Macedon and Magpies

Friday morning Cheryl picked me up to take me to see the Memorial Cross on top of Mount Macedon. Mt Macedon is north of Melbourne and 1010 meters above sea level. Thomas Mitchell climbed the mountain in 1836 and seeing Port Phillip from the top he named the mountain after Philip of Macedon. The town was established after the discovery of gold in Bendigo in 1851. Middle Gully(now Macedon Township) was filled with inns, shops and blacksmiths to service diggers travelling to the gold fields. Logging became a big industry in the Macedon Ranges until the government began to manage the forestry in 1870's. Mount Macedon was also a retreat from the summer heat for Melbourne's wealthy. Many mansions were built beginning in the 1860's. In the 1930's William Cameron, who lost his son in World War I, established the Memorial Cross on top of Mt Macedon as a tribute to those Australians who died in the war. Reason for the cross was two fold in that the building of the memorial also gave employment to people during the depression. The original cross, along with many of the mansions from the late 1800's, were destroyed in the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983. The new cross was built in 1995 and is a beautiful lookout over the surrounding area. Well, I should say it would be if we weren't completely enclosed in clouds. Cheryl thought it was raining when we first got there but it we were just in the cloud cover. We went to the Top of the Ranges for soup and scones. The wind was blowing so hard it sound like the roof could go flying off at anytime. The drive up the mountain is gorgeous both in architecture and vegetation.

Friday night was my very first Aussie Rules Football game. Matt's favorite team, Collingwood Magpies, were playing the Richmond Tigers. We had tickets for the box from Precision(Matt's work) so we met some of his work colleagues before the game. Kayo was one of the suppliers from Japan and had no plans on going to the game since she had to be up at 4am to fly home but we talked her into it. Matt even got her a Magpie scarf...just to make sure she was supporting the right team of course!! I was happy I wasn't the only one who was clueless about the game and Kayo seemed to really enjoy herself. Matt said the rules were similar to GridIron (what they call American football). Now everyone knows I am no football expert but the rules are NOTHING alike except they have a ball and run up and down a field. First of all the field is round. There are all kinds of different tackling rules and the ball gets kicked in between three goal posts...no touchdowns. They bounce the ball when they run with it and most importantly they wear little, tiny shirts with little tiny, shorts and no padding. I felt very spoiled watching the game from the fully catered box. When we were going up the elevator to the box we road up with some of the Magpie players including the injured captain. It was great fun and I got to meet some of the guys Matt works with. Unfortunately for Magpie fans they got killed by the Tigers( the worst team in the league this year). Matt needless to say wasn't happy. Sad Sad Magpie fans!!! They don't have cheerleaders like Americans but they do have a cheering section with huge pompoms. After the game the cheer section was so disgusted they threw their pompoms on the field. Matt said he had never seen that happen before. The Magpies must have played really badly.

Just as a side note I think the word is out in the duck community that Mick and Bec's pool is the place to be. I get almost daily visits now from not only the first couple of Pacific Black Ducks but also another couple of Australian Wood Ducks.

Anniversaries and Birthdays

August 11 is a big day in my family because it is my Aunt Jenell's birthday and my parents wedding anniversary. This year my Mom and Dad have made it to 45 YEARS together!!! So...Happy Birthday Aunt Jenell and Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!


I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!
XOXOXOXO

Food Post: Part Two

Continuing on with Australian food info we have the Vanilla Slice or more commonly called "Snot Block." This is the Australian version of the french Mille-feuille a dessert made of layers of pastry and custard generally topped with icing or fondant. The main difference between the vanilla slice and it's french counterpart is the latter uses many layers of pastry where the Australian version generally only has two layers. The pastry portion is thought to have originated in Naples, Italy but the origins of the first combined with custard is disputed between the French and Hungarians. The Vanilla Slice is credited with giving the rural town of Ouyen a new start after drought and the termination of the train to Melbourne almost made the town go bust. On a 1997 visit, Premier Jeff Kennett tried a vanilla slice at a local bakery and declared it the bast he had ever eaten. From this point on Ouyen has hosted the yearly Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph giving the town national media attention and bringing in masses of tourists.

Tim Tams are a chocolate biscuit (cookie) made by Arnott's. A Tim Tam is composed of two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate. The name Tim Tam comes from the winning horse of the 1958 Kentucky Derby. Arnott's came under scrutiny in 2004 when Tim Tams were infused with different flavored liqueurs. Some people called the company irresponsible since this product was easily available to minors. Critics were silenced when the fact was released that one would have to eat over 1000 Tim Tams for the alcohol to have any effect. The Tim Tam has become famous for not only it's delicious flavor but for the Tim Tam Slam. When Matt was over in June he met most of my family and Tim Tams in hand taught them how to do the Tim Tam Slam. Take small bites off each end of the biscuit and suck milk, coffee or tea thru the Tim Tam...yummy!! If you would like to watch a video demonstration watch this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boQadANaPsY Tim Tams have made it to the States. Cost Plus World Market carries them now and in Chicago they sell them at Century Center Mall movie theatre.

The Balmain Bug doesn't sound appetizing especially if you think, as the name suggests, it really is an insect but trust me they are DELICIOUS!!!! The Balmain Bug is a type of slipper lobster and is closely related to the rock lobsters. The bug is fished off the southern coast of Australia all year round and the edible meat comes from the tail. The meat has a delicate, sweet taste and is medium in texture. The bug is named after the Sydney suburb Balmain and is a favorite in Sydney fish shops.

The Pavlova...the dreaded Pavlova ended my perfect Aussie food record. So maybe I got a little cocky baking wonderful ANZAC cookies and even making a half decent damper. Stupid Pavlova! The origin of the "Pav" is another debate between Australia and New Zealand. The one aspect of the Pavlova that is agreed upon is that it was named after the ballerina Anna Pavlova. New Zealanders say a chef at a hotel in Wellington, New Zealand, created the dish when Pavlova visited there in 1926 on her world tour. Australians say the pavlova is based on a cake baked by Bert Sachse at the Esplanade Hotel in Perth on October 3, 1935. Either way I thought I would have a crack at making one. It didn't sound so hard...whip up a few egg whites with some sugar, cornstarch, vanilla and a bit of vinegar and Viola! Pavlova! So I popped one in the oven and then my impatients started. One thing I learned for sure is DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN!!! So sadly my pavlova fell but Matt being a very supportive man said he was sure it would still be tasty. I whipped up some cream, cut up some strawberries and served it up. "Yummy!" was Matt's first reaction but then cries of "Don't Eat It! Don't Eat It!" came as Matt dashed to the trashcan and spit my pavlova out. It seemed to have separated into two layers. The top layer was the proper meringue but the bottom layer was sort of a gelatin egg layer. Lucky for me there is a wonderful little invention called Pavlova Magic. All you need is the contents of the plastic egg, water and sugar and You Too can make a Beautiful Pavlova!!! My second attempts certainly looks better than my first. I haven't tried it yet because truthfully I don't even like meringue. At least there is no "egg jell-o" on the bottom.


I am looking into a few other things so will probably do one more food post before I go. One thing I don't plan on trying is the Aboriginal delicacy whitchetty grubs. http://www.rumbalara-e.schools.nsw.edu.au/bushtucker/Xyleutes_sp.htm

Even I won't be this adventurous.

Scenic World in the Blue Mountains

I was watching the Travel Chanel before I left for Australia and there was a special about Scenic World which is about an hour and a half outside of Sydney. Scenic World used to be the Katoomba Coal Mine site that is now part of the Blue Mountain heritage listed park. The park itself is bigger than the whole island of Ireland. We decided to drive over and take a look. Of course, absolutely beautiful!! Scenic World (you would think they could of come up with a better name) has four ways to get different views of the forest. The first way we went was over the valley via the Scenic Skyway complete with clear crystal floor. This wasn't as scary as I thought it would be since the floor was not absolutely clear, a little bit of cloudiness helped break the illusion of no floor. I was brave enough to put one foot on the clear part just to give an idea of what it looked like. There was a walking path down to the bottom of the waterfall we had just flown over so Matt and I hiked down to see it. There was an absolute fantastic amount of vegetation. Eucalyptus, Tea Trees, and Tree Ferns were everywhere. The Sassafras Tree has commonly become known as the kissing tree because they grow together rubbing away bark only to regrow shared protective tissue. They grow in unison sharing sap and supporting each other.

The second mode of transportation into the park was the Scenic Railway. The original track was used in the late 1800's for coal mining but was made into a tourist attraction as early as the 1940's. This railway nicknamed the "Mountain Devil" descends 415m through a cliff side tunnel into an ancient rainforest and is the steepest incline of any railway in the world. Lucky me got the very first car in the train. It actually feels like you are standing straight up as the train goes down the side of the cliff. This picture is the train that left before mine heading down into the tunnel.

The train took us down to the Scenic Walkway. There were remnants of the mining village along with video screens built into the side of the cliff showing scenes of everyday mining life. There were even old mining carts that had been left in the forest for around 100 years. I coerced Matt into another tourist picture. There was a statue of a miner with his horse so....

We took the walk way deeper down into the forest all the way seeing signs leading to the "Rainforest Room". It sounds like if you walk down, down ,down into the forest there will actually be something in this rainforest room, however there is not. Just an open room and more forest. There was alot of interesting stuff along the way. There was a tree that had the inside struck out by lightening which you could crawl inside. There were also trees that had fallen over but continued to grow from the forest floor making their shape all crazy. Wild birds were everywhere. The Lyrebird inhabits the forest helping shape the mountain itself. Lyrebirds are constantly scratching in the soil and can move many tons of rock and soil in its lifetime. I unfortunately did not see one and may have heard one but since they are such incredible mimics could not differentiate a lyrebird from any other bird. If you have never heard a lyre bird listen here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YzlTB8fEsA

The Lyrebird is incorporated into an Aboriginal legend about the rock formation called The Three Sisters which we passed on the Scenic Cableway out of the forest. According to legend there was a man who had a magic shinbone that would allow him to change shape. One day the man's three daughters accidentally woke the evil Bunyip. (I had never heard of a Bunyip either...http://home.iprimus.com.au/gunnado/bunyip.html) To protect his daughters the man turned them into these rocks. While the man was being chased by the Bunyip he turned himself into a lyrebird and dropped the magic shinbone changing his arms to wings forever. This is why the lyrebird scratches in the earth. He is looking for the shinbone to change his daughters back into their human form. There is a sculpture representing this Aboriginal tale at the entrance to Scenic World.

Visitors

A few weekends ago Matt and I were walking around Queen Victoria Market. The market was filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, butchers and fishmongers, all kinds of clothing and lots of souvenirs. Best of all was the bird seller. I fell in love with little ducklings and wanted to bring two back to Mick and Bec's. Matt reminded me I already had to explain the hole I dug in the back yard...did I really want to tell them about the new pets I picked up when they were away in Europe? So I didn't get to buy any ducks that day. Well, imagine my surprise when I went out in the back room to gather up my painting stuff this morning. At the back door with their little beaks on the glass were two ducks. These ducks are full grown and didn't come from the market but on their own accord. I got some bread and sat outside feeding my new duck friends. They ate right out of my hand. They are out back now swimming in the pool. I don't know how long they will stay around but atleast for now I got my ducks.

Apparition of the Koala

April 2005 in Chicago people went nuts over a salt and watermark on the wall of the Fullerton Avenue Underpass. Believers claimed this wasn't an ordinary watermark but an image of the Virgin Mary. There were prayer sessions around this watermark and some even believed they were healed. One even went so far as to claim Virgin Mary was actually IN the wall. There have many other Mary sightings over the past few years including in popcorn and a potato chip which were both sold on ebay.

I myself have not seen any images of Mary BUT....there has been a little something special appear on Mick and Bec's bathroom wall. I am lucky enough to have the Apparition of the Koala! The other night when I was indispose I saw him there plain as day. The Koala had simply appeared on the wall. He looked like he was hugging a tree and looking up a little. And no, I have not completely lost my mind. I don't think this is a divine koala....I know it is just a water mark. I just have a vivid imagination and like animals alot.

It does look like a koala though.

Sydney

Considering Matt works and I am painting all week we have become pretty proficient at squishing alot of touristy stuff into a weekend. Such was the case of our visit this past weekend to Sydney. We did and saw alot! Funnily enough almost everything we did in some way made either me, Matt or both of us nauseated. First thing was my brilliant idea.... Sydney Tower and OzTrek. OzTrek is a simulated ride around the whole of Australia. Located in the bottom of the tower it seemed to me a good place to start our day of tourism. The first part of the ride was tame enough with little movies of the outback, great barrier reef and rainforests, however the second part was a little rougher. It was one of those hydraulic deals where your seat jerks around while the movie on the screen moves and sways to make you feel like you are flying. I thought I was going to throw up about 2 seconds into it and had to stare at the wall not to feel sick. I looked over at Matt who was white as a sheet. He was laughing but muttering a few expletives obviously not enjoying the OzTrek experience. After that was finally over we got in line for the tower. Built in 1981 the Sydney Tower is the highest point in the city at 1014 feet and has a super fast elevator which only takes 40 seconds from bottom to top. This is a perfect activity to partake in when you are barely holding onto the inner contents of your stomach. The view was beautiful but not enough to keep us up there in the tower for long.

We walked over to Darling Harbor and Cockle Bay. Fresh air was a wonderful thing. Making up for my wonderful idea we headed over to the LINDT (Matt loves this Chocolate) Cafe for a milkshake. Cockle Bay was home to the Sydney boat show last weekend so full of massive yachts. We walked around the bay until we found a water taxi stand that would take us to the Sydney Zoo. We were talking to three guys from Newcastle, Australia who were very friendly and funny. We got on the taxi with them and our driver, Kevin. There was one other couple on the boat but they didn't talk to any of us or each other. We were all joking around and enjoying the incredible view of the city. When Kevin slowed the boat down to tell us a little trivia the rocking almost killed me. I was puffing up my cheeks like I was going to be sick which was very funny to the guys from Newcastle. I told them not to worry as one of them was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and his hood was right in front of me...a perfect place to be sick. They all laughed. Matt was trying to whisper something to me. All I could understand was 70's and song so I told him to tell me later. Kevin pointed out all kinds of interesting stuff. There was a replica of Captain Cook's boat, and a fort in the middle of the water were prisoners body's were hung and left as examples to others. He also pointed out that Paul Hogan aka Crocodile Dundee had worked as a rigger on the Harbor Bridge. We went past alot of military ships. The USS Kitty Hawk was docked in Sydney a few weeks ago. Kevin said it was like the King was coming. All the Australian ships were moved out to make way for the big important American ship. Being the only American on board I had to pipe up and say "That's the way it should be!" This was very well received with hissses, groans and the quick removal of the hood that was to be my makeshift sick bowl. After many protests of "I am joking!" I was restored to the Australian's good graces and we had a great boat trip out to the Zoo. After we said goodbye to Kevin and the guys from Newcastle Matt told me the one named John was John Paul Young a famous Australian singer. I knew his song Love is in the Air, which was featured in Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNC0kIzM1Fo

Now once we got off the boat we couldn't just walk into the Taronga Zoo. We had to take an air gondola. Luckily this didn't rock too bad so besides my fear of heights the "nauseous" factor wasn't too bad. It was pretty cool flying over the elephant enclosure. The Zoos here really are fantastic. None of the enclosures have a cage feeling but more of a small recreated habitat. The exhibit that I enjoyed the most was the nocturnal exhibit. Photos aren't allowed because the animals eyes are super sensitive to light but we saw the greatest little animals. There were bilbys, poteroos (which I had never heard of and are similar to bilbys), all size and shape of gliders and bats. When the zoo is open the exhibit simulates nighttime so the animals are active and when the zoo closes the animals think it is day. There were many other animals I have never seen before (atleast not that I remember) like platypus, dingos and a sleeping tasmanian devil. I couldn't find the rhinos even though they were listed on the map. Rhinos are my favorite. I did find this sculpture of one.

After the zoo we took another boat (Yay!More rocking!!) back to Circular Quay so we could walk thru the Botanical Gardens and Hyde Park which were both fantastic. I have always loved trees. There is one huge oak in the Cummer Garden in Jacksonville that was always my favorite growing up. I would live in Australia simply to look at the trees here everyday. Even though it is winter here the parks and gardens are filled with flowers and green plants. My favorites are the bottle brush plants. In Hyde Park they don't have pigeons they have Ibis. These birds are everywhere, bathing in the fountains and picking in the trashcans. They were all very busy collecting bits and pieces for a big nest in the trees. There was an exhibit of orchids and carnivorous plants unfortunately it was closed by the time we got there. I still got Matt to pose in the flower face. He LOVES when I get him to take touristy pictures.

Sydney itself is a pretty city but lacks the blend of architecture that Melbourne has. Both cities have beautiful old buildings and very modern buildings but somehow the architecture in Melbourne flows more smoothly together. In Sydney the stark difference of styles stand out rather harshly against each other. No, I haven't been biased by my Melbournian friends! The Sydney Harbor for sure wins the water front competition which was displayed that night when we went to dinner. Doyle's is one of the most famous restaurants in Sydney. The Doyle's opened their first restaurant in 1885 and have had the family business for five generations. We chose their location on Circular Quay with the most beautiful views of the harbor and Sydney Opera House.

After dinner we walked around the quay to get a closer look at the Opera House. One thing I hadn't noticed from the distance is the whole thing is covered in tiles. The Opera house itself has an interesting history. Jørn Utzon, a Danish architect, won a design competition in 1957 to design the Opera House and came to Australia to oversee the project. Due to differences of opinion over construction and a budget that ballooned from $7million to over $100million Utzon left the project and Australia in 1966. The Sydney Opera House was opened by Elizabeth II in 1973 and has become one of the most iconic buildings in the world. We arrived during an intermission of Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio so we snuck inside to take a peek. I loved the portrait of Dame Joan Sutherland, Australian dramatic colorature soprano, who helped bolster attendence when preforming in Offenbach's, The Tales of Hoffmann (my favorite opera) in 1974.

After a drink at the Opera Bar which had a beautiful view of the Harbor Bridge we got into a cab that smelled like something had died in it and a driver who drove like he was on fire. This was all in keeping with the tummy challenge of the day.