Buzzy Big City Melbourne

Posted on April 17, 2021 by admin

Melbourne is one of the best cities to visit, with it’s neat grid-like CBD, the mix of old buildings with gleaming sky scrapers, the fancy rooftop bars and the gritty laneways with small, sometimes hidden bars and the many diverse restaurants to tempt you. Berlin Bar, a small bar on Corrs Lane requires you to climb some stairs and then ring the door bell. The staff will let you into a space which is a split into austere East Berlin and opulent West Berlin and you will have to choose where to spend your evening.

A visit to Melbourne is not complete without visiting the food markets. Both Queen Victoria Markets and the South Melbourne Markets are close to the CBD are a food lover’s paradise.

Danishes at Agathe at South Melbourne Markets

Fitzroy Gardens is a lush green sanctuary on the east side of the CBD.

Miniature Tudor Village in the centre of Fitzroy Gardens

NGV International in worth a visit with many artworks by big name French impressionist painters as well as many modern works.

The State Library of Victoria is a beautiful old building and is magnificent on the inside as well. Best of all, it is being used by lots of students, industriously studying away in these magnificent surrounds.

The Dome in the State Library of Victoria

One of the best things about travelling is happening randomly upon something weird or wonderful, such as these street sculptures.

Lovely South Australia

Posted on April 5, 2021 by admin

More pictures of lovely places in South Australia to visit.

Salvador Dali Triumphant Elephant, D’Arenberg Cube

Salvador Dali, Nobility of Time, D’Arenberg Cube

Thanks to the lovely folk at Sky Seafoods for providing us a an informative tour through their lobster processing facility. This magnificent specimen is about 30 years old!

Magnificent Mount Gambier

Posted on April 5, 2021 by admin

It turns out, two of the most beautiful attractions in South Australia are in Mount Gambier. Blue Lake is a lake in a dormant volcanic crater that supplies Mount Gambier with their drinking water. The Umpherston Sinkhole, a lush, green and special place.

Great Otway National Park, Great Ocean Road and Surrounds

Posted on April 5, 2021 by admin

What a beautiful part of the world! Stunning coastal drive with the azure blue waters on one side and dense bush on the other side. Coastal activities only a short car ride from shady, green, tree fern lined walks in the forest.

Portland Foreshore – Wonderful to see the industries that support the town on display.

Port Fairy Lighthouse on Griffith Island

The beach on Griffith Island – Port Fairy

Emu at Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve. Look up into the trees to see some koalas!

Foxes can cross over to Middle Island at low tide and this was hurting the penguin population until a chicken farmer suggested training Maremma sheepdogs to protect the penguins.

Lake Colac from the Meredith Parks Campground

The Meredith Parks free campground is a lovely spot directly facing Lake Colac with clean flushing toilets and sinks connected to town water, rubbish bins, fire pits and good mobile signal. People fishing were also pulling numerous large carps out from the lake.

Triplet Falls – Great Otway National Park

Walking in Great Otway National Park to Triplet Falls

Apollo Bay

Along Parker Hill to Point Franklin Walking Track – Otway National Park

View from Parker Hill to Point Franklin Walking Trail

Musings about Food

Posted on April 5, 2021 by admin

I love food! Eating a delicious, warm meal fills me with a sense of contentment, a kind of happiness. There are a number of aspects about food that I love …other than how good it can taste!

Food reflects history. It is often said that “history is written by the victor”. It is therefore a biased view or what happened. Food shows us history in a more unbiased way. A local dish can tell us about scarcity, ingenuity borne of necessity and thrift. Every culture and cuisine has its version of nose to tail eating derived from the need to use all of the animal and avoid waste. Another dish can tell of excess, wealth and gluttony e.g. royal cuisines. It can tell a story of migration and adjusting to new lands and cultures e.g. Nyonya cuisine. Historical foreign influences also show up in local food, for example, the French influence in the Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich and Pho. Local dishes reflect the local climate and available resources e.g. Korean kimchi.

In many cultures, love and hospitality is expressed through food instead of words. A special dish made to nourish a loved one is a form of giving care, time and love. Memories of loved ones long passed can come rushing back with the tasting of certain dishes and the act of making their recipes. Food is central to a warm welcome and kind hospitality.

Food can be used to change our future as well. An overall decrease in the amount of meat eaten can shift the needle on climate change. Eating more locally can reduce the transportation emissions. Healthier eating is a strong factor in preventative medicine.

There are products that are complete meal substitutes to allow a person to avoid any meal preparation and minimize time spent consuming food. This may suit people who consider food only as fuel for their bodies but for others, replacing real food with a meal substitute slurry is akin to turning off the colour to the world and surviving only in shades of grey! A lot is lost!

What are your thoughts about food? Who do you nourish?

Eyre Peninsula – seafood and wild coastlines

Posted on March 15, 2021 by admin

We left Port Hughes in the Yorke Peninsula with a spectacular sunset and headed onwards to explore the Eyre Peninsula.

Working fishing boats at a marina at Port Lincoln

Port Lincoln and the other towns of the Eyre Peninsula are towns that have seafood and grain industries. The Eyre Peninsula is famed for its seafood and it was indeed the freshest, most local seafood I’ve ever tasted. There’s also something about eating seafood when you can feel the ocean breeze on your face!

The small coastal towns of South Australia have often a similar feel and configuration about them. They will almost have a jetty, some old buildings, old artillery pieces, grain silos, vacation homes and a caravan park. They common thread is how neat and tidy they all are. Often, a strong sense of community can be felt in the small thoughtful touches around town like the local art displayed at the public toilets or the public art works at tourist vantage points.

We saw a lot of wild and windy coastlines in the Eyre Peninsula. They are treacherous and beautiful.

The amazing thing is, despite the wild coastlines, there are also quiet, calm, protected bays.

Stamford Hill Lookout at Lincoln National Park

Just south of Streaky Bay are the Murphy’s Haystacks. These amazing rock formations are an aberration on flat farming land!

Murphy’s Haystacks, south of Streaky Bay

Streaky Bay has an ocean pool built to the jetty due so people can swim without worry about sharks. In the local Shell fuel station, there is a replica of a 5m white pointer shark that was caught off these waters.

That’s it for this post. Stay well!

The Stunning Yorke Peninsula in South Australia

Posted on March 10, 2021 by admin

If there are any doubts that Australia has the most beautiful beaches, this blog should dispel all doubts! The Yorke Peninsula is a leg shaped bit of land just west of Adelaide. It’s a great place for a road trip as the distances are quite manageable for driving. Fishing is a big thing in the Yorke Peninsula. Every jetty in each small town will have some recreational fisher-people trying their luck. A lot of locals have crab pots which they throw in off the jetties to draw up blue swimmer crabs. The small towns are lovely, tidy and spotted with heritage buildings.

It has been really lovely to see the amount of wind turbines and solar farms that abound in South Australia. It was particularly nice to see this wind farm up close and really get a feel for the sheer size of it!

Woomera

Posted on February 25, 2021 by admin

This is a quick detour via Pimba when driving from Coober Pedy towards Adelaide. A military town that clearly used to have a bigger population. These amazing displays were by the roadside for anyone to look at.