miss york

One of my favorite parts of Australia was our close proximity to extraordinary wildlife. When planning our trip to Melbourne, my coworker told me about the penguins he saw on his trip there, and I signed us up immediately. 

So we flew into Melbourne and stayed in Chinatown. I had no idea that the Chinatown in Melbourne was one of the largest (if not the largest) Chinatown in the world. We rented a car and as soon as we pulled up we could see we were in the heart of the city.

The next morning, our first order of business was to visit Kettle Black - a gorgeous cafe featuring delicious and artistically plated food. If ever in Melbourne, this is a place to check out. We had a delicious breakfast before heading out to Phillip Island. We had a reservation for the penguin parade at dusk!

The drive to Phillip Island was approximately 2 hours south, through mostly farmland. It was beautiful and a quiet drive down mostly one lane roads. When we reached the island we had a little bit of time to kill so we drove out to the beach at Phillip Island Nature park in Cape Woolamai (a name I have to always look up to spell correctly). I wish we had more time to walk around the beach there, but the time we spent was as usual, magical. I still miss the beaches of Australia, even now well over a year later. The beach at Cape Woolamai was long, perfectly flat with a curved coastline revealing beautiful rocks. We walked along the cliff of the beach through lovely plants and flowers and then along the beach itself, just in time for the beginning of sunset. 

So not to miss our appointment with the penguins, we hurried off to the farther part of the island. At the sanctuary we met with our tour guide who told us all about the area and it’s penguin residents. Little Penguins are actually the littlest of the penguin species (no surprise there), and they are an adorable blue coloring with white bellies. After our informational tour inside the museum we were escorted to stadium style seating out on the beach. The sun was going down, and there we waited for the penguins to come in for the night. 

One by one, a penguin or two would scurry onto land. It was the scout and once he gave the all clear, rafts of penguins would float to shore. They’d run in groups up the beach towards us, and their homes. Being so little they face predators in and out of the water, not to mention mankind. One of he many effects of mankind we learned about was how photography flashes from camera and phones severely damages the penguins eyesight. We were also told that the land we were on used to be residential, until the country realized how detrimental it was to the penguins and took the land back to create this sanctuary. The guides were very protective over the penguins, their safety and well being. 

After a little while our guide lead us back to the museum via the penguin highway. As we stood on the walkway the penguins from the beach were walking and talking on their way back to their homes. Some would even fall asleep mid step! Our guide informed us that they often take quick mini naps, and before we knew it the napping penguin was up and moving along. Then there was the penguin who was molting - poor guy! Other penguins usually help pluck a molting penguins feathers, and this guy sure did look miserable as he stood in the middle of the highway perhaps waiting for assistance. One by one each penguin would fork off the main road up a smaller path to their nests. Adorable.

When we reached the museum we saw a bunch of penguins crossing the road, as their homes were closer to the building and over our walk way. A guide was there ready and waiting to help the penguins cross our road. Inside the gift shop we left with a small little penguin stuffed animal to remember the experience. Since we weren’t allowed to take photographs, this was a unique challenge for my husband and I. One of the many lessons I learned from my time in Australia was to put the device away, and simply enjoy the experience. This was one of those moments - and I have not a single photo of a penguin from our trip.

We drove back to Melbourne, parked the car and headed out for some dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. It was one of my favorite days.

The next day we spent walking around Melbourne. The city itself reminded me a lot of Manhattan - grid like and dirty. There were street cars similar to those in San Francisco, but most notably was the driving rules in the city. This provided a unique challenge and I’m VERY glad I was warned about “hook turns” before hand. Basically - right turn from left only. Makes sense? Yeah not really. On top of having to drive on the left side of the road, in order to turn right in Melbourne you have to be in the furthest left lane, wait in the intersection for the opposite traffic light to turn green, and then turn infront of that traffic. It’s so confusing they even have a video about it. Luckily, we did not drive much in the city, mostly because parking our car at the hotel was expensive and we were charged to come and go. 

So we walked, alot! First to Degraves street for breakfast - Degraves is a cute alleyway filled with small restaurants. There is so much incredible street art all over the city and we saw some by Degraves but also ventured to Hosier Lane.

We visited the block arcades (aka Mall) and the enormous Queen Victoria Market. If I lived in Melbourne I’d be there all the time. Each wing of the market was a different section of vendors: Fish, Meats, Produce etc. There was certainly no shortage of food options in the city!

After about 25,000 steps we finally landed in the Carlton Gardens by the Royal Exhibition building. We didn’t go in - being so tired. We ended our stay there before picking up our car from the hotel and leaving for the airport.

Having always wanted to go to Sydney, I thought Sydney would be the clear winner between the two cities. But after writing this post and remembering our weekend in Melbourne, I loved it just as much, and maybe more. It’s also possible that the little penguins had a little something to do with that. ;D

A few weeks ago my husband and I took a trip to Huntington Gardens. It had been a while since we had been there and I very was excited to go to the desert garden. It’s always my first stop!

I’ve loved cacti since I was a kid. I remember when I would go to the garden center with my parents I would always go to the cacti section - specifically the cacti with the colorful bulb on top, called a ruby ball cactus. I loved looking at them perhaps because I didn’t grow up in a desert and they were unlike anything I had ever seen before.

And so upon visiting the desert garden at The Huntington, I was unable to move more than a few feet at a time without stopping to take photos. Infact if my husband was not with me I’m sure I would of easily spent half a day in this garden. The shapes, textures and patterns of each cacti is so interesting to me. Not to mention the sheer variety of cacit and succulents - each unique and weird in it’s own way. 

My absolute favorite is the Mammillaria geminispina species (below). I love it’s white exterior “fur” and green skin underneath. Upon a closer inspection, their patterns are mesmerizing, and their pink flowers an invitation to come a little closer. I had never seen this species in a garden store until a few years ago I happened to come across it and immediately purchased it. Sadly it eventually perished when I moved into an apartment that was too dark for it to survive. Now I have a VERY curious kitten so I have to refrain from keeping any prickly cacti inside, but it doesn’t stop me from keeping them outside! I now have my own again - a spectacular find at a garden center in Ojai not long ago. 

Another favorite of mine are these round enormous cacti called Echinocactus grusonii or the golden barrel cactus (below). I love how they grow in groups, seemingly identical to the one next to it. At the Huntington they have a huge patch of these and I admit I’d love one (or several) for my front yard as well. 

But in general, I can’t get enough of how unique each cacti is from the next. I especially love being able to look at them closely for their textures and patterns and this is where my macro lens really comes in handy. 

Nature has always inspired me, and I am always looking for that which may go unnoticed - Patterns, colors, textures.. Up until now I just enjoyed admiring all that which nature has to offer, but lately I’ve been sketching out ideas and thinking of projects that include that which I admire in nature. I’m excited to see what comes of it. :)

A few weeks ago I cleared out the remains of our summer garden and prepared for fall vegetables. This will be the real test - is it possible to grow cool weather crops in sunny LA? And in a garden that spends most of it’s day in the sun as well. To keep our vegetables from frying my husband constructed a shade covering over our bed. So far it’s worked perfectly - even my Genovese basil has thanked me and is now lush.

Currently in the ground I have broccoli, a sicilian purple cauliflower, squash, ginger, tumeric, garlic, kale, peas, shallots, carrots, beets and radishes. I still have a leftover cherry tomato that’s still finishing up and perhaps when that is done I’ll plant some more root vegetables. Little by little I’ve been trying to turn over my super hard clay soil, but I worry it won’t turn over fast enough to allow for root vegetables to grow. Which is why I planted my beets and radishes in our raised bed, filled with our own soil. And I also made grow bags for our garlic. I purchased a sewing machine not long ago so it was really easy to make a few bags using landscaping fabric and some outdoor thread. So far we have one shoot of garlic! 

In addition to my vegetables, I’m thrilled to have acquired two more cacti to add to my potted collection. I purchased these in a lovely garden store in Ojai, CA. The white one is my favorite cacti ever - but I do not know it’s name! I love their repeating pattern - it’s mesmerizing!

The second I bought because it reminded me of a green worm burrowing into the ground. I just loved the shape and color, and I can’t wait to see what it grows into and perhaps if it produces any flowers! I planted them both and my existing Medusa-esk potted cacti in bigger pots in hopes they will grow a little. I could of bought more than these two - I just love cacti that much!

I recently read “Formerly Known as Food” by Kristin Lawless, and trying to live a organic, environmentally conscious, sustainable and healthy lifestyle these days can be daunting. If we could start a food movement that would overhaul the whole system (as the book suggests), I’d be so grateful. But until then I think taking small steps that end up leading to bigger changes can also lead to better eating habits. 

So this garden stuff has taken a bit to get the hang of. While it looks pretty it’s also a hodgepodge of plants thrown together because I still don’t quite understand the growing “seasons” in Southern California. I actually tried to look up our frost date recently and found that I can actually plant 363 days a year with no actual frost date. Heh.  So I planted a beet I’m not sure how long ago, and it was living beneath a giant fava bean bush for months and months. It was quietly growing and when I finally pulled the fava beans there was this secret beet.  I let it grow some more and just a week or so ago it started to emerge from the soil. I picked it this morning along with a bunch of San Marzano tomatoes and basil to make into a little sauce.

I learned this quick beet salad from Thomas Keller’s master class. All it takes is roasted beets, shallots, chives and balsamic vinegar. So I roasted my little beet, cut some chives from the garden, added a little shallot and some balsamic vinegar. My husband and I gobbled up our one little beet and he claimed it was the “best beet” he’d ever had! 

...too bad I only grew ONE! 

So I’m adding beets to my winter garden plan even though I never know when to plant anything outside of summer vegetables. Because it’s always summer here! Perhaps I will plant my “winter garden” in September but I have a feeling the tomatoes and basil will still be growing then too. Sigh. I guess beets can grow in such heat, so we’ll see!

Our next day drip in Australia was to Lamington National Park, a gorgeous mountainous rainforest inland from the Gold Coast. We set out for O’Reillys Rainforest Retreat and the drive was a little hairy at time as we got further up the mountain.

Our first stop was a tree top walk. We climbed up to an elevated bridge system and walked amongst these enormous trees. It was a little harrowing, and even had a lookout point that was too crowded for us to explore (and my fear of heights was kicking in).

After this short walk, we took off to another hiking trail that would lead us to a waterfall. The tree’s were incredible - lush, very green, and enormous. It was a lovely and peaceful walk through the forest. 

There were so many textures I saw along the way - which is another big reason I love macro photography so much. Especially when it comes to tree’s, their bark and things that grow on them are so beautiful up close. I wish I had spent more time with them.

When we reached the side of the mountain there was a pretty waterfall, which unfortunately was mostly obstructed by this scraggly branch making it hard to capture. 

Continuing up the path we ended up at the top of the falls, where a small stream ran through and over the edge. I’m not sure that in America, a place like this would of been accessible, at least to be able to go to the waterfalls edge. 

Just to the side was a viewing area with a view so spectacular, I won’t ever forget it. The sun was just right, the mountains so green, and the perfect tree to complete nature’s composition. 

On the way back we caught a beautiful sunset and saw a wild Kangaroo family grazing along the side of the road. There were a few koala sighting false alarms, and we never did end up seeing one in the wild. If ever on the Gold Coast, Lamington is worth the trip. It’s unlike any forest I had ever been to and loved every minute of it!

The garden has been coming along and I’m really pleased that after a year of tending to the soil and reading up on gardening practices, something is finally growing!

This kirby seemingly grew in overnight, and has many other smaller siblings surrounding it. I hope that a few mature at the same time so I can make a batch of pickles. I can’t wait to have fresh off the vine pickles!

Our tomato’s have turned into monsters. I think another garden box will be in order and I wonder if three were too many to put in one box. So far, everyone is still growing and flowering, and a few Carbon heirloom tomatoes have started to mature! These will be fantastic paired with some basil.

I also have two tiny San Marzano’s that are growing and hoping this tomato is doing alright. Compared to the Carbon it’s a little smaller and it’s flowers are much smaller! I planted these in hopes of making some bomb tomato sauce - so crossing my fingers!

This week I also watched a fantastic video by Garden Answer on companion planting. I hope to make it to the nursery to buy some marigolds and zinnia’s to plant near my growing peppers. Through the video I learned that marigolds ward off pests like aphids and zinnia’s attract ladybugs, which also eat aphids. Luckily I’ve seen a bunch of lady bugs around so I hope they’re sticking around. I also had heard that planting basil next to tomato’s helps them grow but didn’t know that the smell of basil deters bugs from the tomato’s, including the tomato hornworm! Good to know, and glad I planted basil next to each tomato!

I also learned that sunflowers can be good natural stakes for pole beans! Since the Sunflower is probably my favorite flower ever, I have no problem planting these seeds year after year. Right now I have four nice and tall flowers, one is JUST about to bloom, and I can’t wait!!!

Einkorn - the mother of all grain. I mean, we’re talking Paleolithic! Wikipedia even states that remnants of Einkorn were found with the iceman’s mummy dated 3100 BCE. Einkorn is OLD. 

It’s also delicious! I have no idea why I hadn’t made Einkorn a staple in my bread making and now I’m wondering if I could also be using it as an all purpose flour substitute. It’s that good. Fortunately, Einkorn can also be purchased at the market! I found mine at Whole Foods and it’s by a brand Jovial. 

Per the Jovial website, Einkorn has never genetically changed since humans in the Fertile Crescent gathered it approximately 12,000 years ago! Wow! The gluten in Einkorn is the same amount that’s in modern wheat, but it’s much weaker. So it’s possible to use it to bake bread and due to the weakness of the gluten the bread will be more digestible. Einkorn is also jam packed with nutrients - including 30% more protein and 30% less starch than modern wheat. It’s also, as I said, delicious.

Now to the bread. I was inspired recently by a co-worker who asked me about the heritage grains I was using in my bread. It just so happened that a recipe by The Perfect Loaf turned up a few days later, and it also just so happened that my brother-in-law asked us to bring bread to his Father’s Day dinner. No problem! I picked up two bags of Einkorn and started the recipe from The Perfect Loaf (here) the next day.

The dough WAS very wet and sticky. I also don’t think it rose very much which also concerned me. I made sure to use alot of rice flour in my bread baskets so the sticky dough wouldn’t get stuck in the fridge over night. I probably let mine rest closer to 18 hours, just because of when I started vs the recipe. The loaves seemed quite small, and in the end they didn’t rise a whole lot.

But who cares! The flavor is remarkable. So nutty and light. I can’t wait to bring these loaves to dinner tonight! 

This past weekend I took the plunge and set forth to bake a 100% whole wheat heirloom grain English Muffin. Why? Flavor. Health. Sustainability. Supporting local businesses and farmers. The list goes on.

Ever since I started to bake with heritage grains (freshly milled from my local miller Grist & Toll) I’ve felt more connected to where my food comes from, the local community, I’ve learned to appreciate a higher quality wheat product and I’ve noticed a considerable uptick in flavor all of which makes supermarket flour incredibly dull and unappealing.

 I have been baking with the heritage grain Red Fife for quite some time now, and really love it’s deep color and flavor. According to the internet, In the late 1800′s to early 1900′s Red Fife wheat was the industry standard wheat in Canada. It is now not only grown in Canada, but also California! High in protein, Red Fife makes for an excellent bread flour. Sonora wheat is another heritage grain known to be the oldest wheat variety in America, brought to California from Mexico in the early 1800′s. It’s a beautiful wheat which I had tasted many times before, but never purchased since it is a lower protein and used more as an All Purpose Flour. Lately I’ve been thinking about how much flavor Red Fife brings to my bread, that perhaps I should start using Sonora for my cakes and cookies too.

At my last visit to Grist & Toll I thought I would purchase a Sonora to compliment Red Fife in my English Muffin endeavor, but I ended up with a limited edition Wit Wolkering from Farmer Mai instead. I admit at first the name was really what caught my eye, and especially that it was grown by Mai, who is a dry farming, no electricity, super awesome lady farmer (girl power!). But then when I learned it was a soft wheat that I could use for my muffins I thought I’d give it a go.

I used the Tartine English Muffin recipe and simply substituted all the bread flour for Red Fife, and all the All Purpose for Wit Wolkering, including the leaven and poolish. Given that freshly milled flour soaks up more water (since it’s fresh) than the supermarket kind that’s been sitting on the shelves for who knows how long, I felt I needed to add a little more water to both my leaven and poolish - eyeballing it until it looked right. I set both bowls out into the sun to help push the rise along, and then added both the poolish and leaven to my final dough mixture, also substituting all bread flour with Red Fife and all All Purpose with Wit Wolkering. Again, I added in more water to compensate. Of course I didn’t document how much, but I’m pretty sure I went to 75% hydration. 

A few hours later I had a dough monster. It rose WELL. I wrangled it into a sheet pan to rest overnight in the fridge. The next day it made so many English Muffins, much more than the recipe suggested. I had a tough time getting most to cook all the way through which is something I’ll watch more closely next time. The English Muffins were so fresh, light and flavorful. Paired with a poached egg (that I learned from Thomas Keller’s Masterclass) and a homemade Bloody Mary, and this was the perfect breakfast. 

As of late I haven’t been that great at getting out my SLR for food photography, so I only have a few iphone shots of the process. 

My English Muffins were 100% made from flour grown by Farmer Mai. For more about her work click here.

Beach walking in Australia during the summer months never managed to disappoint. Since Australia is so abundant in nature, I couldn’t resist getting out onto the beach every morning to soak in as much of it as I could.

Over the weekend and during the week, some pretty spectacular stuff washed up, like this trash can lid sized jellyfish. 

At first I thought it was right side up, but I believe this is it’s undercarriage. It was also still breathing, and oscillating back and forth. I found jellyfish to be challenging to photograph, since they give off so much specular light from the sun and their own translucence. 

This wasn’t the only trash can sized jellyfish on the beach that day. Another variety was equally as beautiful. It was an amber color and seemed to be right side up.

By this point I had come to love finding jellyfish on the beach. Even the small glassy like ones reminded me of real life paperweights in the way that the sun reflected through their translucent bodies. They looked like pieces of glass from a distance, and I couldn’t get enough! I only wish my photographs did them more justice.

Honorable mentions, from this set of beach walks, were of course the beautiful shells. This one in particular.

Our next big trip was to Byron Bay, crossing over for the first time to New South Wales. Byron Bay is probably one of my most favorite places we visited in Australia, especially the lighthouse and beach area. 

But first, we stopped by a local brewery for a tasting! I found this spot off the beaten path, called Stone and Wood Brewery. We got a paddle of tasters to share amongst us. It was a great spot to relax and if we were staying in Byron I’m sure we would of been back.

Next stop was the lighthouse and a walk down to the ocean. Unfortunately the lighthouse was closed when we got there, so we couldn’t go up to the top. But the view from the base was already spectacular. The lighthouse itself is a pure white, making it stand out from the bright blues of the sky and ocean. It is magnificent, as was the area surrounding the cliffside. 

We decided to take the trail down to the rocky area below. The view from the top of the rocks jutting out into the ocean is one of my favorite spots from my whole trip. It was also the most eastern part of Australia. From above we also saw dolphin pods swimming about. The water was so blue and clear they were easy to spot, even from so high up.

We were told we could see a lot of different wildlife and as we got to the bottom of the trail we also saw some wild kangaroo’s eating in the distance. They were quite small - not like the Red’s which I believe are more desert animals. We took the trail to the very end, and I spent some time trying to get a dynamic photo of the waves crashing on the rocks. Just as I turned around to view the other side where the beach and surfers were, I happened to see a Dolphin catapulting itself out of the waves. Clearly it was having the time of it’s life, and I somehow managed to capture it!

We also went to the town of Byron Bay, which was very surfer/beachy. It was a little kitchy, and quite popular, but my love of Byron Bay is in it’s stunning coastline, the ocean and it’s beaches. Truly a magical place to live!

My awesome friend @tanithconnolly recently gifted me the Macrina cookbook (here) , from Macrina Bakery in Seattle. Right away I opened up to these Sesame Cookies, one of my favorite finds at Italian Bakeries. 

But first, to try the Pistachio Shortbread. I didn’t manage to get any photos of these since the two batches I made didn’t take long to disappear at work. But I really liked how simple the ingredient list was, and how easy they were to make during the week. Not to mention they were delicious! So delicious that my husband was not thrilled I took the bulk of the cookies to work. 

So during this staycation, I thought I would try the Sesame cookies. Again, very simple ingredients and easy to put together. They baked up in 20 minutes and are so light and airy. They’re also not sweet at all - something both my husband and I appreciate. They are fantastic as is, but I also wonder what a little almond extract would add to the flavor. hmm. 

So far, the two cookies I’ve made from the Macrina Bakery cookbook has turned out perfectly. I very much look forward to trying out their cakes!

This staycation my husband and I have been on feels more like work than an actual vacation! We’ve been tackling chores and to do items that we haven’t been able to get to in the past few months.

I’ve been mostly in the garden. It’s been a long project - certainly longer and more work than I thought it would be. But I finally feel like I’m getting to a place where are garden is looking good, and it will be less work, shortly. At least I hope.

So far this week I’ve been focusing in on the two beds by our vegetable garden. I cut back and harvested all the fava beans which cleared the way for the ONE beet I have that was hiding under the giant fava bush, and I’m not exactly sure if it is growing. I planted my cherry tomato plants, so now all tomato’s and basil are in the ground. I planted alot of herb seeds and looked like a crazy person at Home Depot with a cart full of terra cotta pots. I bought a few large ones that I want to put bunches of herbs in and since I’m trying to grow most from seed I could only plant already established herbs in their bigger pots. I bought big-ish pots for my shishito peppers that I grew from seed. They’re still pretty small but seem to be doing okay being outside. And I bought alot of smaller pots to house in these bigger pots and in the planter box my husband built me as a watering system. After reading a book on Gardening with less water (here) I am hoping my buried terra cotta pots will do just that!

I also tore out alot of annoying grass that has invaded some of our beds, and redistributed some ground cover in hopes that it takes over and the grass does not. I bought two new plants to fill in some empty space - one my husband pointed out on one of our walks, and another butterfly plant. I was really thrilled to see so many bee’s while I was working - especially on our meyer lemon which is back to producing! So many flowers and little green lemons growing! My hope is that these bee’s travel elsewhere and I’ve been working towards making our space a friendly environment for them too!

Our first trip to see Australia’s wildlife was to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. This was a short drive from the hotel and a wonderful place to see so many animals. I’m not a huge fan of zoo’s, but Australia’s were much more respectful than the zoo’s in the states. When we arrived, I was immediately on a mission to see the Kangaroos. As a child I always had a fascination with them, and often included them in school science and animal reports whenever I could. Of course I had never seen any in person, since they should only ever reside in Australia. For Australians, I don’t think the Kangaroo is as beloved as it is for me. When confronted in the wild they can be aggressive so while I was in the Kangaroo pen at Currumbin a zookeeper kindly told me to step away from a Roo that was standing up on it’s hind legs. This roo was not trying to be aggressive but I quickly retreated anyway and learned that this is their position for boxing matches, whether with me or other Roo’s. I don’t think any of the Roo’s kept at the zoo were of any danger, but as a precaution I learned to step away when one stood up (like this little guy, hehe).

At Currumbin they had two pens - one for the big Red Kangaroo’s. Most were lying down, but boy were they huge. None of those ever stood up while I was there, but I could imagine they would easily tower over me. The general vibe I got from these Kangaroos was that sleeping was a favorite past time.

In the other pen were mum’s and babies. Not only did I fulfill my lifelong dream of seeing a Kangaroo, I had never even considered I’d be so lucky to see baby Joey’s! Most were in their pouches, with their little feet and ears hanging out (aww!), but a few of the brave ones were out and hopping around. One little guy was really cheeky and left his mum behind. I’m sure she was enjoying the break, but that meant a zookeeper had to follow him around to make sure he didn’t get into trouble. At this young age Joey’s are not allowed to be touched by humans and since we were allowed inside the pens, this could be very dangerous for the little guy. After quite a while of this guys shenanigans, mum finally came over and collected him. They immediately recognized each other and he hopped back into her pouch. Adorable!!

Another highlight of the day was seeing a crocodile wade discretely through water, and attach it’s prey of meat held from a ladder by a zookeeper. There were alot of wildlife to be afraid of in Australia but I think the crocodiles scared me the most. The way they move underwater is so stealthy, not even a ripple appears on the surface. This guys name is Boss, and the water was clear so we could see him swimming even though he likely thought we could not. Normally, the water would be darker and murky. Paired with his ability to move so discretely this gives the Crocodile a huge advantage on it’s prey. Truly remarkable creatures, and I loved watching them, from a safe distance!

Another favorite for me were the bats! We saw bats many nights on our drives home, flying above us in flocks through the night sky. At first they look like birds, until you realize how large these birds are! Their wingspan is incredible. And for some reason they don’t creep me out! These guys were all huddled together hanging upside down - how cute!

But what does creep me out? Giant spiders! Fortunately I was never caught off guard by one of the many massive spiders in Australia. Perhaps because they are so large I was always able to spot them far off in the distance. These spiders were not inclosed in any area - they were local residents of Currumbin, conveniently located by the Crocodiles. We spent some time oogling at them as the rest of the visitors just walked by. Americans, haha.

And then of course, no trip to Australia would be complete without spending time with Koalas. They were the main attraction when we first walked in, and they also had another area further into the park. At the first area there was a photo op, so we all took turns holding one. They seem like they would be fuzzy, but he felt like a giant brillo pad! He was very sweet and immediately latched onto me like a baby. It was wonderful!

 We spent alot of time watching them and actually did see quite a bit of movement, even though they mostly spend their days sleeping. We also visited the animal hospital where any hurt animals go for treatment. There was alot of information on Koala’s and how many they treat and rehabilitate. It was really nice to see them receiving so much help from the sanctuary.

All in all, I was in heaven. Most of the animals that were at Currumbin I had never seen before, and it was so amazing to be with them. It was clear that the care they received at this sanctuary was top notch, and they are well loved and respected. Much love to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary!

Our vegetable garden has really taken shape and I’m excited to have successfully grown many vegetables from seed! I repotted a few seedlings, and planted a few that were ready to try and survive outside. I’m pretty sure I’ve hit my limit on seedlings for the space we have so I won’t be planting anymore. Here are some scenes from our garden.

Lots and LOTS of ladybugs on my enormous fava bean plant. Earlier this week I staked the bush since it was so large it was falling over itself. It’s probably close to 5 feet tall and so far I’ve harvested probably 5 lbs of beans!

Somehow, under the shade of the fava bean, I actually grew a small chickpea plant. I received the seeds from an urban seed club I had subscribed to for a short while. Chickpeas are something I never would of considered growing, so I literally stuck a seed in the ground and let it be. After staking the fava beans I was shocked to see I actually had chickpea pods! I’m not really sure when to pick them and they don’t really seem to have beans in them, but I now have a huge appreciation for chickpea farmers. I’m pretty sure there is only 1, maybe 2 beans per pod! Whoa. Not sure my yield on chickpeas will be huge. 

My cucumber and thyme seem to be loving their new homes in the garden, and our roses are finally doing great, especially our purple variety which would only produce one or two roses, but now has lots of buds! It also looks like we have a third rose entwined with the yellow and purple, which is producing smaller red roses. Overall it makes for a lovely color scheme.

And finally, I’m obsessed with our Cleveland Sage bush, and willing it to spread into the corner where it’s planted. I’m considering another bush, just so that it will really take over the space. We’ve also got blooms on a butterfly plant I had reluctantly transplanted not long ago. Not sure it’s fully recovered but it did bloom, so that’s a plus!

Our first trip around the Gold Coast was to the Natural Bridge at Springbrook National Park. We went specifically to see glowworms, which were local to this particular cave. It was a little difficult to navigate through the park, so we ended up getting a bit lost trying to find the hike. At one place we stopped I looked up into the trees and saw my first Kookaburra, one of my favorite Australian birds. Unfortunately he was being really quiet and I wasn’t able to hear his distinct call.

When we finally made it to the hike, the walk to the cave turned out to be really short. I set up camp inside and spent time taking long exposure photos of the waterfall in the cave. Unfortunately I was told that the log in these photos had been dislodged during Cyclone Debbie, which came through a month or so later.

The cave itself wasn’t too deep, so I stayed staking out our spot. I’m glad I did because as the sun went down more and more people showed up. The bats started to come out in full force as well. They were there the whole time with me but at least I was able to see them. Once it got dark I could only feel the wind as they whizzed by.

In retrospect I wish I had spent time studying how to effectively take photos of glowworms (or stars, really) because in the moment it was tough to capture anything. It also didn’t help that some of the tourists were using their iphone flashes, which is a huge no no with glowworms. They are extremely sensitive to light, and using a flash could do some serious damage. Considering that these were natural to the cave and no one was watching over them, it was really disrespectful when someone didn’t obey the warning. Not to mention that they wouldn’t actually get a photo of the glowworms using a flash anyway...  In the end the best photos I got were little dots, which wasn’t too far off from what we saw in the cave, but still doesn’t represent what it was like to be there.

The next day I continued my adventures on Broadbeach and walked up to Mermaid Beach for breakfast. One of my favorite things to do in a new place is to walk. I discovered cafe’s, restaurants, great beach views and beautiful beach houses. I took local roads to breakfast and walked back on the beach. 

It might seem odd that I’m only just now recounting my trip from last year, but I had stopped blogging for a bit and during my stay in Australia. And while I sent emails to family/friends and took loads of photos, both iphone and SLR, my only other written form of my trip was a bullet journal I started keeping last year. A few sentences doesn’t really cover my experience, and I’m hoping that by writing out entries here it will preserve more of my memories of such a magical time. Such as this entrance to the beach from Mermaid Beach- one of the nicer walkways through the lush green beach plants and to the ocean.

Since it is my birthday today, I’ve been thinking alot about last years birthday trip to Sydney. Skipping ahead now, in my Australia travels...

My husband, (then fiance), had finally made it out to Australia. I immediately booked two trips; one to Melbourne and another to Sydney. Of the two we were told we’d enjoy Melbourne more, but I have always wanted to go to Sydney. So I booked our Sydney trip for my birthday weekend. 

Sydney was exactly as I had imagined it would be. It reminded me alot of San Francisco - clean, on the smaller side, with a huge warf and a similar downtown vibe. We flew in on Friday night and took the train to the hotel. It couldn’t of been easier and it was a double decker train (I love double deckers!). We chose to stay near Circular Quay so we’d have easy access to the warf and Opera House. 

Our first day we took off on foot to see the Opera House. But first, breakfast. We stopped at what seemed like a mall. It was indoors but very narrow and spanned the width of the building. We would soon find out there were many of these in Sydney and they were fun to walk through, even if only to get to the next street. We stopped at a little cafe and had a fantastic breakfast.

We kept walking and ended up in a square with a huge statue of Queen Victoria. Across the street was an opal store, and so we may have ventured in. :D I knew nothing of Opals and ended up taking one home with me and gifts for my parents (not to be worn until I got back to the states though (due to customs)). 

I loved the architecture throughout the city and how while the exterior might be an older structure it was well maintained and the interiors were modernized. Most buildings seemed to be malls or office space, but I’m sure it would be fun to have a flat in Sydney.

Since we only had a weekend to explore it felt like a mad dash to see it all. But mostly, a sprint to the Opera House. Seeing it in person was like I was living in a real life postcard. I still can’t believe it. It is one of those moments in life that I know will be etched in my memory forever. We explored the exterior but unfortunately did not go inside. Not only could I not find tickets for an Opera but the restaurant Bennelong was also booked. 

After exploring we got on the ferry and took it to it’s furthest destination, Manly. This allowed us to get a unique view of the opera house and the Harbour Bridge. It was a beautiful ferry ride but we didn’t stay long in Manly. Luckily we caught the ferry back just at sunset. If ever traveling to Sydney I’d say this is a must. I wish we had time to visit other destinations along the ferry line.

That evening we had a great dinner at Scarlett Restaurant down in The Rocks. Afterwards we went back to the Opera House for some night photography. While I have many photos of the Opera House during the day, it was at night where the lights really showed off it’s beautiful sails. The restaurant was also illuminated and of course I was jealous of all that were inside. 

The next morning we stopped for breakfast at another little cafe near our hotel. At this point we had already eaten so much rich food, even a simple breakfast of granola and banana bread was overdoing it.

Afterwards we went to the Aquarium and took another walk around The Rocks and Circular Quay area. We went under the bridge, explored a market/fair and walked around the perimeter of Circular Quay.

We ended the day at a Restaurant overlooking the Harbour Bridge. It was such a great way to end the trip, and perhaps the only time I’ll ever be in Sydney. We sat back and relaxed, and enjoyed a full meal with a view of the Harbour Bridge before our flight back to the Gold Coast.

There were many parts of our trip to Australia that I will always remember, but Sydney is at the very top of the list. If I could, I would live there. I loved the city, the people were lovely, the food was great and the Opera house.. one day I will see an Opera there! It was a dream come true, especially since I never thought I’d ever see Sydney, let alone spend a birthday there!

A couple of weeks ago my husband built me this amazing cedar planter for my growing vegetable garden, so this weekend we filled it with dirt for planting. It was also my birthday so we joked that the dirt was his birthday gift to me, but as a Taurus and lover of earth, it couldn’t of been a better present.

My tomato plants and cucumber were ready for planting outside. This is my first time growing tomato’s from seed so I’m thrilled that they’ve made it this far. I hope they survive outside! I’ve planted a heriloom Carbon Tomato, a San Marzano Tomato (because I’m part Italian and, sauce), and a Boston Pickling Cucumber (because we love to pickle).

I also took the opportunity to practice some of my macro photography and really hone in on my focus. I love a shallow depth of field but for macro I’m discovering a deep depth of field makes for a crisper more detailed photo. 

I also harvested some fava beans from the enormous bush that grew from only two seeds! I love fava beans, even though they are alot of work, I adore them fresh from farmers markets. So I thought I’d try growing them but I had no idea that these would grow so well. Perhaps maybe just one bush for next year! It does take a lot of bean pods to effectively use them, as there are only 4-5 beans in a pod. I finally have 2 lbs which is enough for most of my recipes. Tomorrow I’m going to make another round of fava bean pesto, and homemade pasta to go with.