Today we went to Movieworld on the Gold Coast. I woke up early as usual and while we don’t have a water view we do have a full on view of the local casino.
In Australia whenever gambling is mentioned on the news it’s followed by a statement, “Problem gambling call lifeline 131114.”
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It is Sunday so we went out for breakfast.
Coffee which I really needed.
Poached eggs and hollandaise which was pretty good.
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Unlike Dreamworld a lot of the rides aren’t outdoor, and the crowds are insanely long. For a couple of rides today we queued for more than an hour. Our favourite ride is Scooby-Doo. It’s an indoor roller coaster with lots and lots of twists and turns, the sideways forces are pretty strong and there’s a constant feeling you’ll be flung out the side of the cart.
The Arkham Asylum ride replaced Lethal Weapon. The old Lethal Weapon had a head restraint system which meant as your head jostled from side to side your ears were bashed against the restraint. It wouldn’t surprise me if a few customers got cauliflower ears. I know people would remove their ear rings prior to getting onto the Lethal Weapon. The Arkham Asylum doesn’t have the head restraint but it has more upside down spiral twists which is great.
Part of the Arkham Asylum ride.
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Like the Log Ride at Dreamworld yesterday, there is a water ride. This is the Wild West Falls. It’s a better ride than the Log Ride in many ways and you still get wet.
The Justice League is a new ride and is more laser simulator than ride. You get to sit in a cart and shoot aliens with a laser. The guns have feedback so if you’re successful you feel a vibration in the gun.
Wonder Woman seems to be unrealistic in her proportions.
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After yesterday’s exorbitant prices for a less than appetising lunch at Dreamworld, we elected for a cheap alternative. We went to Baker’s Delight this morning and bought a caramelised onion and cheese loaf for $5 which fed all four of us.
My bag now has a smell of bread every time I open it. Not a bad thing I suppose.
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The Superman escape ride is pretty cool. The first section is a straight that goes up at about 45° at about four positive G force.
You can see superman pushing the riders along. That’s all part of the story you receive as you emerge from the entry.
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The Batwing is sort of like the Giant Drop from Dreamworld except you go up really fast and then you bounce.
Some randoms I captured about to go up really fast
There is a kids section at Movieworld with some more sedate rides like this Road Runner roller coaster. Miss11 is still not 140 cm and she cannot ride on things like the Superman Escape and the Arkham Asylum rides.
This is still fun.
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I reckon bumper cars are always fun. Miss11 and I teamed up to get Miss15.
Love the colours inside the bumper car arena.
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As well as rides there are also shows. A new on is Ice Age Christmas in 4D. That’s right, 4D. The extra dimension is movement plus special effects like wind in your face and sprays of water when appropriate. It’s a lot of fun.
Sadly you cannot film inside due to copyright laws. This was captured in the entry room.
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It’s still Christmas at Movieworld.
The tree looks extended because of the Batwing ride.
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This afternoon’s treat was a churros.
Greasy sugary goodness to end a day.
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This is the Superman escape ride as it comes out of the building again.
It’s a blur of speed.
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Tonight the girls wanted something cheap and simple so we went to the supermarket and bought meat pies and potato gems.
Friday of my holiday started slowly. Mum and Dad slept in and I watched a couple of episodes of The walking Dead series 3 on my iPad. We went grocery shopping for dinner and other things. The girls would be arriving that afternoon and I was cooking dinner. It’s been such a long time since I’ve cooked them dinner. They each love salmon so that was a natural choice. Bro41 was coming over with his three kids too so I had ten to feed.
At lunch time Mum and Dad introduced me to one of their staples, Knackwurst on toast. Given recent snag stand adventures, a snag on a Friday seemed to make sense.
Knackwurst with barbecue sauce on toast.
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Friday afternoon grew dark with rain clouds.
Dark rain clouds.
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It didn’t take long for it to rain.
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Between Mum and me, we made coleslaw, a simple lettuce and tomato salad, sausages, salmon, eggs and prawns. The sausages were mainly for my nephew and nieces who can be a little particular.
My plate. The girls loved dinner and having Dad cook for them. They loved the salmon.
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There is not much better than an old fashioned bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocmint ice cream magic and a chocolate wafer.
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Saturday morning arrived and we made ready for a day at Dreamworld in Coomera in the Gold Coast.
We had a left over baguette from Friday night and I made the girls vegemite bites.
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We got to Dreamworld and the first ride we wanted to ride was the Buzz saw.
The tigers at Dreamworld are a great attraction. Here is a short clip of two of them having a little fun with each other.
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The gates closed at Dreamworld at 1700 AEST. We went and had another go of the Tower of Terror II.
After Dreamworld we checked into the Mantra Broadbeach on the Park. We reserved a two bedroom apartment. It is a well set out apartment and we’re very comfortable.
It’s coming close to the end of 2012. It’s been an interesting and tumultuous year in some respects. I’m still not sure if this will be my last post of the year. Somehow I think I have more to give especially if I continue to eat like I am while in Brisbane.
Christmas day was a very different one for me. This is the first time I’ve spent Christmas day with Mum and Dad and no one else. I’ll get to see my daughters on Friday. My brothers were doing things with their own immediate families and there were no visitors and no visits to aunts, uncles and cousins places. We’ve all grown up and this year I spent the day with Mum and Dad.
The Christmas day post outlined the majority of the food images from breakfast and lunch.
In the afternoon we went for a short stroll. Dad now walks with a stick so we’re limited to pavement and roads.
The afternoon was glorious. It was warm and it was humid enough to not be uncomfortably dry.
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We ventured around the retirement village and aged care facility on site. It’s ominous when an ambulance arrives with sirens and leaves slowly in silence.
The village has its own swimming pool and lawn bowls area.
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Dinner was a simple affair. Mum decided we didn’t need pudding or cake or anything too sickly sweet after a big lunch. I agreed on a spread of cheese and fruit.
This was a delicious way to end the day. We had fresh mangoes, cherries, seedless water melon and cheeses.
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Boxing Day morning I woke up feeling good in my skin. It was warm and it was raining. I had a bead of sweat on my forehead and my skin didn’t feel dry and cracked.
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Boxing Day in Australia (like many countries) means that large department stores and malls have significant sales on. Department stores like David Jones and Myer do a brisk trade as do most other stores. In Sydney the David Jones stores open at 0500 AEDT. In Melbourne it’s 0600 AEDT. Brisbane is more civilised and the stores tend to open at 0900 AEST. I’d bought the girls their present in Canberra and brought it up with me. I also intended to buy them some things that were going to be on sale. With steely determination I ventured to Westfield Chermside. I arrived at 0845 AEST and car park was full.
This sort of parking is what elicits car park rage. I witnessed another person write something rude on a piece of paper and attach it to the driver’s side window.
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Rather than wake up Mum and Dad I elected to have breakfast at the mall.
The eggs were pretty good. The Hollandaise wasn’t that good. There was hardly enough to pour on both eggs. I had breakfast at Cafe Siena in Westfield Chermside. I wrote a Google+ review.
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I ended up getting my girls some extra stuff for their new Wii U plus some games and external hard drives for their photographs and other data.
On getting back to Mum and Dad’s I noticed the flowers I got for Mum’s birthday which was last week. These are Australian natives. They’ll last for weeks if not months.
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One of the nice things about an abundance of Christmas food is left overs.
Today’s lunch was fresh white bread filled with chicken, duck, mayonnaise and lettuce.
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Another feature of Boxing Day in Australia is a cricket test match played in Melbourne. When I was a boy I happily spent hours watching cricket relieved during breaks when we’d go outside and play cricket in the back yard. Today was the first time I’ve sat and watched cricket with Dad for decades. In the late afternoon though I discovered (to some horror) that Mum and Dad enjoy the television soap opera, viz., The Bold and the Beautiful. I elected to go for a walk rather than endure that.
I walked past a Jenny Craig franchise and thought after all I’ve eaten I may need to visit.
That said there is a legal history between Jenny Craig and my father so I never will.
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This is where I bought my first Ford Falcon. Not a V8, they were to come later when I lived in Darwin when I owned three V8 Falcons and Fairmonts.
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This is a place we used to frequent in the 1980s and get takeaway Chinese food from. As an IG friend quipped, not exactly new anymore.
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Boxing day dinner was a simple affair of left over chicken and duck plus some potato bake and a salad. It was delicious with lots of avocado.
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This morning I woke to the tragic news that Gerry Anderson had died after a battle with dementia. Gerry was the creator of SUPERMARIONATION and the developer and producer of television programs like Thunderbirds are GO, Fireball XL5 and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. As a kid and even now I love the Thunderbirds. The whole concept of International Rescue and the story behind Jeff Tracy and his sons each named after a Mercury astronaut was so compelling. Now that I work in emergency management there are days I wish we had The Thunderbirds on-call. Virgil was my favourite character. Virgil piloted TB2. I was also very fond of Gordon who piloted TB4.
Breakfast was sombre and simple. Vegemite and jam on toast with a strong coffee.
The day itself looked good.
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Today Mum and Dad asked me to take them on a long drive. They don’t get out much from the retirement village except in bus trips with other residents. So we spent the day driving with no plan.
This is the car I hired. It’s a Toyota Camry. It is quite good. The remote key entry and ignition is cool. I like how it connects easily with my iPhone through Bluetooth.
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I suggested Caloundra and Mum said why not Noosa, in the end I decided not to turn off and we ended up in Gympie in time for morning tea. Gympie has a long history in Queensland, some of it not so positive. I think you have to be a local to share those tales so I won’t go on. I had many friends from Gympie in my university and early years as a medical practitioner. I remember one gorgeous nurse from my intern year…
Morning tea was at the Little Brown Jug cafe in Gympie. I had a pot of tea and a vanilla slice. Regular readers know my fondness for vanilla slice and my dream of one day doing a vanilla slice crawl around Australia. Vanilla slice search of Yummy Lummy.
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After Gympie we hit the road and headed to Noosa. In the 1970s and 1980s we would spend Easter holidays at Noosa and occasionally some Summer holidays too. As we got older, we ended buying a place at Caloundra and I remember weekends and holidays in my later years of high school on the beach every chance I could get.
In Noosa we used to stay at a place called Paramount Towers on Hastings Street. Mum said it was reasonable in the day at $50 a night. I can’t imagine how much it would cost now that Noosa is one of the most expensive tourist places in South East Queensland.
It’s now called the Settler’s Cove.
This is the famous Noosa beach. I used to love this beach. So many good boyhood memories. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the beach was crowded with locals and tourists. It was kind of exotic and there would be lots of foreign tourists. For a young fella, what I remember most was that most young women on the beach had no desire to wear much and many would lay in the sun and enter the water topless. There was a clothes-free beach a short walk away but no one seemed to care. Anyway, enough of those thoughts…naughty Gaz.
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Rather than eat lunch at an over priced place in Noosa, Mum suggested Buderim. Buderim is a sleepy town in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. It has a significant number of senior Australians (aka self funded retirees) and is a favourite place of art and craft lovers. Dad was feeling a little tired so rather than look too far we stopped at a cafe and enjoyed a toasted sandwich.
I had a chicken, mayonnaise and avocado toasted sandwich.
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For dinner tonight we enjoyed a crumbed steak and salad.
I will confess I ended up eating two large pieces of scotch rib fillet steak that was covered in fresh bread crumbs. They are irresistible.
I hope I have one more post for 2012 to close out the year. This post however, will focus on the lead up and execution of Christmas 2012.
The last weekend was another quiet one. I didn’t have much to do besides wash clothes and clean the apartment. I’d completed all my Christmas shopping and so I enjoyed a weekend of lounging and watching DVDs. I ended up seeing the end of series three of Breaking Bad and watching what in the US is the first series of Strike Back. Apparently in the UK, there were six episodes shown before the US saw the seventh episode which it calls the first episode. I don’t understand the reasoning. The story can be found at IMDB and Wikipedia.
Because I was travelling for Christmas and New Year I needed to go through the contents of my refrigerator. Toasted sandwiches are always a good weekend lunch option.
Tomato, tinned red salmon and pumpkin seed bread.
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For dinner I had a scotch fillet steak.
I served it with a mango salad that also had salad leaves, cherry tomatoes and lots of Australian feta cheese. I made a light gravy from the marinade which was sherry, oil and soy plus some honey and mixed herbs and some minced garlic. I thickened it with some corn flour and used a little red wine to deglase my fry pan. I like my steak rare so this got about 90 seconds on each side and was rested for 10 minutes.
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On Saturday night a storm brewed but we didn’t see any rain. The clouds though were very pretty. I captured this image from my balcony but there were some much better ones from other IGers.
I like watching Jamie Oliver on television and if you search this blog for Jamie Oliver you’ll see a number of references. http://garydavidlum.com/?s=Jamie+Oliver&submit=Search I’ve heard though with Jamie Oliver’s recipes that sometimes they’re wrong, that is, quantities can be significantly off. This doesn’t always get corrected. If you know enough to know that’s fine but if you’re pretty ignorant like me, that can spell disaster.
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WARNING Sad Image
One of the saddest images I’ve captured is this one. Last week I posted this image of a friendly blue tongued skink. Sadly it was run over in my apartment car park.
From last week
What I came across on Sunday morning.
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I love pistachios
Snack time.
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Another toasted sandwich for lunch.
This time with blue cheese because like bacon and butter, everything tastes better with blue cheese.
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On Sunday night I cleaned out the refrigerator.
Salmon with mango salad and blue cheese.
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Normally when I’m walking back from the post office you can see heaps of people at work.
Barren on Christmas eve.
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There are no calories for the next two weeks.
Caramel doughnut.
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I was tempted, but this was for a work friend.
Jam filled doughnut.
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Because a work mate was ill last week when we went to the snag stand, we went back with her on Monday.
Spicy cheese kransky on brioche. This was delicious. Our plan is to eat through the entire menu.
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I finished work early on Christmas eve and I went to the airport as soon as I could.
A White Christmas snack at the Qantas lounge.
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I also had a couple of chilli beef pastizzi in the lounge
They were a little hot.
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I managed to secure an upgrade on flight QF960. The flight was meant to leave a little after 1745 however a couple of storm cells hit Canberra and to keep the ground crew safe they were evacuated from the tarmac and we stayed in the aeroplane for more than an hour connected to the aerobridge. If you follow me on Twitter you’ll see were we able to use our telephones.
For dinner I had the crumbed beef. The crumb also contained feta cheese. While the beef was well done and tough, everything else was very nice.
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When I got to my parent’s place I put out presents for them and my girls (who I’ll see later this week).
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It’s Christmas Day. I had a poor night’s sleep, not through Christmas excitement, but because I’m sleeping on my childhood bed. Dad woke up early and we sat together for a couple of hours while he told me stories.
I had a light breakfast in anticipation of a big lunch. The breakfast of champions, vegemite on toast with a couple of coffees.
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And so lunch preparation begins…
This is chicken after we’d tightened the skin with boiling water.
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Mum made a 1000 islands dressing for our lunch time prawns. If you click on the image you can work out the ingredients in a chat with Hilah from hilahcooking.com
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The poultry preparation continued with a duck drying and draining.
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The bowl may not look elegant but that mattered nought.
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I love prawns.
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I could not help capture an after image.
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The duck had a reasonable neck attached. You can tell my intent by the strategically placed Chinese meat cleaver.
With the duck added. I like to cut the breast off and slice it. It makes it easier to eat because you bite end on into the grain of the meat. Do you see the size of the duck’s neck and cloaca? I’d already bagsed (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bagsed) them.
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Because of the small size of Mum’s kitchen and oven, rather than roasted vegetables, Mum made a potato bake yesterday and we heated it up in a small toaster oven at lunch time. We also had broccoli, asparagus and peas.
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This is my plate. Mum made a nice orange flavoured sauce too. It was sublime.
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The neck has such nicely flavoured meat. I also managed to dissect out the trachea too. This started a nice little chat on twitter and instagram.
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So that’s it for now. Mum decided against making a pudding or a pavlova. This evening we’ll have fruit and some cheese. I’m pretty grateful. I don’t really want to blow out. I can fit into a pair of shorts I like to wear at Christmas time so I’m happy holding back a little.
I hope everyone reading this blog had a wonderful time if you celebrate Christmas. I hope your day was full of happiness and peace and good food.
I’m quite enjoying featuring my Instagram images in my blog. It’s such a versatile way of sharing images. If you have an iPhone or Android device I highly recommend it. Coupled with the Evernote Food it’s a great way of keeping track of my food likes and dislikes.
Before we get to the food images I just wanted to write about Schoolies week. Schoolies began when I was at high school. I attended Brisbane Grammar School between 1978 and 1982. I remember as a junior, the senior boys in fifth and sixth form talking about spending a week down the Gold Coast (Wikipedia article) for a long “never ending” drinking and sex session. I remember when it first started it was basically for the GPS group of schools, i.e., the Great Public Schools in Brisbane. It also included the corresponding girls schools like Brisbane Girls Grammar School.
So yes I was one of “those” private school boys. That said, I wasn’t a drinker and didn’t really mix with others except for sport. I represented the school in swimming and still water life saving. Academically I won the Biology prize in fifth and sixth form. Hence my desire that if I couldn’t study medicine I would have studied zöology (although I knew I’d never be any good because I couldn’t grow a bushy beard. You see at the time all the famous zöologists were bearded men of great stature.) Somehow I managed to be popular enough amongst my peers and teachers to be elected a school prefect. Okay enough showing off. When I was in sixth form my friends were all talking about going to schoolies week, getting drunk, having lots of sex and just carousing. I had other plans. I finished school on the Friday, attended the valedictory dinner and then the following Monday started work at Queensland Medical Laboratory as a technical aid. I cleaned benches, faeces sieves and kept stocks of stuff up for the technicians and scientists. I also worked in the media kitchen making media for bacteriology. I heard about the “good time” my mates were having but I was having a better time making money and learning the skills needed to become a pathologist.
I’ve been conscious of not being an annoying father, so I waited until Tuesday morning to send my first text message just to see that Miss17 was okay. After that we had a short Kik chat each morning. It’s certainly reassured me to maintain just some contact without imposing myself on Miss17.
Some friends have asked why I would be supportive of my daughter attending schoolies. I know Miss17. She’s a mature young woman. I know she’ll look after herself and she’ll look after her friends. I have faith in Miss17′s ability to do the best thing in any situation. Schoolies has now become a huge event as a rite of passage with school leavers spending a week in major tourist spots like the Gold Coast, Bali, Byron Bay and Airlie Beach. It’s also created a by-product, viz., toolies. Toolies are older men who prey on vulnerable girls for sex.
As for Miss11 and Miss15 they’ve been in Geelong this week for the National Club Championships. Their team, Delta Brisbane was again named best club and Miss11′s WAGL5 came first while Miss15′s WAGL10 came second. Miss15 didn’t compete with the team because of an ankle injury so she competed as an individual on the uneven bars and beam. She seems pretty happy. She’ll be back to school on Monday and completing examinations.
Before we get to the food images, I wanted to share a YouTube clip that has taken off here in Australia as a safety message. Dumb ways to die
To see the images more clearly and to read the comments from Instagram users please click on the image.
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On Monday I had a nice quiche from the Urban Bean Espresso Bar. This is a Camembert, onion and sun dried tomato quiche. I had it with a mug of Earl Grey tea.
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That evening I roasted a chicken thigh on top of a piece of Multigrain Vienna loaf and served it on top of some freshly made coleslaw. I also added a dollop of Buderim ginger lemon and lime marmalade.
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For breakfasts I’ve gone back to a smoothie for ease, convenience and as an attempt to control my weight.
Iced coffee banana smoothie with an egg white.
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That piece of public art near my office that I wrote about last week is taking shape.
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On Tuesday one of our work mates had her last day before her wedding this weekend. The relevant section put on a curry lunch. Here are the slow cookers doing their thing.
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The curry was really good. On my plate are three types, lamb, beef and chicken. There is also some yoghurt, bread and rice.
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That evening I only needed a small dinner. I “poached” some salmon by placing it skin side down in a hot fry pan and adding a lid. I turned the heat down and then waited five minutes to turn the heat off. In the pan I also had a piece of sourdough bread that had some blue cheese on it. I grew a little addicted to the cheese and bread this week. I need to stop this now.
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The piece of public art had more work done on it Wednesday morning.
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When I got to the post office there was a parcel waiting for me.
It’s nice they had Christmas wrapping on the parcel.
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After last week’s Friday Fries (that actually sounds better than Friday Chips) with the Cascade Lime Quench, I wanted another Lime Quench. This time with a house made sausage roll from the Urban Bean Espresso Bar.
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When I got home I unpacked my parcel. It is a Magic Bullet®. I had one of these when I lived in Darwin. I’ve been feeling a little down lately so I thought I’d buy a kitchen appliance to make me feel happier, especially with Summer coming. The Magic Bullet® is great for crushed ice drinks and for smoothies. While I’ve been making by breakfast banana smoothies with my trusty Bamix® wand and a jug, the Magic Bullet® is quicker and easier. It is also fantastic for making small quantities of things like whipped cream.
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Dinner Wednesday night. Roast chicken thighs on sourdough with blue cheese served with asparagus and broccolini.
This tasted really good. I roasted at a low heat for an hour. The bread became really crispy and cheesy. It was delicious with the chicken skin and the tender moist thigh meat. I prepared the chicken with salt, pepper, chilli flakes and Tabasco sauce.
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On Thursday morning I pulled all the bits and pieces out of the dishwater and tried my new Magic Bullet®. Breakfast caramel coffee banana smoothie made with my new Magic Bullet®
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When I got to work and went to get my mail, I saw men on the piece of public art. I still don’t know what it is. There’s lots of speculation in the office.
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This is what I tweeted through Instagram for lunch. “Cheesy bacon pie. For store bought this was a really good pie. Chunky tender beef and visible bacon. #winner”
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Extreme naughtiness. Chicken thighs roasted on blue cheesy sourdough with potato gems and washed down with Agrum and minted ice #MagicBullet
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On Friday morning I tweeted No work on new #publicart today. #igerscanberra
I did see men the afternoon before pouring a lot of concrete into the tubing.
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You may be aware the Tasmanian devil is currently endangered because of the Devil facial tumour disease. This is a pretty sad image of a poor little devil who is suffering from the disease
Anyway, the connection with me is my love of Ginger beer, especially Bundaberg Ginger beer.
For lunch, the Urban Bean Espresso Bar does not stock Bundaberg brewed drinks but it does stock Cascade beverages.
So I had a Cascade Ginger beer and a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich.
These were pretty good and it really helped the briefing.
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Last night I cooked a pork cutlet. I put a piece of sourdough in a square pyrex container and soaked it in XXXX Gold beer. I laid the cutlet over the top and cooked in a slow oven for an hour. I served it with potato gems. The pork was surprisingly tender and not dry.
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So today I had my plans disrupted because of the loss of my landline on Thursday. I’ve blogged about that here. The technician (Grant Munro) was very helpful and found a loose wire at the exchange. Once fixed I was back on-line but it was still too late to do the things I wanted to do this morning.
This afternoon I went to a wedding of a work mate. She’s the one who we had lunch for on Tuesday. She looked great and it was a beautiful ceremony at Lanyon Homestead. I got lost because that’s how I roll. I am really very poor with directions and I should have spent much more time looking at a map. What I didn’t realise was that Tharwa Drive forks and remains Tharwa Drive. Friends at work joke that the North side is Mordor yet all I could mumble as I was driving lost was “this must be Mordor”. When I arrived my friends laughed.
I know I could have captured images of the bride and the wedding party but my friend Nat was there with her camera and I figured I could get a nice photograph from her later. Nat is also a photographer. Check out her site at http://www.kecozaphotography.com.au/
I was more interested in the car Nat and Ursula arrived in. It’s a Corvette which Ursula’s husband recently imported from the US.
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When I got home this afternoon I had to complete a Twitter challenge from Thursday. In March this year I posted an image to satisfy the same challenge from TheBernieBrand and PeskyPippi
Tonight I had a pork cutlet. I served it with coleslaw that I made this afternoon. It tasted pretty good.
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So that’s it for another week. A long post I know. I could have split it up and next week I might do that.
Mentioned places and products
Bundaberg is where my mother and her parents spent many years owning and working on sugar cane farms. There’s even a street named after them, viz., Que Hee Street. Google map http://goo.gl/maps/32wOb
XXXX Gold is the beer my grand parents drank and it’s the only beer I’ve ever tried. It is also a sponsor of the greatest rugby league (representative) team in the universe. http://www.xxxx.com.au/
We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia but I did learn how to carve a turkey from a Thanksgiving site.
5 Turkey Carving Tips – From Armand, The Butcher
The last week and a bit has been huge. On Thursday and Friday 25 and 26 October I was at Mt Macedon at a Disaster Intelligence Master Class run by the Australian Emergency Management Institute (AEMI). This was an excellent two days meeting new colleagues and networking.
On Sunday 28 October I flew back to Melbourne for another three nights stay. For the last few months I’ve been involved in the preparation for a week of meetings with international colleagues covering a week of meetings in Melbourne and Canberra. On Thursday I hosted a full day meeting with international visitors. I am so grateful to a small cadre of work mates who behind the scenes got all the logistics sorted out in quick time.
So my week has been full on and my eating has been atrocious. The only day when it approached okay was Thursday when I had some control over the food at the breaks and lunch. We served fruit platters and sandwiches with “healthful” fillings. On the other days when other agencies were in charge we enjoyed cream filled biscuits, cream filled pastries, doughnuts, cakes and slices. The lunches were also very filling.
To top off a very full and mentally stressful week I had arranged to visit my kids in Brisbane this weekend. That has meant a lot of fun and really very little time for rest and sleep. The other benefit has been a rebalance of my twitter statistics. Last week saw very little social media activity so I’ve made up for it over the weekend, especially on Twitter and Instagram.
Anyway, so here I am in Brisbane this weekend. What I had not realised was that my two younger brothers would also be in town. They were sorting some things out for my parents. To give you some context. I’m the eldest of three sons. Brother 2 is two years younger than me and Brother 3 is six years younger than me. Brother 2 is a medical practitioner based in Cairns and Brother 3 is in Brisbane’s building and construction industry.
At lunch Brother 2 sent me an iMessage asking if I wanted wonton for dinner. Earlier in the day we had discussed having dinner at Eatons Hill Hotel where Miss17 was doing work experience. They didn’t have a table so we elected to go to our tried and true Kedron-Wavell RSL. My guess is that Brother 2 and Brother 3 had a chat between themselves and cooked up a scheme, a scheme that would suit me just fine.
Brother 3 has become a master of wonton making. He has friends who ask him to make wonton for them. Brother 3 essentially follows Mum’s recipe. Brother 2 however, prefers a variation on Mum’s recipe. Brother 2 like me enjoys adding texture to our food. We’re also fans of coriander (cilantro) while Mum isn’t. Brother 2 tends to add raw finely sliced ginger and bamboo shoots to augment the crunch of the water chestnuts.
In the end we stayed with Mum’s recipe given we were eating with Mum and Dad.
While we were out Miss 17 needed to my a birthday card. I saw one that caught my eye.
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We also enjoyed a high carbohydrate lunch from a local Japanese Bakery.
Japanese bacon wrap
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Custard platypus
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After lunch we were in need of Ice Cream so we went to Cold Rock Ice Creamery at Chermside.
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I asked Miss15 to capture an image of me buying ice cream.
When we arrived back at my parent’s place you could smell the food preparation from the corridor.
As we entered we were confronted with a tower of wonton wrapper.
I wondered if they had bought enough. Eight packets of fifty wrappers.
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Brother 2 had bought some pork mince but it was too lean so he got some pork belly and hand minced it in the traditional family way. With two meat cleavers. This is the BEST way to mince meat. It also builds muscles and annoys neighbours and tests the sturdiness of kitchen tables.
Meat cleavers used to mince the pork belly.
The final filling. Go to my Mum’s recipe for the details.
As the team were getting into making the wonton Miss11 and Miss15 wanted to have a go.
Then the experts showed them how.
We had tray upon tray and made about 400 wonton
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The masters at work
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Before I drove Miss17 to work experienced she and I were given a tasting bowl at about 1500 AEST.
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When I got back dinner was ready and this is my first serving. So much better than restaurant portions.
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I also needed a second serve at about 1900 AEST.
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Did I mention the pork bones? They were fall off the bone tasty.
There were some wonton left over and my brothers and daughters have a liking for cold freshly made and cooked wonton from the refrigerator. Whenever I do it I get visions of Nigella Lawson going back to her refrigerator late at night.
Needless to say we slept well and still feel full. Mum and Dad though thought I needed a big breakfast.
Mum had been planning this for a little while. She grinned as she brought food from the refrigerator and was pretty happy when she saw my smile. She’d been to the butcher and got some lamb’s fry. As many readers know I like my offal and nice lamb’s fry is hard to come by. Mum has seasoned some flour with salt and pepper and coated the liver and then kept it in the refrigerator overnight. This morning she gently pan fried it and served it with bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs and a grilled tomato. It was delicious.
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Needless to say my daughters are not great fans of offal. I pondered whether Dr Offal should post this on his blog, but figured it was better suited to this post.
A note about this post. I’ve used a new WordPress.com feature. WordPress.com users can now embed Instagram images into their blog posts. This seems to work well. If you want to comment on an image in Instagram click on the image and if it’s been inserted through instagram you’ll soon see
This past week has been a bit emotional for me. On Friday we remembered the events of ten years ago in Bali. I needed a break and Bron had very kindly organised a weekend away with her sons and me. The destination was to be Cowra with nothing specific planned except dinner at Tommy’s Bistro in the Imperial Hotel. We knew that Cowra was known for the Japanese Garden and the prisoner of war camp. The POW camp is the site of the Cowra Break out.
We stayed at the Vineyard Motel on Chardonnay Street in Cowra. This is a small but well presented motel. The best thing is the heated floor of the bathroom and main living area. This is so good on cold nights and mornings. I would recommend this motel as accommodation a little out of the town centre and in amongst grape vines.
For higher resolution views, click on the images and they’ll open up into bigger clearer images.
Vineyard Motel
In amongst the grapevines
Grapevines
Bird bath
In the Afternoon we went and headed into town to find a pie for lunch and then ate it in a local park.
Tomato and onion pie with coke
After lunch we ventured to the Japanese Garden. This is truly a delightful place to visit. It is so serene and tranquil. I would highly recommend visiting.
Bonsai
Water feature
After the garden we went to the Cowra POW Camp site.
The replica guard tower
The grounds where the site was
On Saturday evening we went and had dinner at Tommy’s Bistro in the Imperial Hotel.
Both Bron and I enjoyed the crispy crackling pork belly and scallops for an entrée and then a rare Scotch fillet steak on Paris mach for our main meal. For dessert I had a sticky date pudding with Queensland nuts and ice cream. The service was fast and friendly. The decor very warm and inviting. I would highly recommend Tommy’s Bistro for a dinner.
Garlic bread
Crispy crackling pork belly with scallops
Scotch fillet and prawns with Paris mashed potato
Sticky date and Queensland nut pudding
After a good sleep we enjoyed a motel breakfast. I had peanut paste and orange marmalade on whole grain toast.
Our intention for the morning was to go for a walk in a national park and then visit a winery for lunch.
The Wallaby Walking Trail in the Conimbla National Park is an easy walk of a couple of kilometres. The brochure from the Cowra Visitors’ Centre suggested the walk would take 30 minutes. The sign at the trail suggests 1 hour. In the end it took us about 40 minutes after a couple of water stops. You can see our route on my RunKeeper site.
In the end we didn’t get to a winery but we did find Taste Canowindra. A delightful venue for wine, art and music plus great food.
I had a chicken terrine made with crushed strawberries. It was really very good. I would recommend this place to anyone who wanted a good lunch on the way home to Canberra.
When I got to my place I made myself a chicken red curry with lychees and pineapple.
I’m currently in Brisbane to visit my kids. Brisbane is where I was born and spent 30 years learning skills in medicine, pathology and specifically clinical microbiology. I grew up here. I love Brisbane. I’m a Brisbane boy. I’m a Queenslander.
This year I didn’t get an opportunity to go to The Ekka with my daughters. Maybe next year. Miss15, ever thoughtful bought me a hat from one of her trips to The Show.
Me in a new hat from Miss15
Today we joined up with one of my brothers (Mr41) and his son (NephewMr6) to watch a junior rugby match.
Brisbane is beautiful in August. The sky is clear and the morning cool but not cold like Canberra (which has the skies but the trees aren’t all evergreen). Canberra’s deciduous trees remind me of death and the cycle of life. This picture says it all, great sky, beautiful trees and rugby posts. Only summer is better with a swimming pool or surf beach.
A perfect scene. A winter’s morning in Brisbane. Evergreen trees and rugby posts.
While Miss11 and Miss15 went to gymnastics training I took Miss17 shopping. She was hungry after missing breakfast because of a sleep in and an early start to the junior rugby match.
We both had the same idea. A crumbed chicken and coleslaw sandwich.
Crumbed chicken and coleslaw sandwich with pineapple drink
After gymnastics we had to attend the Clayfield College open day. Miss11 and Miss15 have scholarships to attend school here. Without the half scholarships I could not afford the fees.
I tried an ice cream treat I’d not heard of before, viz., drippin dots. I chose caramel and brownie. It was really very nice.
Caramel and brownie Drippin Dots
This afternoon Miss17 captured an image of me.
Me in shades
Tonight I took Dad, Mum and the girls out to dinner to Hog’s Breath Cafe for an early father’s day celebration. These restaurants have a great Aussie history. Many people assume an origin in the USA, the truth is they started in Queensland and have spread across Australia. Importantly, the franchise is a big supporter of motor sport and rugby league in Australia.
I had a steak and rib combination for a main meal.
Steak and rib combination with a side of calamari and Béarnaise sauce
For dessert the girls helped me share a sundae.
Hoggies Rocky Road Sundae which is enough for four
Mum and Dad had profiteroles which Miss15 informed us are made from choux pastry which resembles cabbages. Miss15 likes to pronounce choux as chucks just to make us laugh.
Okay it’s a bit more than the weekend. On returning to Canberra I caught up with Bron and we had dinner at the Canberra Southern Cross Club (Jamison) on Wednesday night. I had my usual scotch filletsteak with calamari and prawns. You’ll notice a jug of pepper sauce as well as a jug of Béarnaise (because that’s how I roll).
Scotch rib fillet reef and beef from the Canberra Southern Cross Club (Jamison) (iPhone)
On Thursday morning Bron made Cinnabon for her work mates. I got to have two for breakfast (lucky me).
A tray of Cinnabon on cooling racks (iPad)
This tasted amazingly good (iPhone)
On Thursday evening Bron made an aubergine curry. It was delicious.
Aubergine curry (iPhone)
On Friday morning we had a Mavi breakfast wrap. I love these. They are bacon, egg, hash brown, mushrooms and barbecue sauce rolled up in a flat bread and served with a medium coffee. Two of these cost $19 at Mavi in Phillip.
Mavi breakfast wrap (iPhone)
That evening we went to Kingsleys Steak and Crabhouse in Civic. I had a steak with WA marron which was delicious. The steak was extraordinarily tender even if it was a little medium rare rather than rare. The potato bake and beetroot salad were nice accompaniments.
Steak and WA Marron (iPhone)
Potato bake (iPhone)
Beetroot salad (iPhone)
Nothing left. It was good (iPhone).
For dessert we had caramel cheese cake with peanut brittle.
Caramel cheesecake with peanut brittle (iPhone)
After dinner we went to Koko Black and I had hot chocolate.It was the nicest hot chocolate I’ve ever had.
Hot chocolate from Koko Black (iPhone)
Saturday morning came and I felt full from Friday night. I’m so grateful Bron was happy with making me a poached egg and avocado.
Last night Bron made a beef stew on mash with cabbage.
Beef stew on mash with cabbage (iPhone)
This morning we went to Urban Pantry for Brunch. I had the big breakfast which was nice but the poached eggs weren’t very good. The yolks were firm and not runny. This is a deal breaker. We won’t return.
Big breakfast with a side of Hollandaise (iPhone)
Finally tonight I made myself some chicken with avocado, cabbage and onion.
Chicken dinner (iPhone)
So that’s my extended weekend in food. Good night. I’ll catch you all through the week.
The Whitsunday Islands are off the central coast of Queensland (click for map). They have been a popular holiday destination for many Australians and tourists from overseas for decades. The islands are ideally situated for those not wishing to go too far north and the associated airfares plus it offers great access to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The GBR is the largest coral reef on Earth and it’s home to an amazing collection of Australian native fauna and flora. If I hadn’t studied medicine at university I would have read my first choice, i.e., zöology and studied marine biology. I often joke I didn’t read zöology at university because I couldn’t grow a decent beard. At the time all the famous zöologists had big bushy beards. Maybe if I win lotto I can resign my job and attend James Cook University in Townsville and read zöology.
We nearly didn’t make it. On the Thursday evening before the trip Miss15 was at training and sustained a neck injury. She was taken to hospital in an ambulance and later released feeling very stiff and sore. She had hyperflexed her neck as a result of falling on her head at speed after a mishap at gymnastics training. I spoke with her a few times on the Friday from Canberra asking if she was okay and she claimed she could still swim and snorkel. I asked if she asked the attending emergency resident if she could swim and she sheepishly said no. I figured I’d assess her when I saw her. Given her physique and level of fitness I wasn’t overly concerned.
Friday was an interesting day at work. Something came up that needed urgent attention so my anxiety levels immediately rose. The last thing I wanted was to be recalled and not allowed to take leave. Fortunately I have very good bosses and colleagues and I was able to leave a little early to make my flight to Brisbane.
At the airport I indulged in a few chicken and leek pies at the Qantas business lounge.
Chicken and leek pies in the Qantas business lounge in Canberra (CBR) (iPhone)
The flight wasn’t too bad except I had to travel via Sydney. I could not get a discounted ticket direct to Brisbane and rather than pay $500 I elected to pay $399 for the fare between Canberra and Brisbane via Sydney. The cost of flying is significant. I’m not sure how the taxation on the emission of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and perfluorocarbon emissions and other gases into the environment will affect airfares, I expect they will rise dramatically. This will have consequences in terms of higher costs and reducing my flexibility to see my children.
On arriving in Brisbane my parents were happy to see me and I was ecstatic to see Miss11 and Miss15. Sadly I didn’t get to see Miss17 this trip. She had already had a holiday to Darwin to see her old school friends and was back at school. After a good chat and reviewing school report cards we went to bed early in anticipation of an exciting day ahead.
The next morning we readied ourselves for the flight to Proserpine (PPP) airport. We were flying Jetstar which is associated with Qantas so I was able to access the Qantas business lounge in Brisbane and we could enjoy a light breakfast. This yoghurt would be a sign of things to come.
Yoghurt in the Brisbane (BNE) Qantas business lounge (iPhone)
About now I should mention that I captured a few hundred images on a variety of cameras. I’ve chosen a selection and uploaded them to Flickr as a set. You can view the slideshow by following the link here http://www.flickr.com//photos/garylum/sets/72157630503718798/show/ I suggest clicking on show info in the top right corner and selecting the slow play (under options) to read some descriptions I’ve added.
You can also see the individual images via this link http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAxq9L7 and click through them all to also read the descriptions. Please feel free to leave comments.
The Jetstar experience was really good. It was much better than my previous Jetstar flight to Hobart for work. I was able to use my iPad and read some Game of Thrones while having a soft drink.
The Proserpine airport is a neat well run small airport. The bags came off quickly and we were on our way through Proserpine to Abel Point Marina in Airlie Beach for our boat connection to Daydream Island. We arrived shortly before 1300 AEST and started to explore after unpacking. From our room we had a view of the water. The room was large and comfortable.
The room was large and neat and well appointed (iPhone)
This is the view from our balcony (Nikon D90)
Miss11 was feeling peckish so we ventured to the Boat House Bakery and enjoyed a snack. Miss11 asked for a plain meat pie and was delighted to see the bakery brands the pies.
Daydream Island meat pie (iPhone)
On the way to the south side of the island we came across a very cute rock wallaby (I’m guessing a Proserpine rock wallaby Petrogale persephone). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-wallaby
A very cute wallaby (iPhone)
The wallabies were plentiful and best seen at night and the early morning. Because of the rain I didn’t get any more good photographs.
After lunch we walked around the north side of the island and visited the three mermaids on Mermaid Beach.
The three mermaids at Mermaid Beach on Daydream Island (iPhone)
The resort has a lagoon water feature running through it. The glare even when overcast makes photography without a polarising lens difficult. I did get a nice image of an anemone fish in an anemone.
No it’s not Nemo (iPhone)
On the Sunday evening the resort had a seafood buffet. Need I say more! Check out the Flickr images. http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAxq9L7
While the prawns were fresh, the oysters had been frozen and the spanner crabs were not very fleshy. The baked coral trout was overcooked (this can be regarded as a crime against humanity for those who have enjoyed fresh coral trout) and should never be kept under heat lamps. The kids liked it though so I was pretty happy.
We spent a couple of hours in the reception area to allow our meal to digest (my dessert stomach, i.e., my œsophagus was quite full) while we listened to the band and the girls took advantage of the free wifi to download games to their iPod Touches. Back in our room I blogged a short post and then fell asleep in anticipation of Sunday. Snorkelling Sunday that is.
On Sunday morning we got up early and had our first resort breakfast. You can imagine it. A buffet of bacon, sausages, eggs, tomatoes, hash browns, mushrooms, fruits, cold meats, breads, yoghurts, fruit compotes, breakfast cereals, tea and coffee and juice. Each morning I had basically the same thing, some eggs and bacon plus yoghurt with honey from a comb plus dates and fruit compotes. You can see the theme on the Flickr site. http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAxq9L7
The boat trip to Knuckle Reef takes a few hours on an ocean going three tiered catamaran. The weather was bad and on Saturday the trip had been cancelled. We boarded with about fifty school children from the USA on a People to people program http://peopletopeople.com/ The winds were around 30 knots and the sea choppy. We were all advised to administer ourselves sea sickness medication. I had already bought a packet of crystallised ginger and took two Kwells as well. In the shipping lane the water was really rough and we were rocking and rolling all over the place. Passengers were falling off their seats and many people were going green and the look of nausea was common. On the trip back it was worse and most of the passengers spent the entire journey out the back making room for afternoon tea and saying g’day to Ralph. It’s a pity because the lunch they served us was delicious. Miss11 and Miss15 slept through most of it. They were happy with that except on the trip back we had a pod of Southern Right whales alongside the starboard side and I saw one breach the water and almost jump right into the air. Only the end of its tail was in the water. It was a wonderful sight, yet my sleeping beauties missed it.
We spent nearly four hours on the pontoon at Knuckle Reef. The pontoon is operated by Cruise Whitsundayshttp://www.cruisewhitsundays.com/ The pontoon has attached to it a flat bottomed boat, a semi submersible vehicle, a helicopter pad, an underwater observatory and platforms for scuba diving and snorkelling. It also has a cool water slide. The website has all the details. It’s worth a day out to do this.
The pontoon on Knuckle Reef operated by Cruise Whitsundays (Nikon AW100)
Photography in the semisubmersible and in the flat bottomed boat isn’t very good because of the glass. Not only is it thick but it’s not cleaned very often. On Sunday the general water visibility was poor. The tide was high and the particulate load was high. Most coral in the area is brown and without flash lighting the images are mostly of poor contrast. That said I captured some reasonable images and have put them on the Flickr slideshow.
The highlight for me is snorkelling. I love being in the water. Water sports for me are the epitome of athleticism. The feeling of being in and underwater is difficult to better. The thought that I would take Miss11 and Miss15 out into the water with me and dive down to see fish and coral has been keeping me going for months. I’d been so looking forward to this small period of time. I wasn’t disappointed. Miss11 had fun. It was her first time and she was a little apprehensive. The water was really cold and using the snorkel for the first time was a little confusing. If we’d had time we could have practised in a swimming pool. Miss15 loved it. Even with her injured neck nothing was going to stop her. She swam on the surface and learnt to dive and blow water clear of her snorkel like a professional. I just loved it. If I could be a super hero I would be Aqua Man or Marine Boy.
This image was captured by the the Cruise Whitsundays professional photographer. It’s me giving him a two thumbs up rather than the recognised “I’m okay” sign.
Maori Wrasse Knuckle Reef
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This is a short video clip of a large wrasse that is well known to the Cruise Whitsundays marine biologists and diving instructors.
The trip back was quiet, the girls slept, I saw a whale and most of the passengers were hurling their lunch over the back of the boat.
Monday morning came and we were greeted with steady rain and strong winds. We had hoped to go snorkelling off the beach but the weather was against us. We spent the morning playing a marathon game of Monopoly and after lunch ventured to the resort pool and had a splash in the cold water. Fortunately they have a few heated spas and we enjoyed warming ourselves in those. Later in the afternoon we played cards and thought about dinner options.
With the rain falling all day we wanted to go to the south side for dinner at the Fish Bowl Restaurant. We were issued plastic ponchos and caught a ride on a gold buggy.
For me a really good hamburger has pineapple and beetroot. I wasn’t disappointed. I also had my first dessert pizza which was a slight let down. I think if it had been lathered in Nutella I would have been happier. That said it was a good day.
An Aussie burger with beetroot and pineapple and chips, lots of lovely crispy beer battered chips (iPhone)
The apple and cinnamon dessert pizza (iPhone)
Tuesday morning came and we had hoped for a fine day to walk around the island one last time. The rain was heavier and even though we saw some wallabies it was not walking weather. So we ate breakfast and packed our bags. We spent most of the day on a boat, in a bus and in an aeroplane. We flew back Virgin Australia which was also really good. We had individual screens and I could watch the Food Channel. It made me think of the kilograms I had added to my weight. I now need to reduce my food intake and increase my exercise schedule.
On the way back I checked-in on Foursquare and became the mayor of Proserpine. I’m not sure how the real mayor would feel about that. During the weekend I also because mayor of Daydream Island most of the other places there too including the resort itself.
We got back to Brisbane in time to have some of Mum’s chicken curry. That capped a delightful holiday for me, Miss11 and Miss15.
My Mum’s chicken curry (iPhone)
Just in case you’re interested, staying at the resort is expensive. They have to ship everything in. You pay for what you get. I am fortunate that I could save for this by putting away some money every pay day. We didn’t buy gifts or souvenirs. We didn’t go and do fancy things or hire sporting equipment. It was expensive but worth it just for the smiles on the girls faces. I have wonderful daughters who are gracious, generous and always grateful. It was a holiday to always remember.
