Saturday 28th September 2019 - Pyrmont Food & Wine Festival

If I was in Melbourne this weekend it would be football football and more football AFL of course Richmond verses The Giants but I'm not and I don't really follow AFL. It was even a public holiday yesterday in Melbourne.

So today I went to the most confusing festival. It was called The Pyrmont Food & Wine Festival 2019 which was advertised from 11 am and 5 pm today but on the website it was part of The Pyrmont Festival 2019 between 20th September and 6th October 2019. Later it was changed to just The Pyrmont Festival and the Food and Wine title had been removed on the website. It also stated it was a 2 day event somewhere on the website. I am so confused! Is it The Pyrmont Food and Wine Festival on 28th September 2019  for 1 day only or does it continue on Sunday 29th September 2019 making it a 2 day event? Or does it actually run every weekend between 20th Sept and 6th Oct 2019?

To make things worse I thought it was at that park in Pyrmont behind The Maritime Museum near The Star Casino where markets and food and wine events are normally held but it was at Pirrama Park further down along the foreshore of Pyrmont which according to Google Maps was an 8 minute walk from The Star Casino.

Trackwork again on the lightrail which meant a bus replacement service between Central Station and Dulwich  Hill. This bus replacement service took longer then usual. I should have left earlier.

I only left home around 1 pm. That is ok as the event only started at 11 am and finishes at 5 pm although I think people will be hanging around in Pirrama Park until they are kicked out of the designated licenced park area.

I wasn't sure whether to alight at The Star Casino stop or Johns Street Square stop. To be safe I got off at The Star Casino and walked.  Google Maps indicated it was an 8 minute walk however I headed in the wrong direction and all the locals I asked had no idea how to get to Pirrama Park which was just up the road and around the corner!

Finally found my way after asking a third person and turning on my useless GPS. As soon as I saw Dalton House and heaps of white tents I knew I had arrived at the right destination. It was close to 3 pm by the  time I arrived but the park was still full of people.

I have to admit I left at just after 3.40 pm as it was a boring event. There were only a few stalls of  interest to me and I did not see any of the activities that were advertised on the website. There was the main tent with mainly live musical acts playing on a stage but no cooking demonstrations. There were quite a few tables chairs and even a few umbrellas set up and lots of chairs scattered around. Quite a few people opted to sit along the wharf area enjoying a bite to eat a drink and the view or just byo picnic blanket and sit under the trees for a drink and a bite to eat from the handful of food stalls.

This Food and Wine Festival was more of a Wine and Food Festival. Mostly people went to the event to taste the wines on offer from the Orange region of NSW. One of the main organisers was Orange 360. The only other food stalls around the Wine area of the festival were oysters, salami and cheese. There were 2 very distinct areas the majority of the food stalls were separated from the wine stalls. Then there were the 'kids' activities well away from the wine areas - one at the very far end of the food and wine festival and another which seemed almost across the road from it - at least across a path from it.

The only 2 stalls that interested me were Doltone House Catering which I thought would have some nice food on offer only to find they were selling cannoli. Maybe I was too late and they had sold out of their lunch offerings. The other stall was Poutine which I love to eat on as really cold Winter day but not really on a nice warm day like today and when I had already had lunch and therefore was not really hungry. I have never seen so many varieties of Poutine - traditional Poutine from Montreal would be potato fries, gravy and cheese curds. Here the varieties of toppings you have on your Poutine are what you would have on a  Po'Boy,  baked potato, taco or burrito! - toppings such as chicken, pulled meats, green onions, melted cheese just to name a few.

I was a little disappointed with the event and I didn't see a stall with my favourite wine from Orange - Orange Mountain Wines which have been present at past Orange 360 Food and Wine events.

Most of my 40 minutes at this food and wine event I spent walking around the park and taking lots of photos as I have not actually  been to Pirrima Park before. There is still a little bit of contruction going on around some of the wharf areas but nowhere to the extent of Barangaroo and Millers Point Wharf precinct.

Time head home this time I followed everyone else and waited for a bus back to Town Hall. A 389 via St James to Bondi Junction arrives on the opposite side of the street and everyone waiting for the bus runs for it - I follow.

Back at Town Hall in familiar territory, it is time for me to go shopping at Chatswood after catching the train from Town Hall to Chatswood.

Home by 7 pm - I take hours to grocery shop sometimes! Price and brand comparison is very important and so is stopping ocassionally to read some trashy magazines! Mostly I spend my time reading ingredients on packages and deciding which products are more environmentally friendly to try and minimise my carbon footprint.

Jones Bay Wharf - So this is where Doltone House is

Beautiful day with spectacular views of The Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sunday 29th September 2019

Sorry no further adventures for this weekend. Please check back next weekend! I received a text at the last minute at 9 am this morning asking if I could work as noone else living more locally could work . There was no way I could get to work by 10 am but managed to get to work at 10.15 am which I was surprised about as trip planner advised the earliest I could get to work from where I resided on a Sunday was 11 am. 

I had to wait at least 30 minutes for a bus when I finished work at 4 pm - leaving a little earlier made no difference. There were quite a number of other workers waiting at the bus stop after I arrived for the next bus. At least there was no trackwork on the Northshore line this weekend!

Saturday 21st September 2019 - Big Design Market @ The Cutaway Barangaroo

I try to avoid going to events on a Saturday but sometimes you just can't make it to an event any other time.

Today it was trackwork yet again on the Metroline and Northshore line which means a bus replacement to the city and out to Hornsby ( making getting to work tomorrow a bit of a hassel again).

So it was a bus to Chatswood and another bus to Wynyard to get to The Big Design Market out at Barangaroo. Normally it would be a bus to Chatswood then a train to Wynyard.

Luckily there are other ways to get into the city from Chatswood although they usually take longer ( no other way to get to work though). Then there is all the construction work around Barangaroo and every time I have to get there the pathway changes between Wynyard Station and The Cutaway. It is a virtual obstacle course not just a very long walk!

I arrived at The Cutaway at Barangaroo around 2 pm. The Big Design Market is on for 3 days from 10 am each day. Closing times daily vary. The markets closed on  Saturday at 6 pm.

The entry fee this year was $5 which I paid in cash - no receipts given. There was a huge queue when I arrived which snaked around the entrance of The Cutaway all the way to the first set of stairs at Barangaroo.

I spent about 2 - 3 hours there. I have to admit it was mostly the same old stalls however there is an increase trend of reduce reuse recycle products and services.

At the market this year I really wanted a Big Design Market show bag for $15 with a different one available each day . Unfortunately every year I go to The Big Design Market they are sold out before I arrive including this year.

I purchased a few things this time round - a bush lemon and ginger tea soda which tasted like a honey and lemon ice tea ( they had sold out of strawberry gum and I am not keen on native mint) , a packet of snowflake patterned nail wraps ( after sampling one on my middle finger on my right hand of a pink glittery one)  and a packet of (my favourite brand ) Crackle gingerbread ( it was a toss up between gingerbread or rosemary) and caramel popcorn.

photos below.

1 pkt of 16 nail wraps $15 / pkt

1 packet of Crackle popcorn $7/pkt

1 cup of lemon balm & ginger tea soda $5/cup

This was a great idea - reusable stainless steel coffee cups to borrow and return to be washed and reused by other visitors to the markets at $6 deposit I would be tempted to kerp mine instead of returning it. I don't drink coffee so don't add to the disposable coffee cup waste  nor do I usually use any type of straws or plastic cups however I did use a paper straw and plastic cup today for my tea soda purchased above.

Everything Ecofriendly was available for purchase at this year's Big Design Market - metal straws glass straws bamboo lunch boxes glass lunch boxes chopsticks metal cutlery sets fabric bags insulated paper lunch bsgs silicon fold up water bottles stay trays to go with all the reusable coffee cups being produces bees wax wraps etc etc the list is endless.

There were not as many food and drinks stalls as at previous Big Design Markets and no foid trucks inside The Cutaway with only 1 food truck parked outside The Cutaway entrance.

Bloomfield Pies always sell out before I arrive whenever they have a stall at an event I attend

Innocent Bystander a new sponsor at this year's Big Design Market?? selling their well known Moscato as well as other alcoholic drinks under their brand name

Every man and his dog is distilling gin or producing some sort of gin related product such as flavoured syrups to accompany your gin and tonic.

Kids products and a large kids play area was located at the back end of the markets where I met 2 tourists who asked me to take a selfie of them with their heads peeping through one of the above artworks.

Glassware and ceramic ware - Batch another tableware company the owner of the company I work for tried to avoid - we used to be a stockist of their company

Seaside Tones was my favourite clothing stall at this year's markets and there was no lack of clothing stalls present. Then there were the more bizzare stalls such as the above jewellery stall amongst stationery stalls and a wide variety of ceramic stalls. Candles handbags potions and lotions tech accessories etc these markets had them all.

Because it was my only day off , I stopped off at Woolworths to purchase some groceries before taking 2 buses home. I didn't need a snack as I had purchased a bag of 12 chicken nuggets from Coles at Wynyard on my way to The Big Design Market as well as withdrawing some cash and recharge my Opal card for the week.