Thursday April 30
Lesley had to leave us today because she got her dates confused and ended up with conflicting appointments. However the good news is that we have settled on our next adventure in April 2027 and everyone has the dates in their diary so no excuses !!!!
The drinkers in the group headed off for an adventure at a couple of vineyards. They were originally going to hire a bus, but Zarli offered to be the designated driver. They look like they enjoyed the winetasting and they also made a significant contribution to the local economy….
Meanwhile Penny and Sara drove to Maitland and found a good coffee shop on the river. Each table had their own bird spray so they could spray the many pigeons who visited.
Lunch was at Bistro Moline, a lovely restaurant in the middle of nowhere and here’s some examples of what we ate
After all that eating and drinking, you can imagine how tired we all were…so once we got back home, some of us had a nap, others watched an old movie “An Affair to remember”….some of us even cried at the end..
Our evening entertainment began with a line dancing lesson from Penny….notice how we all dressed in black and white to look coordinated and together (this was a complete coincidence and it did little for our coordination and togetherness)
You can see the intense concentration on everyone’s faces as they try to master the steps. After a few practices, we actually danced to music. In all, Penny taught us 4 different sequences.
By then, it was time for dinner (after all, we hadn’t eaten for about 3 hours. Lee and Marg prepared the evening meal…salmon blinis, cheeses and biscuits, little quiches, sausage rolls….all homemade but not by Lee and Marg.
it was time to try out a new game, courtesy of Penny. Called Hues and Cues, each contestant has to pick a colour and describe that colour in one, and then two words (without naming the colour ). Yes, yes…it sounds easy but actually it was very hard and really tested the stamina of the Merck girls.
BTW, in addition to our personalised wine carrier provided by Penny, we also got some home made jam from Zarli
Another exhausting day of eating and drinking, and a step count well below 10,000!!