Sandeman

If you ever come to Porto, the Sandeman Hostel is THE place to stay! I have a private room with a view, but there is also dorm accommodation, so the place is full of younger travellers from all over the world. Breakfast, included, is the best! They told me there were about 60 people this morning. Today, I talked with a young man from Antwerp and a Chinese girl from Canada. He is cycling to Santiago de Compostela and she is going to walk the Camino. I wish I could still do it.

I booked myself onto a tour of the Sandeman Cellars at 11.45 am. There was more information about the port production process than I could take in (even though I’ve done it before).:

There are small barrels and huge vats, depending on the type of port being produced.

The grapes are all grown up the Douro Valley and shipped downstream to Porto, specifically at Vila Nova de Gaio where all the wine lodges are situated. They store the port for a minimum of 3 years in a stable temperature and much longer for the vintage varieties.

After the tour, we were able to taste 3 types. Left to right: white port, ruby port, tawney port. The couple opposite had paid extra for port flavoured chocolates, but at 2 Euros each, I thought that was over the top.

Cheers!

Portugal: on my way!

Travelling on Friday night before a long weekend was not a good idea. Perth airport was crowded and the taxis were queuing to set down their passengers. It was chaotic, with roadworks into the bargain. I’ve never seen the airport so busy. The plane was also packed: no possibility of getting a spare seat and the chance to lie down. Ten hours to Dubai sitting up is a long time. I didn’t get a lot of sleep. The chicken biriyani at midnight was good though.

Dubai airport was just as busy, but it’s a lot bigger, with many travelators to move us on. The food on the second leg was not so good, but the cabin staff were very efficient and obliging. That’s why I like to fly Emirates.

Arriving in Lisbon was lovely: blue skies and sun, with great views of the river Tagus and the bridges as we descended. I knew I had no time to waste, with only two hours to get from the airport to Oriente train station and the 2.09 pm train to Porto. No need to worry, though - and I had a very cold and draughty 45 minutes on the station platform. It’s only 14 degrees in Lisbon: quite a shock to the system after the too-hot summer in Perth.

I have booked for 3 nights at the Sandeman Hostel in Porto. Actually it’s across the river at Vila Nova de Gaio. I’ve stayed here before and it has the most amazing views. After 24 hours travelling, this is all worth it!

Gage Roads

Ladies Who Lunch have done it again: this time in Fremantle. We went to Gage Road Brewery right on the waterfront, in the re-purposed “A Shed”. The venue is huge - no need to book with its enormous capacity. This aerial photo is from their own website:

We had planned to sit outside and watch all the ships coming and going into the port, but there was a sudden change in the weather and it was actually raining! There was also a cold wind blowing in from the sea.

The brewery produces about ten different beers. I ordered the most popular (Summer Ale, I think it’s called) while Val always goes for cider.

For eats, we went for tacos:

This was my serve: chicken with a spicy salad.

As we were eating, we watched a few guys with professional equipment making a promotional video:

Then they ordered themselves a big lunch off camera.

Before we left, I took a photo of some of the vats:

The beers all have strange names. I’m not sure how Gage Roads select them.

It was an interesting venue for a delicious lunch. I want to go again.

Malaysian Dreams

One of the vlogs I follow on YouTube ( Tread the Globe) are currently in Sabah. They go out for breakfast every day. My mouth waters when I see them eating roti. I discovered that there is a Malaysian restaurant not far away, so I headed there this morning:

Roti telur w. spicy sauce.

Must try their lunch menu next!

All this reminds me of my own trip to Sabah. I was working at UWC in Singapore and joined their expedition to climb Mt. Kinabalu. I was keen to show that even their Librarian was up for an adventure. Everything was organised to the 9th degree. We had several porters who carried all our food up the mountain. It had to last a few days and consisted of large quantities of rice, in which we hid more valuable items such as tins of corned beef and a bottle of whiskey. This was to protect our supplies from pilfering! Everyone had an apple and an orange every day.

The group of sixth formers and staff was divided into groups of 4 or 5. Each group set off at 15 minute intervals. At a rest stop, they had to wait for the next group to arrive, to make sure all was well. I remember we ate a lot of curry, as the leader’s partner was Indian. The students begged me to cook something different one night, so I produced corned beef hash which went down well! I wish I could find my photos of the trip, but they are long gone in the days before blogging.

Not many can say they have climbed Mt Kinabalu (4095 m) and the highest mountain in Borneo.

Return to Mandurah

After too many hot days in a row, including more 40 degrees forecast, it was time for another brief Mandurah escape. The sea breeze always brings down the temperature to some extent.

When I arrived at Seashells, I was annoyed to find no spaces in the undercover carpark, except for at least half with a big Reserved sign on them. These belonged to penthouse suites and other apartments privately owned, but they were all unoccupied. In the end, I parked next to all the laundry trolleys waiting to be collected. I soon got a phone call asking to remove my car. I insisted they found me another spot : and not one outside in the hot sun. I’ve never had this problem before and put it down to the fact that Seashells staff must be using the spaces. Anyway, I did get a covered park and could relax and have a siesta.

I’m on the first floor with a view over the lake:

This is the sea view at the front of the property:

One issue with this room is the enormous TV screen which glowed with this picture all night long:

There are also a couple of new pics by Emma, whose work is all over the hotel:

Night Plane to Lisbon

There’s a famous book called Night Train to Lisbon.

It’s about a rather serious teacher in Switzerland who suddenly gives up his job and embarks on a journey to Portugal. This is my version, though I can’t take a train from here and I do like to plan my trips in some detail before I set off. My plans so far:

Feb 28	dep PER 10.20 pm
Mar 1	arr LIS. Train to Porto
2	Porto. Sandeman
3	Porto. Sandeman
4	Guimaraes
5	Guimaraes. Porto
6	Madeira. Allegro
7	Madeira. Allegro
8	Madeira. Allegro
9	Madeira. Allegro
10	Madeira. Allegro
11	Madeira. Allegro
12	Lisbon. Lisbon Lounge
13	Lisbon. Lisbon Lounge
14	Lisbon. Lisbon Lounge
15	Lisbon. Lisbon Lounge
16	Lisbon. Lisbon Lounge
17	Lisbon. Lisbon Lounge
18	Lisbon. Lisbon Lounge
19	Lisbon. Lisbon Lounge
20	Lisbon. Lisbon Lounge
21	Dep LIS 13.35
22	Arr PER

I’ve always been interested in the idea of Madeira and its botanical gardens, where spring flowers bloom apparently out of season in an island paradise. Now I’m going there. I’ve also allowed plenty of time to explore Lisbon and maybe do some day trips.

In 2024, I had more or less decided I was getting too old for long distance travel, but now I’m tempted to do one more trip. I’ve been watching travel documentaries on TV with Miriam Margolyes (age 83) exploring NZ in a campervan and Michael Palin (age 81) in Iraq. If they can do it at their age, so can I. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Today looks like being the hottest day of the year in Perth, with 44 degrees forecast. I feel like the conditions envisaged in Juice are coming true and we all need to be underground, or at least in the swimming pool for a few hours.

Leftovers

We buy too much, we eat too much… and still there are leftovers.

On Sunday, we even went out to a restaurant and consumed some more! Nobu is Japanese and very up-market:

We ordered their take on bento boxes, which came in double-decker size, with a cold section on top and a hot section below! Very clever of Nobu, and makes things easier in the kitchen:

Just when I couldn’t eat another thing, they brought me a birthday surprise:

On New Year’s Eve, I didn’t want to stay up late. The fireworks would be noisy. I did a swap with E, who invited her friends for a sleepover at Burswood. I’m sure they had a good time as they went to bed at 4.00 am.

Meanwhile, C cooked curry at Como. There was a dry curry of cauliflower and potatoes and a wet curry of lentils:

We were up early on New Year’s Day, taking Rocky for a walk by the river:

A 39 degree day was forecast, so we were out and about before breakfast:

Then we set to work netting the fig tree. There is a constant battle with rats which run along the top of the fence and eat every single fruit that they can get their paws on. Not in 2025, if I can help it!