Denman: The Food and Wine Affair

Taking the train to Denman takes 8 hours, but we somehow stretched that out into a 12-hour trip. We took the train from Fairy Meadow to Central Station and from Central to Newcastle, where Woody lives and attends Uni. It was around 12:30am I believe, so we went to Woody’s and crashed until the next train - which was not until 4:00am! We met some interesting characters at the train station when we first arrived – and they were still there waiting for the train at 4:00am! They were heavily intoxicated and attempting to help their friend who appeared to also be heavily intoxicated, or on a bad drug trip – I’m not really sure. Newcastle is so pleasant.

We arrived in Aberdeen – where Stacey lives, and her mom was there to pick us up (she even had the SUV warmed up. We had been freezing since we got on the train from Sydney to “Newy”). We stopped off at a bakery and the picked up some goods for breakfast and we drove back to the Ferris residence. Leanne, Stacey’s mom – made us some raisin toast and hot Milo (almost like a hot chocolate drink, but not nearly as good) and then we all passed out. We slept from 6:00am until about 12:00 noon that day. We woke up to a breakfast feast, made by Leanne. I have mentioned her hospitality before – and it is still the best! She is such a phenomenal cook and so happy to take care of all of us.

By the time we arrived at Jess’s house in Denman, it was nearly dinner. We had a delicious feast and headed to a footy game in town. It was raining and cold so Jess’s dad Noel lent us his jackets. Once we got to the footy game, though, none of us was keen to stay because of the poor weather. We went back to Jess’s house and watched Twilight: New Moon, and then went to sleep.

The next day was the Food and Wine Affair. We went into town around noon to start the day. Jess and Catie got their wine coupons and glasses (I don’t like wine so I opted out) and we walked up and down the street stopping at the different wine and food stalls. I decided to get some chips and later, some delicious ice cream – which was incredible! Later in the evening, we ran into Woody who was working at his sister’s new restaurant – and we met baby Olivia! She wouldn’t stop staring at me – Catie and Jess believe it was because of my hair. I think that babies know that I do not like them, and they like to make me feel uncomfortable. At least Olivia was well behaved – and beautiful.



Woody was unable to come out with us, so we moved on and we went to the Bottom (pub) and met up with some of Jess’s old friends (some of whom I met the last time I visited Denman). We migrated to the Top (pub) at one point, but we got kicked out because Catie did not have her id. with her. We went all the way back to the Feeney’s in order to get it – but when we got back to the pub, the bouncer’s refused to let us in because apparently, a United States driver’s license is unacceptable identification. We had fun at the Bottom for the rest of the night, and then headed home the next day.