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Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, September 24, 2014 - Page 27www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

Places To Go

Page 28 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, September 24, 2014 www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

Places To Go

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, September 24, 2014 - Page 29

Places To Go


Places To Go

Take this opportunity to explore thehistoric garden and homestead,featuring Napoleonic re-enactments,horse and hound parade, vintage tractordisplay, local nurseries and a showcaseof Gippsland’s best gourmet foods,wines and crafts.

Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, September 24, 2014 - Page 31MARKETING FEATURE

Places To Go

Vasiliwill be at

Garden andHome Expo

■ Vasili has over 20 yearsexperience in the gardeningindustry.

His passion started as ayoung boy helping his folksaround the veggie patch everyday after school.

Not only did gardening thenatural way become a part ofhis everyday lifestyle, eatinghealthy fresh produce was justas important too.

As his father and grandfa-ther would say, "It's all aboutgrowing it yourself."

Knowing where it grew andhow it was grown, with noth-ing short of tender loving caregiven to every seed germi-nated, every plant propagatedand every tree grafted was partof life growing up.

It is these simple pleasuresof "lifestyle in the garden" thatwe experience and treasure forlife but more importantly sharewith our families and friendsso that they too have the op-portunity to enjoy a better wayof life.

Vasili's simpler approach toa healthier lifestyle is beingspread through the homes ofmany Australian families.

He has a great passion toshare the wealth of good gar-dening and good living knowl-edge, which has been handeddown through generations ofsome truly inspirational people.

Part of Vasili's work todayis recognising the life storiesof families and individuals whohe hopes will inspire others totake up and continue traditionalways of living and eating.

He does this through his TVshow, Vasili's Garden toKitchen, and on his radio spoton 3AW.

- Contributed

Speak with Vasili at the Baw BawGarden and Home Expo at Lardner Park


House suits Henry Ford to a ‘T’

Granddad would be proudObserver

Melbourne

Wines & Liqueurswith

David

Ellis

■ We have written over the yearsabout some pretty strange things thathave become people’s somewhat bi-zarre homes, holiday retreats andeven offices, amongst them a fewconverted passenger jets, plenty ofchurches, lighthouses, a couple ofone-time houses of ill repute – evenan ice-works and a former funeralparlour or two.

But one that got our attention inNorth America recently was probablythe best yet in one-offs: the completeforecastle of pilot house (bridge) andthe owner’s and captain’s quarters, aswell as the deck and bow, from a-onceFord Motor Company cargo ship, andwhich now sits atop a little promon-tory on Lake Erie as the ultimate incool-idea holiday homes.

The ship from which it came wasthe coal and iron-ore carrier BensonFord, named after a grandson of thecompany’s founder, Henry.

It did sterling service across NorthAmerica’s Great Lakes for some 57years – and although running agroundon a couple of occasions, never suf-fered any major harm.

Henry Ford loved the ship as a re-laxing way of visiting his factoriesaround the Great Lakes, and to en-sure his absolute in creature comforts,designed much of the vessel’s wal-nut-lined Owner’s Quarters himself,as well as a main Guests’ Lounge andBedroom, all to a degree that woulddo a luxury liner proud.

■ Regular readers will know ourpenchant for the more unusual innames bestowed on the labels of winesof many of our makers, and while onewe came across recently may not ratewith the actually unusual, it is how itcame about intrigued us.

It’s Shottesbrooke Vineyards inSouth Australia’s McLaren Flat and itwas so-named by company founderNick Holmes in 1984 after an estatein Berkshire, England where Nick’sgrandfather, Richard Holmes was par-ish priest from 1905 to 1926.

And the label has certainly suc-ceeded in spreading theShottesbrooke name in this country,with Nick’s Shiraz something plentyof buffs have for years enjoyed pour-ing and sharing with friends. The lat-est release from a classic 2012 vin-tage is a real ripper reflectingwinemaker Hamish Maguire’s skillwith this variety that does so well inthe McLaren Vale region, and fromwhere so many of our better Shirazoriginate.

This is a wine with a lovely crim-son-purple colour, and which is elegantand supple with black fruits foremoston the palate; pay $20 and match itperfectly with pepper-crusted veni-son.

One to note■ Chardonnay buffs – and thereare plenty of us out there whoroundly rebuff the “not anotherChardonnay” brigade – should beover-joyed with a rewarding 2011under the Estate label of Victoria’sToolangi Vineyards in the Dixon’sCreek area of the Yarra Valley.

Made from low-cropped, hand-harvested fruit, this one has beauti-ful white peach and melon flavoursto the fore, suggestions of apple andlemon, and gentle acid to round itall out.

Pay $35 and enjoy with a rangeof dishes from herb-sprinkled roastchicken, to prawns in a creamysauce or white fish accompaniedby a butter sauce.

Pictured■ Furtheringaren Vale region’sreputation as one of our foremostShiraz-making areas.■ A chardonnay to enjoy with adiversity of tasty treats on the table.

●●●●● Henry Ford at the wheel of his twenty millionth vehicle, a Model A in April

1931. It is now on display at the Henry Ford Museum at Dearborn, Michigan.

ObserverMelbourne

Travellers’ Good Buyswith

David

Ellis

So grand, in fact, that local news-papers quickly defined it as “the mostmodern ship on the Great Lakes.”

But by 1981 her days were up, andthe Benson Ford was decommis-sioned so her name could be given toa newer ship of the Ford fleet; the hullwas then re-named John Dykstra II,after the Hollywood special effectsand computer genius whom GeorgeLucas recruited to make such block-busters as Star Wars and Spider-Man2.

But she sailed ne’er a single nauti-cal mile under her new name, insteadlanguishing dockside for four yearsuntil being unexpectedly rescued byan Ohio couple – who to the surpriseand bemusement of many, oxy’d-offthe entire forecastle, deck and bow,and floated this strange sight 100kmby barge to Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie’sSouth Bass Island.

There the 4-storey, 20m by 20mstructure was lifted by cranes to thetop of a low promontory protrudinginto the lake, allowing its new ownersto take-in the most wondrous viewsfrom their bizarre-looking new home.

And by carefully positioning it witha part of the bow sticking jauntily overthe promontory’s edge, it gave themand their guests the impression of be-ing aboard a ship at sea.

In 1992, six years after moving in,they applied to the local Zoning Boardfor permission to register their tower-ing “shiphouse” as a Bed and Break-fast, a request that resulted in a longand costly legal battle, and which theyeventually lost.

After finally conceding defeat, thecouple put the place to auction in 1999,with an amazing 128 bidders from tenAmerican States and Canada regis-tering interest.

The successful bidders were anOhio father and son, Jerry and BryanKasper who HAve turned it today intoa holiday retreat most of us could onlyfantasise about.

For wanting to maintain the origi-nal Henry Ford ambience, they’verecreated much of the lavishness ofthe Ford era, the polished walnut pan-els glowing once-more, and rich but-ton-stitched leather and other elabo-rate furnishings of his time its high-lights throughout.

There are also Ford-era memen-toes, curios and photographs, as wellas antiques that are a nod to the in-ventiveness of Ford’s good friendThomas Edison, who once sailed withhim aboard the Benson Ford.

The Kaspers have also renovateddining and sleeping areas includingcreating a yester-year family room,put full-size baths into ensuites at-tached to each of five refurbishedguest bedrooms, added a bar adjacentto the refurbished dining- and living-room, and a library… and as their onlyconcession to the 21st century,modernised the kitchen to state-of-the-art.

And while many of these areastake-in expansive views of Lake Erie,it’s from the pilot house atop the four-storey forecastle that the Kaspers andpersonal guests can take-in wondrousmillion-dollar sunset views across thelake, and their shore-side surroundsbelow them.

And they’ve returned the nameBenson Ford to the bow: were hearound today, it would doubtless suitold Henry to a T.

g y, p ,

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