Sunday, December 02, 2007

Zen Fungi

MDR & MB did a daytrip to Montville on the Sunshine Coast today to visit the Spiritwinds gang in their new digs located in a delightful bush acreage on the outskirts of Montville. Tony & Deb cooked up a storm for lunch with fresh Mooloolaba prawns and oysters for starters then barramundi for main, all topped off with some fruit mince tarts and liqueur chocolates bought from Aldi by MDR & MB, who also contributed a very nice organic baguette from the Northey St Markets in Brisbane which they visited prior to heading up to Montville. Mustn't forget the very nice stout too that Tony brewed up, went very nicely with the lunch.

The Spiritwinds gang are sharing their block with lots of wildlife, such as yellow faced whip snakes which like mating in the pool, blue tongue lizards, funnelweb spiders and a large goanna which enjoys eating all the scraps. Tony is also contending with a bat which keeps flying into the house to deposit little parcels of excrement everywhere, he is still working on a method to catch the little critter.

Tony has discovered in his meanderings around the estate, a Boletellus Obscurayadayada, which apparently has not been sighted in the Montville area previously. He has succesfully replanted the rhubarb coloured mushroom into a Bonsai pot. Unfortunately it's not known whether this fungi is edible, and no takers to date have been willing to test the toxicity or otherwise of this interesting mushroom.

The main street of Montville was jam packed with tourists and MDR & MB did a bit of a promenade to grab a Sunday paper. The street is lined with lots of shops selling souvenirs, trinkets and geegaws. One shop, called "Shabby Chic" had a refreshingly honest sign "Fine Purveyors of Shabby Chic Clutter". Clutter of course being an amazingly accurate description...

Afterwards the duo returned to Brisbane in very good time, 75 mins, and dropped into the Yeronga quarters of VT & Hana to take their favourite pooch, Oounoi, out for a walk through the local sportsgrounds to the Brisbane river and back.

The weather has been glorious, mid to high twenties with a lovely cool southerly breeze and relatively low humidity. Going back to hot and humid Cairns tomorrow is not a happy prospect.

2 comments:

blues buffett said...

Hmm Montville - nice spot, too near Maleny. I'd be tempted to go there just to boycott Woolworths. Still Woolies never did have a Platypus Appreciation society.
Hope you had plenty of laughs during and after Election Night. The Silly Season seems to only apply to the Coalition. Still, at least the QLD branch keeps re-arranging the deck chairs...

MB said...

I'm told on good authority that anyone who shops at Woolies in Maleny is virtually tarred and feathered. Hence the Maleny IGA is doing a roaring trade.
What an election, hugely entertaining. I loved the Chaser's award to Campbell Newman in the days after the election for being the most senior Liberal left in Australia!