tBlog

This post is a special treat for an invaluable friend who inspires me.

Spin, Girl, Spin!!!

The University semester has set into Canberra, with February 25 marking the first day of courses in session. This week is a maelstrom of orientation week parties and squeezing in as many hours of work we can muster before our student visas are in full effect and we can only work 20 hours per week. Knowing that there will be much required study time and restricted cash flow, we embarked on a 4 day camping excursion to reward ourselves for working so hard all summer long and seek out a little true relaxation before schooltime schedules get hectic.

Many thanks to Budget car rental for hooking us up with a ‘free upgrade’ to a Toyota Corolla with hail damage — it turned out to be a great little car for the trip, and had enough room in the backseat and boot for all our camping gear and all the goodies we spontaneously picked up from Ikea.

The first stop along our way was the small town of Goulburn. We had only stopped for a quick snack of pies and coffee, but soon discovered that Goulburn has so much more to offer. Just across the road from the Goulburn Bakery sits a monstrous and deceptively fluffy looking concrete monolith, The Big Merino. The building-sized sheep houses a gift shop and small museum that stand to honor the Australian wool industry. The shop boasts a complete range of socks, gloves, jackets, jumpers, scarves… let me just say that if you can make it out of wool, it’s for sale at The Big Merino. Many of the items are handmade and the luxuriously spun fibres are offered in a whole spectrum of hand-dyed color. Neither Alex or I were in need of any expensive woolen goods, but snapped up a Big Merino patch before we hit the road to commemorate our visit (the boldly colored embroidered patch is soon to become a feature on one of our several school bags).

Cruising into Sydney, we rode through the outskirts of the city to avoid traffic and make a quick stop at Bunning’s Warehouse to pick up a few camping supplies. Shopping around the mega-chain hardware store made me realise how often I used to visit Home Depot. We also made the decision that it would be a smart move to do a bit of shopping on our way back home to take advantage of the car’s stuff-hauling ability.

A few hours past the city brought us to Port Stephens, where it was recommended that we pitch our tent at Salamander Bay and take advantage of the opportunity to swim with dolphins and enjoy the ‘gorgeous scenery’. Perhaps the abundant nature of our prior trip down to the South coast spoiled us into creating unreal assumptions about Australia’s many camping grounds — Salamander Bay was absolutely not the camping ground we were looking for. While Port Stephens’ many bays offer a variety of different beaches and camping Holiday Parks, they’re also moderately populated. Unlike the pristine beach we had previously stayed at, many of the campgrounds around Port Stephens are allocated spaces of grassland that feature full amenities — in several cases, the nearest pub was less than a 5 minute walk from the campsite. Most of the beaches were separated from any accommodation by a busy thoroughfare, and despite our lack of desire to spend any more time in the car, we couldn’t subject ourselves to such an unseemly first night of our holiday.

Pressing on to the North, the plan was to investigate the camping potential at Forster, as recommended by one of the Port Stephens locals. Forester sits between a massive lake and the Pacific Ocean, on an isthmus of land that barely separates the two bodies of water. Since we had left the main Pacific Highway route when we ventured into Port Stephens, we found ourselves on a less traveled backroad with trees hemming us in closely on both sides. Stereotypical signs for Kangaroo, Koala and Wombat crossing were abundant, and as the darkness of the state forest closed in around us we grew increasingly anxious to find our destination. Whizzing around a curve, we came upon a nugget of good fortune.

A sign indicating a road which led quickly down into the pitch blackness of the trees boasted that there was a campground at the end of it’s semi-spooky trail. Cautiously finding our way around the curves of the remote forest road, which quickly became a pot-hole ridden gravel path, we finally emerged from the trees and found ourselves at Seal Rocks.

It’s one of those places where the forest comes right up to meet the beach, but humanity has managed to etch a habitable stretch of coastal community and the inhabitants wake up to paradise each morning. The peninsula is crowned by Sugar Loaf Point Lighthouse (be sure to check out the link here) and only hosts a sprinkling of houses. Sally at Seal Rocks Camping Reserve welcomed us despite the late hour of our arrival, and we set up camp at the back of the park underneath some palm trees. The cool sea breeze came briskly off the ocean and the cloudy night sky was moonless — beach exploration would have to wait until morning. Sleeping that night amongst the rhythms of the rain on the tent and the underlying rush of the ocean was sublime. Definitely something everyone should be lucky enough to experience at least once in their lifetime.

The clouds hadn’t cleared off my morning, and our delay in Port Stephens hadn’t left us time to make our planned grocery stop, so we hopped in Corolla and drove in to Bluey Beach shops for pies and coffee. The small strip of stores in Bluey didn’t offer what we needed, so we continued along the ocean road, which was often the only division between lake and sea. Forster’s main shopping center was quaintly modern, and we stopped at several different stores while the rain came down outside. It quickly became apparent that the rain was here to stay, so we packed up our supplies and cruised back to our Seal Rocks determined to enjoy the beach despite the persistent drizzle.

…there’s more to this story, but not enough time to post it here before work this arvo. For now, check out the photos of the first part of our trip and I’ll get the rest of it fixed up when I return home tonight…

…somehow my blog has snuck under the radar of the internet filter at work, so the tale of our crusade goes on…

The clouds continued to blot out the sky, but didn’t keep us from some exploration of the rocks around the bay, taking a quick dip in the sea, and taking a short walk along the beach - everything would have been more beautiful with a clear and sunny sky, but not even the cloudy gloom kept us from thinking “this is tropical paridise!” The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging around the campsite and cooking up some of the potatoes and sausages we had procured earlier that day. As we chowed on our camp dinner we had our first encounter with the local kookaburras, one of whom greedily gobbled up any meaty tidbits within range of it’s beak.

Though we could still feel the humidity hanging in the air, the next morning was clear and bright. The Aussie sun’s direct shining made the evaporating rain into a mist that issued from the beach sands, and we were quick to return from fetching another breakfast in Bluey and get down to the beach. One of the luxury features of Seal Rocks is that there’s easy access to three separate stretches of beach. The longest and most luxurious stretch is named ‘Three Mile Beach’, which the lighthouse looks over. Currently the lodging that was built for the lighthouse operator is being remodeled to suit weekend holiday stays, as the lighthouse is now fully automated. As the sun continued to rise overhead the warm water was welcoming and the waves rolled in one after the other, perfect for riding back into shore. Seal Rocks is an ideal fishing location, evidenced by the shoals of fish that were evident in the crystal-clear aquamarine waves. The reason the fish were riding the waves so close to the shoreline soon becamse evident as a pod of dolphins began to cruise expertly though the waves, using the rolling water as an extra boost of speed to help them catch fish. It’s something I never anticipated seeing in such up-close real-life action and was entirely incredible.

In keeping with my habit of thrashing myself against any available sharp rocks whilst on vacation, that afternoon’s shoreside climb left the ball of my foot oozing blood into the warm ocean shallows. After heading back to camp to get the wound washed up, we were both reminded that we had neglected to use any sunblock earlier in the day and we each had skin which had turned a vibrant pink. However, not even the intense sunburn kept us from going back down to the rocks for some late afternoon shell collecting. The Seal Rocks dingoes were out and about that evening, as well as a rather large Goanna lizard who promptly clawed its way up one of the palms and watched our campsite from above.

Our final morning’s overcast skies helped us get motivated to pack the campsite back into the Corolla and hit the road (not without a farewell stroll on the beach, of course). Heading back down the coast, it wasn’t long before more rain set in, and we were thankful to be headed back to more substantial shelter. A roadside cafe with internet access provided directions to get us to Sydney’s Ikea store, and we spent several hours browsing the homewares and do-it-yourself furniture. The back balcony was happy to welcome the table and chairs we bought, and the bedroom’s new light fixture is a drastic improvement over the bare bulb that was present when we moved into our apartment last month. To avoid the city peak traffic hour we dined at the Outback Steakhouse before heading back home, and the food was blandly American tasting. If you don’t catch the irony of two American guys eating at an American chain serving “Australian food” in Sydney, you’re missing out on the most entertaining part of the dinner — the bartender was even from Alabama.

All up, it was a fantastic holiday escape — for anyone who’s planning a visit down under, consider making a few days at Seal Rocks part of your itinerary!

Let me start by noting that my parents are both avid gardeners, and regularly turn out fresh veggies by the bundle with each year’s harvest.  My most recent cause for jubilation may not seem like a very big deal to most, but I am absolutely thrilled that my cherry tomato (pronounced toe-mah-toe, with a soft ‘a’ in the middle) plant has started producing edibles!  This particular plant started out as the runt of the bunch, and now has branches laden with fleshy green globes that have begun ripening and turning brilliant red.  Delicious.

Reviewing my own blogging from the past few months, I have come to the realisation that I am without doubt a fat kid at heart.  I love food.  Whether I’m concocting in my own kitchen or looking for the next best place to nosh here in Canberra, I seem to be eternally preoccupied with stuffing my face.

Friday night was date night, and we trekked our way to Dickson for an evening of trendy dining at Firestone.

With the small space they’ve got, they’ve really done things right, with minimalist decor and furnishings complemented by a single wall decked out in geometrically patterned wallpaper.  We sipped a bottle of Funny Label Sauvignon Blanc and made quick work of devouring some pre-meal tapas.  The garlic prawns were a bit heavy on the butter and light on the bold flavors of chilli and garlic, but were cooked well so that the flesh was firm yet not chewy.  Crumbed and fried gorgonzola cheese was perfectly complemented by pumpkin parfait to lighten the flavor - the only thing missing was enough bread to spread the goodness on in order to steer it into our gaping maws.

Our perfectl thin and deliciously crunchy pizza was well constructed, so that each piece included each of the dish’s feature flavors.  While the menu boasts that the pizza has ‘black olives’ - of which I am a particular fan - the olives served up were kalamata, and I was surprised at the way they balanced the spice of the chorizo sausage.

Seizing the opportunity for a bit of indulgence, we rounded out our evening’s selection by ordering up a dessert pizza decked out in apricot, pear and vanilla bean ice cream.  Dessert pizzas can easily land themselves in the Sickly Sweet category, alongside those I remember ravenously devouring as a child, but Firestone’s creation was delectable and fruity without any unnecessary sugar.  The small scoop of ice cream was a bit awkward, and would have been better served as a vanilla bean cream drizzle over the entirety of the pizza instead of plopped into the middle.  It’s creamy flavor, however, matched the lightness of the fruit perfectly.

A flat white topped in a slick artful shooting-star design and delivered directly by the barista and an exquisitely bitter short black were a tasty finish to the wholly satisfying meal.

Thumbs up, Firestone.  We’ll be back for more.