A hearty country breakfast

Country breakfast, mmm ..... there's something lovely about a country breakfast, isn't there?

Oh, don't get me wrong - breakfasts in city hotels can be wonderful, with their summer trifles in shot glasses, and their little fruit compotes in adorable little ramekins, everything so perfectly arranged and presented. Scrambled eggs with dijon mustard and chives; smoked salmon eggs benedict ... miso and red bean and eel, sometimes, too.

But they're ever so much more engineered than their country counterparts.

Here in Mildura, the honest country breakfast is very well looked after. In the Chandelier Dining Room of the Mildura Grand Hotel, breakfast sausages nestle closely to smoked bacon from local pigs. Poached eggs gleam alongside scrambled. Mushrooms sauteed in hot butter steam gently beside wilted spinach and grilled tomato.

Mmmm .... and the fruit arrangements are like memories from my childhood. Big bowls of tinned peaches, sliced pineapples, stewed blueberries - after all, the Sunraysia region is known as the fruit bowl of Australia, and our breakfast buffet would certainly seem to confirm that. Strawberries, plums, apricots, apples and oranges as far as the eye can see.

There must be some serious irrigation in Mildura to produce all of this, because the earth is red and dusty and unforgiving, yet here is a veritable feast here in front of us. On the way in from the airport we saw the biggest prickly pear ever, and it was absolutely covered in fruit, all red and orange and spiky.

So for me? A large fruit salad generously heaped with prunes, which I absolutely love, and it feels like I'm five again.

Mildura, your time starts now

Today I'm hooked on Fridays, totally and completely - because today My One True Love and I are on holiday!

It's our first wedding anniversary, and we have celebrated by flying to Mildura, in far western Victoria. What's in Mildura, you might ask? Well, first of all it's the Mildura Grand Hotel, which is a grand old dame on the banks of the Murray river - I quite feel like I should be wearing a crinoline and My One True Love should be in a top hat and spats, to do our sweeping staircase and grand architecture justice.

And secondly it's a restaurant called Stefano's, which has two hats (under a measure of three hats being the most prestigious) and so I decided I'd surprise him with a long weekend away featuring dinner at said restaurant, for tomorrow night. I even went to the trouble of getting his day off secretly approved by his boss.

I booked the flights, and booked the hotel, and booked the restaurant, and tucked everything away in my Secret Present file inside my head. Everything was going swimmingly until a few months ago, when he logged into his Frequent Flyer account a few months ago and noticed the flight to Mildura listed there. And then I had to confess - which spoiled the surprise somewhat, but at least it had the benefit of giving him something unusual and interesting to look forward to!

But here we are and it's splendid so far. The weather is wonderful - 37 degrees celsius today and the heat has wrapped itself around me like a blanket - I love it! I'm in a sleeveless top and a short skirt, and the feeling is liberating.

So far we've been to the local op shop, where I picked up some wonderful polka dotted fabric for $3.50, and we've seen a movie, and we've had dinner at the restaurant that purports to be the best steakhouse in Victoria. I've had some steaks in my time, and I have to say that the one I ate tonight definitely tops the list. It even beat the wagyu I had in Dubai, which is saying something. We couldn't even squeeze in dessert, and for those who know me, they will realise just how much significance this carries.

However the internet connection in the hotel is as slow as a wet week, so I'm afraid I'm unable to upload any of the photos I've taken so far. I suppose there are some things which can't be helped though, especially in the wide brown country.

I promise to rectify the situation once normal service is resumed.