Sunday, December 6, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
We finally went and did something distinctly Australian this weekend, and went to a Koala Preserve. I, Joel, was a little bit disappointed that koala preserves weren't available for purchase, but in the long run, I'm not really sure that koala would spread well on toast. (It would, however, be better than vegemite). Where was I?
It was a beautiful day that started with about an hour long bus ride. In the bus terminal we met a Korean fellow who needed help with the bus signage. It soon came out that he, like us, was headed for the Koala Preserve. He then sat with us on the bus and chatted and chatted and chatted for the entire bus ride. If my eyes would wander to look at something out the window, he would make sure that I understood what he was saying, apologize for his 'poor English skills,' and draw my 'attention' back. The bus ride required a little more attention than I had hoped. Once we got to the Koala preserve our new friend immediately set out on organizing the trip for us, often stopping, and asking for us to take his picture, and often grabbing my camera and taking our picture. He would say, "Okaaaaaay, everyone say Kim-chi." He was very fond of us. He was very kind hearted and friendly, but after awhile (few hours) we very politely told him we would venture on our own while he went to the sheep dog show... I hope he's not still looking for us.
About the preserve: It was FANTASTIC!, not just fantastic, or even FANTASTIC, but FANTASTIC! I had no idea that there would be a large field where you could walk around with kangaroos and emus. I had no idea that the kangaroos would be so friendly. It was great to give the 'roos a good scratch on the head and put your arm around them as if you were old pals. Two kangaroos were even so thoughtful as to think about the educational aspects of visiting the zoo, and demonstrated mating habits of their species. Well, actually, there was a male kangaroo attempting to demonstrate the mating habits, but the female "had a headache."
There was an ample collection of koalas too. Koalas appear to sleep very well. They have evolved to be good sleepers the way that cheetahs have evolved to be fast runners over a short distance, or the way the Inland Taipan (more on him later) evolved to be more deadly than necessary. A lot of koalas use a fantastic stance of sleeping with their forehead propped against a branch, and then they slump and sleep. I think we saw a grand total of 2 koalas that were actually awake. Awake used very loosely here. Awake in koala terms would be the amount of awake your average human is when answering the call of nature at 3:30 in the morning.
In addition to the kangaroos and koalas, there was a plethora of other Australian critters. One of the best was the display of some of the friendly reptiles that call the island continent home. We got to see the Eastern Brown Snake, which is the second most venomous land snake in the world. One shouldn't worry too much about the eastern brown snake though, because they can also come in "light tan through dark brown, russet or almost black." So really it can come in any variety of earth tones for those not completely on board with plain ol' brown. Not to be out done, in the next stall over was the Inland Taipan which has the distinction of being the most venomous land snake in the world. I particularly enjoyed what the sign on the inland taipan's cage had to say:
Apparently 'fierce' and 'shy' are synonyms in Australian English. The sign continues:
The 'coastal taipan' was on display opposite of its friendly cousin, the fierce-snake. It's also nice to know that I also live along the coast of Queensland.
So after educating ourselves on the snakes that could kill us on a whim, we moved on to look at birds. We saw lots of cute things like cockatoos (that talk) and kuckoburras (or however you spell it) lorikeets and so forth. The nice thing about birds is that they aren't deadly..... unless they are cassowaries, then they are deadly. Fitting with the theme of the continent, these birds are found (although in dwindling numbers) in Queensland, as are my wife and I. Cassowaries look like a cross between an emu and archaeopteryx. They have a bright blue head, a bone 'helmet' and a slashing claw that it can use in leaping attacks. The cassowary will jump in a slashing attack with both feet. Don't believe me? Look it up on youtube. I don't think they've killed anyone in awhile, but it's nice to know that birds aren't left out of the deadly category.
I think that's about it. If you want to see more pictures go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpeterb/
It was a beautiful day that started with about an hour long bus ride. In the bus terminal we met a Korean fellow who needed help with the bus signage. It soon came out that he, like us, was headed for the Koala Preserve. He then sat with us on the bus and chatted and chatted and chatted for the entire bus ride. If my eyes would wander to look at something out the window, he would make sure that I understood what he was saying, apologize for his 'poor English skills,' and draw my 'attention' back. The bus ride required a little more attention than I had hoped. Once we got to the Koala preserve our new friend immediately set out on organizing the trip for us, often stopping, and asking for us to take his picture, and often grabbing my camera and taking our picture. He would say, "Okaaaaaay, everyone say Kim-chi." He was very fond of us. He was very kind hearted and friendly, but after awhile (few hours) we very politely told him we would venture on our own while he went to the sheep dog show... I hope he's not still looking for us.
About the preserve: It was FANTASTIC!, not just fantastic, or even FANTASTIC, but FANTASTIC! I had no idea that there would be a large field where you could walk around with kangaroos and emus. I had no idea that the kangaroos would be so friendly. It was great to give the 'roos a good scratch on the head and put your arm around them as if you were old pals. Two kangaroos were even so thoughtful as to think about the educational aspects of visiting the zoo, and demonstrated mating habits of their species. Well, actually, there was a male kangaroo attempting to demonstrate the mating habits, but the female "had a headache."
There was an ample collection of koalas too. Koalas appear to sleep very well. They have evolved to be good sleepers the way that cheetahs have evolved to be fast runners over a short distance, or the way the Inland Taipan (more on him later) evolved to be more deadly than necessary. A lot of koalas use a fantastic stance of sleeping with their forehead propped against a branch, and then they slump and sleep. I think we saw a grand total of 2 koalas that were actually awake. Awake used very loosely here. Awake in koala terms would be the amount of awake your average human is when answering the call of nature at 3:30 in the morning.
In addition to the kangaroos and koalas, there was a plethora of other Australian critters. One of the best was the display of some of the friendly reptiles that call the island continent home. We got to see the Eastern Brown Snake, which is the second most venomous land snake in the world. One shouldn't worry too much about the eastern brown snake though, because they can also come in "light tan through dark brown, russet or almost black." So really it can come in any variety of earth tones for those not completely on board with plain ol' brown. Not to be out done, in the next stall over was the Inland Taipan which has the distinction of being the most venomous land snake in the world. I particularly enjoyed what the sign on the inland taipan's cage had to say:
Also known as the 'fierce snake' or 'small-scaled snake,' this species is considered to be the most venomous land snake in the world. Fortunately, it does not share its distribution with a large human population, and has a quiet, shy temperament
Apparently 'fierce' and 'shy' are synonyms in Australian English. The sign continues:
The closely related 'coastal taipan' is a far more nervous animal. It is found in northern Australia and along the coast of Queensland where it is more likely to be encountered by humans
The 'coastal taipan' was on display opposite of its friendly cousin, the fierce-snake. It's also nice to know that I also live along the coast of Queensland.
So after educating ourselves on the snakes that could kill us on a whim, we moved on to look at birds. We saw lots of cute things like cockatoos (that talk) and kuckoburras (or however you spell it) lorikeets and so forth. The nice thing about birds is that they aren't deadly..... unless they are cassowaries, then they are deadly. Fitting with the theme of the continent, these birds are found (although in dwindling numbers) in Queensland, as are my wife and I. Cassowaries look like a cross between an emu and archaeopteryx. They have a bright blue head, a bone 'helmet' and a slashing claw that it can use in leaping attacks. The cassowary will jump in a slashing attack with both feet. Don't believe me? Look it up on youtube. I don't think they've killed anyone in awhile, but it's nice to know that birds aren't left out of the deadly category.
I think that's about it. If you want to see more pictures go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpeterb/
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Breakfast (by Joel)
Now we're having sourdough crepes for breakfast. It got me to thinking that I should start a crepe restaurant. I've been tossing around some ideas for names. Here are a few:
Holy Crepe
This is Some Crepe
I Don't Believe This Crepe
Full of Crepe
Tastes Like Crepe (could also use the other senses here too)
Ah Crepe!
Eat Crepe
What Is This Crepe?
Load of Crepe
Bunch of Crepe
I had so many more, I can't remember them all. I think the primary dish would be a beef dish called "Bull Crepe"
Time to eat...
Holy Crepe
This is Some Crepe
I Don't Believe This Crepe
Full of Crepe
Tastes Like Crepe (could also use the other senses here too)
Ah Crepe!
Eat Crepe
What Is This Crepe?
Load of Crepe
Bunch of Crepe
I had so many more, I can't remember them all. I think the primary dish would be a beef dish called "Bull Crepe"
Time to eat...
The feast!
What a beautiful and delicious feast! Cooked to perfection, seasoned delightfully! It was a wonderful meal and a great way to celebrate our anniversary in the same way we celebrate our life together every day. And we finished it off with a sweet honey-date-ananas polenta that was fried in butter. Yummy!
In the meantime...
We had some delicious fresh kale and silverbeat to whet our appetites while the roast roasted, and prepped some lovely mini squashes for the side dish.
Preparations for the roast feast!
Here are a few photos showing the progression of the prime rib roast (although it hasn't got a "rib" like in NA, but let's just say it's similar). It was seasoned with juniper berries, rosemary salt and pepper. After browning it in it's roasting pan on the BBQ we covered it in onions and root vegies, then doused the whole thing in red wine to roast in the oven.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Happy Anniversary!
We just got a really wonderful heartfelt message from dad (Roger) to celebrate our anniversary and he suggested we post to share the day with everyone. What a fantastic idea. We're celebrating a day early (or actually two if you think about the time change!) because we just can't wait until tomorrow! In typical Marlene and Joel fashion, Joel has been researching the fantastic "mystery" anniversary dinner and planning a menu, which he only revealed to me this morning. Very early (2 am) this morning we were entertained with a real live soap opera outside our window of a girl weeping about some ordeal with her boyfriend. It was so intense that Joel and I actually stood looking out the window watching the excitement! Thank god those days are over! Sooo... we slept in until 8:30, but I think it was worth it. We then got up and had a few mugs of Yerba Mate tea (my first few real cups!) and sourdough bread french toast tower with honey, passion fruit and roasted bananas (all made by Joel while I hunted up a farmer's market).
The farmer's market was necessary because the venison Joel bought on Wednesday at the farmer's market went bad because the vacuum pack was punctured. dang. All the same, we found another (a third!) farmer's market to shop at. Here we found a butcher stall that sells grass fed - grass finished beef where we bought a prime rib roast. Fancy! We also bought two pineapples (ananas!) for 4$ and some seafood antipasti to accompany Joel's olive antipasti.
So the menu that was posted for me this morning went as follows:
1. antipasti
2. wilted greens
3. roast venison (or prime rib) and root vegetables
4. date, honey and pineapple (added later) polenta for dessert.
So the antipasti were had for lunch with a sparkling Shiraz (who knew!) on the balcony after our swim while sitting in the lovely sun. Now Joeli is making the polenta and has prepared the rub for the prime rib roast. I am writing this blog with aromas of cooking honey in the air (and sounds of David Grisman and Bill Monroe filling my ears) while drinking a juniper berry - rosemary maritini, with an olive. Here are a few early pictures.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
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