High Tea Etiquette is so important if you are going to enjoy one of life’s little luxuries.  Recently I was invited to give two presentations at the Tea Festival in Orange.  I was delighted to have been invited and prepared the presentations and my daughter prepared a beautiful hand out to give to all the participants.

Getting There
My neighbour came with me.  We boarded the 7.15 am train from Central, sat back and relaxed as the train made its way over the Blue Mountains and headed out west eventually arriving in Orange 5 hours later.  What a great way to start what was to become a wonderful long weekend.

Orange
I have never been to Orange before and was delighted to see beautiful old homes kept immaculately.  Most of the old homes close to the main part of town are now solicitors rooms, doctors surgeries and the like.  Orange is a major wine growing region of NSW and there are several wine tasting centres right in town.  It is also a wonderful foodies hub with several 1^st class restaurants.

Activities
Friday night we attended an amazing food and tea pairing dinner.  Five courses were served and with each course we were served an appropriate tea.  What fun.

Then on Saturday morning came my reason for being there.  I gave a presentation on the History of High Tea.  The presentation was recorded because some country people who were not able to make it had booked a video link up.  This presentation was attended by ladies only.  They asked many questions which I always love.

Saturday afternoon was the main presentation – The Etiquette of High Tea.  This was attended by many families as well as single people.  I was so impressed to see quite a few husbands attending with their wives and children.  All the children were so well behaved.  Again people asked many questions.  Lucky for me that table manners and high tea etiquette are my favourite subjects, otherwise I could have been stumped by some of the questions.  The presentation was again recorded for those people who were attending by video link.

Saturday night was a dinner which again was amazing.

Return to Sydney
I loved Orange so much that I delayed my return to Sydney from Sunday morning to Sunday afternoon.  With great reluctance I boarded the coach (track work being done so no trains) at 4.00 pm and arrived in Sydney at 10.00 pm.

Footnote
They will be holding the Tea Festival again next year and said that they would like me to give the presentations again.  Of course I said “yes”.