Today the knitting and crochet was put aside for a trip to the beach. Due to the inclement and wonderful Melbourne weather though, Nick and I decided to head to Mount Dandenong instead and take in the views of the forest and city skyline.
The drive was pleasant as it usually is when you're surrounded by big old forests. Not to mention the quaint little tea houses and pubs that all claim to be the best in the region.
We ended up heading to the Sky High Observatory point at the top of Mount Dandenong and were surprised at the entry fee (admittedly only $4 per car) as it had been free for as long as we'd remembered. So we wandered about and visited Igor the Giant's chair, Percy Possum's house and saw the Sky High Maze under construction (grand opening next week). It was a great view of the city though, as good as I remembered. In fact the only thing that made it better was the rain clouds sweeping across the city at the time. We played spot the building which was easier for Eureka Tower than the Menzies building but we found them both.
After walking through the English garden we headed back down to Olinda for lunch at the pie/pastie shop. Beef and burgandy is a wonderful thing in a pie. The lemongrass tea I had was great too although perhaps not the best accompaniment to the pie.
As we were heading home through Sassafras we found the tea shop next to Miss Marple's tea room that I'd remembered from when I went up there with my folks in high school. Naturally we had to stop.
It was heavenly. We spent a lot of time in there. There were many teas to be smelled and teapots to marvel at. After careful deliberation I narrowed my purchases down to a warm and friendly 4-cup filter, blood red, teapot by London Pottery and 4 blends of tea. So far I've only sampled my French Earl Grey, which is like a girly version of earl grey, and the after-dinner tea. I also got the Refresh and Relax blends for the days when I need a little pick me up or some mild sedation. They also had a cafe latte tea which smelled pretty damn good too... Nick said I should have asked for a job there.
So you can all rest easily now. My teapot hunt is over for now and I have plenty of lovely teas to get me through the next little while.
I'm sure that as time passes I'm just growing into my inner granny. I'll be eighty and still knitting, crocheting and drinking tea but I'm okay with that. There are worse ways to go!
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You may not have a job in that tea shop until I have one. It is my favourite store in Melbourne (ok, when I'm in a good chocolate shop, I might be swayed into thinking it's my SECOND favourite...), and Nick S and I regularly drive to the hills for no other reason than to visit this store. In fact, when working in The Patch recently, I went to Tea Leaves in my work clothes (shorty overalls, bright leggings, pigtails), making a big fool of myself in order to buy tea. I narrowed myself down to six types, bringing my total teas to, oh, maybe thirty (it's way down from the sixty I used to have).
Meanwhile, the French Earl Grey is lovely, but I am a huge fan of their Monk's Pear, which is more fragrant with hints of sweet pear. My favourite tea there is Wahgi Valley, a robust black tea from Papua New Guinea best had with milk.
But when I DO work at the tea store, I'll have a word to the manager about getting you a job.
And I'm glad you've found a teapot. It's very important. If only I'd realised you were looking, I would have bought you one for your birthday. Having already bought teapots for Lisa, Deb and my friend Jackie, it seems to just be something I do...
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