3 June - Winter and a Touch of Dutch

I came to Australia as a 12 year old 59 years ago. My family assimilated to the Australian way of life quickly but I suppose like most migrants, even as we were becoming 'true blue' Aussies, we still missed some of the tastes of home. In 1956 many of the ingredients and spices required to produce the delicacies we grew up with were not available and my mother became an expert at improvisation to get as close as possible. Of course, over the past 20 or 30 years the cuisine available in Australia has become very international and, if you know where to look, nearly everything you need is now available.

A few years ago we discovered a shop and cafe called A Touch of Dutch in the town of Berwick, about 100 km from here. You can visit the web site and check out the menu here.

The plan for today, on a cold but clear morning, was to ride the Beemer to Berwick to pick up a few items from Touch of Dutch, and then ride back along the South Gippsland Highway. However, the Beemer had other ideas. When I hit the start button there was a moment's hesitation before the engine fired - bit of a worry. I decided to continue and rode to a petrol station to fill the tank, and once again despite a warm engine there was some reluctance to start. Not wishing to get stuck far from home I called in to the local battery place and was pleased to find they had the correct battery in stock at a pretty reasonable price. I was a bit tempted to change batteries there and then but the shop advised a couple of hours charging first. So, with crossed fingers, I started the bike once more and rode it home to grab the Honda instead.

Had a great ride down to Berwick and enjoyed my lunch of a dutch meatball sandwich. Also did a bit of shopping for dutch goodies before heading south for the ride home. Altogether a great day.

So, tomorrow will see the battery replaced and also the installation of a lead to enable the battery to be trickle charged easily.

Total Distance 285 km.