Penny School does a fantastic job at pulling out all the stops for these events – hats off to Barry and Marilyn! There is a real air of history in the building, and rightly so as the building is classified by the National Trust and Heritage Victoria. It was build as a multi-denominational school during the gold rush and it is believed the name “Penny School” comes from the cost of tuition. Depending on how lucky the parents were on the goldfields ultimately decided on how much education a child received…

After being shown to our table we were witness to the “Ode of the Haggis” with a fantastic poetry reading by local poet Richard “Skreitch” Leech after which the Haggis was paraded around the room before being carved and served. It was a great tasting dish, nice and spicy and it really hit the spot with a local Blue Pyrenees Estate Viognier!

The main course was a true Scottish buffet with dishes which would appeal to anyone – the roast beef with whiskey gravy was a great success. Desert of summer pudding followed which was made with sumptuous berries which were tart and balanced the dish very well. Between courses we were treated to Scottish and Australian bush poetry and a few songs about the ol’ country. We finished the night with shortbread, chocolate thistles and a serving of Atholl Brose, a mixture of oatmeal, honey, and whisky. Legend has it that the Duke of Atholl overcame his enemies, during a Highland rebellion in 1745, by filling their well with this intoxicating mixture and after a the amount of food plied on us we can see how this could be the case!

After a chorus of Auld Lang Syne we wandered back home and were greeted by our well trimmed hedges and garden lights, not to mention Rex who seemed to forgive us for leaving him on his lonesome for a few hours. I don’t even feel guilty for having a sleep in this morning…

Palm House included in top 52 accommodation destinations!

Today Palm House was included in the annual The Age – Good Weekend magazine’s top 52 accommodation destinations!  The phone has been ringing all day which must mean people agree with the publication’s endorsement.  We realise that we promised more photos of the garden but this was exciting enough to take preference.

Rex in the car

After getting up early to intercept the paper we headed to Bendigo to purchase some essentials for our renovations – Leigh hit the hardware shop like a mad thing while Wendy brought some pull cords for the new energy efficient downlight’s we’ve installed in the servant’s quarters.  Another suprise purchase was an antique desk for  upstairs which we were lucky enough to get our hands on before it was restored.  Talk about a snap purchase!

Aside form this news, we took Rex to the annual Castlemaine Sheep-dog trials today (you wouldn’t know he was excited from the photo to the right!).  He met a lot of Boarder Collies who were doing their job but he seemed content to sit down and lap up attention from other Boarder Collie owners.  After today it seems certain Rex will have a new friend to play with soon…

Grow Me The Money Public Report Launch

Grow Me The Money

We were recently invited to attend Grow Me The Money’s 18 month public report launch in Melbourne. As part of the launch, Palm House B&B and 19 other businesses were chosen to produce “Testimonial Boards”. A professional photographer was sent to us and got some superb shots of our environmentally sustainable practices. These images were reproduced on our testimonial board and in the report itself. One of the other businesses chosen to produce a board was fellow Maldon Taste of Gold member – Zen Eden, a fantastic organic cafe and produce store.

The report was very well attended by participants of the Grow Me The Money program as well as the Hon. Gavin Jennings – Minister for the Environment, Mick Bourke – Chairman of EPA Victoria and Wayne Kayler-Thomson – CEO VECCI. Putting the VIPs to one side, we found it was great putting faces to all the people in the program we’ve been working with since we joined Grow Me The Money.

We’re very proud to have our achievements recognised by Grow Me The Money and will continue to work through the program to reduce our businesses imapct on the environment.

Taste of Gold Members Event

Wine-ding up the Taste of Gold Members Event

We just got back from the Taste of Gold Maldon & Beyond Trail members event held at Lake Cairn Curran Vinyard. It was a great chance for members to see the vineyard as well as have a relaxed dinner with other businesses whom we don’t often get to see. Everyone came with a dish (Wendy made her famous tomato tarts and French pizza slices, Leigh stuffed mushrooms) and the resulting spread was a great example of all our region’s food and wine.