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Late last year Penfolds held an online White Wine Master Class with chief white winemaker Kym Schroeter. I invited a few friends along to share the wines with me. I emailed Kym to thank him and say what a great night it was and would he be interested in doing…

So its official, we are ‘with Staffy’ again – after about a four year time since our Kauri died, we now have Myrtle. Why Myrtle you ask – Well one reason because Milton’s preferred name “Brown Eyed Girl” was too long to call out on the beach and open to…

The 2017 autumn leek-off at the Duke of Brunswick Hotel was one of the best in the Howard Twelftree Memorial Cook-off’s illustrious history. Great turn-out, top entries and our judge Cath Kerry was on fire. Not only was Cath incisive and entertaining about the food, BUT she also gave us…

On previous visits to Madrid, we had heard much about Huelva. It is the southern city, about a six hour drive from Madrid. Bea’s mum Pilar was born there and it’s also a place which Ventura, Bea’s dad really loved. We had always hoped to visit it with him. Spanish…

London Arrived in London some what wilted after a long flight on almost full plane – no chance of upgrades ….. Great to see Patrick and Caroline, who were once again fantastic hosts in their beautiful Richmond home. Patrick always keen to open something interesting for us to try ;…

THE BUILD-UP: For the first-ever Beirut End Sport and Food Festival, the message was loud and clear, thanks to the brilliant chalk art of Heather Glynn. DAY ONE: The piste was in perfect shape, the sky was blue, the company lively – the ultimate Adelaide spring afternoon. LADIES DAY: The…

Food writer Nigel Hopkins came down from the Hills with boiling oil. Lisa and Derek Michalanney came up from Glenelg with sausage rolls. Ralph the Curry King suddenly materialised after 30 years in Libya and other distant climes. Would another Derek, the serial winner “Fluffy” Robertson, have the ticker to…

Howard, as in Twelftree and John McGrath the eatin’ and drinkin’ critic, was a lifelong stirrer : Words Lance Campbell That’s why our seasonal South West City community cooking competition is called the Howard Twelftree Memorial Stir. The perpetual trophy is a silver stirrer. The first seven seasonal cook-offs at…

On the road again, heading out from New Orleans to Natchez, on the Mighty Mississippi for a bit of history..our generous tour guide Julie at the helm, Milt at the wheel on the wrong side of the road….luckily the stormy weather had cleared up. Natchez was a centre for the slave…

If ya enjoy music and feasting :  Ya gotta get to New Orleans for Jazz Fest.. After three wonderful days at Jazz Fest we woke this morning to rain. It was a bit more than a shower, locally described to us by many as a severe storm, a tornado, and…

If you like food and wine – ya just gotta’ get yourself to Spain. Did you know Spain has 7 restaurants in the worlds top 50, we even ate in one un-beknown to us at the time. That’s us above in a Sam Wordley iPhone snap at Arzak in San…

Greetings The trip is going well. Started off exceptionally well with a points upgrade, which Anne Marie put to good use. After two glasses of ‘Charles Heidsieck’ off to bed for a 7 hour sleep ! love those pyjamas !! Also very comfortable for working…between us we transcribed and did the first…

We have talked about it for years : and finally did it last month. We bought a beach shack. Well Anne Marie did actually. No bank is going to give a 63 year old freelance Photographer winding down his career a home loan. Apart from a quick look at it on…