Saturday, January 23, 2010

melbourne 09: berry picking at blue hills orchard

the highlight of the trip!! actually i lie.. there are many highlights but this is really one of my favorite!! back when i was a wee little asian girl living in australia, i remember having great fun berry picking with my parents and baby brother. yewsong, who eventually shedded some weight, was a HUGE and greedy baby! and really adorable and would eat anything put in front of him.. i remember being in charge of his pram and getting REAL stresed because all the berries i studiously picked would go missing. turns out, they went missing in his round tum-tums. im will dig out some cutie shots of him looking like a pumpkin pie!!! so my memories of melbourne is always linked to strawberry picking!!


strawberries are my favorite!!

daddy allender loves canning fruits and making jams at home. and because we've been majorly deprived in cambodia ($22.80 for a punnet of sad looking raspberries.. i don't think so, tim) that was our one request that he made yummy preserve for us this summer!! and so he did. we piled into his car with baskets and empty tubs, drove 1 hour out towards mount dandenongs and found this cute little berry farm that was open on christmas eve!! the best part is, they had raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cherries AND boysenberries. and for those who have not clue what boysen berries are like myself... here you go! they're yummy!!

so, you pay $10 each as an entrance ticket and you're allow to exit with (1) kg of fruit. any excess would be charged accordingly to their rates!! very cool! and if you didn't pick enough, they had pre-picked berries at the check out counter for you to choose from! 


blackberries!! these were the super atas variation that were kept under shelter!! they tasted almost the same as the regular ones.


oh my gawd.. these monster pinecones were insane! they were about (10) times bigger than the wussy ones we picked in japan..


me, you and the blackberries..


meanwhile, worker-bee dad was not impressed that we were pashing amongst the berries...

then we lumbered home with 4 kg worth of yummy fruit, served fresh fruit over pavlova (the best!) and drizzled dad's yummy jammies over vanilla ice-cream. and had that for breakfast, lunch, dinner and urm... dessert!! :) yummy! uncle george also brought over some peaches from his garden so we had peach jam to go!! delicious!!


thanks dad! shall we do it again next summer?

21 comments:

  1. so cool! i didn't know there were so many things to do in melbourne. like berry picking! wow...i need to go back there for a proper holiday man. you sound like you had a wonderful holiday babe. so happy for u! =)

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  2. you JUST came back from a fabulous one!!! haha.. yeah, melbourne is not super haps generally but there are cute little things to do!! :)

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  3. That was one thing that I missed doing! Had planned for it but there simply wasn't enough time! I guess it's always hard to squeeze in leisure with work :P

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  4. well, if we move there end of this year, i'll take you when you come again!! :)

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  5. you are very photogenic babe! *envious*
    love your huge-ass shades!! where from?

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  6. ahhh, then a trip to melby is a must!! :D

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  7. thanks! its all post editing!!! :)
    my shades are from prada. they are butterflies! can you tell?

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  8. oooh~~~ it nicely frame your face!!
    yes can tell!!

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  9. hahaha actually its way too big. when i smile/talk (ie move my cheekbones) the whole sunglasses moves too!!! :) :)
    but i feel like a movie star in them!! :)

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  10. yeaps absolutely moo-bee star!! ;p

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  11. Awww...I miss berry picking! It was always soo much fun and I love eating fresh berries. It's another thing on my to do list when I go back to Melbourne for a visit!

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  12. Hi there! i've been reading your journal for a while, probably commented a few times too! but we have a common friend! Jerine! (: haha. i was meant to come up and say hi at her wedding, but it was such a mad rush... tee hee. love your photos! so cute and summer-y!

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  13. oh hi!!! :) yes jerine mentioned!!! im so sorry i was SUPER busy that evening babysitting my husband (who didn't know my friends at the table!!) that i didn't even drop by the reception!!!
    do you blog too? :)

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  14. when are you going back again!? im gonna be there over easter and again in august!!

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  15. no worries! she only got to point you out to me when she was going around the tables, and i saw a vision in green! haha. nice! (:
    yeah, i try to, not as diligent. let me add onto my list, and you can do likewise.. i was just telling J this morning that when i saw your mel photos, i was missing syd like hell too. :P

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  16. haha!!! well, she didn't point you out when she got to mine! maybe cos we were too rowdy! and were yamseng our hearts out! we're such ah lians! :)
    sure thing! i'll add you in return! :)

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  17. I'm not going back anytime soon. Saving my money to visit other places in Asia. I'm going to Ho Chi Minh in Apri though. You are living there yeah? Any good places to stay, eat etc that you can recommend??
    I can't believe you're going to Melbourne so many times this year. Awww..I'm jealous!!

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  18. unfortunately not, we live in phnom penh, cambodia! i've never even been to HCM myself!! :) i know you can buy pretty silk lantern that look awesome at weddings! haha! :) :)

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  19. Oh..Sorry i must have gotten it mixed up.
    Hmm...I dont need silk lanterns anytime soon, so I'm going to pass on that :)

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