far far away downunder... 遠得要命又顛倒的地方: 2014/10

Against all odds, we planned this Mudgee trip the week prior. Mudgee is a renowned wine region in Australia, but it doesn't mean anything to a wine dummy. The main reason we made this trip was because of information I heard from a Pilates mate regarding the relaxing life style, the gourmet food, and the picturesque scenery...etc, and the most important of all it was Spring!

On an early and gloomy Sunday we headed to Mudgee via the Blue Mountains region, accompanied by rain, before first arriving into Leura for breakfast. The wet and chilling weather made me wonder how would our Mudgee trip would end up. Through the winding and misty roads we carried on heading north and on some occasions we broke through the clouds, when we would enjoy the view of mountain ridges covered with blue haze in the distance.

We finally got ride of the misty weather when we started to descend, and the closer we headed to Mudgee the nicer weather was. By the time we arrived in Mudgee, it was all sunshine and blue skies, Mudgee is indeed a wonderful town.

We had an hour to kill before lunch, therefore we walked around the CBD of Mudgee. There are many historical buildings along the high streets, it's very nice to see that all the historical buildings have been well maintained. The sidewalks are very wide, tourists can stroll along busy street slowly and comfortably without worrying about blocking somebody's way. The cherry and other fruit tree' flowers were blooming at the time and when the wind blew a few cute little pinky petals would fall onto passersby's heads or roll along with their footsteps - the Spring time in Mudgee is very romantic.

It's time for lunch, we drove away from the CBD and quickly found ourselves in the middle of vineyards. Our destination, Zin House *, is located inside the Lowe Winery. After passing a hilly road, a rusty-chic sign welcomed us. Zin House sits on top of a hill over looking endless vineyards and bush lands.

The interior of Zin House is simple yet elegant and when we walked in to the restaurant an open plan kitchen welcomed us, oh yes, this is the reason we came here. I couldn't avoid to study a few ingredients displayed on the counter and started to imagine the delicious meal we were going to have.

There are only a few large tables in the restaurant, diners share the table together. We were assigned to a room on the left corner of the restaurant where we shared the table with 2 other couples. At the beginning we had some concerns of sharing a table with people we don't know but when the meal and wine were served one after another we found ourselves busy enjoying the delicious food and wine and the strangers sitting next to us were no longer strangers, they were just like friends we haven't seen for a long time - it's an amazing experience.

I quite like the idea that the chef, Kim Currie *, has "cook simple, cook from scratch, cook local" and she delivered this concept well through her cuisine. It's real food that Zin House offered and they are gourmet real food.

The long lunch finished before 5 o'clock and we were too full and comfortable to make a move but the winery counter was about to close and we would certainly regret it if we couldn't get the delicious wine that we just had during the meal, so we headed off to the winery.

With great satisfaction we headed to our accommodation, Kirima Cottage, which is located in the the suburb of Mudgee. Kirima Cottage is in tranquil bushland, the interior is basic, but a comfortable bed and wood burner are all we needed. (The only thing bothering me is probably the loo. It's a composting toilet which means that, when you open the toilet cover, you will see a deep dark hole instead of white porcelain with a pool of clean water. I found it too hard to relax while my imagination was going wild...of course none of my crazy imaginations came true during my stay.)

We visited a few more wineries and a cheese farm before heading back to SYD the next day. This Mudgee trip was a very good surprise, it had much more to offer than we expected, we will surely make a 2nd visit.

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這次出遊是經過計劃的 (真是太意外了!).

上 Pilates 課程時, 聽聞同班學員提起 Mudgee, 描述鄉村景致, 酒莊佳釀甚美, 立馬搜尋 Mudgee 旅遊官網搞定住宿, 在 Tripadvisor 上參考旅客美食餐廳評鑑, 訂好餐廳, 週末便收拾好包袱, 趁著中秋假期尋酒去.

何先生可能太久沒放風了, 亦或太期待下午一點鐘的預約美食, 雪梨到 Mudgee 不到300 公里, 竟訂定了出發時間：七點！但既被吵醒之, 則甘願出發之. 我們在藍山區的雅致小鎮, Leura, 稍歇吃早餐, 雖然春天的腳步近了, 但山區凝結的冷空氣還是讓人直打哆嗦. 用完早餐, 我們便一路在藍山出沒不定的雲霧陣中穿梭, 繼續北上 Mudgee. 沿途可遠眺藍色薄霧圍繞的山嶺峽谷, 近看橫陳公路邊的袋鼠屍體, 不覺路途迢迢.

離開地勢高的藍山, 愈往 Mudgee 靠近, 天氣便愈清朗, 溫暖陽光, 穿過白雲, 普照一望無際的葡萄園, 橄欖樹園, Mudgee 的鄉村景色果然名不虛傳啊! 此刻的葡萄藤雖只露出黑色枯枝, 但和煦的陽光, 已讓老藤甦醒, 另一季轉化金色陽光為豔紅佳釀的過程即將展開.

如我預期的, 猴急的我們早到了, 離午餐時間還有一個小時, 但在 Mudgee 小鎮逛逛也是件樂事. 小鎮的市中心由兩條交叉的主要街道組成, 街道寬敞, 街旁栽種的櫻花樹和桃樹 (?), 開花正盛, 信步閑逛, 櫻吹雪一路吹拂, 為小鎮浪漫加分不少.

研究完 Mudgee, 該赴午餐的時間也到了. 預定的餐廳, Zin House*, 位在 Lowe 酒莊葡萄園裡, 車子在葡萄田中慢慢開著, 偶遇牛群停下活動, 端詳我們這兩位城市佬. 很快的跟農村格格不入之感在到達餐廳之際便消失了, 俐落店招, 簡約庭院設計, 讓餐廳和諧地銜接了鄉村與城市的落差. 推開大門, 開放式廚房就坐落在明亮高挑的大廳中, 還未用餐, 食客眼睛已飽覽挑人食慾的食材, 對即將享用的餐點有了無限的想像.

餐廳只提供數張大餐桌, 我們在左側餐間和另兩對客人共用一張大餐桌. 與陌生人共餐, 尷尬嗎? 令我意外的是, 完全不會. 午餐從一點開始, 近五點結束, 席間我們偶爾私下對話, 偶與其他食客閒聊, 伺者穿插送餐與伺酒時, 提供了餐點, 飲酒, 與當地時事話題, 我們在行雲流水中慢食, 不覺日頭西沉.

Zin House 主廚提供的是 ”真食物“ , 端上桌的道道餐點有如鄰家好手藝大姐隨意從廚房端出的菜餚般溫馨可親, 但入口的滋味, 卻是費人疑猜的巧妙搭配, 最可貴的是, 主廚烹調食材絕大部分出自家有機菜園, 或Mudgee當地農家產地直送.

長長的午餐在近五點結束, 原因是 Lowe 酒莊五點打烊, 我們得趕在酒莊關門前買酒呢! 我們買的當然是剛才用餐時的佐餐酒, 餐廳配的六種酒, 杯杯順口, 瓶瓶香醇, 真恨不得每種都買個一打, 還好我們的膽固醇指數跟荷包幫我們踩了煞車, 不至於在現場揮灑激情.

晚上我們住宿的地方是 Mudgee 郊外的小木屋, Kirima Cottage, 大大的林子裡, 只有三間木屋, 連民宿主人都懶得打理我們, 將鑰匙放在木屋裡, 我們自行入住. 木屋裡很簡單, 但一應俱全, 唯一讓我這城市佬不適應的只有廁所 (廁所採有機分解方式處理, 因此打開馬桶蓋, 看見的不是白白的瓷器, 中間一個水池, 而是一個又深又黑的大洞, 黑洞底下是什麼, 我看不清楚, 也不想看清楚..., 只想在想像中的怪物從黑洞冒出來之前快快解急)

隔天我們又造訪了幾家酒莊, cheer 製造商, 帶著心滿意足又罪惡的心態, 我們返回了雪梨.

* Zin House : zinhouse.com.au
* Zin House chef, Kim Currie's blog : zinhouse.com.au/blog/