Wilderness in the 'Burbs

This beautiful stream is just down from the Timandra Lodge in New Plymouth where MDR & MB are staying, apparently trout can be caught in this stream too. There is a rather steep track down through the reserve and at night you can spot glow worms with a torch. There are quite a few trails in the reserve and they are really well signposted, a delightful reserve to have on one's doorstep.

Capt'n Chaddy

First full day in New Plymouth and the weather is superb, a great day for a harbour cruise on Happy Chaddy's harbour tour, in his 1953 built British lifeboat. This is a one hour tour that starts with the boat free falling down a slipway into the water, bit like a theme park (Tip: Do this tour on the low tide as the slide will be longer).
Captain Chaddy is a real identity and full of amazing stories, a real old sea salt, during the tour he plays some cheesy sea shanties and takes the boat around some sugarloaf rocks where you can play spot the seal.
The passengers down the back can put out a fishing line and tinny MDR's line picked up a nice sized Pacific Salmon, which the pair cooked up for dinner that night after handing over $2 to have it filleted.
Before the tour the pair dropped into the Govett Brewster Art Gallery which is hailed as the best regional gallery in NZ. It's a very nice venue but the modern "installation" type of art doesn't really do a lot for MB. The coffee shop was pretty good, apart from the snooty harridan at the counter.
MB overindulged the night before at Andre's L'Escargot and had to have an afternoon nap, which severely cut into the touring. Andre's L'Escargot should be added to the NZ Foodie's Hall of Fame, a wonderful restaurant, superb service and a really lovely dinner, venison for MB & duck confit for MDR.

Pukekohe to New Plymouth

The duo set out at 8:45am today from Puke for a few days down in New Plymouth. Back in Pukekohe Mike recommended we visit the Waitomo Caves en-route and of course do some hiking around Mt Teriyaki near New Plymouth. As Hamilton is also on the route MB insisted on visting the Hamilton Gardens, with a perfect sunny day for strolling through gardens.
The 120 acre gardens turned out to be the best MB has ever seen in the southern hemisphere with MDR seconding that opinion. There are a series of "paradise" gardens, with themes from Japan, China, India, Italian Renaissance etc. which are stunning. MB also enjoyed the herb garden and the "sustainable backyard" food garden, she also saw for the first time a Chinese gooseberry (kiwifruit) plant, in fruit too. The on-site Cafe was excellent as well. The pair plan to visit again on the way back north as time didn't allow them to explore more.
Next stop was the Piopio berry farm for a picnic lunch on their shady lawn with fresh strawberries and blueberries for dessert, doesn't get much better than this, although pick your own berries would have been fun.
At about 4pm just before New Plymouth is White Cliffs Organic Brewery, dropped in there as well for a taste. MDR inquired as to where the ingredients are sourced and learnt that the hops are bought from Motueka on the South Island and the grain comes all the way from Germany. MB was interested to see that they were selling two litre plastic bottles of beer, just like a big bottles of soft drink.
Arrived in NP not long after and after a bit of tooing and froing (sans Tomtom) found the Timandra Lodge and checked into a little cottage which has turned out to be delightful. The lodge is actually an old mansion set in bushland and boasts a tennis court and outdoor BBQ, no spa though. MDR has his cable TV sports channel and MB has a wireless internet connection, plus a bunch of walking trails at their doorstep.
MDR has found a local acquatic centre and is off doing laps. Dinner tonight at Andre's L'escargot, which has pavlova on the menu - MB figures as it's her birthday she can indulge in her favourite dessert.
Haven't seen the volcano yet, it's shrouded in cloud today. MB can't wait to see it, as volcanoes go it probably rivals Mt Fuji for scenic value.

Walking Mt Treppass in Pukekohe

Just behind Philip & Emma's house is an excellent walk which starts as a boardwalk over some swampy land, then rises steeply through a little patch of forest. The path then switchbacks up to the summit of Mt Treppass where one can enjoy 360 degree views of Pukekohe from the rotunda there. MB is now just about able to do the whole walk up without stopping, good practice for walking Mt Taranaki, near New Plymouth, where the pair are heading to tomorrow for a few days.

Yum Cha at Sunshine, Auckland

MDR & MB visited the concrete jungle (Auckland) yesterday for some retail therapy, a visit to the Maritime Museum and the movies. The pair had one of the best Yum Cha meals they had ever experienced at Sunshine Restaurant in Market Place, just near the waterfront in Auckland CBD. Sunshine was recommended by Lonely Planet and didn't disappoint.
The portions were large, the buns were full of meat and the service was super fast and reasonably priced, 10 out of 10.

Spearfishing in Crayfish Bay, Coromandel

MDR taking advantage of local knowledge. These three young chaps took him to nearby Crayfish Bay where he speared 9 fish.
The young chaps had just bought spearguns that morning and speared 3 fish between them.
Getting to the bay involved a walk up to the southern of the beach at Opito Bay, then a hike over some hilly private farmland to the small cove called "Crayfish Bay". Didn't spot any crays. MDR dubbed the outing the "Biathlon".

Otama Beach, Coromandel Peninsula

MDR & MB visited the very large contingent from Pukekohe making a two week camp at the Otama Beach Summer Campground. This site is a lovely grassy area with very basic facilities - long drop dunnies and water fed to parts of the campground from an adjacent dam. It's a true getaway with no power and no mobile phone access.
The beach is stunning, bordered by a very large sand dune and one never tires of the view to the outlying islands off the beach. Walking over the dune is something else, the sand is white, silky and feels almost sensuous.
The Pukekohe crew are great fun, incredibly generous and could not have made MDR & MB more welcome. A spare tent and airbed was available so MDR & MB could stay a couple of nights. The pair abided by the camp rules and did the dishes that night with the other new arrival, Janine. Dinner numbers on the first night were 21 and the next night increased to 28.
Philip was pretty chuffed with his new speargun, he had speared a fish without even diving underwater, just merely floated on the surface in a life jacket. He was giving MDR a hard time about it and challenging him to an Aussie v NZ competition and pressing neat tequila on MDR to give him a hangover. This spurred MDR the next day to head out with Philip's speargun and spear 9 fish. Yet to hear of Philip's latest catches as he is still there and out of phone range.
MDR & MB happened to be there while NZ was having a heatwave and did catch a bit of sunburn, but it still wasn't as hot as home in Cairns.
Lots of holiday homes in this area and MB would love to go back for a longer stay some other time.

Fruits of the Sea at "Club Med" Otama Beach

A bucket of NZ Greenlip Mussels harvested by Jeremy, Janine & MDR at low tide on Otama Beach.
Jeremy cooked up a storm with these mussels, they were absolutely superb and went down a treat with the 28 guests at the campsite!

First day at Otama Beach

Took this pic during the "heatwave". More pics on flickr.

Coromandel Oysters

MB & MDR spotted this shop on the road just in front of the oyster beds in a large bay south of Coromandel township. Naturally the pair visited so that MDR could get a fresh oyster fix.

NZ-lish

If you heard an advertisement on the radio in Australia offering security services from a company called "Cactus Security" would you take it seriously? MB heard just such an ad. yesterday on the radio whilst driving into Auckland. This company really exists. Not long after that she spotted a "Gull" service station. She wouldn't go near that servo with a bargepole. A few days before in a fashion boutique in Whitianga (pronounced "Fitianga") browsing for a hat, MB was told to try the "Show Shop" further down the street. MB was a bit perplexed as she wasn't sure what a "Show Shop" could be. The sales assistant repeated it again a bit more slowly and was actually saying "Shoe Shop". MB never ceases to be amazed at the never ending variations of the English language that develop between disparate groups.

Rooseville Reserve, Pukekohe

MDR & MB didn't do their after dinner hilltop walk (just behind Philip's house) last night, got carried away watching episodes of Kenny on DVD. So today they went to a large reserve in Pukekohe which is cris-crossed with walking tracks. Today is another picture perfect day, again with just a hint of a cool breeze.
The reserve resembles a mini rainforest, filled with Totara trees and native palms, even found some indigenous art! Reminds MB of Summer Heights High. Graffiti appears to be a big problem in NZ, it's absolutely everywhere. MB even noticed some of the orange direction tags nailed to trees on the walking trail had been painted over with black spray paint.

Downtown Pukekohe

Nice olde worlde shop in main street of Pukekohe. This lovely old sign is a classic.

Cafe Berne, Pukekohe

Another addition to the Food Hero list. MDR & MB dropped in here yesterday (& today) for a coffee and were very pleasantly surprised when they were told on ordering a double shot coffee that all their coffee was made double shot! Pleased to report the coffee was good and strong and also really hot. Tops marks to Cafe Berne.

Kawakawa Bay, North Island, NZ

This lovely vista is Kawakawa Bay, the first ocean sighting for MB & MDR since they arrived.
After some web surfing MB found an oyster farm outside the pretty village of Clevedon, about 40 minutes from Pukekohe, so the pair headed over there today. Pity MB didn't call first as the oyster farm was closed until Tue 6 Jan 09. Foolishly MB relied on the oyster farm's advertised opening hours on their website.
Not to be deterred the pair did some touring around the coastline and stopped at Orewa Point for a mini picnic (minus the oysters which were going to be starring attraction). The sea around these parts is a beautiful turquoise blue and according to MDR quite warm.
On the way back the duo spotted the Italian Country Market (between Clevedon & Papakura). This deli was a real find with some seriously good produce. It's run by Bart from New York who comes from a long line of Italian stone masons, but it wasn't a calling he aspired to. This shop is a real food lovers' haven with the duo stocking up on some local Olive oil plus the most delicious, huge South Island cherries.
Driving to Clevedon wasn't without incident, MB & MDR are sans Le Tomtom relying on foldout maps and road signs to get around. The pair got lost in Papakura both times, however the signage to Clevedon, after Papakura, was fantastic. MB is wishing they'd gone to the trouble of buying and downloading an NZ map and bought the tomtom with them, maybe one can be hired? Otherwise the "cordial relations" are going to be stretched to the limit....

Wright's Water Gardens

Sunday dawned clear and sunny, a good omen for Philip's camping trip. After an early morning spearsfishing lesson on the driveway with MDR, the guys packed the trailer, with MDR showing off his very nautical knot tying skills. The Pukekohe crew finally got away at 9:30am, not too far behind schedule at all. MDR & MB are now home alone and for their first outing decided to visit the nearby Wright's Water Garden, which is only about 15 mins from Pukekohe.
This is a beautiful garden established in an abandoned quarry next to the Wauku Waterfall and features spectacular water lilies and lotus flowers. Being summer the lilies are all in glorious flower, creating a wonderful multi coloured display, well worth a visit.

Saturday Night in Pukekohe

Philip's parents cooked up a storm on Saturday night.  Mike diligently sought out the best fresh produce that morning and that night with Jacquie produced a gorgeous dinner.  Jacquie's vinaigrette was particularly good and the dessert was superb, strawberries are grown locally and are at their best right now.
Dinner was at Philip's sister's house and after a few glasses of NZ pinot noir, the grown ups all loosened up and got into some lively discussions, expecially with regard to the planning for the upcoming camping trip.
Maddie, Monica's youngest produced an itinerary for the first day of the camping trip which got everyone chuckling.

Maddie's Itinerary

A little travel agent in the making!

Pukekohe, New Zealand

MDR & MB landed in Auckland at 00:30am on the second day of the year after a comfortable flight on PacificBlue (VirginBlue NZ carrier). Philip & Emma met the pair at the airport which is about 20 minutes drive from their home in Pukekohe - exceptionally nice of them to do an airport run at such a late hour.
First thing next morning, Philip was in boot camp mode and had us walking up the hill, in the rain, to his swank new home, the "Citadel", where he and Emma will live while they build their dream home on a nearby acreage.
Philip & Emma showed the duo around Pukekohe, however MB is totally confused as each time they go somewhere, it's via different route. The team also went to nearby Tuakau, birthplace of Sir Edmund Hillary, after a hearty lunch at the Autobahn when finding that just about everything is closed on 2nd Jan due to it being a public holiday. Tuakau is known locally as solo mum town and there is no signage or monument commemorating the town as the birthplace of Hillary. This struck MB has pretty remiss as it would be quite a tourist drawcard.
First night into the trip and MDR & MB cooked a coq-au-vin for dinner with a free range chicken which was very tasty.
After dinner another walk was had by the team, this time in the reserve behind Philip's place which has recently been re-vegetated with NZ natives and looks spectacular.
Wine is pretty cheap, bought a Pinot Noir from France for the princely sum of $7.99. Fresh beans on the other hand were $17.90 per kg (at the local supermarket). Pukekohe by the way is located in the market garden hub of NZ.
Luckily MB found out about the local farmers' market on Saturday morning which was great for fresh greens, beans were only $2.50 and beautifullly fresh.
Breakfast today for MDR & MB at the Farmers' Market was some delicious fried pork dumplings from the Fongs. When Philip turned up a bit later turns out he knew the Fongs and was given a big serve of Fried Rice on the house. Everywhere Philip goes, he knows someone and always has time for a chinwag.
Philip & Emma head off to the Coromandel for a camping trip with the extended family tomorrow and preparations have been pretty feverish. MDR helped Philip find a speargun today at a spearfishing shop in Auckland. MB whispered to Philip on their way into the shop that MDR wouldn't leave without buying something. Sure enough just as the team were about to leave, after having quite a chat with the owner, MDR spotted some good dive belts and bought one. MDR couldn't understand what the rest of the team found so amusing about him buying something....

Flickr

MB is puzzled by the popularity on her Flickr site of a rather obscure photo of a pavement tile she spotted in Tokyo illustrated with a Panda Bear.  This photo was uploaded in May 2005 and is now the most viewed photo her Flickr site, just trumping her photo of Norm's Coolie Dogs taken in Tanunda, South Australia.
MB finds that collecting photos of things she loves, ie Panda Bears, is much easier than cluttering up her life with panda toys and other panda ephemera. 
One would be hard pressed to predict the popularity of these photos.

That1Guy

Mike Silverman, aka That1Guy, was in town last week and did a show at the Tanks last Friday night.  MDR spotted a newspaper article about the show and remembered seeing this guy on Spicks & Specks.
Mike is a one man band, a classically trained bassist who has developed a home made pipe and string instrument/synthesiser, shaped a bit like a harp, he calls it his magic pipe.
The Tanks is as the name suggests, an old water storage tank, converted to a very funky venue, only downside is there is no air conditioning, so That1Guy performed in what must have been 30c and 95% humidity.  He put on an amazing, energetic and intriguing show, his music covers the whole spectrum from classical to techno, using his magic pipe as well as a cowboy boot, and a carpenters saw (both of these were plugged into the amplifier by the way). 
A really good show, amazing music and the lyrics of some of the stuff he has written are crazy, reminiscent of Frank Zappa.

DVD Rulz

Flicking through today's Weekend Australian Magazine MB was struck by the many advertisements for DVDs, 9 large adverts in total, compared to 4 adverts for books. She then read in the The Australian Review that Aussies are bigger consumers of DVDs than Americans & Brits (Michael Bodey "DVD Letterbox"). MB thinks she knows at least one of the major reasons why this is so, both free to air and pay TV push so many damn ads on us the viewing public that we now prefer to watch our favourite series on DVD.
I noticed on free to air TV in the UK that ads were infrequent and limited to 2 or perhaps 3 ads per ad break, I found out the reason for this some time later when I was looking at the BBC website, TV licensing. Every TV in the UK must be licensed with the annual cost per TV being £139.50 per annum. This funds the great tv programming being produced in the UK.
There is also some wonderful TV being produced in Australia, albeit on a much smaller scale, mostly by the ABC. I notice Channel Nine's latest local offering is "The Waiting Room" a reality series made in a hospital waiting room. The think tank must've been working overtime to dream that one up. To give them credit though they did produce Underbelly which was sensational, all the better too as a lot of unknown talent starred, giving the series a really fresh appeal. Due to the aforementioned advertising down your throat issue, the MB family only watched Underbelly on DVD and is looking forward to the next series - on DVD of course!
Even good ol' SBS is running advertising during programs which is such a dreadful shame. It won't be long before someone puts a subscription only ad-free channel on air, MB for one would happily pay a couple of bucks a week for the privilege of not having to endure inane advertising during her TV viewing.

£1,000,000 Prize for 100% Chemical Free Material

Some very frustrated boffins at the Royal Society of Chemistry have become incensed that the word "chemical" now more or less means "poisonous", and have offered one million pounds to "the first member of the public who can place in the hands of the director of the RSC any material considered 100% chemical free".

Red Pen Detrimental to Mental Health

Queensland teachers are being advised not to use red pen to mark students' work as it may affect their mental health.
Apparently red "can be seen as aggressive". See the full article at http://tinyurl.com/5byzpb
Might be time to get into Bubblewrap Futures it will no doubt become a growth industry!

Asper Park Open Garden, 30 November 2008

One couldn't find nicer and more convivial hosts than Viv & Susan Stephens, pioneers of bamboo shoot farming on the Atherton Tablelands who opened up their property to the public yesterday under the banner of the excellent Australian Open Garden scheme.
Asper Park is little gem of an acreage just outside of Atherton on the Ravenshoe road which the Stephens have converted from bare farming land to an oasis of European style gardens with an adjoining bamboo grove.
The farm is named for the variety of Indonesian Bamboo the Stephens are growing for it's shoots, Dendrocalamus Asper, a large clumping variety that grows to 30m tall.
A group of about 20 visitors from all sorts of backgrounds, farmers, retirees and urban types with dreams of farmlets, turned up at 9:30am on an overcast and humid Sunday morning for a 2 hour tour of the property and learnt just about everything there is to know about cultivating and harvesting bamboo shoots.
The Stephens are passionate about bamboo and were unstintingly generous in sharing their extensive knowledge and experience of bamboo farming since 2000 when they first planted their bamboo culms.
Not only is the bamboo grove an incoming producing farm, it is incredibly peaceful with a stillness and serenity that feels other worldly, it would be a wonderful place for contemplation and meditation.
Viv & Susan's gamble to grow a food crop that is barely known in Australia has been spectacularly successful with all of their bamboo shoots pre-sold to mostly Asian restaurants in Sydney. Viv explained the myriad other uses for bamboo which have not taken off in Australia; pulping of bamboo cane for fibre which can be used for flooring, fabric and paper, activated charcoal products - bamboo produces very high quality carbon and the obvious other bamboo appications fencing, screening and furniture making. Amazingly enough this is only scratching the surface as the uses for bamboo in Asia are even more surprising; bamboo is trained and grown into specific shapes to make musical instruments, such as saxophones and horns, as well as the better known flutes. MB saw for sale in China bamboo sleeping mats which were made of very small bamboo "tiles" woven together. Didn't look very comfortable but millions of Chinese can't be wrong!
MDR has been looking for some bamboo poles for some time to build a fence and Viv was kind enough to offer him some bamboo poles when the next thinning is done in about a month's time.
MDR & MB did also get to taste fresh bamboo shoot, and some of Susan's pickled bamboo shoot, which is very popular with corned beef at Olivera's deli in Innisfail. The fresh shoot was very refreshing and juicy with a slight nutty flavour, would be absolutely delicious in a stir-fry dish. Alas the shoots are only just coming into season, perhaps later in the month MB can get her hands on some fresh shoots to experiment with at home.

Leapin' Leeches

A hot summer's day on the Atherton Tablelands wouldn't be complete without a waterfall visit.
After visiting Asper Park MDR & MB went for a dip at Elinjaa Falls near Millaa Millaa which has a beautiful deep rockpool at it's base, just the ticket for a hot and humid day.
MB was trying to photograph some gorgeous irredescent blue dragonflies (unsuccessfully!) on the creek and noticed when she got back to the shore that a leech had attached itself to her arm, the ruddy thing was sucking her blood.
With some difficulty she pulled the little critter off then horrified some tourists that had just arrived at the falls with her leech story. The poor tourists looked a bit nervous about staying there when they realised there were leeches lurking!

Bamboo Extravaganza

A pioneering farming couple on the Atherton Tablelands are opening their gates tomorrow to the public via the Open Garden Scheme.
The farm is called Asper Park and their speciality is Bamboo, both ornamental and edible. Who could resist a visit after reading the blurb from ABC Far North
"Sample delicious bamboo shoots in marinade and learn the secrets of bamboo production. Picturesque Asper Park is a working farm with over 20 varieties of bamboo including many rare and unusual varieties. The bamboo grove appears like an ethereal living sculpture: wind whispers through skyward-shooting stems; peeling sheaths balance delicately. An avenue of jacarandas leads into the garden, which features shady mature English oaks, plane trees and a palm grove. Shingle-roofed summer houses and weathered pine dwellings evoke a European air..."
MDR & MB are booked in the for 9:30am tour and are looking forward to a sensory overload and tasting some freshly harvested bamboo shoots.

Red Sky at Night, Sailor's Delight

Phew... the MB family is frying in FNQ, 37C in Cairns yesterday (heat index of 41C). Lots of extreme weather events all over our vast continent, with a very unseasonal cold snap in southern Australia, it actually snowed in the Blue Mountains and at Thredbo yesterday.
It's also quite dry in FNQ, but there are flooding rains falling in the south-east of Queensland, it's normally the other way around at this time of year! MB snapped last night's sunset in Cairns, the colour of the sky at dusk was a sight to behold.

Eggs on Steroids

MDR is back from his 12 day whistle stop tour of USA & Nova Scotia (via Japan) and was up bright and early this morning, showing very little sign of jet lag, so off he went to Rustys. Yamagishi eggs are always on the list and MDR loves the Super Jumbo eggs (around $5.00 per dozen), the Japanese guy on the Yamagishi stand even greeted MDR with "Gidday Mate" today, his English is improving no end. The super jumbos often have double yolks (luckily neither MDR nor MB have problems with cholesterol) which is always a delight when one cracks open the egg to find it's a double yolker, for some reason it feels lucky. One egg in particular in today's purchase weighed in at 120grams. MB had picked up some Extra Large Yamagishi eggs (around $4.50 a dozen) during the week so compared one with today's, the XL was about 70grams. As you can see in the picture, the Super Jumbo dwarfs the XL egg.

Halloween

MB couldn't resist posting this pic of first born son and girlfriend Mami taken at a Halloween party on 1st November. FBS hired a white suit and wig and managed to look quite grotesque. Mami did an amazing job with the face paint. Of course the white suit got black face paint on it, however it was water soluble but to be on the safe side FBS took the suit to a local dry cleaners (5 Star Cleaners), who managed to get the face paint out but stained the suit all over with something else. FBS took it back to the costume hire who rejected it, so it was back to the dry cleaners.
FBS mentioned that when he went back the counter staff were drinking cans of premixed Bundy & Cokes, even had a six pack on the counter, sort of gives one an idea of the calibre of these cleaners.
MB became involved when FBS was working and couldn't pick up the suit in order to drop it back to the costume hire, so she dropped in and picked up the suit after it's 2nd clean.
The cleaning was a disaster so MB decided to consult with another cleaners, Alsco, and discovered the most wonderful cleaner, Ray. Ray has cleaned for over 40 years, mostly in London. He took one look at the suit and explained that it had been cleaned in dirty spirit. Ray said to give him two days and he'd have it like new.
A mere 6 hours later he called MB and advised the suit was ready! Sure enough it was spotlessly clean and Ray had even starched it. Amazingly Ray refused to charge for the clean, saying that FBS has been cheated.
Due to Ray's professionalism and generosity a very negative experience had a wonderful outcome.
How many Rays does one encounter? He is a true gentleman.

Taming of the Trivia Queen

MB has enjoyed victory in past trivia games with family and friends and was emboldened enough last night to call Tony Delroy's late night radio quiz show on ABC radio. She often listens to this program and finds many of the questions pretty easy. MB has tried calling before but was never able to get through, last night though she got through on the second attempt.
This particular quiz has 25 questions and contestants drop out once they make a wrong answer. MB listened in as quite a few contestants succeeded then failed, she had no idea when her turn would come up.
At about question 12 the going got tough when Tony Delroy asked what title of a Shakespeare play included an animal in it. MB never studied Shakespeare and was hoping against hope she wouldn't have to try to answer this as similar literarily challenged contestants were dropping like flies. MB could only think of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Romeo & Juliet", "Macbeth" and "Hamlet". Sure enough MB's turn came up, MDR heard MB talking on the phone and he was wondering who the hell she was talking to so late at night. Needless to say MB's attempt at radio quiz glory fell apart before it even got off the ground!
MDR tuned in as well and he couldn't think of the answer either. Finally a couple of contestants later, the correct answer was proffered, "Taming of the Shrew". MB had always thought a shrew was some sort of medieval harridan.
The next day MB told first born daughter of her previous nights travails on late night radio and FBD, obviously the better educated one, immediately came up with this answer "Isn't that the play with 'shrew' in the title?"

Iron Horse

Check out little LJ on his "new old" rocking horse. This isn't just any old rocking horse, it's an industrial strength rocker made from scrap metal and car parts lovingly put together by a friend of MB's dear friend, SG. This rocking horse has been entertaining kids for the past 20 years and is still going strong. It's a unique item and sure to be going strong for at least another 20 years.

Road Trip - Day Four: Charters Towers to Cairns

Last day of the road trip was a relatively short hop, approximately 5 hours from the "Towers" to Cairns.
The trio even slept-in a little, departing at around 9am and taking the road more travelled, heading to Townsville and Highway One (Bruce Highway) on the coast. The increase in traffic was enormous, finally saw police for the first time in Queensland on the Bruce Highway, so had to stick to the speed limits, unlike the inland route.
The trio stopped at Muddys Restaurant in Cardwell as Mami was keen to sample their Chili Crab, however with the listed price as "POA" she changed her mind, just took a photo of the giant crab instead.
Arrived in Cairns at 2:45pm and little Eljay was asleep so wasn't at Granny's house the greet the weary trio who were hanging out to see him! MDR though had a very welcome roast leg of lamb on the Weber, and served up a fantastic dinner by 6pm to the hungry hordes.

Road Trip - Day Three: Charleville to Charters Towers

Another long day, 8am departure from Charleville to Roma, Mitchell and up the inland route to Emerald, Clermont then Charters Towers.
As on previous days MB and FBS did shifts at the wheel. Mami suffers from motion sickness and slept for much of the trip, popping Kwells every few hours.
Lots of triple decker road trains on the inland roads and with the mining boom in central western Queensland there are also many trucks carrying huge loads of mining machinery. In Mitchell both sides of the road were blocked by a truck coming through carrying part of an enormous mining dump truck.
Picture show FBS in the main street of Mitchell which even has a windmill. The main street of Mitchell is also lined with very picturesque baobab trees.
Car parking in Mitchell was reverse 45 degree, funny how every town has a different rules on parking.
The final leg of the day was pretty punishing, Clermont to Charters Towers on the Gregory Developmental Road which is close to 400klm. There is one outpost roughly in the middle called Belyando Crossing, which consists of one roadhouse. The trio pulled in to fuel up and were welcomed by a large bonfire in a 44gal drum just near the petrol bowsers, with one patron dressed in an akubra and drizabone lighting up his cigarette next the "no smoking" sign. The Gregory is a surprisingly good road, however one has to be wary of the road trains, with one 20klm section of the road single lane only.
After traversing a very large section of Queensland, the exhausted trio arrived at Charters Towers at 9:45pm and stayed in a very comfortable cabin at one of the local caravan parks. Dinner was cold roast chicken on french stick picked up in Emerald.

Road Trip - Second Leg: Broken Hill to Charleville

Day two was very long, 8am departure from Broken Hill, driving across north-west NSW through Willcannia, Cobar and Bourke and across the Qld border to Cunnamulla and rolling into Charleville at 9pm.
The lowlight of the day was Willcannia, a small outpost that feels very lonely and neglected, stopped there for the most expensive petrol of the entire trip. The town's only claim to fame is that it's located next to the Darling River.
Lunch stop was plannned for Cobar, a reasonably sized town. The trio found the visitor centre which had some nice outdoor picnic tables. MB had bought some rolls, sopressa and rocket to make lunch but as soon as the trio got out of the car the cold biting wind (even though it was sunny) convinced them to change plans and find a cosy cafe for lunch. Gecko Expresso on the main street was very nice.
Luckily the trio saved their lunch supplies as dinner was over when they arrived in Charleville at 9pm.
Overnighted at the overpriced Charleville Mulga Motel, the hosts made sure the trio were up early by ensuring the empty room next door had it's alarm clock going continuously from the early hours.

Road Trip - First Leg: Adelaide to Broken Hill

After 3300 klm, lots of very long, isolated roads and hundreds of litres of unleaded petrol, first born son, girlfriend Mami and MB arrived home safe and well on Sunday afternoon in the trusty ol' Mitsubishi Magna.
Day One the trio left Adelaide on Thursday morning with their first overnight stop at Broken Hill, which is about 5.5 hours drive north-east of Adelaide. MB prebooked the cheapest accommodation she could find on the excellent Broken Hill Visitor Information website, at the Old Vic B&B. Staying there turned out to be the highlight of the trip, the hosts Anne & Paul were marvellous, the rooms were gorgeous, beds even had electric blankets which were a Godsend as it was bitterly cold, dinner that night was two blocks away at the Old Royal Hotel (host's recommendation), for their steak special. The $12 t-bone steaks were massive, juicy and cooked to perfection.
After dinner the trio dropped into the local supermarket to pick up some supplies for the next day. Mami got very excited in the Deli section and it transpired that she had spotted Dixie, a contestant/participant?? in Big Brother. The trio approached Dixie who was very friendly and even allowed us to take a photo of her and Mami together. A little later Mami called her best friend in Adelaide to relay the exciting news, her animated Japanese conversation in the Broken Hill outback shopping mall had a few heads turning...
Broken Hill looks pretty interesting and warrants a longer visit. The city centre is dominated by a huge slag heap on top of which now sits a couple of buildings.

South Australian Living Artists Festival

Adelaide is currently hosting SALA, a huge exhibition of every conceivable type of art in all sort of venues, including retail shops near first born son's place, which is located at the south-western, and decidedly downmarket, corner of the Unley City Council local area. Unley appears to be a pretty ritzy area and this was soon confirmed when MB decided to visit Robin Eley's exhibition, just off King William Road in Unley. MB used a gps and enroute was taken through Victoria Avenue which is truly a millionaire's row, lovely old mansions surrounded by very well manicured gardens and secure walls.
Robin Eley is an affable, young and very talented illustrator who has trained in the USA and much of his work has featured in very high profile publications there. His work is nearly photographic and his take on his subjects is subtle and surprising at the same time, very entertaining. MB also managed to catch a few other small exhibitions in shops along King William Road, and of course ended up finding a great shoe shop where three pairs of essential shoes were bought.
SALA is a great way to celebrate art and makes it very accessible to anyone who is interested.

Protection Japanese Style

First Born Son and girlfriend have just arrived back from ten days of Club Med Phuket, both are looking very tanned with FBS even sporting a bit of a beard.

The pair met up with GF's family there and MB is waiting for the "meet the parents" stories, so far not many amusing anecdotes happening, probably due to the pair having flown most of the night and arriving 7:30am this morning.

Some gifts have surfaced with GF's Mum sending MB a set of beautiful lacquerware bowls decorated with cherry blossom and a "chop" with her name in Romaji on it. Very thoughtful gifts which MB will truly enjoy using.

GF also had her Mum stock up on some items which she misses from home in Japan. Various medicines and hair products mostly, one item which tickled MB was the personal battery powered mosquito repellent.

MB is very familiar with mozzie zappers which one plugs into a power point at home to keep the mozzies at bay, however the Japanese have gone one step better and produced a portable version which the manufacturers recommend one straps onto a limb, or around one's neck, or even over the fly of one's trousers (see picture).

When FBS first saw a Japanese tourist in Phuket wearing one on his lower leg he thought it was an ankle cooling fan.

New Best Friend

MB's new best friend, "Love". Shown here staring MB down while she's using the laptop. MB is sure Love's pining for her doting "Mum & Dad" and wanting to check the email to see if they've written to her from Thailand, but so far not a word. MB is agonising over how she is going to break this devastating news to Love.

Adelaide Showgrounds Farmers' Market

The inclement Adelaide weather certainly doesn't deter the local fine food hunters at the weekly Adelaide Showgrounds Farmers' Market, held every Sunday morning. The stalls were doing great business and the beautiful fresh produce was selling like hotcakes. Grazing was the order of the day with MB snacking on samples such as Bierwurst from Hahndorf, organic Murray Bridge yoghurt, Barossa cheese and Lacewood Spicy Plum Sauce from McLaren Flat.

Unique Art in the Burbs

MB spotted this quirky mobile phone "installation" in someone's front garden just near last born son's place in the inner city suburb of Everard Park.

MB has done some exploring of the neighbourhood and when returning some DVD's to the very nearby video library was struck by the beautiful old art deco building in which it is housed, turns out it was once the Roxy Theatre.

Things have gone downhill a bit since then though, as this corner is now home to an adult bookshop, a photography shop with an exterior sound speaker playing scratchy music, which is more or less drowned out by the six lanes of continuous traffic thundering past on the Anzac Highway. There is also a travel agency that operates "by appointment only" and a pine furuniture shop.

Luckily the Adelaide Farmers' Markets operates on Sundays at the nearby showgrounds, so MB was able to walk up there this morning to pick up some essential supplies, such as goat's milk feta and dried muscatels.

Winter Frolics

MB took the tram into town on Saturday for some shopping therapy which included Haigh's and Adelaide Booksellers, an excellent second hand bookshop.

Above is a photo of the Victoria Square tramstop, with commuters huddling under the shelter out of the freezing wind and rain. This is the stop closest to the Adelaide Central Markets where MB stocked up on some fresh provisions.

By the time MB got home her volleys and jeans were pretty much soaked. MDR's Helly Hansen spray jacket has turned out to be wonderful, kept her warm and mostly dry.

The weather is still a novelty for MB, so no complaints whatsoever will be voiced here!

An Adelaide Institution

Haigh's Chocolates at the entrance to the wonderful Victorian Adelaide Arcade off Rundle Mall in Adelaide city.

Cutest News This Year

Rabbit saves owners from house fire in Melbourne

Tinaroo Raid 2008

Flynn's - Yungaburra Food Hero

MDR & MB unearthed a rare gem at Yungaburra on Friday night. For their first night at Tinaroo they decided on dinner at Flynn's, a charming little restaurant that serves very good classic dishes with great service.

The duo shared an entree of duck liver & cognac pate which turned out to be quite a large portion with lovely fresh ciabatta, also made on the premises. The pate was sublime and the pair quickly scoffed the lot, MDR was practically licking the bowl he was so enthused with it.

For main course both went for the duck confit and were not disappointed, the duck meat was so flavoursome and tender. The duck was served with some fresh, lightly cooked cabbage and some sliced potato, the duo were pleasantly surprised that a bowl of lightly dressed fresh salad leaves was also included.

To prolong the pleasure even more MDR had a slice of chocolate torte which more or less had pure chocolate oozing out of it's centre. MB opted for the creme caramel, another classic that was very enjoyable.

The service was efficient, unfussed and very affable and the restaurant, while quite compact, has great ambience. Can't wait to return for more.

Tinaroo Raid

The Wooden Boat Club of Cairns organised a gala event for Queen's Birthday weekend at Lake Tinaroo, dubbed the Tinaroo Raid. It's really an excuse for builders, collectors and restorers of traditional wooden boats to compare their prized wooden boats. The club organised an excellent curry night on Saturday in the marquee by the Lake. Sunday was the important day with a tongue-in-cheek competition which centered around a pirate boat throwing coloured ping pong balls into the water which contestants then had to retrieve and throw into a basket suspended between the two masts on the pirate's boat. MDR was in his little dingy acting as safety officer and actually rescued someone from a capsized dinghy.
There was also a peoples choice award for the best boat and a dragon boat demonstration. The dragon boats were actually Crocodile Boats as featured in the accompanying picture. The croc boats scooped the pool, winning both the pirate competition and the peoples choice award. The work and skill that went into these boats was amazing, really spectacular and very deserving of their popularity.

The Dinghy

MDR's dinghy finally gets a workout! Here he is launching it at Lake Tinaroo, ably assisted by John Breen (born in Gordonvale of Dutch parents).

Tinaroo Lakes Resort

MDR & MB really lucked out with accommodation for their weekend jaunt to the Tinaroo Raid, ended up in a huge townhouse on the waterfront. The townhouse was superb with 3 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, fake log fire heater and all the modcons you could ask for, including 3 televisions. The view was a delight, this photo taken from the front deck. The BBQ by the way is a council installation however it looks as if it's part of the resort, it's very nicely designed and very handy to the folks staying at the resort.
The only downside of the stay there was the reptile incident. On Saturday, after a drive to Herberton MDR & MB returned to the townhouse and encountered a baby black snack inside, a few metres from the front door which has a large gap at the base. MDR managed to rustle up the little blighter with a beach towel and relocate it outside. MB was very cautious after that just in case any of the baby snake's siblings were also thinking of visiting!

Welcome Winter

The MB family celebrated the first day of winter with a visit to the Flecker Botanic Gardens.  A nice lunch was had at the cafe then it was a stroll through the gardens to see what was in flower. 

The most spectacular flowering plant at the moment has to be the Jade Vine, it has masses of weeping tendrils with the most unusually coloured flowers, photo below.

Jade Vine

Currently putting on a glorious show at Flecker Botanic Gardens, Cairns.

Warm Tinny

Those creative ratbags in the ad agencies have been at it again and produced an hilarious advertisement for Campbells soup.  MDR keeps telling MB about it but she keeps missing it on TV, luckily though it's on Youtube.  A great send up of Aussie beer ads.  Speaking of advertising the MB family are also enjoying Wil Anderson's new program on the ABC "The Gruen Transfer", this is another great vehicle for Wil Anderson and uniquely entertaining.

Wireless

Remember when the "wireless" was the big chunky radio with the scratchy sound? The MB household was propelled into the new wireless age today with the help of neighbouring MENSA member, CC, who installed a new Linksys Wireless-G ADSL2 802.11g Gateway. CC very patiently explained all of the marvelous security features and has set up the wireless network to accept only computers that are registered at the gateway device. CC also made the wireless network invisible to all other computers as well as encrypting the wireless signal. All in all MB is very impressed with this new device and is thoroughly enjoying the extra internet speed or as Linksys put it, "blazing fast connection", as well as the portability offered by the wireless network.

Government Charges Rant

MB hasn't renewed her passport for some time and recalls that the fee when she did so in 2004 was around AUD$100.00 for a passport with a validity of 10 years.

Just heard from PTA who renewed his today that the current fee for a basic 32 page passport with 10 year's validity is now $200.00 and as he'd mislaid his old one, which was about to expire, there was another fee of $66.00. Jeez Louise, that's a huge slug. What with income tax, GST, stamp duty, land rates, exorbitant parity pricing fuel excise and alcohol excise to name a few we must be shelling out at least two-thirds our income to the bloated ranks of fat cats in the City Councils, State and Federal Governments.

Kevin Rudd's Love Child?

Whilst browsing through a friend's friends on facebook MB came across Tapio Shrey, a member of the European Youth Parliament, who looks uncannily like Kevin Rudd.  Young Tapio shares Kevin's boy next door looks and aspires to politics, could they also share DNA?

Gecko Chronicles

Some freaky news from Darwin this week about a rather adventurous gecko. Living in the tropics means sharing your living space with a bunch of geckos.  They especially love hanging around walls and ceilings near the lightbulbs so they can catch unsuspecting insects and many a night the MB household has observed large geckos cannibalising baby geckos. 

MB's pantry has one very large gecko dubbed Gary. Gary ventures out of hiding when the pantry door is closed, then when one opens the pantry door one sees a sudden movement out of the corner of one's eyes which always gives one a bit of a start. Gary is the biggest gecko MB has ever seen and he's still growing.

In view of what's happened in Darwin MB recommends you always keep your trousers on when in the tropics!

Save the Pandas

Pictured is Eljay feeding the panda bears, plus one polar bear. Eljay picked some leaves off one MB's indoor plants, piled them all up nice and neat on the landing then arranged the bears around their "snack" in a very neat circle.

Trivia Games

Just read in the Green Guide (Melbourne Age) that Buzz!: Quiz TV for PS3 is due out soon. Any mention of electronic games usually make MB's eyes glaze over and bring on a fit of yawning, but mention Trivia Game and MB is agog. 

If only she had a Playstation 3.  This latest version of Buzz, made in the UK with Australia's own Jason Donavan doing the voice of the cheesy host, looks even more promising with users being able to download additional question packs and even write their own questions.  There will also be a facility for players to compete with others over the internet. These are definitely wishlist items.

Lesson #2 with the FBI

Learnt some more staples of Italian cuisine last night with Daniele. Daniele very charmingly stresses he is a "full born Italian" or FBI and has been classically trained in Italy. Daniele likes acronyms, one of his printed recipes calls for EVOO and MB was completely mystified, turns out it's extra virgin olive oil, obvious really.

Last night it was Osso Buco, Risotto alla Milanese and Biscotti. The Osso Buco was served with the Risotto and was superb. Risotto is a fairly tricky dish to make so it was good to learn the proper technique. MB however did manage to toast the rice in the first stage and thought it was ruined, but thankfully it turned out fine in the end.

The Biscotti were amazingly easy, again this is something MB has struggled with in the past.

You really can't beat learning by doing. Next week it's seafood dishes, including the ever popular calamari.

ASX Investor Update May 08

Feature article in the latest bulletin from the Australian Stock Exhange - "Better returns from long-term investing".  What a scoop!  They must have had to really draw on some huge resources to work that one out. 

First Class at La Scuola Italiana di Cucina

Four hopeful students turned up for Daniele's class on Tuesday night. First lesson was how to make that perennial favourite, Tirami Su. Ill Maestro's (Daniele) version is very rich and actually easier than the one MB learnt years ago from her Italian language teacher. Tirami Su actually means pick me up and it's not pronounced Tira Misu.

Next up was Bruschetta, then Pasta Amatriciana. The pasta dish was a lesson in simplicity and absolutely superb.

Daniele is very passionate about his food and his teaching is really quite inspiring. One of the students doesn't eat tomatoes which Ill Maestro handled pretty tactfully considering the tomato is the cornerstone of Italian cuisine.

Next week's class will focus on Biscotti and Osso Buco.

Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow

The Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow rolled into Cairns last week with three shows over the Labour Day long weekend.

MDR had seen it advertised in the papers last week but with most of the weekend spent building a vegie garden and chopping down trees at father of MDR's, it was forgotten about until Sunday.

The duo hastened into the Civic Theatre on Sunday around lunchtime to buy tickets but were told tickets would only be available one hour prior to the 8pm show.

Not to be deterred MB jumped online back at home and bought two tickets which turned out to be in the second row, this had the pair speculating that the third and last show in Cairns wasn't going to be very well patronised. This turned out not to be the case, the show was in fact a full house.

The 2½ hour comedy gala had the audience doubled over in laughter the whole time with the highlight being Tripod, these guys are really talented entertainers with their lightning fast repartee and songs with ridiculous lyrics.

The stand up comedians were amazing and entertaining, MB never fails to be impressed with their bravery in fronting a crowd with absolutely no props and actually making a bunch of strangers laugh, it has to be most daunting experience ever.

Dave Thornton, Hannah Gadsby and Asher Treleaven were the standup highlights for MB. Greg Fleet was OK but his long winded LSD trip story wasn't really that amusing, although some his observations around Cairns were pretty good, especially his take on the Cairns' Table Tennis Stadium, which is really just a small building no larger than an average size restaurant.

The roadshow is a great way to showcase a sample of Melbourne's truly singular festival in far flung places around the Australia. MB noticed on the website that the roadshow is also being taken to Singapore this year. Will be interesting to see how it's received there.

La Scuola Italiana di Cucina

Daniele the chef at the nearby Crystal Cafe in Redlynch Shopping Centre is starting up Italian cooking classes tonight.

MB has heard that Daniele is an ex-chef from Panaroma Restaurant in town so has decided to attend the first class tonight to try and get some more knowledge on genuine Italian cooking, one of her favourite cuisines.

What a Load of Horsesh*t

The Vegetable Garden project for CF is nearly complete. To ensure a bountiful crop MB advised that plenty of manure and blood & bone is necessary, so MDR put out some feelers and was told by an equestrienne colleague where he could find some free horse manure.

MB & MDR called in today and filled up the ute. Surprisingly enough the horse manure didn't smell at all, resembling more a mound of dry compost. Luckily this was so as the wind was very strong and blowing "manure dust" over the pair.

Will be unloading the manure later today into the custom built vegie garden enclosure. The topsoil will be delivered tomorrow (Labour day public holiday) from Limberlost and seedlings can then be planted.

Sausage Tree

Cairns Botanic Gardens are home to some very weird and wonderful botanical specimens. Pictured above are the fruit of the sausage tree, a native of tropical Africa.

MB took Hiroko & Keiko for a visit to the gardens on their second last day in Cairns. The trio also had a delightful long lunch at the Botanic Gardens restaurant, always worth a visit.