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.

A Random Evening in Our World

It was Christmas morning in Sydney.

Two young travellers were walking down a quiet street, when they came up behind a young girl. She was walking the same direction, on the same street, wearing a dress and carrying a Santa hat. It was Christmas after all.

Almost simultaneously the three young people spot a fourth person. A girl, also wearing a holiday dress. In one hand the new girl holds a smoking cigarette, and a cell phone which she is talking into. In the other hand? A dead pigeon (or quite nearly dead) is clutched, while she waves her hand emphatically to the telephone conversation. She is sitting in the dirt of a tree-well, alongside the sidewalk.

All at once, the two strangers realize that they know each other! The first girl slows to greet the second, and as we overtake them both, it becomes clear that the first girl is sobbing and crying. Much pigeon-waving ensues.

In the background, a three-wheeled motorized scooter zips down the street.

The Many Adventures of Krissy and Chris - Part II

There we were, an hour outside of Sydney, on the shoulder of the M4. Cars and trucks were whizzing past at 110 km/h, and we had a flat tire. We had borrowed a car from a friend for a day, and after taking a moment to try and wrap my brain around driving with a manual transmission (It's been 5-6 years!!), then another to come to grips with shifting left-handed, we set off for the Blue Mountains. The trip had started off so well - despite having a lack of relevant maps (we had at least 4 maps, none of them seemed to be very helpful however) we had managed to wind through the city from Bondi Junction, straight out onto the M4, in what somehow seemed to be perhaps the most efficient route possible.

I hit the emergency flashers, set the hand-break, checked and double checked to make sure I wouldn't be run over, then hopped out of the car. A few minutes of poking through the trunk yielded a pleasant surprise, the elusive full-sized spare! Along with a lug-wrench and a jack, it looked like we were going to be back on the road in no time! I quickly got to work while Krissy gave our friend a call, to inform her of our little mishap with her car. Before we knew it, I was cranking down the lug-nuts (uhhhm, dear, the car seems to roll quite a bit when you push on that...) and preparing to re-embark on our journey!

Then I hear Krissy's voice ring out - "Uhm, Dear, should the car be leaking quite that much?" Yikes! There was a large puddle of something under the car, near the front passenger side wheel. And it was dripping at a rather alarming rate. Deciding to head to the nearest gas station where we could more safely evaluate the status of the car, we threw the flat into the back, hopped in, and turned off the emergency flashers. I set the clutch, and turned the key to start up and get back on the road and... the battery was dead. Apparently those quick few minutes of running the flashers had been enough to put the poor thing over its limit. Now this was a sticky situation. We were on an up-hill grade, and traffic was flying by mere inches from us. The road wasn't steep enough to roll backwards on, but steep enough to make it impossible for Krissy to push us up the hill so I could compression start it the car. Krissy can't drive a stick, and we decided that here and now on the side of the highway wasn't the time, or place to learn to compression start a car with a manual transmission, so me pushing was out of the question.

It seemed that the only option we had was to have Krissy push against traffic (Did I mention it was mere inches away? At 110 km/h?!?) backwards and down the hill, and hope to gain enough speed to start the car - still in reverse. It seemed that finally some luck was on our side! The car fired up, I managed not to smash in the oncoming traffic, and we set off again for the Blue Mountains!!

As soon as we reached a town, we went into the aforementioned gas station to evaluate the situation. While sitting there in the parking lot, we decided to take a quick break and eat some of the food we had packed for the day in order to get our spirits back up. That's when it happened.

Right next to the parking lot there was a tree, and in this tree were two parrots. (lorikeets? Krissy loves to see whatever they are, colorful and happy, it always raises her spirits) As we gazed, there was a sudden flapping, and next thing we know... they were getting it on. This was some serious discovery channel action, bouncing along with tail feathers fluttering to the rhythm. It was unmistakable, those parrots were shagging. We had a good laugh, as they parted themselves, and went back to looking innocent. Right as we were turning back to the car, round two began. After thoroughly exhausting themselves, and our spirits considerably raised, we decided to risk the car, and hit the road for the Blue Mountains!

The rest of the day turned out to be amazing. We weren't sure of what to expect at the mountains, but we hiked the 6 k National Pass Trail, around Wentworth falls. The first hour, and last half-hour of the hike there were tons of people around, but for 2 hours or so in the middle we didn't see another soul. Just one striking view, heart-thumping lookout, or stunning waterfall after the next. At the end of the hike we stopped to take in the last views and enjoy a cold drink, then headed back into Sydney. The little car? It got us back home safe and sound!

Happy New Year!

Many of you are probably wondering "What happens in Sydney during New Year?" Awesome, is the answer. Awesome happens.

There are many expensive parties you can attend, if you buy tickets far in advance. Having backpacker status, of course, restricts us to the cheap and last minute. One festival we almost hit, and which had tickets available last minute, was the Sunburnt Christmas at Bondi Beach. This is Christmas Vegas-style. Since we were away from our families and friends and had no tree, no presents, no holiday music, and no ugly sweaters, we figured we might as well party on Christmas Day to keep us from the holes of depression. Unfortunately, our plans were foiled by lingering drinks with friends on Christmas Eve. Oops.

So New Year's was to be our big night out. The plan, much to my dismay, kept getting pushed to the last minute until the night before - and when none of our friends had come up with any plans, I made the executive decision. We would pack a picnic and leave early, 10am as we heard this was appropriate to get a good spot, go to the Royal Botanic Gardens and watch the fireworks, followed by champagne back at the hostel and then dancing all night at whatever club had a short line and would let us in.

I woke up totally jazzed the morning of New Year's Eve and went for a jog to prepare my body for a night of intense drinking and dancing in high heels. The time was 8am. I took a beautiful jog down the Butler Stairs, around the marina in Wooloomooloo Bay, and into the Botanic Gardens to see how the line was shaping up for the celebration that night. I kept getting pushed around by these fences that seemed to pop up overnight all around the park, which usually has half a dozen entrances. By the time I reached the main entrance I was floored to discover thousands of people already waiting in line. Many had the haggard appearance of having spent the night in the park so they could secure the best possible bit of grass for the fireworks show. Completely disgruntled I ran back to the hostel. On my way back up Butler Stairs I remembered this tiny park at the end of Victoria Street that I had jogged through a few days ago and which had a beautiful view of the harbor and Opera House, and most of the Harbor Bridge.

Waiting to get into the park for fireworks

I reached the park and was pleased to discover no one waiting in line. After speaking to the helpful Security guy, he informed me people started lining up around 3pm. Well, things were looking up. We met up with our Canadian friends and hit Harry's Cafe de Wheels, a famous Australian pie shop. Have we mentioned before how much the Aussies love pie? Oddly enough (we thought), there are not many fruit pies, but rather, beef pie with traditional Australian red sauce, chicken and mushroom, chicken curry pie, and beef, cheese and bacon. Toppings include mashed potatoes, gravy, and mashed peas. It sounds weird, but my god it makes sense immediately when you taste it. There are pie shops all over Australia and your visit here is not complete without sampling a pie. However, Harry's is The Pie Shop, and people from Russell Crowe to Elton John to the cast of American Chopper have tasted their pies.

Our back alley in Sydney

Around 3:00pm we got in line for the small park at the end of Victoria Street. We were among the first twenty people, and happily began drinking and playing cards until the park opened. We took turns running out for dinner, and then napped for an hour or two before the show started. We had a pretty good view of the harbor and, despite being told by a few locals that the fireworks were "just fireworks" I was pumped. One of our friends had itchy legs while we all napped and sent us a text one hour before kickoff, letting us know he found an alley "with almost no people" and an amazing view of everything. We'd have to stand, but there was a great view and we should go meet him. After spending hours trying to secure this patch of grass, I was reluctant to leave, but we took a gamble and set out to meet him. We arrived in a small back alley, fully packed with drunk (but happy) people, tourists and locals alike, smoking, cavorting and laughing. It was actually the perfect way to celebrate New Year's. The fireworks were INSANE. Fire was coming off skyscrapers, across the harbor, off the Opera House, from barges in the harbor, and spilling off the length of the bridge itself. I have never seen fireworks like these in my life. Everyone in that alley was part of one memory, it was magical.

Excited to keep celebrating, we dressed up and popped champagne back at the Orginals. The nice thing about hostels is they always have deals with the clubs and you can usually get free entry somewhere. So we went all the way across the street and danced all night. It was the best New Year's ever.

Finding Nemo

This morning we are super excited because we'll be visiting the Sydney Aquarium. We figure it will be fantastic given it's proximity to the Great Barrier Reef. We wait in line for ever to get in and have plenty of time to study the map, and our approach. First up: the platypus. The photos on the wall show them to be much smaller than I thought, not the same size as a beaver but rather more like a big kitten. Unfortunately the little guy is shy and we don't get to see him. We do see a very cool crustacean exhibit with giant Japanese spider crabs. And yes, Nemo and Dori are present as well. The best part of the Aquarium is the tunnels. There are two of them, one houses the Dugongs (big sea cows similar to the American Manatee), and the second is home to a startling variety of sharks. It's feeding time for the Dugongs and we watch as platters of lettuce are tossed into the tank. Poor Dugongs, if I had to eat lettuce for my whole life I'd charge the tank. I'm sure that's just what they eat.

my most adorable cupcake

The tunnels are glass so you feel immersed in the water with the sharks swimming all around you. It would be creepy, but they're very graceful creatures and it's beautiful to watch them. Large manta rays are also in the tank and you can see them from an angle you might not get in the wild. There are informative posters throughout the Aquarium about the sharks, each one carefully lists human fatalities. I thought this was stupid (did I mention the 20 foot Great White replica that's absolutely horrifying?), until I noticed the majority of the posters listed no fatalities for most of the sharks. I guess what this really says is most people lose a limb but not their lives. I find comfort in an adorable yellow cupcake topped with a sugar crab.

We walk back through The Rocks, one of the oldest town centers in Sydney. It began in the 1800s with 'shanghaied sailors' and now it's booked for wedding photos. We saw two weddings getting photographed while we walked around. It's a nice pedestrian area with old storefronts and lots of shopping, restaurants, and bars. Beautiful views of the Harbor Bridge and the harbor itself.

Harbor Bridge from The Rocks

On our return to the hostel we decide to hit the bar with our buddy. The hostels are fantastic because they have groups going out to specified bars each night, usually with free entry and a free drink. Again, never a lonely dull moment. We head around the corner to World Bar. From the outside it resembles a mini-mansion from Cuba, complete with palm trees and excellent outdoor lighting to accent the building's facade. Once inside, we are crowded into a small bar. We bump into an English guy from our hostel in Byron over a month ago - I love Australia. This happens all the time, so fun. Everyone is ordering a teapot (cocktail served in a teapot with colorful little shot glasses for sharing), so we jump on board. We discover there are 4 floors and just as many bars in this house. The bottom floor is the Apothecary, where you order from a small bar resembling a pharmacist's counter from the 1800s. Skulls, things in old jars, red velvet drapes, and high-backed old leather banquettes decorate the space. We are on a mission to see each room. This place is super fun, and totally crazy. We walk three blocks back to the hostel and crash.

At World Bar