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.

Beach Shack - Macham Manor

Went down to Bramston Beach last Saturday for lunch with Hana at her friends' beach shack (friends live in Switzerland). Hana was down there doing some maintenance, including tiling a bathroom, she is a pretty handy lady to have around.

Bramston Beach is only an hour south of Cairns and another world away. Mobile phones (including Telstra) don't even work there.

It was a picture perfect day with loads of Birdwing and Ulysses butterflies showing off. An ideal day for a lazy lunch on the verandah.

MB was so enthused she made a website for the Holiday Shack as the owners are keen to get more holiday rentals, check it out at http://machambeachmanor.com.

Harp Recital

Cairns was very lucky to enjoy French-Australian harpist, Sebastien Lipman and his Japanese wife, Sayo (pictured above at right), also a harpist on April 20.

MB's good friends from Tokyo, Hiroko & Keiko, were in town, so she purchased 4 front row tickets to attend the recital. MDR however wasn't keen to go so another great friend, Jan, stepped into the breach.

The modern harp is an amazing instrument, it actually has 7 pedals so a huge multitude of notes and tones can be produced.

The harp music was divine and the duo were very entertaining, going to a lot of trouble to explain each music selection and the mechanics of the harp.

April Harvest

MB got back home during the week and found to her delight that the monsoon has moved on, the southerlies are blowing, humidity has dropped dramatically and nights are cooling. 

Cairns is emerald green, has water galore and the MB family garden is showing off it's bounty.  The lemonade tree, a lemon & orange cross, is bursting with fruit, the first year it has produced anything of significance.

MB's Panama Red passionfruit which wasn't even flowering in March is now laden with fruit and the sweet potatoes are growing like trifids and continually need cutting back.

Yes that's yet another snake skin, noticed this skin today just lying on the grass under the lemonade tree.

The juice from the lemonade fruit is superb and does really taste just like it's name!

Out 'n About

MB's visit to the desert city is drawing to a close so a night out was in order. After much research and discussion, it was decided to try out the Queen's Head in North Adelaide. All agreed their menu looked great and as it was a Sunday no live band would be playing.

On the way to the pub the trio noticed lots of people in the city dressed up in costumes, a roman centurion and samoan girls in traditional dress (luckily it was very warm), it then dawned on them that these were supporters leaving the Rugby Sevens and the nice little quiet pub was actually full of very merry supporters and a really loud band, making a dreadful cacophany that could not possibly be called music. Anyway the restaurant was down the back, a little way from the noise.

Dinner was excellent, Mami & MB had wagyu rump which was delectable and PTA had a pork dish, the name of which escapes MB now. MB had a funny time of it, nearly getting knocked out of her chair by a drunken rugby supporter who was trying to find the toilets.
On the way out of the restaurant PTA asked a rugby supporter in an Aussie guernsey who won the Sevens, the guy told him he left after Australia got knocked out so PTA was none the wiser until the following morning.

Mami suggested dessert at Spats in Hyde Park (on the way home), PTA described it as very olde worlde with lots of kitsche and would you believe it an olden days cash register - Ka Ching - that was still in use. This is a really charming spot with little booths and comfy sofas for each dining party, the sort of place you'd love to go to on a really cold night for a hot chocolate. Pictured is Mami's banana waffle, Mami is very lucky to have a galloping metabolism, never puts on weight! Spats has a prodigious selection of desserts, coffees, teas and loads of other beverages. MB is very much looking forward to going back there next trip.

Saltbush Chevon

Sunday dawned clear with a forecast top temp of 20 something and MB got to the Adelaide Showgrounds Farmers Market just in time for opening at 09:00am. Lots of other like minded foragers waiting at the gates, which were opened on the dot at 9am, causing quite a stampede. This really is a superb market with a great selection of produce being sold directly by the growers. Some stalls such as an organic orchard's apple & pear stand had very long queues snaking away from it. The highlight for MB was the Willabrand Figs, the last week of the season with two luscious varieties on sale, a very red one that tasted like sherbet and a light green one that tasted like warm honey, absolutely divine.

The oh so cute kid pictured is from Rugosa Paddocks which markets saltbush chevon (goat fed on saltbush). MB bought some shanks and later that day made some oven roasted shanks with chermoula, a huge hit with the human kids.

Many stallholders have generous samples which MB prepared for by not breaking her fast that morning.

PTA & Mami are so lucky to have such easy access to this market, which is less than 2 klms from their apartment.

Adelaide City

Adelaide is bristling with beautiful stone buildings, large squares, wide roads and plenty of pedestrian space.

Foodie Heaven

The mecca for Adelaide foodies is the Adelaide Central Market, just near Chinatown on Gouger Street in the city. The market is very accessible, only about 150m from the tram stop and it also has plenty of car parking. The location is great, the rest of the street is humming with restaurants, cafes and cookware shops. MB, PTA & Mami walked through yesterday and MB couldn't help but stop here and there to exclaim over the beautiful produce, but PTA kept getting impatient and dragging his Mum away. Mami however did manage to buy some Kaki (Japanese for persimmon), one of her favourite fruits which has just come into season.
MB went back today, by herself, so she could have a good look around and picked up some fresh supplies for tonight's dinner, a beef stir-fry. Figs are just coming in so a few of these delectable treats were also picked up. MB also had a very good piroshki for lunch, made by two Kazhakstan ladies who make and cook fresh piroshki at their stand, genuine food heroes these two.

Auction Fever

MB spied in last Saturday's (29 March 08) Adelaide Advertiser an article noting that a collection of memorabilia belonging to the Australian artist Pro Hart was going to auction in Adelaide. Further investigation revealed that Pro Hart was quite an avid and eclectic collector, especially of matchbox cars, glass paperweights and antique furniture. On perusing the catalogue MB spied an interesting Huon Pine chest of drawers, MB being a fan of huon pine furniture decided to inspect the piece and subsequently attended the auction (her first auction ever) on Sunday 30 March 08.
After a browse through the auction room with PTA, MB took a seat to await the auction which began at 12 noon, she then realised that with over 700 lots she was going to get hungry as she hadn't had any lunch. PTA kindly ducked over the road and picked up a bag of nuts to keep the old girl sustained.
Seated next to MB was a Chinese lady who pointed out two lots in the catalogue that she was interested in, her English was practically non-existent and she eventually communicated to MB that MB was to tell her when these lots came up for bidding. MB obliged and ended up writing down the bid amounts on paper as Mrs Chinoise didn't understand when the numbers were pronounced in English! She successfully bid on a large oak dining table and seemed very happy with her purchase.
MB had set a limit on her bids for the chest of drawers and is happy to report that she succeeded in the bidding which came in just under budget. Some of the collectibles seemed to sell for very reasonable prices and there was some spirited bidding for many items. The most notable item probably was one 1930 penny. MB asked the auctioneer the next day how much it went for and was told "18 plus 20% buyer's premium", MB asked if that meant 18 hundred dollars, wrong, it was $18,000.00. By the way the auction house was also the British Consulate office for Adelaide.
MB rather enjoyed the auction and would like to do this sort of thing more often.

Zen Garden, Adelaide

Adelaide is home to a most delightful Japanese garden near South Terrace on the edge of the CBD. This is the Himeji garden celebrating Adelaide's sister city ties with the city of Himeji in Japan. Mami (Paul's girlfriend) is from Himeji which is near Osaka.

Adelaide Rugby Sevens

Hard to believe in this one-eyed city of Aussie Rules supporters that an international rugby sevens tournament is being hosted here this weekend. The local paper mentioned a laser light show being staged tonight from Montefiore Hill in North Adelaide so the trio of MB and son with girlfriend went along for the show. St Peter's cathedral is just near the hill and the trio were delighted to hear the bells pealing as they passed by the brightly lit twin spired cathedral.
The actual light show was located at a statue of the aptly named Colonel Light, spotlights were placed behind the colonel so that the beams of light would appear to be coming from his raised arm which is pointing directly at Adelaide oval. The light show also turned out to be a small VIP event with local dignitaries quaffing drinks and nibbling on canapes. After a dull speech by the sponsor, the SA premier, Mike Rann, stepped up and patted himself and colleagues on the back for pipping Singapore to host this event. Mike Rann also revealed he was born in UK, grew up in NZ and is now an Australian citizen. This goes a long to way to explain how a Rugby event could be staged in Adelaide!
The light show consisited of a handful of fireworks over Adelaide oval, then the spotlights behind Colonel Light were switched on. A chap adjacent to the trio summed it up with "is that all?"
The chap pictured was posing for the press with what appears to be the tournament trophy, he looks like a male model, not sure if he is a player or not?

Holy Trinity of Food Trails in Tasmania

MDR fortuitously found this brochure in Zeehan whilst the pair were en route to Burnie. After an overnight stop in the port city of Burnie, a fairly ordinary city which is desperately trying to become more attractive, MDR & MB headed south-east to Swansea via Latrobe so the food trail could be "sampled". The duo stumbled on the Cherry Barn first so popped in and bought a little cherry & apple pie plus a delightful mini cherry cheesecake. Got directions to Anvers which is a quaint little chocolate factory in a California bungalow which also houses an excellent restaurant, so lunch there was a good choice. MDR had a type of steak and kidney pie that included chocolate in it, however he couldn't taste it.
Next stop was Ashgrove to pick up some of their novel but nice Wasabi cheese, had to jostle with a very large group from a tour bus, but also managed to pick up some nice blue cheese and a small piece of Red Leicester. A few clicks down the road was the Christmas Hills Farm Cafe, by then MDR & MB were feeling very overfed from the lunch and all the samples, so just picked up a punnet of fresh raspberries for later consumption.
Great fun and definitely worth the drive.

Hahndorf Food Hero #2

Saturday 29 March 08: Last stop of the day on the Adelaide Hills tour was an afternoon tea (not necessary but nice) at Udder Delights a boutique cheese factory/shop and cafe on the main street of Hahndorf. This place is fresh, clean, immaculately presented and the cheeses are divine. Their goat curd and chevre are particularly noteworthy.
MB had the best cup of Earl Grey tea ever, made with loose leaf tea and piping hot water and MDR enjoyed a very high quality coffee & chocolate cake with service that was exceptionally pleasant and professional. Simple pleasures like these are in reality not that easy to find but Udder Delights is a true food hero.

The Cedars, Hahndorf

MDR & MB were scratching around for something to do on MDR's last day in Adelaide and saw in an Adelaide Hills guide a small mention of the family home of the famous artist, Hans Heysen, which was open to visitors. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the Adelaide visit, a beautiful home and studio (pictured) set on 130 acres on the outskirts of Hahndorf, and hardly changed within the last 80 years. This home, which is very comfortable but not at all grand, is filled with Heysen artworks and other beautiful objects, books and publications. Not to mention the gardens which are a lovely haven featuring Himalayan Cedars.
Hans Heysen was an exceptionally talented and prodigious artist with an output of over 20,000 artworks in his time. Heysen's famous paintings of eucalyptus trees are iconic and one learns during the tour of his property that he was an ardent conservationist who kept buying land to save the gum trees. He would even pay nearby landholders to stop them from felling gum trees on their land. Heysen was born in 1877 in Germany and emigrated to Australia when he was 7 years old. When Heysen died in 1968 his collection of Rembrandt & Vermeer paintings tragically had to be sold to pay SA death duties, most of these paintings ended up overseas. Luckily in 2003 a Rembrandt self portrait was found in the house and it is now there on display. MDR reckons Heysen is a much better artist and MB wholeheartedly agrees.
It was a real privilege to visit this property as it still a family home for the Heysen descendants and therefore does not look nor feel like a museum.

Hahndorf Food Hero #1

Saturday 29 March 08: MDR & MB took a leisurely drive up to Hahndorf with a view to visiting Hans Heysen's family home. Hahndorf is in the Adelaide Hills and less than 30 minutes drive from Glenelg along an excellent motorway.
Readers may remember an earlier visit by the MB family to Hahndorf in 2005. It was with some trepidation that MB & MDR crossed the threshhold of the Kaffeehaus, MB expected heads to swivel and a hushed silence as they broached the entryway, mustn't be that famous though as no one took a jot of notice. The Kaffeehaus does not appear to have changed greatly, didn't actually stop for coffee just a quick reccy.
After walking the length of the very picturesque main street, MDR decided he was going to have a pie at Pot Belly Pies. MB followed suit and both ordered a beef mushroom & guinness pie. This is a very small shop that only sells hand made pies (12 varieties) and rightly deserves it's award for best pies in SA. One of the best pies MB has sampled. The special of the day was a chicken brie and cranberry which had sold out, not quite to MB's taste but obviously there are punters out there who fancy that combination.

Feeding Frenzy - WOFTAM

MB dropped into the Jurlique sale early on Saturday morning (29 March 08) hoping to snag some of their very nice skincare products at bargain prices. MB saw the sale advertised in the Adelaide Advertiser and was hoping not too many folks saw it, she couldn't be more wrong however as it looked as if half of the female population of SA were there.
There were about 6-8 small tables with a limited range of discontinued Jurlique products, four checkouts and queues to each checkout that were easily 200m long, definitely not worth the wait.
MDR had dropped MB there and gone off the find a servo and was quite surprised when MB called him within 5 minutes of being dropped off. A bit disappointing but worth checking out nonetheless.

Glenelg

Presently staying in sunny Glenelg, quite the tourist hub. Found a very nice apartment on Colley Terrace which is just opposite the beach. Didn't realise when we made the booking that the World Beach Volleyball Tour was being held practically on our doorstep. Quite a huge event with lots of tall, athletic types from all over getting around. Eljay scored a lanyard and other merchandise from the sponsor, Swatch, when we walked by yesterday. He must've flirted with the nice lady handing out the merchandise as none of us grown ups were offered anything! CF & PTA spent a while arguing over who was going to keep the lanyard, looks like CF won that round.

Norm's Coolie Wonder Dogs

A trip to the Barossa Valley is not complete until you've visited Norm's Coolie dog show near Tanunda.  Norm is still going strong with his not so funny sense of humour, giving all the kids in the audience a hard time.  First part of the show was rounding up some sheep, the dogs were a little disorganised and it took quite some time and countless attempts for the dogs to get the sheep corraled.  Eljay spent most of the show playing on the hay bales in the shed behind the paddock where the show is held.

Norm also got the dogs to sit in a circle and bought the sheep in, then he got all the dogs to lie down togther in row.  The show is set in a lovely rural setting and the property is dotted with old yellow utes and trucks that double as dog kennels, very Aussie.  At the end of the show Norm got all the dogs to jump in the back of a yellow ute so the visitors could pat them, Eljay got up close but some of the dogs were pretty jumpy and snarling at the strangers.

Pear Ridge Restaurant, Margate, Tasmania

Such a promising restaurant, just south of Hobart: "Pear Ridge is the beginning of your discovery of what we're all about. It's really terrific ingredients, many grown in our own garden, which our customers can see in progress. Serving local produce in a way that entices you to explore different tastes each time you visit."
MB was delighted to discover this place, which sounds just like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage, and dropped in for lunch on their Huon Valley day trip. Soup du jour was cream of spinach and after enjoying some delightful fresh spinach in the campervan MB was keen to sample some more. MDR ordered lamb cutlets which he pronounced very good. The soup unfortunately was a disaster, it tasted like water thickened with flour, unseasoned with no stock nor herbs, just some unidentifiable green flecks in the "paste" which is all one could describe it as.
MDR had also attempted to order a pear juice but this was another menu item not available.
Not to be completely deterred MB decided to try the French Pudding for dessert as it contained seasonal pears and cherries (pear trees laden with fruit in the garden were in plain view). Unfortunately this dessert wasn't available and the chef recommended the hot raspberry waffle. MB thought this was a safe bet as fresh raspberries are still available. The dish that came out did not resemble a waffle at all. Instead we were served a large ramekin of stodgy bread and butter putting with a half dozen raspberries on top. If one wanted to eat a large stodgy pudding this would have been fine, pity their menu descriptions are completely misleading.
The service was super slow and only a handful of diners were in attendance. After lunch MB & MDR strolled through the garden and were amazed to see ripe apples & quinces falling off trees and rotting on the ground. Masses of large pears were there for the picking and there was also an impressive stand of ruby red rhubarb plus a large stand of fennel - none of these were even on the menu. The garden, whilst large and well laid out, looked very sad and neglected.
One wonders if this place has recently changed hands, the present management do not seem to take any pride nor interest in the concept that they are advertising.