This morning I breakfasted in a little cafe called "Port of Call" in the Portland town centre. The morning was overcast and trying to rain, so it was nice to go into a busy, well lit, warm shop full of families and couples enjoying themselves and the smell of coffee and toast.
I had a big day ahead with two country festivals to visit, so ordered poached eggs, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms. But when the plate came they had added bacon and it was huge! I enjoyed about three quarters of it, with a nice pot of peppermint tea.
Then it was off to Heywood, a country town about half an hour north of Portland for what sounded like a lovely event - the Heywood Wood, Wine & Roses Festival.
However, when I arrived I realised that the title was actually bigger than the festival itself. There were about a dozen stalls selling home made items and plenty of vans selling rubbish food.
There was a mismatched pair of Disney characters wondering around together - Ironman and Woody from Toy Story. Ironman was very impressive, but I wondered what the body of the man inside the suit looked like - probably some weak, skinny thing. Woody, on the other hand was a lot shorter and fatter than I remembered him from the movie and his eyes gave the impression he'd been on the turps all night!
There was a face painting stall for the kids and as I watched, the artist went from one child to the next using the same brushes that, not only had she not sterilized, but she hadn't even rinsed them. It's hardly surprising that infectious diseases are spread so easily amongst children with this lack of hygiene practice going on! The kids seemed happy, though.
There was a centre stage with the current performer being a Roy Orbison tribute act. He didn't really look much like the Big O, apart from the black wig and glasses and didn't sound like him at all.
The worst part was he couldn't make the high notes! When singing "Crying", the last line sounded like "O-Over Y....", then his voice cracked and totally disappeared. It was quite entertaining actually, but probably not for the reasons he had intended.
I was struggling to find any Wood, Wine or Roses for which the festival was named, but finally came across a stall selling wooden models of country houses. These seemed to be the only wooden things in the whole festival.
Then I discovered a tent right at the very back with two wineries displays inside, if you could call them that - a trestle table and banner each and some boxes of wine to taste and sell.
After tasting their wares, I ended up buying a wooded chardonnay and a port. I wasn't really keen on buying any of their "Slaughter House Red". Not sure what that would have been anyway!
So, that was the Wood and the Wine checked-off, but I couldn't find Roses anywhere, nor any other flowers for that matter. So, I asked at the enquiries van and they directed me to the Scout Hall at the side of the festival, where they said there was a roses display.
Finally, I found something that I could enjoy and appreciate! The hall was filled with the most magnificent display of roses and the smell was wonderful. The (presumably) women of the town had obviously put a great deal of effort into growing and tending to these blooms and then exhibiting them proudly for all to see.
So, at last I was able to walk away from the Heywood Wood, Wine and Roses Festival with a smile on my face. Next, it was onto the "Music in the Vines" Festival in MacArthur, another half an hour's drive north-east.
What a difference from the first festival! Firstly, the weather had lifted and it was warm and sunny. The festival venue was situated within a winery and there were vines all around, the food was far more real - wood fired pizzas, hand made burgers, cheese platters, salads and fruit. There was wine, of course which was quite nice, as well as soft drinks and free water from large canisters, not individual plastic bottles.
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| Most of the grapes has already been harvested |
I arrived at about 2 o'clock and the entertainment was already underway - various performers from around the region, plus some from further afield. A nice variety of styles from folk to country, pop, jazz, blues and ballads, and people were already enjoying themselves. I sat near one group who immediately started chatting with me and invited me to join them.
In between the musical acts were lovely performances of local dance schools, including an Irish dance troupe and a group of young girls doing a modern ballet with silver wigs.
It was very much a family event and there was plenty of entertainment for the kids, including a clown making balloon animals - far less opportunity for contagion there!
So, I continued to enjoy myself listening to good music, enjoying the sunshine, drinking wine, eating cheese and pizza with my new friends for the whole afternoon and into the evening (although I did cut back on the alcohol for the last few hours, as I was driving). The crowd began to swell throughout the afternoon as the line up of performers became gradually more famous.
The final act was the big draw card - Russell Morris who is very famous all over Australia and a stalwart of over fifty years of music. The last time I saw him perform was in Birdsville two years ago at the Big Red Bash.
He performed some of his newer music and then did some of his famous older ones like "Sweet Sweet Love" and "The Real Thing". I thoroughly enjoyed this last performance, before making the hour's drive home to Portland at about 11:30 pm and into bed in my little caravan.
