Frostfest in Orange

Frostfest started off well with a brilliant night at the Orange Civic Theatre seeing Julius Caesar. I caught up with some girlfriends beforehand and we enjoyed some delicious lime infused local gin and tonics made by Stone Pine Distillery in Bathurst. If you are a gin person, you definitely need to try some Stone Pines gin as it has a really interesting blend of botanicals that give the gin lovely lime & mint characteristics so you don’t have to worry about adding anything else. It is also very reasonably priced as far as gin is concerned, you can purchase a bottle at the Orange farmers markets or from their website.

So back to the play, the modern adaptation by the Bell Shakespeare Company went with a minimalist political setting that you could imagine Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard featuring in. If you have a free night this week, definitely buy some tickets and go along for a decent fill of culture. The seats in the Orange Civic Theatre were excellent and we could see and hear everything perfectly. It makes a big difference being able to get good seats for $50 versus poor seats for $80 - $100 in Sydney. The gin was having a serious drowsy effect, combined with the warm theatre and comfy chairs – my girlfriends were falling asleep on me! The older ladies behind us were actually snoring, which was pretty hilarious.

We stocked up on tea, water and snakes (unusual food item for a theatre but yummy) in the interval so we could be a bit more wide awake for act two. We needn’t have worried as the suspense and drama kept us on the edge of our seats. 10 minutes after the show finished we were home, if only it was that easy when we used to live in Sydney.

On Saturday night we headed to the De Salis Cellar Door to see the new Frostfest photographic exhibition by Alexis Withers from Sydney. We wrapped up warmly and enjoyed some tasty barbequed chipolata sausage rolls with homemade tomato sauce the perfect match for De Salis Fume Sauvignon Blanc 2010. We enjoyed a lovely evening thanks to Charlie Svenson’s hospitality and a good crowd of local wine makers and friends in attendance. The photo exhibition remains at the De Salis Cellar Door until the end of Frostfest, go and check out this awesome cellar door if you have the chance.