Yarra Valley

I haven’t written about this beautiful area North-East of Melbourne as I haven’t visited it in about a year and I wanted to share “fresh” pictures. Yarra is the main river in this area that also passes winding through Melbourne itself. The hills around the river outside the city create a perfect wine territory. In spring it looks less lush, but the energy of the budding vines equals the feeling of pleasure, at least in my case, which one normally gets in the summer, when thick green, parallel lines comb the hills from your feet to the horizon. We had yesterday our wedding anniversary lunch in a small café at the Yarrawood Winery. So many years after tying the knot on the 56th Floor of a Manhattan hotel, we got to sip wine in a candid, relaxed environment, much closer to the sea level, but happily remembering the small wedding at the “top of the world.” The hills of Yarra Valley are a busy backdrop for many weddings in Melbourne and the area, just like everywhere else from Toscana to Sonoma Valley. What is different here is the warm-blooded component. Galahs and cockatoos fly constantly over the vines, ducks and geese bathe in the ponds that actually serve to calm the thirst of many horses, cows and sheep. Rabbits zigzag around bushes and not far away kangaroos sometimes hop into sight, too. As usual, it's nature that impresses me the most in this far-away country...