The Twelve Apostles

A visit to the Twelve Apostles during our trip along the Great Ocean Road. The Twelve Apostles are rocky outcroppings along the coastline formed by the sea. Apparently, there were once 12 of these things, but they have been steadily collapsing over the years as the ocean reclaims the land. Look at the amazing cliffs. It makes me wonder how it was formed and what it looked like thousands of years ago. Too bad the beaches aren't really good for swimming, it is so picturesque. 

Camping March/2010: To Adelaide and Back

Here are some images of our recent camping excursion to Adelaide and back where we saw the amazing Wau Wau Sisters perform. We first stopped in Belair National Park, just outside of Adelaide City, but it might as well be considered part of the city as its only a 15 minute drive to the city center and we were camped beside a busy road that leads to it. As a result we didn't really feel like we were camping in the wilderness. This was the theme for the remainder of the trip as it seems that Australia is brimming with options for caravan camping for the many who take on the adventure of traveling the circumference of the country by car. It suited us just fine because we might as well have been a caravan ourselves with all the crap that we hauled around, the cast iron pots and pans, blankets and pillows, swim gear, etc. and were afforded hot showers to keep us looking neat. 

After Adelaide, where we met up with Helly, Ace and Linda, we decided to meander down the coast slowly on our way back to Melbourne. We stopped in Warnambool after ages of driving through a desolate landscape, unfortunately I completely slept through the picturesque vineyards of Southern Australia. We stopped once in an empty rural town with no McDonald's to be seen, which really made me wonder what people do out there. Farming for one, where do you think all the beef and fresh produce come from. Situated right next to the beach, we decided to stay 2 extra nights in Warnambool to actually take the opportunity to relax. Actually we spent one day in the emergency room, nothing serious, just one of those pesky UTIs that could only be dealt with by antibiotics. Too bad they are not as cheap and readily available as in Sri Lanka. In fact, my doctor was a little guy from Colombo. Sans symptoms, I could only diagnose and treat myself as usual, which should not have to take 3 hours for a simple script.

Next stop - a meander down the great ocean road and a visit to the 12 apostles (next post) before settling in a quant little camping spot just north of Lorne (after arguing over and second-guessing about the other camping site options). Not beachfront, but next to a rippling creek in a mountainous rainforested area. The next day we only had time for a quick hike on the walking trail before heading out for a day trip to Torquay on our way home. 

Gourmet camping cuisine

Richard's Gum Tree

Adelaide Fringe

Some scenes from the Adelaide Fringe Festival, in the Garden of UnEarthly Delights where we saw the Wau Wau Sisters last week. It was very much like a vintage carnival full of strange sites and unique artistic performances. I tried out the pin hole scene mode on my camera, which makes the images appear even more vintage and eerie.

Aboriginal artwork light display

Wau Wau Sisters

On recommendation from Ceci we decided to take some of our free time to travel to Adelaide to see the Wau Wau Sisters participating as part of the Adelaide Festival. Let me just say the performance(s) was totally worth the 8 hour drive, and we caught up with some of Richard's old friends as well. This was all part of our extended camping trip that I will share later.

The Wau Wau Sisters perform a country music, acrobatics, sexually-charged comedy show that calls on participation from the audience. They are presented as misunderstood good Catholic school girls at the beginning of the show and through their "innocence" are able to truly extend their goodness. By the end of the night a reenactment of Jesus Last Supper is created with members of the audience. It has been lauded in the media as a "Show not to miss" http://www.independentweekly.com.au/news/local/news/entertainment/fringe-review-the-wau-wau-sisters-last-supper/1774035.aspx and was sold out every night of the Fringe Festival. Plus, we presented ourselves as Ceci an JJ's cousins and were invited to attend their La Clique show later that night, which was super awesome. The acrobatics they can do on the trapeze bar is really amazing, showing off their defined muscles. Thanks for the recommendation Ceci, and thanks to the Tanya and Adreinne we were able to enjoy a memorable night out. I'll be sure to look out for their other performances. Wau Wau Sister's Facebook page.

Screwed

Some of you have probably already heard, maybe not, cause its taken me this long to want to mention it – and its needs to be noted because it changes everything, but our dreams of pursuing a stable family life in modern Australia was quickly dashed at the start of this year by the likes of a greedy, dodgy business man. A great big surprise slap in the face from the guy who had made so many promises and assurances. Too bad we believed him and changed our lives completely around, sacrificing quite a lot, to help him out (with personal benefits of course). So now we're screwed having no employment and no concrete prospects in this super expensive city. When or If I ever encounter this person again, he will truly come to know the Wrath of Rachel. Until then, only Evil thoughts about that certain person though I am trying to be the better person and just forgive and forget. But it is oh so hard now that we are faced with great heartache, uncertainty, and fears as we rearrange our lives once again at great expense so that we can recover and move on. All due to the actions of one stupid man. Pray that we are able to avoid such situations in the future and that evil/stupid men throughout the world are unable to victimize good people. And pray that we can skip over this low period quickly and get on with living in what should be the prime of our lives.

So now you can see we have some extra time on our hands to do all the things that working people don't have time to do. Such as on-the-fly camping trips, jetting off to another country for a few months, taking up a new hobby… anything – which I will recount in this blog. We are really gonna try our damdest to enjoy this period of freedom (on a budget) before we become seriously tied down by jobs and family in the near future. Stay tuned…

Weekend in Sydney 2

Tubing behind Robert's boat, on an inlet North of Sydney. Not sure if it looks like fun. And for sure, I wasn't going to try it out, having a fear of water and all. And for fear of sharks, which are prevalent in Australian waters. 

He has a huge boat, apparently the largest you are legally able to tow behind a vehicle. It was a monster, that I wouldn't be confident enough to haul around. 

Go Lindy!

Even Baka jumped on.

Brother baba budan

We made a trip into the city during the week, and what better excuse to try out one of the highly rated Melbourne cafes listed on the "Melbourne Coffee Review" iPhone app. Melbourne is a town renowned for its cafe culture, giving the city a European vibe, which can probably be attributed to its high concentration of European immigrants like the Italians and Greeks, bringing with them a fondness for exquisite espressos whilst situated under the sun on a busy city sidewalk. They also bring with them superior coffee-making techniques that only enhance coffee's amalgamating flavors. 

Having the highest rating of 3 whole beans, we decided to try out Brother Baba Budan located on Little Bourke Street in the CBD. As always, I ordered a soy mocha and Richard got a soy flat white as they are called here. No drip coffee in Australia, only espressos with varying amounts of milk. Strong stuff. The coffee was amazing, though I am not so much a coffee connoisseur to note the subtle flavorings. But I can tell the difference between good coffee and bad. This was definitely good, nutty according to Richard. And as the pictures show, the edgy decor provides a quirky atmosphere for the businessmen and students who nip in for a quick sip which is all that is allowed for lack of space to stretching out and camping as can usually be the case in American Starbucks establishments. I liked it, and out exploration into the city that day which allowes us to incorporate ourselves into "normal" society for a brief moment. I made Richard sit on the sidewalk afterwards just to watch all the people coming and going to work, to the tram, a shopping excursion, tourists, all sorts of strange people are out there. 

Coffee

Fab roast

This is the organic chicken gotten from the Abbottsford Convent Slow Food Market held every 4th Saturday. It was purchased to satisfy a craving for a good ole roast. I stuffed it with bread stuffing made with rye bread, fennel pork sausage (free range pork, also from the market) and sage (dried and fresh from my window sill). I rubbed the bird down with butter as much as possible, sprinkled it with pink Murray River Salt and voila... a roast chicken. Though it looks good, it didn't come out as perfectly as I had hoped, probably cause I tried to whip it up too quickly and got the timing all wrong. I roasted with organic whole carrots (which got a little too mushy, shoulda thrown them in at the last 30 minutes), and brussel sprouts (which I did quickly saute for the last 5 minutes). I am really loving brussel sprouts these days, especially in butter (just little is all thats needed). And I am into organic root vegetables ever since my mother told me how root vegetables are more susceptible to retaining the chemicals used in pesticides and fertilizers - possibly leading to cancers. (is it just me or does everything seem to cause cancer?) I have yet to research this further, but for now I'm going for the organic root veggies as much as possible. 

The best part of this organic chicken is now I have a big pot of Chicken soup. I make it with potatoes, carrots, this time with cauliflower, and I thrown in a big bunch of chopped fresh spinach at the last minute for extra iron. Serve with white rice, Not noodles, because thats how I grew up and because I remember a children's book that drilled the phrase "Chicken soup with Rice" into my head. 

Feeling very domestic

Weekend in Sydney

A long overoverdue trip to visit the in- laws. Now that we have some
extra time on our hands we took the opportunity for a little road trip
to Sydney.

New knitting projects underway

I am fully into a renewed knitting frenzy after coming home from a Christmas vacation loaded was more than just a few knitting books full of gorgeous patterns. This time around I am working on a green and gray herringbone wool sweater for Richard which is going to take me years to finish. With some purple striped cotton/wool blend I got from mom ages ago I'm making a thin summery scarf. It's something I don't have to concentrate too hard on so I can do it in lower light. Can't wait for them to be done so I can start on the next creative project.

Moms potato roll recipe

Cinnamon rolls

Monkey Bread

Potato rolls

Recipe:

7 tsp yeast dissolved in 3 cups of warm water for 15 minutes

Add:
1 3/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup veg oil
1 cup of potato flakes (or I used 1 cup of freshly mashed potatoes which makes for a slightly lumpy mixture)

Slowly incorporate 6-8 cups flour
Knead and let rise twice
Bake at 350 degrees F until brown

Moms potato roll recipe makes a ton of dough. What to do with it all when all I wanted was some gooey, cinnamony buns?. I ended up with all of this... And am now feeling quite the baker.