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Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, September 24, 2014 - Page 27

Places To Go

Page 28 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Places To Go

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, September 24, 2014 - Page 29

Places To Go

Page 30 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, September 24, 2014

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

Places To Go

Take this opportunity to explore the historic garden and homestead, featuring Napoleonic re-enactments, horse and hound parade, vintage tractor display, local nurseries and a showcase of Gippsland’s best gourmet foods, wines and crafts.

MARKETING FEATURE

Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, September 24, 2014 - Page 31

Places To Go

Speak with Vasili at the Baw Baw Garden and Home Expo at Lardner Park

Vasili will be at Garden and Home Expo â– Vasili has over 20 years experience in the gardening industry.

His passion started as a young boy helping his folks around the veggie patch every day after school.

Not only did gardening the natural way become a part of his everyday lifestyle, eating healthy fresh produce was just as important too.

As his father and grandfather would say, "It's all about growing it yourself."

Knowing where it grew and how it was grown, with nothing short of tender loving care given to every seed germinated, every plant propagated and every tree grafted was part of life growing up.

It is these simple pleasures of "lifestyle in the garden" that we experience and treasure for life but more importantly share with our families and friends so that they too have the opportunity to enjoy a better way of life.

Vasili's simpler approach to a healthier lifestyle is being spread through the homes of many Australian families.

He has a great passion to share the wealth of good gardening and good living knowledge, which has been handed down through generations of some truly inspirational people.

Part of Vasili's work today is recognising the life stories of families and individuals who he hopes will inspire others to take up and continue traditional ways of living and eating.

He does this through his TV show, Vasili's Garden to Kitchen, and on his radio spot on 3AW. - Contributed

Page 24,, 2014 g 32 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, y, September p

Melbourne

Observer

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

Travellers’Good Buys

with David Ellis

House suits Henry Ford to a ‘T’ ■ We have written over the years about some pretty strange things that have become people’s somewhat bizarre homes, holiday retreats and even offices, amongst them a few converted passenger jets, plenty of churches, lighthouses, a couple of one-time houses of ill repute – even an ice-works and a former funeral parlour or two.

But one that got our attention in North America recently was probably the best yet in one-offs: the complete forecastle of pilot house (bridge) and the owner’s and captain’s quarters, as well as the deck and bow, from a-once Ford Motor Company cargo ship, and which now sits atop a little promontory on Lake Erie as the ultimate in cool-idea holiday homes.

The ship from which it came was the coal and iron-ore carrier Benson Ford, named after a grandson of the company’s founder, Henry.

It did sterling service across North America’s Great Lakes for some 57 years – and although running aground on a couple of occasions, never suffered any major harm.

Henry Ford loved the ship as a relaxing way of visiting his factories around the Great Lakes, and to ensure his absolute in creature comforts, designed much of the vessel’s walnut-lined Owner’s Quarters himself, as well as a main Guests’ Lounge and Bedroom, all to a degree that would do a luxury liner proud.

● Henry Ford at the wheel of his twenty millionth vehicle, a Model A in April 1931. It is now on display at the Henry Ford Museum at Dearborn, Michigan.

Melbourne

Observer Wines & Liqueurs

with David Ellis

Granddad would be proud ■ Regular readers will know our penchant for the more unusual in names bestowed on the labels of wines of many of our makers, and while one we came across recently may not rate with the actually unusual, it is how it came about intrigued us.

It’s Shottesbrooke Vineyards in South Australia’s McLaren Flat and it was so-named by company founder Nick Holmes in 1984 after an estate in Berkshire, England where Nick’s grandfather, Richard Holmes was parish priest from 1905 to 1926.

And the label has certainly succeeded in spreading the Shottesbrooke name in this country, with Nick’s Shiraz something plenty of buffs have for years enjoyed pouring and sharing with friends. The latest release from a classic 2012 vintage is a real ripper reflecting winemaker Hamish Maguire’s skill with this variety that does so well in the McLaren Vale region, and from where so many of our better Shiraz originate.

This is a wine with a lovely crimson-purple colour, and which is elegant and supple with black fruits foremost on the palate; pay $20 and match it perfectly with pepper-crusted venison.

One to note ■ Chardonnay buffs – and there are plenty of us out there who roundly rebuff the “not another Chardonnay” brigade – should be over-joyed with a rewarding 2011 under the Estate label of Victoria’s Toolangi Vineyards in the Dixon’s Creek area of the Yarra Valley.

Made from low-cropped, handharvested fruit, this one has beautiful white peach and melon flavours to the fore, suggestions of apple and lemon, and gentle acid to round it all out.

Pay $35 and enjoy with a range of dishes from herb-sprinkled roast chicken, to prawns in a creamy sauce or white fish accompanied by a butter sauce.

Pictured ■ Furtheringaren Vale region’s reputation as one of our foremost Shiraz-making areas.

■ A chardonnay to enjoy with a diversity of tasty treats on the table.

So grand, in fact, that local newspapers quickly defined it as “the most modern ship on the Great Lakes.”

But by 1981 her days were up, and the Benson Ford was decommissioned so her name could be given to a newer ship of the Ford fleet; the hull was then re-named John Dykstra II, after the Hollywood special effects and computer genius whom George Lucas recruited to make such blockbusters as Star Wars and Spider-Man 2.

But she sailed ne’er a single nautical mile under her new name, instead languishing dockside for four years until being unexpectedly rescued by an Ohio couple – who to the surprise and bemusement of many, oxy’d-off the entire forecastle, deck and bow, and floated this strange sight 100km by barge to Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie’s South Bass Island.

There the 4-storey, 20m by 20m structure was lifted by cranes to the top of a low promontory protruding into the lake, allowing its new owners to take-in the most wondrous views from their bizarre-looking new home.

And by carefully positioning it with a part of the bow sticking jauntily over the promontory’s edge, it gave them and their guests the impression of being aboard a ship at sea.

In 1992, six years after moving in, they applied to the local Zoning Board for permission to register their towering “shiphouse” as a Bed and Breakfast, a request that resulted in a long and costly legal battle, and which they eventually lost.

After finally conceding defeat, the couple put the place to auction in 1999, with an amazing 128 bidders from ten American States and Canada registering interest.

The successful bidders were an Ohio father and son, Jerry and Bryan Kasper who HAve turned it today into a holiday retreat most of us could only fantasise about.

For wanting to maintain the original Henry Ford ambience, they’ve recreated much of the lavishness of the Ford era, the polished walnut panels glowing once-more, and rich button-stitched leather and other elaborate furnishings of his time its highlights throughout.

There are also Ford-era mementoes, curios and photographs, as well as antiques that are a nod to the inventiveness of Ford’s good friend Thomas Edison, who once sailed with him aboard the Benson Ford.

The Kaspers have also renovated dining and sleeping areas including creating a yester-year family room, put full-size baths into ensuites attached to each of five refurbished guest bedrooms, added a bar adjacent to the refurbished dining- and livingroom, and a library… and as their only concession to the 21st century, modernised the kitchen to state-of-theart.

And while many of these areas take-in expansive views of Lake Erie, it’s from the pilot house atop the fourstorey forecastle that the Kaspers and personal guests can take-in wondrous million-dollar sunset views across the lake, and their shore-side surrounds below them.

And they’ve returned the name Benson Ford to the bow: were he around today, it would doubtless suit old Henry to a T.