Chris and I outside of cottage

View from the Mountain to Berry

Interesting art work @ Kangaroo Valley

Grand, Mum and Aunty Ro

We took it easy on our last day in Berry, we woke up late and Chris prepared breakfast again. We packed our bags and decided to take some photos before we leave. We said good bye to the owner and head off to Kangaroo Valley. The weather was perfect on the last day – blue clear sky with some white clouds.  We stopped by at Kangaroo Valley for some ice-cream and looked around the shops.

We then drove towards to Moss Vale and bought take away pasta for lunch. I was so hungry that I was eating the pasta in the car while Chris was driving because we wanted to go to Bundanoon to visit Chris’ Aunty and Uncle. Chris’ parents also happened to be in Bundanoon to pick up Grand that afternoon to drive her back to Canberra. So it was a good opportunity for us to catch up with all of them before they head off. After the visit, we drove back to Canberra together and Chris & I ended our Babymoon trip.

Breakfast

The cottage

Chris and I

Alexander Berry statue

We slept in on the second day, and Chris got up and cooked me the country breakfast that it was included in our package. The ingredients were enough for two days and they all from the local produce, including the owner’s chicken’s eggs, local bakery’s sour-dough bread, home-made jam, fresh berry’s flavoured yoghurt, fresh milk and bacon… the kitchen were very well equipped and it was pleasant to cook in the cottage.

Lunch @ Sourdough Cafe

After breakfast, we relaxed a little around the cottage and the outdoor area. It was a sunny day so the scenery was even better than the day when we arrived (it was raining on Day 1.) We walked around the little pond and enjoyed the fresh air. Then we decided to check out the shops in Berry as Berry has few famous antique shops around. I like Berry very much as it has plenty to see and many old buildings that are kept in good conditions.

Dessert - chocolate tart, sour cherry, organic rye bread icecream

We went to the famous Sourdough Cafe for lunch, I ordered “lamb neck croquettes, dijon mustard, radish, orange and watercress salad” and Chris ordered “berkshire pork belly, fennel puree, cauliflower and parsley salad, onion rings, eshallot vinaigrette” and a side dish of “roasted root vegetables with rocket and walnuts” to share. To finish off, we had a chocolate tart for dessert. This restaurant is highly recommended, however they are always busy so make sure you go there early for a table.

After lunch, we drove towards the coast to a little town called Shoalhaven Heads, but it wasn’t much there so we drove further to Gerroa. The beach there was very nice but it was too cold to swim. So we only walked around the beach and enjoyed the salted wind.

After Gerroa, we decided to drive to the opposite direction to Nowra – one of the biggest town centre located South-west of Berry.

We wanted to see if they have any good restaurant for dinner but

At Gerroa

Hi bub!

after driving around Nowra, we decided it was a shit-hole and drove back to Berry for dinner instead.

I went to Hungry Duck for dinner on the second night, we initially booked this restaurant on our first night, but they didn’t check their phone message so we ended up with no table. This time, we called and make sure they answered the phone and luckily got a table on Sunday night.  Hungry Duck serves fusion modern Asian cuisine. I personally thought that this restaurant was quite expensive for its food. We ordered 5 courses and they were:

1. Crab ravioli, seaweed salad and soy vinaigrette
2. Duck three ways – duck spring roll, rare caramelised breast and a crispy sichuan peppered leg
3. Caramelised wagyu brisket, star anise, cassia & blood orange
4. Fried rice with aged chorizo
5. Stir fried green beans with garlic chives and cashews

Duck three ways

The above dishes costed us around A$105 without drinks and we weren’t satisfy, so we went to the local IGA and purchased some cheese and crackers then went back to the cottage for supper while watching DVD.

That was our last night at Berry!

Back in October 2011, Canberra had two long weekends in a roll. First long weekend was the Labour Day which was National wide, and the second long weekend was the Family and Community Day which was only applied to Canberra (to replace the Melbourne Cup Public Holiday). I wanted to well use of these opportunities to relax a bit so I decided to do some research and see if I can get away from Canberra for a long weekend.  I have been told by number of friends saying that Kangaroo Valley is very beautiful and it is only about 2 hours drive from Canberra so I started research accommodation around that area. I ended up booking Frangipani Cottage in Jaspers Brush for 2 nights at stayz.com.au for AUD450.00, including full breakfast provisions, a bottle of local wine and a welcome cheese platter.

On 8 October 2011, we left home at around 10:30am and drove out of Canberra. It was a good day, it wasn’t too sunny so Chris enjoyed driving (no sunburn on his arms) It also was our first time to drive our new Forrester on a 110km zone and Chris was very excited to test the 6th gear. The ride was very smooth and we soon arrived in Goulburn’s McDonald for some lunch.

Driving from Canberra

5 months pregnant

Chris @ Kangaroo Valley

Frangipani Cottage

Outside of the Cottage

Cottage photo 1

Cottage photo 2

Cottage photo 3

Cottage photo 4

Little pond outside of the cottage

Dinner @ The Posthouse in Berry

Chris' main: Classic dish Pork Belly with potato and greens

Mendy's main: Duck confit with spinach risotto

After that we drove pass Moss Vale, Fitzory Falls and then arrived in Kangaroo Valley. I initially wanted to check out their Farmers’ Market but we arrived too late and they were already closing. So we only stopped by at the information centre at the local bowling club for some fresh air and toilet break. We noticed that the scenery has changed dramatically as it was much greener than Canberra. The owner of the cottage Lynda told us that they had some good rain for the past weeks so Berry will be very beautiful when we arrived. It was also very closed to the Berry Garden Festival so we definitely chose the right time to visit.

I was 5 months pregnant at that time and feeling great! I wasn’t to big yet and energy level was very good. The only down side was that I can’t drink and have soft cheese that Lynda has prepared for us.

Frangipani Cottage is located between the hills in Jaspers Brush, about 5-10 minutes drive to Berry’s town. It was very close but yet very peaceful location. Chris loves the hills and different colour of greens and he said he felt relaxed right away!

The Cottage is separate from the owner’s main house so we have 100% privacy!  The owner used to live in the cottage when they were building their dream home so the cottage was very well equipped and spacious. You can tell the owner has good taste as the decor was very modern but yet still kept a bit of country. Chris and I relaxed and played some board games in the room and enjoyed our welcome cheese platter and local wine (I enjoyed the local water) for the rest of the afternoon…

Chris and I were hungry by 5pm as we only had McDonald for lunch, so we decided to drive to Berry to check out the restaurants. Berry’s town area is very easy to get around as there is only one main street. It seems quite big for a little country town and had plenty of good quality restaurants around. We went to The Posthouse at the end of the street and immediately order a serve of garlic bread as both of us were starving! The garlic bread was very nice and crispy! We were so tempted to order second serve but we decided to share another entrée instead. It sounded very “East meet West” so we ordered it, I couldn’t remember the actual name but it was basically cabbage leave with mince beef filling and melted cheese on top. It was very delicious!

Chris is a big sucker for pork belly so every time there is a pork belly dish on the menu he must ordered it, there was so exception in the Posthouse. And I felt like red meat so I chose Duck confit with spinach risotto… Normally restaurant like this will only serve one duck confit. But no! They served two! It was huge and I thought I couldn’t finished it, but if you have a big husband like Chris, he will finish it off for you… no problem It was a good dinner and we went back to our cottage early for some relaxing time, watched a DVD and went to bed early… because we will have a full day tomorrow!

31 Oct 2009 is our last day of our honeymoon trip. We got up and had our buffet breakfast, becuase Chris and I will travel long hours later on, we decided to eat more during breakfast. We caught a bus to the Hakodate Train Station, exchanged the express train U seat tickets and decided to go over to the fish market nearby while we are waiting for the express train. There were a lot of squid product, other seafood and fruit. I ended up buying some fruit; lunch and some last minute gifts before we board our express train to the Airport. We departed Hakodate at around 11am and arrived in Sapporo at around 2:50pm. We checked in our luggage and went directly to our boarding gate. I was a little upset because I was going to do some more last minute shopping at the airport and we went to the gate instead. So I spent some yens on chips and lollies instead.

That’s our honeymoon trip, it was good however Chris was unwell from Day 2, poor Chris…

We still got quite a bit of yen left so we definitely will be back to Japan in some stage!!

Chris and I caught a tram into town after our buffet breakfast. We first visited the landmark of Hakodate – Goryokaku Tower. The tower has the lookout which you can see 360° around Hakodate, it also shows the history of Hakodate and Toshizo Hijikata, and how they designed the fortress. Around the tower, there are parks within Goryokaku, there are plenty of red leaves there, very pretty!

After Goryokaku, Chris and I took a walk to the harbour area to have a look at some more buildings, which has converted into food markets and tourist attractions. We stopped by at this Japanese fast food chain called “Lucky Pierrot”, and had Chicken Burger and Curry Pork Rice, Chris’ favouite!

We then returned to the hotel for a rest and spent some time in on-sen. After the rest, it is time for our dinner again, Chris and I were worried that we will eat the same food as the night before, but we realised the dinner menu is new. Also, the waitness has “cool down” our dinner room, becuase we both found it very warm the night before, we actually finally can enjoy 23 degrees cool dining room!! The new menu includes: Starter (with tofu), sashimi bowl, beef shabu shabu, seafood bake in bun, crab legs with Japanese mayonnaise, little fried fish on rice, cooked vegies, deep fried crab claw and dumplings, and other weird dish which we do not what it was.

After dinner, we joined a night tour to experience the night view of Hakodate, which we have been told that it is one of the top three night view in the world. Since Chris and I already very familiar with one of the three top night view – Hong Kong, we were eager to compare which one is better. We were viewing on the lookout of the mountain and it was a very windy cold night, it made the already sick Chris sicker… poor Chris.