There aren’t many perfect people out there – even Johnny Depp made The Tourist, and after reading his biography I’m beginning to think Peter Andre isn’t as perfect as I thought he was (My World: In Pictures and Words – a literary tour de force. Read it, thank me later). But we are pretty much good at everything there is to be good at…

Creating flavoured mineral water drinks… creating un-flavoured mineral water drinks… buying Star Wars figurines online… other things…. See? We’re amazing, brilliant and (trust me) sickeningly good-looking.

It’s not surprising then that it turns out we’re actually extremely gifted farmers. Would you look at the size of that egg??!! Why it’s twice the size of that other egg! Now, I don’t know much about biology or physics or nutrition or time-travel, but I do know that feeding our chickens mineral water is definitely the possible cause of their revolutionary are-you-sure-your-chickens-aren’t-really-dinosaurs? sized eggs.

There are unpopular people out there who say eggs are meant to be egg sized. To them we say, “well what if I want a bigger than normal omelette but I’m only in the mood to crack one egg?” They’re the same buzz-kills who claim that you shouldn’t eat ice-cream for dinner or that chess is a sport or that sheep can’t drink sparkling mineral water. Well we say, “why can’t sheep enjoy a refreshing bubbly from time to time?” Or at least, “why can’t we spend a day pouring milk into mineral water bottles so that it looks like they can?” We are pioneers.

So what have we learnt from our trip to the DHMSCO farm? Johnny Depp is only human, our chickens might actually be dinosaurs, and sheep look adorable drinking from mineral water bottles.

And for the record, I still think Peter Andre is perfect. And I’d let him make me a two-egg-with-one-egg omelette any morning.

Ever had a great idea? I have.
Two words: Shoe Light (TM). A light that goes on your shoe so you can see where you’re stepping in the dark.
Here’s another: Socks With Scents (TM). Socks that smell like strawberries or pine or lemon meringue instead of like feet.

The good news for mankind and for ingenuity, is that I’m not the only one thinking up these little nuggets of brilliance. There are people out there coming up with other and maybe even better ideas! Better than Shoe Light (TM)??! Yes… Maybe. And they’re not all so unnecessarily caught up on feet…

Take the clever clogs over at Little Creatures for example: those crazy kids POUR THEIR WATER FROM A TAP!!!

Um, big deal – I’ve been doing that since I was fourteen-and-a-half years old, it’s almost as easy as brushing your teeth, in fact it’s one of the key steps involved.
Well THIS is sparkling mineral water. Try brushing your teeth with that! (you could, it would be tingly…)
It’s a little bit Wonka and it’s a little bit awesome!!
But WHERE does the water come from? At first magic – most probably powered by Oompa Loompas – was assumed. But that seemed silly.
Then a worm hole that connected the tap directly to our spring was suggested. This seemed plausible.
But then some kill-joy asked, “haven’t we been sending Little Creatures kegs full of mineral water for weeks now?”

At first this nonsensical idea was widely ignored and the physics defying worm hole was applauded with unquestioning abandon. But then it had to be asked, what had they been doing with all those kegs?A hard hitting investigation (okay, okay: we followed the copper piping to see where it leads) revealed that actually, eco kegs were the source of this ingenious new way of serving up mineral water.

And while we can neither confirm nor deny whether Oompa Loompas played any part in the construction, a garden tap that streams mineral water still seems pretty darn magical really!

Ideas have been distilled, improved developed, and new technology introduced since we were at the Greenhouse at Federation Square in the summer 2009. Walls that capture carbon, a frame that was fabricated on site by an amazing machine that cut each individual piece, labelled it and handed it to the guys to bolt together like a meccano set, all fabricated from recycled metal. Kitchen waste composted on site and used to grow veg on the roof, grain delivered each day to be ground on site to make the bread /pasta/and pizzas, even the oats are rolled to order for your muesli.

And then there is the mineral water. In a world first and only possible with the support of Joost we have started bottling our sparkling mineral water direct from the spring in recyclable Eco Kegs. Joost is making cola, lemonade and tonic water in house with our mineral water as base as well as serving it in its beautiful natural state in jam jars of course.

If you are interested in your environment, design, food or new ideas or the endless possibilities we all have to make a change for the better you must go and see this building. Just don’t eat the strawberry walls, their magic.

Wine Australia is hosting the 2010 Landmark Australia Tutorial in the Yarra Valley, Victoria from September 20^th – 24^th. The intensive course consists of a series of tastings and themed master classes charting the development of Australias’ fine wine credentials. Wine Australia has invited applicants from Australia’s leading wine professionals to join the best and brightest opinion leaders from around the world in the five-day tutorial.

Daylesford & Hepburn Mineral Springs Co has been selected by Wine Australia to be the water sponsor for the tutorial due to the company’s commitment to quality while focusing on sustainabitily.The local mineral water was selected as the perfect accompanyment to the fine wine served at the event.

The 14 participants who are attending the Landmark Australia Tutorial in the Yarra Valley are:

Ms Sarah Ahmed, freelance wine writer and educator, United Kingdom
Ms Kim Bickley, sommelier, Hilton Hotel, Australia
Mr Tony Love, wine writer, News Ltd. metropolitan newspapers, Australia
Ms Karen MacNeil, chairman, Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the Culinary Institute of America, United States
Mr Kenichi Ohashi, president, Yamajin Co. Ltd., Utsunomiya, Japan
Ms Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Asian wine correspondent and reviewer, eRobertParker.com and The Wine Advocate, Singapore
Ms Diwen Qiu, managing editor, “Wine in China” magazine, Singapore
Dr Edward Ragg, wine writer, educator and consultant, Dragon Phoenix Fine Wine Consulting, China
Mr Thomas Rydberg, wine writer, Ekstra Bladet, Denmark
Mr Joerg Sievers, editor, Weinwirtschaft, Meininger Publications, Germany
Mr Jon Troutman, senior editor, Cork’d, USA
Mr Simon Tam, wine journalist, educator and consultant, Independent Wine Centre, Hong Kong
Ms Fongyee Walker, wine writer, educator and consultant, Dragon Phoenix Fine Wine Consulting, China
Mr Thomas Woolrych, buying manager, Direct Wines, United Kingdom

More information on the Landmark Wine Tutorial
http://www.landmark-wineaustralia.com

These are our new fruit and sparkling mineral water flavours.

The flavours are:-

Lemon

Orange & Passionfruit

Pink Grapefruit

Blood Orange

Apple

they contain no cane sugar

no sodium benzoate (preservative 211)

no artificial colours or flavours

_____________________________________________________________