Monthly Archives: March 2019

Australia, Kosciuszko National Park, NSW

Stuart’s Birthday Holiday Part 1

After a couple of days where neither of us had felt particularly well, we were finally packed and ready to go. It had taken a lot of effort and Stuart, sadly, had been left to do all of the packing, but we were ready. The chickens had been taken care of and we were ready.

I got to the end of the track and automatically pulled to the right to check the letterbox. There was something but it turned out to be just another medical appointments and not another birthday card for an upcoming big birthday.

A big voice piped up saying where were we going? I had assumed that given the gas tank was empty and we needed one or two items from Woolies that we were going to the right. No, I guess because I’d made that decision it influenced a certain birthday person and we were to head off to the right, into Gunning to the Merino Cafe for lunch. We know they will make me a vegan lunch and they have a dairy free dessert, so we were sorted.

There could be photos but I’m not sure. However, the menu hasn’t changed so it’s likely that most readers have already actually seen the food and don’t actually need a photo. However, Stuart had the vegetarian frittata which was deep, layered and topped with sweet potato mash. I got the standard roasted vegetables in a toasted wrap. It’s very tasty but it’s my only option and it’s getting a little boring now.

After lunch we headed onto the Hume Highway and south west towards Melbourne. Our next stop was to be at a roadside cafe (excellent vegan options and always seem to be adding new ones onto the menu). A change of driver followed and before long we headed off the highway and onto the Snowy Mountains Highway. We were to pop into the Yarrangobilly Caves Visitor’s Center to establish it was too late in the day to take a dip in the thermal pools, so we headed off to make camp. Yarrangobilly Village camp was dismissed because we had driven through the middle of it (literally) and it was busy. So we headed off down a dirt road I had long been trying to go down. The first camp we decided against, again it was busy and we thought we could get a quieter camp. We had a few others we could investigate but we decided on Ghost Gully for our first night. When we got there, there was 1 other set of people and their horses, ideal. That was it.

The camp was ideal. No drinking water (very common but not a problem), toilets, BBQ sites and plenty of places to tether a horse or two.

This camp also had a road through the middle of it and you had to cross the road for the other set of toilets. The first set were being hogged by the horse people. But the road was best described as “quiet”. In the morning, we were to venture that way.

But for tonight, this was our “new” tent.

Our evening meal was “ready made” from the night before, a dairy free and exceptionally good macaroni cheese with peas.

Then after a great sunset, it was time for a game of cards (cribbage) or two, and bed. It was dark by 7:45pm!

Australia, Collector, NSW

Sunrise yesterday

Stuart and I both had to go into Canberra this morning, so we were car sharing again with Stuart getting the coach on the way home. It’s significantly cheaper than taking both vehicles into the city even taking the extra 20-25km I need to drive in the evening to pick him up from the Federal Highway. Plus my vehicle is off the road at the moment. One of those “oh shit” moments driving home on Wednesday when there was an almighty crash immediately above my head. The ear hurtingly loud type inside an enclosed vehicle. I didn’t stop because it was actually raining at the time (we had 4mm in the space of a few minutes, then it upped and went elsewhere again). I drove home very gingerly to find that the 4×4 wide double LED strip light was held on by just one nut. The one on the driver’s side having decided to leave the vehicle in favour of a muddy dirt road.

It’s not meant to look like that. Good thing that I drove the rest of the dirt road very gingerly.

It literally bit the outside of the roof immediately above my head. It’s also very heavy.

So the week has been busy again, very busy. Lunch out one day because we were caught in town together (shown above). It’s still plenty warm enough to sit outside during the day. So we did. It was a comfortable temperature.

My nachos from Sweet Bones.

Stuart’s Buddha bowl.

The same can’t be said about the temperature first thing in the morning and we have taken to having most of the windows and the front door closed during the night. A couple of times this week, I’ve managed to keep the windows open all day because it’s now cool enough to do so. Several overnight temperatures have been well into single figures this week, (below 6°C). Autumn has very definitely arrived.

I’ve also spent the week making things with figs. We’ve had a glut of ripe figs. Last week I was picking 3 or 4 kg a day of ripe figs so I’ve been playing and have made some fig compote and fig molasses amongst other things. I now have a 1/2 l container of very thick fig molasses that still has some fig pureé in it because the sieve used was too coarse and the pureé to thick. The second batch I made I used a lot more water initially and a much finer sieve. The result is 1L of thick, smooth, dark brown fig molasses. Both taste fantastic and I can see breakfast of tahini mixed with fig molasses (normally grape molasses) spread on bread. It brings back memories for Greece and Turkey.

Shrove Tuesday meant one thing and one thing only. Pancakes.

So what news on the grapes? We have 3 small bunches that are all ripe. We’ve left them on the vine until now because a few were not ripe and because of the dry weather (is currently raining outside unusually) the grapes are very small but absolutely delicious. We’ll pick them tomorrow morning just before we leave for a week’s holiday and Stuart’s birthday (it’s a big one this time but don’t let on that I said so).

I took these on Stuart’s mobile phone yesterday morning. They really don’t do the scene any justice at all. But I didn’t have any of the old cameras in the car. It’s too hot in the summer months to keep them in the dashboard because it gets too hot. Mobile phone, tablets and the likes will all turn themselves off complaining about the heat long before its anywhere near as hot as it’s going to get. I was cursing that I didn’t have a decent camera with me.

Well that’s pretty much it for this week. I need to do a quick check to see if I mentioned a visitor I spotted close to my foot the other night. It’s slippers only for the moment until we know we don’t have more of them. Nope, I haven’t mentioned it. We had a marbled scorpion in the house!

And finally something pink. Not for me and I found it quite difficult to knit actually because I don’t like the colours. Well I like the purple, just not the pink. It’s for a friend at rehab. We were on the ward together with inpatient rehab and are now together in outpatient rehab as well, so I’ve injured get a custom sized lap blanket designed to fit her wheelchair. I’ve just got to block it now and make a suitably bright bag to give it to her in.