Farmer's Market Thursdays

Every Thursday morning I wake up and have a cup of tea on the patio, admire the jungle palms and ocean breeze. Really, this is what I do every morning, but on Thursdays I wander down our street to the local farmer's market. We've been excited in the past to discover a sourdough bakery that has a stand at the market. So far on this journey we've been bereft our our beloved Northwest sourdough breads. We have also been purchasing handmade ravioli, last week we tried the pumpkin + sage variety.

This week was especially exciting because there are new fruits/veggies I haven't seen there before. A basket of fresh figs for $6, star fruit for $2, and exotic dragon fruits - these will be next week's adventure if they're still at the market. This week I excitedly purchase a large bag of fresh passion fruit for just $5. I don't know what I'll do with them, but I'm excited to learn. I get home and unpack my collected goods - this is my favorite part of every Thursday, sharing my purchases with Chris and planning a menu for upcoming days. We dive into the passion fruit, which are small and purple with a surprisingly hard shell. We cut them in half and discover a yellow goo with seeds in the middle. Honestly it doesn't look like anything you'd want to eat, but it smells amazing and we know it'll be a tasty treat. They are tangy and sweet at the same time, and loads of fun to eat. It reminds me of eating fresh Dungeness crab, where it's a lot of work with only a small amount of "the good stuff" once you break through the shell, but ultimately well worth the effort.

spicyicecream.com.au

We find a recipe online for Passion Fruit Cheesecake Brownies (from a graphic designer who loves to bake and blog! I have some work to do :) and set to work gutting no less than 8 passion fruits to obtain 1/4 cup of fresh juice. We saved the pulp and seeds for topping the ice cream once the brownies are done. Note: I actually wanted to make Coconut Cream Passion Fruit Cheesecake, but decided we were too impatient for such a dessert. Perhaps it's a good alternative if you're feeling adventurous.

Other ways we've enjoyed the passion fruit: eating on its own as a snack, as a yogurt topping, and in smoothies with greek yogurt, banana, mango and honey. Thanks to all our family and friends for jumping in with ideas on what to make with this yummy fruit! Next week's adventure: the dragon fruit.

A Valentine's Day Surfari

What we woke up to

ROAD TRIP!

Chris and I have now been in Byron Bay for a few months, and to be honest we've rarely ventured outside town in that time. We have no car, so that makes transportation a bit more difficult. Fortunately (not so much for Chris), we were forced to visit the Gold Coast for a doctor's appointment to cure Chris of his clogged hearing. We borrowed a friend's car, a tent, threw our surf boards in the back and set out for a quickie adventure. Stop one: Coolangatta and the doctor. It feels so good to drive again. I haven't driven in 5 months and I miss it. Driving on the other side of the road takes some getting used to, but you can pick it up in an hour. This was a seriously windy night, and we hoped for better conditions for an early morning surf. We had some awesome burgers at Grill'd ("the best burgers in Australia" - and as far as we've tasted their claim is accurate), and grab a bottle of red before setting off toward the rumored awesome surf spot at Cabarita Beach. Our Italian roommate has been going on and on about how they camped on the beach, woke up to amazing surf and spent 4 hours out in the water enjoying the barrels. Awesome.

Sunrise at Cabarita Beach

We arrive at Cabarita Beach at twilight and discover there's no holiday park (camping ground). The public beaches and parking lot have signs warning of steep fines for overnight parking/camping. Although there are a few camper vans who seem to be setting up camp for the night. We alight upon a quiet street lined with empty holiday houses and the wheels start turning...it's late at night - what are the odds someone is checking into one of these houses tonight? Our cheapness claims the front seat and we decide to chance camping in one of these giant backyards near the ocean. These are nice, expensive houses and I really want to swim in their pool, but that's taking it a bit too far. We stroll to the beach for a Valentine's Day celebration with our bottle of red. We wake up early (after a not-so-restful sleep) and pack up all our gear before anyone can find us - and head to the beach to check the surf. There are already a loads of surfers out and it's only 7:00 in the morning. Beautiful waves. Medium-sized, clean and consistent. I jump into the water while Chris runs into town in search of breakfast.

Burleigh Heads National Park

Cockatoos on a wire

I scout for rocks and other discrepancies below the water, as I've never surfed here before. There are some giant fish down there, and the water is pretty deep. Yikes! I watch a few sets break and see where the other surfers are cruising before I gingerly take my own wave. I ask a local if there are any big rocks under the water and he helpfully tells me which areas to avoid. As usual, I am the only girl out there. But today it's with 40 dudes and I'm in a new spot, and feeling very intimidated. After my first ride is successful I feel a bit cockier and take a few other waves. My hunger eventually gets the best of me and I cruise to shore to meet Chris on the beach. Poor Chris can't swim or surf for a week because of his ear. But at least it's cured.

Tallebudgera Creek

We grab some coffee and eggs at a cafe in town, and plan out our day. We read in our guidebook about some natural rock slides and swimming holes near Currumbin and decide to head there. After much searching and a few bad directions, we hit nearby Burleigh Heads and hike through the National Park (a scant acre between the ocean and Tallebudgera Creek). The park is beautiful and it's nice to stretch our legs a bit. Sadly, after this we head home. Now we both have itchy legs and are planning a Wicked Camper trip through Melbourne and Victoria, where we can wake up and surf every morning and camp every night. Ahhh....freedom.

The Many Adventures of Krissy and Chris

It was a bright and sunny December morning and Krissy and I were in The Harbor City, Sydney Australia. Anxious to get out and explore the city, we set of with a mission: Exchange a surfboard bag which we had purchased at the Byron Bay Rip Curl store. The bag was listed as 7'2", the same size as Krissy's board, however it was simply too small.

We did a quick search and discovered that there were Rip Curl stores near Town Hall, Manly, and Bondi. With our MyMultiPass (unlimited rides on the train, bus, and ferry) in hand, we descended with the bag into the subway. We had gotten fairly proficient with finding our way around at this point, and confidently made our way to the appropriate platform, and boarded the train. A few dark and dreary stops later (OK, Sydney's underground is far from that of the worst city's subway I have visited) we were anxious to find ourselves breathing fresh air again.

We got off the train to try the first Rip Curl store near Town Hall, and emerged happily blinking into the sunlight. We took a look around to get our bearings, and then it happened.

"Chris, where's the surfboard bag...?"

With that brief statement, the sky darkened. The birds suddenly hushed, and the world ground to a halt.

We had left the bag on a subway train, which was as we spoke barreling towards who knows where.
Realizing that every moment was critical, we rushed back down into the train station.

The first person we saw was a ticketing agent. We ran up to the window and in a stream of words said something that roughly sounded like "Weleftoursurfboardbagonatrainohnowhatwillwedo!?" The ticketing agent had paused for a moment to absorb what had just happened, when suddenly another person appeared. Or did he? A hunch-backed man of indeterminate years, in a croaking voice he instructed us to go "Down down down, to the 6th floor, along the platform, and find the mirrored wall under the stairs. Knock on the right side of the mirror wall." We looked off in the direction he pointed us, and turning back, blinked. He was gone.

Had he ever been there?

Nevertheless, we followed the cryptic instructions, and began descending to the depths of the train station. We found the 6th floor, and after a moment of searching, we turned a corner, and there under a stairwell, was a dirty corner, with a mirrored wall. We knocked on the indicated portion of the mirror, and waited. A rat scurried by. Then another. Suddenly with a creak, the wall opened to reveal a massive troll of a man. It seemed he was nearly 7 foot tall. A bulbous warty nose protruded from a broad-cheeked face, and lumpy forehead. Its eyes were off of level, and it seemed to be slowly considering us. It clearly did not seem pleased that we had knocked on his particular section of wall.

After some consideration, extensive debate, nudging, cajoling, and encoring, the troll indicated that it may be capable of tracking down the bag.

It turned and strode a pace into the room, then settled heavily into an extremely well-worn task chair. I stepped forward to follow and with an agility surprising in one of his stature, he turned and held a hand up indicating I should proceed no further. Somewhat cringingly, mumbled that I could not enter this room, as there were no cameras inside. The implication hang heavy in the air that everywhere else in this warren of a subway system, each man woman and child was being closely watched. The disappearing man had found a black-hole.

What followed cannot be adequately expressed in writing. It seemed as if suddenly the troll turned a light on in his head, and his hands began whirring through booklets and computer screens. Diagrams appeared, were prodded and manipulated, then disappeared. Several phone calls were made, and at one point, a whistle emerged and was blown several times.

Nearly an hour later, the light inside it had dimmed, and the troll-man half stood, hunched now and seemingly drained from the effort. With its remaining strength, he indicated we could take a train to Hurstville, a journey of 2 hours or so round trip, and there recover our bag.

The remainder of the day was rather normal. Blissfully so. We managed to recover the bag unharmed, went into Manly where we didnt actually return the bag (that time!), visited the 4 Pines Brewery (My post on that happy trip - http://endlessaussiesummer.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/seattle-we-have-beer.html) the beach, and had a fine evening.