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Dear Reader,
Introduction
I hope you’ve had a good week. I’m now back in Canberra after spending nine nights in South Australia visiting Kathleen. Last week, it was Kathleen’s birthday. It was her daughter’s birthday this week and we went out for dinner. We also visited Kangaroo Island and spent three nights there.
How is the foot?
What’s happened this week?
The good news is that being away in South Australia did me good and my foot and knee while weak and limited feel good.
What have I been watching?
Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager
One of the amazing things about Kathleen is that she understands my enjoyment of Star Trek. There were times when we watched some Star Trek together and times when I watched while Kathleen was doing something else.
Restaurant reviews
The Meat and Wine Co
We went with Kathleen’s daughter out to dinner at the Meat and Wine Co. in Adelaide’s central business district.
It is a restaurant which features a lot of beef. The restaurant also does two different types of dry-aged steak. One is done the traditional way, and the other is butter dry-aged.
I went with a bone-in scotch fillet steak, which was traditionally dry-aged. It was a very nice piece of steak.
Kathleen decided to have chicken breast for dinner.
Penneshaw Pub
We arrived on Kangaroo Island on Tuesday and on arrival enjoyed lunch at the Penneshaw Pub.
We shared six oysters. Kathleen enjoyed some rare tuna and I had some lovely lamb cutlets.
For dinner, we called around a few places and couldn’t get a table so we returned to the pub for our evening meal.
Kathleen had crispy skin salmon while I had a T-bone steak. We shared another six oysters too.
I decided to make my meal a reef and beef.
The house we stayed in had a fully equipped kitchen with both a wood stove and oven plus a gas stove and oven.
This meant I could scramble eggs in butter each morning for breakfast.
Kangaroo Island Fresh Seafoods
We spent the morning in Kingscote and decided to try some fish at Kangaroo Island Fresh Seafoods. This place it collocated with a servo (that’s Australian slang for petrol station). We both asked for flathead fillets. Mainly, because we knew that flathead being a cartilaginous fish like a shark or a ray wouldn’t have bones.
The flat head was okay. I had mine grilled while Kathleen’s was crumbed. Unfortunately, the fryer the restaurant uses for battered fish wasn’t working.
Drakes steaks
For dinner we bought some scotch fillet steaks from Drakes. Drakes is a local independent supermarket in South Australia. The steaks looked great in the packaging and cooked nicely that evening. We also bought some blue cheese and goat cheese and enjoyed it with the steak.
The Oyster Farm Shop
On Thursday lunch was a seafood platter (also known as the Aquaplatter) from the oyster farm shop in American River.
The term aquaplatter niggled my brain because aqua normally refers to fresh water while marine normally refers to sea water.
The platter had oysters, prawns from Port Lincoln, King George whiting, smoked salmon wings, pippis in butter and garlic, plus some condiments.
The platter was okay to good. It was the first time Kathleen and I have eaten pippis. I’m not convinced I’d have them again.
We were told the oyster season finished that Thursday, so we were pleased to enjoy the last of the oysters.
Reflections Mecure Kangaroo Island Lodge
There was a Mecure Hotel near where we were staying and we decided to have dinner that the hotel’s restaurant on Thursday night.
This was partly because at dusk, kangaroos were likely to be out and about. On the Tuesday night we’d seen a large roo hop across the road in front of us as we were driving to Penneshaw.
Kathleen is an experienced and expert driver in regional and remote areas. Experience and expertise also mean, don’t put yourself at increased risk if you can avoid it.
Kathleen enjoyed the Lamb Rogan Josh, while I thought the rump steak was okay.
Fat Beagle Coffee Shop
On Friday morning, Kathleen enjoyed brunch at the Fat Beagle Coffee Shop. She enjoyed the breakfast hot dog which featured sriracha sauce and jalapeño peppers. Kathleen also had the vanilla slice which she said was possibly the best she’s ever had.
One of the best things about Kathleen is her love for a vanilla slice which equals my love for them too.
Kathleen’s Kitchen
On Friday, we took the ferry home to Cape Jervis and drove back to Adelaide. Kathleen had purchased tickets for a show at the Adelaide Fringe. Prior to the show, we needed to eat, so Kathleen put some beef short rib fingers into her pressure cooker, and we enjoyed a plate of beef rib meat, cheese, cream cheese, pâté, and avocado, plus some butter.
The show that Kathleen took me to was very funny.
Final thoughts
- It was a fabulous holiday. The best ever.
- I even slept better than I have in years. I was able to get between five and six hours most nights while I was away.
- Holidaying with Kathleen is awesome.
- If you don’t have someone Kathleen, it’s still worth visiting Adelaide and Kangaroo Island.
- While the food was mostly good, I think Kangaroo Island is less food destination and more for the flora, fauna, and environment.
Disclaimer and comments
This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.
For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.
It sounds like a marvelous holiday, just what you needed for both body and soul.
Hi Karen,
Yes, it was wonderful.
Why was the tuna rare? Uncooked or scarce? Was impressed with the visual feast you put before us. soooooooo good!!!! I often wonder, though, if presentation is more important than taste! Do those little green things need set just so on the meat??? I’m kind of a cook and serve sort. I gave up on fancy when the boys were small!!! I am so very glad you slept well. Sleep is one of those things many of us skimp on. Unfortunately!
Hi Kris,
Sorry, I thought I’d already replied to your comment.
Most tuna I’ve seen served in restaurants here is served rare.
The only cooked tuna I’ve seen is from a can.
Thanks, the food was presented nicely in the places we ate.
I always think taste and flavour are paramount, however, I do like well presented meals. If I’m alone, I rarely serve fancy.
i’ll be jiggered!!!!!!!
Oh, now I have to go to Kangaroo Island. Looks like an amazing place. So glad you had a wonderful holiday!
Hi Cecilia,
Thanks. If you get to Australia, Kangaroo Island amongst many other parts of the country are worth visiting if you have the time.
Sounds like a fantastic trip, and the food looks great too.
Hi Emma,
Thanks. It was a great holiday and a very relaxing time away.
Am pleased to read your walking was sufficient to be able to get out of the confines of home and Canberra. No doubt these ten days away not only helped further physical abilities but was wondrous mind wise. Have not personally reached Kangaroo Island but heard forever about it . . . reading a little further this morning you seem to have experienced a fair few of its more interesting eating places albeit with your rather limited mode of eating. Methinks the Island is a kind of microcosm of rather healthy pristinely grown products from better soil and sea conditions than most other parts of Oz. – from what I have read depending on the quality but no wild excitement factors in preparation . . .Meanwhile hope that your physical improvement continues back home . . .
Hi Eha,
Thank you for your comment.
From what I could see there is little arable land. The livestock I saw were in large pastures with a lot of grass.
The island has a thriving apiary network, although the 2019/20 bushfires affected the honey production.
The South Australian Government appears to be investing in road infrastructure with a lot of road work happening on the east of the island.
If I was more mobile, I would have ventured onto the sand and into the seawater with Kathleen. The beaches looked inviting and seeing a pod of dolphins frolicking near the shallow water was a highlight.
Thanks! I only know what I have seen on food/cooking shows, heard from friends who have been and read. Both vegetable crops and livestock keeping seem to be organic or at least not on depleted soils full of artificial chemicals. Admirable if it can be kept going. And tastes should be better. Have seen quite a bit about bee-keeping and also wine- and spirit-production. Looking at your post I was just a little surprised that the food was not more innovative with the number of nationalities involved and a little more invitingly served. Also – the Island is supposedly so oyster-oriented – compared to the Sydney Rock, the Pacific et al the ones on your photos look rather small! All interesting tho’!
Glad your trip was a good one and your foot isn’t worse. All the food looks amazing esp the steak you cooked.
Thank you. I don’t like blowing my own trumpet, but I do like to cook steak.