Tea for Two, and Tea for Me

Even though I am an American, I am not a coffee drinker.  Never have been, never will be.  I am a diehard tea drinker, and it’s time we tea drinkers spoke up.  Coffee drinkers have it pretty easy nowadays.  It doesn’t matter what country you go to, there is a coffee shop on every corner, and they always claim to have the best coffee in town.

They usually offer coffee in about five thousand different ways to choose from, and they always make sure they make pretty little pictures out of the frothy milk they put in it.

Some are very fancy

Some are very creative.

Other times they are  cute

or even whimsical.

 And sometimes they are just out of this world.

Yes, when you order coffee, you are special in the eyes of your own personal barrista. Order tea, and it’s a whole different story.

Most coffee houses  will offer 3, maybe 4 different types of tea, and it doesn’t really matter which one you get, because for some strange reason, they all taste the same.  Sort of blah, with no real distinguishing flavor. Or they all taste like mint.  Instead of a cup of beautifully hand-crafted coffee, what you get is a paper to-go cup of hot water with a bag in it. No cute pictures, no fanfare, just a little tag hanging out of the side.

In these coffee cafes, tea is thought of like the Minnie Pearl of the coffee world. Old fashioned, unrefined, and a little bit corny.

 

It seems that I had to go all the way to Australia to find an answer to this problem.  Now I’m sure that there are tea houses in America, but I just never found any.  I was walking around one of the malls here,  I came to a shop with a definite Chinese influence.

At first, I thought it was just another one of those shops that sell a lot of junk from China (there are a lot of those shops here).  However, upon closer inspection, I saw that I was totally wrong.  Low and behold, there right in front of me, was T2, and it’s  an honest to goodness tea house! As it turns out, ” T2 offers Australia’s biggest range of beautiful, fragrant teas from all around the world” (to quote their website), and they have shops all around the country.  Seems I hit the mother lode.

I ventured in, and sure enough, there were all kinds of teas to choose from.  They had most of their teas out on display so you could become intoxicated by their sight and aroma. To please your taste buds, they also had about 6 different teapots with different samples of the tea just calling out to you to be sampled.

They had walls of tea!  I was in heaven.

 

Everywhere you looked was every type of tea you could imagine, and then some. The sales people take their tea very seriously, so they know their stuff.  If you bring in a sample of tea, they can usually figure out what would be a really close match.

Besides tea, they also have almost every kind of tea accessory you could want, like tea balls, pots, cozies, warmers, and even videos about tea. The only thing  that they were lacking, was an ice tea maker like I used back in the States.  Since Aussies have never thought of drinking tea cold, they don’t have them here.  Believe me, I’ve looked.

Once I finally finished checking out the whole shop, it was pointed out to me that there was another part of the shop that I hadn’t seen.  It seems they have a café that serves not only tea, but also food.  And better yet, they sell fresh brewed ice tea! This is a really bold move, seeing how most Aussies consider drinking tea cold an unnatural act. I’m glad this company is taking a stand and trying to make a tea statement. I can do my part to help bring an ice tea consciousness to the people of Oz!  Seeing how ice tea is my drink of choice, I have decided that this is now my café of choice.

The Chinese theme is also carried into the cafe part of the store, and none of the furniture matched.  Instead of the regular types of chairs most restaurants have, most of the chairs were overstuffed, and very comfy.

When you order your chosen brew, it comes in a nice hot teapot

AND, you get to drink the tea out of pretty, real china, tea cups, unlike the coffee houses.

Like any café or coffee-house, they do serve wonderful desserts (or sweets in Aussie), but they also serve regular food that is perfect for lunch.  My best friend Mary is almost a tea aficionado, so when Mary was here, I made sure to make this one of the stops on her whirlwind tour of Sydney. She thought it was the best tea house she had ever been to. (If you want a direct quote, she said, “This is the best tea house I’ve ever been to!”)

Discovering T2 has put yet another check in the “Things I love about Oz” column. It’s nice to know that there is a nice café that a tea lover can go to and just be.  I have started my tea collection once again, and right now I have over 28 of T2’s wonderful teas.  I have also started collecting teas when we travel. Poor Gene doesn’t understand my enthusiasm over a  beverage.  I will admit that I don’t understand it either, but it’s something that is a simple pleasure in life, and that makes me smile.  We all need more  simple pleasures in life, so I’ll take mine over ice with a slice of orange please.

It’s Aussie Cherry Blossom Time!

Here in Australia, the end of August signals the end of winter. Seeing how Sydney does not get any snow, the winters here are rather mild. So mild in fact, that there have been many a year that the weatherman just never got around to reminding Mother Nature that spring  doesn’t not show up until September 1^st.  Seeing how Mother Nature doesn’t really have a boss to report to, she does what she wants.  So this year, she decided to have just some of the flowering trees come into bloom early. After much deliberation, Mom decided on the cherry tree.  As it turns out, cherry trees are only in bloom for about 2 weeks out of the year, so time is of the essence.

Even though there are a lot of botanic gardens in the area, the Auburn Botanic Garden has the most cherry trees. So every year, they host a cherry blossom time, and remind the public just how short this season is.

Since we have been cooped up for most of the winter, we decided that this would make a nice Sunday outing, and besides, we could use this time to become one with nature.

When we got to the gardens, it seemed that everyone within a 50 kilometer radius had the same idea. Seeing how the trees are only in bloom for about 2 weeks, and we were now coming upon day 13, it was today, or wait until next year’s show. The weather was nice, we were already there, and we found a parking place that was only 7 blocks away, so we decided to check it out.

They have the park divided into different types of gardens, and they give you a map so you can make your way around on your self-guided tour. We decided to go opposite the flow of heavy traffic, so we started in the Australian natural garden.

They had some wallabies and other Aussie animals to look at and take photos of.

Being a garden, they also had  some really nice plants that were showing their best side for the camera and saying cheese.

From there, we ventured into the Rainforest.

 

Because of the heat and humidity, plants that are found in a rainforest generally grow really large. I had to tear Gene away from reading his map to stand next to one of these plants just to show the massive size. (That would be of the plants, not Gene)

They even had a slow-moving river that was a very deep bluish-green.  I kept looking around for fairies, because this setting is exactly what fairies are looking for in a forest.

Next we came to a very large open space, but soon realized that this area was the seating area for the open air theater.

Naturally Gene had to get on stage and try out a little to be or not to be. It was more of a “not to be” type of performance seeing how none of the birds that were in the audience did any tweeting about his act.

Even though these gardens are mostly Aussie gardens, one thing we noticed  was that the majority of the people there were Asian.

We also noticed that they all had cameras, but even though they are surrounded by nature, they are too busy taking photos of each other to notice all the beauty around them.

It didn’t matter what age the subject was, all they shot were the people they were with.

Some of them even dressed for the occasion, and wore fancy silk kimonos.

 

As we continued our walk, we came upon the rose garden.  Seeing how it was the tail end of winter, the roses were just getting ready to bloom.  To make up for the dormant rose bushes, the paths were lined with really nice and colorful flowers.

It was all really well maintained, so it’s still lovely even in the off-season.

Seeing how this is Oz, when they come to a fork in the road, they turn it into a roundabout instead.  I was very surprised to see one on a footpath. Guess the road guys don’t want to have any accidents of any kind.  As you can see, Gene is still trying to figure out which way to go.

Along the way, they have a lot of little types of gardens to check out. Some without water,

 

And some over water.

 

It seemed that around almost every turn, we would come across yet another kimono.

 

Seeing how these are gardens, there are flowers all over the place. They had huge bushes of bird of paradise.

 

Lovely daisy bushes.

 

And a whole bunch of these little flowers in both white and pinkish purple.

 

As we rounded a bend, we came across what looked like a miniature Stonehenge sort of display.  Turned out to be a sundial and believe it or not, it really worked. Best part was we didn’t have to wind it or change the battery.

As we made our way to the Japanese Gardens, there were more flowers to enjoy

and beautiful plants. This is a Hoya, and we use these as houseplants in Michigan.

 

Kimonos  were all over the place…

 

The garden is very nice and very peaceful even though there were a lot of people there. To get to the little bridge, you need to follow the path of rocks.

The only thing is that the path is through the water.

 

But, once you make it to the other side, the view is very nice.

As we continued our walk, there were even more flowers to see.

It was amazing to see so many plants in bloom when it wasn’t even spring yet.

More animals and fish to feed,

 

And even some things to try to figure out. I guess she decided to wear her full fur tail instead of her summer tail. After all, it was still winter.  Guess her kimono was at the cleaners.

As we continued to walk the footpath, we finally made it to the area that had most of the cherry trees.  Like the rest of the park, it was filled with people all wanting to take a look

It was a very nice change from the drabness of winter, and all the color really lifted everyone’s spirits.

 

Seeing how we were there at the tail end of the blooming season, all of the trees were only about half full of blooms.  But, the show was still quite nice, and very lovely.

 

As we made our way out of the park, there were more flowers

All kinds of colors

Just smiling and greeting spring.

More waterfalls

 

And bridges.  These of course are Gene’s favorites seeing how he is a bridge guy.

As we walked to our car, I noticed that spring fever had hit other garden visitors.  This car had a flower that would do a little dance for you.

It was really nice to be able to get outside and not have to really bundle up for a change. Spring is here in Oz, and I am going to take full advantage of the nice weather. No more heavy sweaters or winter coats are needed for a Sydney spring.  The only thing left for me to do is get my kimono and tail out of storage and send them to the cleaners.

OOOOO! Look what I found!

Living in a different country can take a little getting used to at times.  When you want something that you are used to, and just can’t find it here, it can be a little frustrating.

The three things that come to mind are Taco Bell, (my Favorite place to eat) NyQuil, (my favorite nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, best-sleep-you-ever-got-with-a-cold medicine), and tomato sauce. You do what you can to get the fix for the things you miss. I cook Mexican at home but it’s nowhere near what the bell offers, substitute purée for tomato sauce, and I smuggle NyQuil back to Oz in my checked luggage when I make trips to the States.

Christmas morning in Oz!

One great thing though, just like Christmas morning,  there is always something new to discover.  Besides kangaroos and koalas, Oz has quite a few pretty nifty things that I have not found in America as of yet.

Remember how Goldilocks broke into the 3 bears’ house and ate all their breakfast?  Well, the story must have taken place in Oz, because we have porridge here.  Yes, honest to goodness porridge.  I will admit that it is a lot like oatmeal, but it is different, and taste really good.   Instead of just oats, it’s made from a hearty blend of oats, barley, rye, and linseed. I will admit though, when I have it for breakfast, I do keep an eye out for mama bear, just in case.

Now I know that hamburgers are as American as, well hamburgers, but the Aussies put a little different twist on them.  In a lot of the little dinners that are all over the place, you can get a burger with “The Works” which is short for “Works and Jerks” which is an Aussie expression that is used around here quite a bit. (It means the whole enchilada) What you get is a hamburger patty on a bun that has bacon, tomato, lettuce, tomato sauce (that’s what Aussies call ketchup), fried onions, aioli (a garlic mayonnaise which is really good), beetroot (or just beets in American), a fried egg, and a  slice of pineapple.  If you want cheese on that, it will be “Tasty” cheese, which is Aussie white cheddar.  As with almost every other meal, chips, or what Americans call fries, usually come with the meal. I have had more than one of these wonderful burgers, and I will admit that like their cheese, they are quite tasty.

Now not to be outdone, McDonald’s has gotten into the act. Like everywhere else in the world, Australia does have McDonald’s.(Which by the way is called “Macca’s” pronounced “mack-a’s)  Being the Savvy business-clown that Ronald is, he likes to cater to his customers. Since Australia is the leading producer of wool in the world, we have a lot of sheep here.  So, Aussies tend to eat a lot of lamb. Therefore, it only makes sense to have lamb on the menu.  What doesn’t make sense is that they don’t call it the McLamb.  They call their lamb burger a “Lamb Taster”, and it’s a really big seller here in Oz.  The only things missing are the pineapple, cheese, and bacon. And the wool coat of course.

They also have a Lamb Taster wrap for those times when you have a craving for just a little lamb instead of a whole sheep.

Another great meal is a kebab, which is sort of like a Turkish burrito. They cook beef, chicken, and lamb on huge spits, and shave the meat off as orders are placed. The kebabs usually have meat, cheese, tomato, onion, lettuce, tabouli, sauce, (like ketchup, BBQ, hummus, or my favorite, garlic) all wrapped up in flat Turkish bread, and then grilled in a sandwich press.  It is a lot like a Gyro, but having it all wrapped up, it’s a lot easier to eat.

Sweets are a big deal here in Oz.  The unofficial national dessert of Australia is Pavlova, which is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian/Australian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. Way back in the 1920’s, a New Zealand chef created the dish for Anna during one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand.  It is Very sweet, and the Aussies just love it.  It is way too sweet for my taste, but they are very pretty to look at.

Seeing how Aussies are really into really sweet desserts, (that would be my guess as to why they call them “sweets” instead of desserts), their version of Aussie apple pie makes perfect sense.  They have what is known as apple charlotte.  Basically, it’s apple pie with frosting on the top crust.

Again, not my favorite, but Gene just loves it.

Now, we must not leave the kiddies out.   Here they have what is known as Fairy Bread, but don’t let the name fool you.  Kids take this bread VERY seriously.  So serious in fact, that restaurants are even serving it.  If you are short of your daily requirement of fat and sugar, this is a great way to get it into your system and build your levels up.

What they do is spread butter on bread (pretty thick I might add), then put some kind of sugar sprinkles (or “hundreds and thousands” in Aussie speak) on top of the butter.  I recall a long time ago, my mother made me some of this type of bread, but we just called it “The bread with all the pretty colored sprinkles on it” bread.  When I asked where the peanut butter and jelly was, all I got was a weird look.  Seems they don’t have those kinds of sandwiches here.  They will have either peanut butter, OR jelly (or as they call it, jam) sandwiches, and they think it’s gross to mix the two. Wonder what they would think of peanut butter and banana sandwiches….

Need something to wash down all these Aussie finds?  How about a cup of bubble tea?  Being a tea drinker, I thought I had heard of most kinds of tea before.  This was one I hadn’t, so I had to try it. There are only a few places that sell it, but there is one stand at the mall that carries them.  It is a Thai drink, and this is one place that they sell fresh brewed ice tea.  You pick what type of ice tea you want, and then they add the bubbles.

The “bubbles” are really tapioca pearls, and can be a lot of different colors, but so far, I have only seen them in black.  The straw is really fat, so you have no trouble sucking up the bubbles while you are drinking your tea.  I will admit that this tea can be a lot of work because the bubbles are rather chewy, but it is good.  This was the first time I ever had chunky-style ice tea.

So, as you can see, I am adapting quite well. I am finding new things to love, and trying to find replacements for the things I can’t find here.  If  I don’t find replacements, I can load up when we make our yearly trip back to the States.  As for now, I hear the fairies calling, so I must stop to make them some bread.  Now where did I put those hundreds and thousands ….

Juan Valdez Would Be Proud

 

Even though there are a lot of starving people in the world, Sydney is one place where you would have to work at not finding something to eat.  I could say that there is a café on every corner, but I would be lying.

 The fact is there is usually more than one, and most times, they are only a few feet away from each other.

 

They are everywhere. In case you needed something to drink while you are filling up with petrol, the Aussies have you covered.

Need a break at the office?  Check out the lobby of your office building.  There is sure to be a café there.

 

Is that café in your building busy?  No problem, just go to the one that is right across the hall from it.

 

Even if you’re out in the middle of nowhere, Aussies will make sure that a café will get to you just so you won’t miss tea time.

The Aussies are big on their “tea” time, so there is a need for cafes. There is both a morning and afternoon tea, (what Americans call a coffee break) and most Aussies do partake. (Personally, I think it is an unwritten law here.)

Even though Gene is no longer in the workforce, he does have his morning and afternoon tea, even though it’s always coffee that he drinks.

I am sure that unwritten law also requires all Aussies to have a “Biscuit” to go along with their “tea.” (In American, a biscuit is a cookie)  Seeing how Gene is the model Aussie citizen, he is having an “Anzac Biscuit”, which is the national biscuit of Oz.  He says he would rather not have a biscuit during tea time, but that would put him in the unpatriotic category. So, every tea time, he makes the sacrifice for his queen and country, and has a biscuit.  What a guy.

Now, just because they call it “teatime” does not mean you are required to drink tea. There is a whole lota cappuccino being consumed at these times.  What I have observed is, it doesn’t matter what you drink, so long as you took the time to sit down and drink something.

Now of course, you need something to go with that drink, so there are all sorts of wonderful little things to nibble on with your drink of choice.  One thing I have noticed is no one dunks here.  Guess that’s an American thing.

Sometimes the cafes are not out in plain sight, so there are all kinds of signs directing you to every kind of café you could ever want.

There are a lot of Asians here that don’t really understand English very well, so they have problems coming up with a good name for their establishment.

Some just decide to go the direct route, and just call a spade a spade.

 

Now most of these places are rather cozy (read that tiny).

 

Seeing how there isn’t much room inside, they do use whatever space they have, so most shops that provide food do have an outside eating area.

Most of the “foot paths” (or sidewalks in American) are rather large, so there is room for all the tables and chairs.

 

It is rather pleasant to sit outside and enjoy the weather when it is nice. Even though you are sitting right out there about a foot or two from all the traffic in the street, it is still kind of relaxing.

It’s even better when you are in the CBD (Aussie for downtown), because you are by the water.

 

Not only do you get a meal, but you also get a show of watching all the boats.

 

Now this is all well and good when it’s summer.  The problem comes in the winter when it’s cold outside. The businesses still need to use the outdoor seating, so most business will use plastic walls to keep the heat in.

To warm the enclosed area, they use big outdoor heaters.

 

Even the nicer restaurants do this.  It does make it sort of cozy, and the plastic walls do help some, but when it comes right down to it, you are still outside. It’s still cold, and in many cases windy.  I for one am not a fan of having to eat dinner while wearing my coat and gloves. Besides, my wine gets spilled because of all the shivering I’m doing. Have you ever tried to get red wine stains out of leather?

One thing I have noticed, is that here in Oz, Starbucks in not king. There are a few around, but you really have to look for them.  The reining coffee monarch in Oz is Gloria Jeans.

They are sort of like a really laid back Starbucks, and like all Aussies here, are big on the “No worries Mate” attitude.  They have really nice “nibbles” aka “biscuits” aka “sweets” aka “cookies,” and their tea is much better than Starbucks.

Having morning and afternoon tea is a really nice ritual that I have taken up since I’ve been here. It breaks up your day, gives you a rest, and it gives you an excuse to try out a new sweet.  So when all of you come to visit Oz, you can count on being taken to one of these many cafes. Twice a day. We wouldn’t want to break the law and miss tea time, now would we?

This little Piggy Needs a Paint Job…

One of the realities of moving is you leave behind people who you have grown to rely on. When you move to not only a different country, but to a different hemisphere, you learn real quick that a lot of what you had back home, you just took for granted.  When I moved to Las Vegas, I  found Tammy, the perfect nail tech, and it only took me about 2 months to find her. She gave me everything I could ever want in a nail tech, (and more) and to this day, does wonderful work.  (I still go to see her when I am in Vegas) I figured when I moved to Oz, finding a new Tammy shouldn’t take too long. After all, there are nail shops all over the place here, so I was very surprised at what I found. Or should I say, didn’t find.

Every single nail shop that I went to had only Asian nail techs.  There were no Aussie nail techs anywhere in the mall. Now don’t get me wrong.  I have nothing against Asians.  I just have a problem when they don’t speak or understand English.   Call me strange, but I sort of expect people working in a shop to understand their customers, and not be rude to them.  Since I had already spent a month looking for an Aussie Tammy,by now, I had grown claws on the ends of my fingers.  So, I decided to bite the bullet, and try out one of these nail techs in the mall.  The total experience was not a good one to say the least, and I walked out of the shop with stumps where my once beautiful Tammy nails had been. As I walked out in total shock, I made a mental note  to never go back there again.  So that put me back to square one.  Somewhere in this huge country, there had to be a nail tech that was an Aussie,  could speak and understand English,and was not rude.  Preferably right in my own backyard.

When I got home, Kevin, one of Gene’s sons was there, and he said he knew of an Aussie nail lady. Seeing how Kevin, a typical bachelor, is not the type to notice things like nail shops, I found it hard to believe that he would know of this Holy Grail.

Gene took me down to her shop, so I could see for myself, and sure enough, there was Chloe’s Beauty shop, on the corner.

Her huge sign, said it all.

I looked in the window, and sure enough, Chloe was an Aussie!  I went in, made an appointment for later that day, and just prayed that she did a better job than the shop in the mall.

One of the first things I noticed was that not only could I understand her, but she would actually talk to me.  It was a really nice change from the mall!  As she transformed the last nail tech’s hatchet job into human nails, I could see that she knew what she was doing.

While she worked we got to know each other, and it turns out that she is only 25,  owns the business by herself, is single, and does get out there and enjoys life. She is cute, wears size 1, has curves that won’t quit, and worse yet,  she’s nice.  You know the type.  The type we women all hate. It’s no wonder Kevin noticed her.  Besides all that going for her, she has enough customers to keep her in business in her one woman shop, and  she is really well liked by all of them.

One of her clients is a baker, and she made this cake for Chloe’s  shop. The cake is on the left, and the real bottle of polish is on the right.  I figured she must be great if clients are baking huge cakes for her.

When Chloe was finished, I let out a sigh of relief, because I knew that my search for the perfect nail tech was over. I had found her, and yes, she does deserve cake.

As a way of celebrating, I decided to let my freshly painted toes run wild on the sand in Bora Bora, and Gene was in total agreement with me on this one. (What a guy!!!)

I have been a regular customer of Chloe’s now for over a year, and she still does a beautiful job every time. I am very glad I found her, and that’s one less worry I have here in Oz. All is right with the world again. Even though I never did get any of the cake.

Animal House, Aussie Style

One thing you can say about Aussies is that when they have something no other country has, they will make sure the rest of the world can experience it up close and personal. They have some animals that are only found here, so they make sure the general public can see them.  I am of course talking about kangaroos, wallabies, and koalas. Even though you might go to see these original Aussies, there are many different animals to discover.  Like larger cities in the  US,  Sydney has a regular zoo right in town.  It’s the  Taronga zoo, and it has everything you might expect in a zoo.

They have mountain goats

Assorted reptiles, with some being quite small,

And others being quite large.

Koalas, the king of cuddles,

Gentle giraffes,

 

And of course, everyone’s favorite, kangaroos. Kangaroos are bigger than wallabies (which look like small kangaroos), and from what I’ve heard, you don’t want to get too close to a full size roo. They can really take care of themselves, and would have no problem winning in a street fight.

They will want to check you out, but since there is a fence between you and them, it’s ok to stare right back at them.

It’s a very nice zoo, but one thing that puts this zoo on the map is the great view it has of Sydney. Where else can you see roos, koalas, the Opera House, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge all in the same place?

The zoo is very nice, but if you really want to get up close and personal with the animals, you need to go to one of the wildlife parks that are in the area.  There is one in Darling Harbour called “Wild Life Sydney.”  They say it’s “The Australian animal adventure in the heart of the city.”  Seeing how I had never been to this animal adventure before, when Mary, my best friend,  was here visiting, I decided to take her there.  It is right on the harbour, and I was not expecting to be impressed at all.  Boy, was I wrong.  Once you go through those doors, you would swear that you were nowhere near the middle of Sydney. Most of the time you are indoors, looking at the animals that are in outdoor areas. It also has different areas like the rain forest, desert, and outback.

They had a butterfly house that you could go into, and many of them would put on a show, and some brave ones would even land on you. This was one section

where  everyone,even kids were very quiet.

Naturally, they had koalas.

They have a HUGE crock, but he didn’t seem to care about the crowds one bit.

There were all kinds of birds all over the place, and most of them were flying free.

Some were  walking  around right where we were walking.

Some even look at you the way you look at them.

Now of course they had some really huge birds, but they were behind glass, and for very good reason…

They have a cassowary, which is the world’s most dangerous bird. It is the 3^rd largest bird in the world, but can, and will attack and kill at a moment’s notice.

I don’t know what this little wallaby did, but he was in the same area as the cassowary, and he doesn’t look too thrilled to be there.

Even though the cassowary has very pretty colors on it’s head, Mary didn’t care for that bird. She did like it’s cousin, the emu though.

Seeing how this attraction is geared towards teaching, it was nice to see that the animals got into the spirit of things, and  tried to bring culture to the masses anyway they could.

This is Whistler’s mother’s Aussie style.  It’s called “Whistler’s Mum.”

Now, even though this animal adventure was pretty impressive, in my opinion there are other wildlife parks that give you a more involved chance to see the animals.

Out in the suburbs of Sydney, there are two different parks that are on my “Where to take visitors” list. They are Koala Park, and Featherdale Wildlife Sanctuary. Now THESE are wildlife parks!  This is where you can have lunch with some of the animals, and they don’t mind you touching them.

Like all the other parks, they do have birds, some are  in huge aviaries.

Even these birds will try to entertain you. This is the rainbow lorikeet version of the Rockettes.

This little guy is a Bower bird, and he is very good at mimicking.  The last time I saw him, he put on  quite a show!  He must have been doing a skit about  war, because he had the sounds of machine guns, bombs going off and even a flying helicopter perfectly mastered.  He also made sounds like other birds, cats and dogs. He was brought to this sanctuary because he had a broken bottom beak and can’t make it on the outside. I bet all he needs is a good agent.

Some birds come just for the handouts,

And some wild birds that just come to visit for the day, then go home at night.

Then they have some that came for the day, and decided to just live way up in the trees.they know a good thing when they see it.

Some just need to get away for a while.

And some just come for the water sports.

There are wombats that are usually asleep during the day, but this guy decided to stay up and check out what goes on when the sun is up. Right now he is resting from all the excitement.

This is a real live Tasmanian Devil. They come from the island of Tasmania, which is part of Australia. They are loners, with a really bad attitude, so you don’t want to mess with them.

This is an echidna, and it’s sort of like the Oz version of a porcupine.

This is a real dingo, the Aussie version of a wild dog. Another one you don’t want to mess with.  You’ve heard the saying, “The dingo ate my baby”?  Well, it’s true.

Now of course they have koalas.  As you can see from most of the koalas photos, they sleep a lot.  Like 20 hours a day.

But, at these parks, at certain times of the day, they will wake some of them up, and you can not only have your photo taken with them, but you can pet them also. If you are lucky, they will even smile for the camera. I am stroking this koala while the photo is being taken, and their fur is really soft.

The koalas are cute and cuddly, but the big star of the show are the wallabies.

They take turns as the look out while they are waiting for you.

They are all over the place, just waiting for you to have lunch with them.

They really enjoy having lunch with people,

but they also  enjoy the chat that goes along with the food. Believe it or not, they have come up with a lot of answers to a lot of the world’s problems.  The only problem is they can’t get the politicians to listen to them.

Not only can you feed and pet them, but some of them will put on a show for you.

This guy was really getting into his air guitar.

Like human Aussies, Oz animals are really laid back, and most times  don’t seem to have a care in the world. They just want to make sure you enjoy your visit so you will come back to see them.

They  will even go so far as to  pose with you for photos to put on your blog.  No worries mate.

Down In The Valley, Valley So Low….

Seeing how it is now winter here in Sydney, I don’t really spend that much time outdoors.  After about a week and a half of not going anywhere, we decided to play tourist, and check out the area.  Even though we are not really wine drinkers, we decided to go see the Hunter Valley, which is one of Australia’s most famous wine-growing regions, known for both its red and white wine varieties. It is also a major tourist destination in New South Wales and is the 6th most visited place in Australia, attracting more than 2.5 million people annually.   Well, that tells me that either it’s a pretty neat place to see, or there are an awful lot of alcoholics in Australia. Either way, we made reservations with a tour for Friday, and prayed for a nice sunny day.

Friday came, and at ‘o early thirty, we got up, got dressed, and walked to the train station.  This was the first time I was up before the sun since I have come to this wonderful country, and, just as in the States, I am not a fan of hours this early.  While we were walking, I soon discovered that even though this is the “Southern” hemisphere you can still see your breath if it is cold enough.  Again, not a fan.

We found our bus and driver Steve, and when everyone was on board, we hit the road for wine country.  Everyone on the bus was sober and still asleep, so it was a quiet ride for the two-hour trip.

When we finally got to the Valley, the scenery burst into postcard type views everywhere you looked.

Rows and rows of grapes everywhere.

One right after the other.

The first place we stopped was McWilliams, which is one of the oldest wineries in the area. It opened in 1880, has had a few name changes, and has only had 4 master wine makers in all those years. (Talk about job security!)

This is what the winery looks like in the summer.

Seeing how it is winter, all the plants are dormant, and look like they’re dead.

Here’s grapevines in the height of their season.

Here they are in the height of winter.

Around September or October, which is spring here, the plants will start to grow again, and start producing grapes.  February to April is harvest time, so the whole winery will be in full swing.

Way back in 1880, the first grapevines were planted here, and they are still producing to this day. As with any business, they did expand, so more and more grapes were planted, which meant they would have to change the way things were done.

Most of the crop is now picked by machine, as is pruning. The original plants are still maintained by hand, because after all, they are 132 years old, and still going strong. As expected, any wine from these grapes are considered a premium wine, so naturally the cost is higher.

After the grapes are picked, they are put into this machine that will get rid of the stems.

From there they go into these HUGE tanks, and sit and rest a while.

After straining, they make it to these tanks. The skins of the grape is what gives red wine it’s color and dryness.  The longer the skins are in the juice, the darker the color, and dryer the wine.  So if they are making white wine, they strain the skins out right from the start.  If they are making red, they make sure the skins are submerged in the juice, and will stir the skins every so often to pull more color out.  If they are making a rose’, they leave the skins in for only a short amount of time. After that, the grapes go to be pressed to get even more juice out.

They had an example of an old juice press that they don’t use anymore.

Being brought up on American TV, and I Love Lucy, I was expecting to see an area that had oak barrels cut in half, and a bunch of little ol’ Italian ladies stomping on the grapes. Turns out, they have changed it.  Now they use an airbag system that will very gently press out as much juice as they want. I don’t know about you, but if I were a grape, and I was being squeezed like that, I would wine about it too.

Here’s Gene standing in front of the new and improved airbag press.  Notice the big smile on his face?  It’s not because he got to stand next to the press. No, he was really excited to be able to wear one of those day-glow yellow vests again like he did at work.

After all that pressure is put on those poor grapes, some of the red wine is put into oak barrels to continue aging. Turns out each one of those oak barrels cost anywhere from $350.00 to $1200.00 each, and last only about 4 years.

After our tour, we got to go for our sampling and lunch. I had been to other wineries before, so I was expecting very small samples to try.

When we got to our seats, I was quite amazed to see that 4 samples were waiting for each of us, and each sample was about a quarter of a glass.

The table looked wonderful, and everyone was pleasantly surprised. After a very filling meal, we were allowed to sample even MORE wine, and of course, purchase as many other wines we wanted.

When we were finished at this winery, we waved goodbye to their really neat door (which was made out of old oak barrels) and headed for another winery.  Seeing how I had a bunch of wine for lunch (and no breakfast by the way), I never did catch the name of the second place we went to.

There was more scenery, and I noticed that almost everyone on the bus was a lot more talkative than earlier. This second stop didn’t give us a tour, they just gave us a talk about wine, and gave us more samples.  Again, they were LARGE samples, but this time, they did have buckets we could spill any samples into that we didn’t like.  To help us clean our palate, they also served us cheese and crackers.  After our private sampling session, we were encouraged to go into the shop where we were allowed to sample even MORE wine, and of course, purchase as many other wines we wanted.

After staggering back to the bus, we were off to a village of little  shops this time instead of another winery.  There was more beautiful scenery, and the voices on the bus went round and round…..all the live long day.

The village was quaint, and the wine shop made sure  we had our own private sampling again.  Seeing how I had had enough wine for the day, I decided to go check out the rest of the village.

There was a cookie shop that made sure everyone within a mile’s distance could smell their wares. They did have quite a selection, I must say!

My question is what are “fake” ingredients?

They had a candy shop, and a chocolate shop, but I was in no mood for any more sugar.

The Christmas shop was nice, and no real sugar anywhere!  Just glass candy canes.

When everyone was done shopping (or should I say “sampling”), we headed back to Sydney.  As the views of the vineyards started to slow down, so did all the conversation on the bus. The only thing that you could hear was the snoring.

About 45 minutes into the ride, Steve, the bus driver let us know that on our left was a herd or mob of wallabies!

Yes, I finally got to see roos out in the wild! It only took 1 year, 3 months, and 26 days, but I finally saw some!  There were about 2 dozen of them, and they were just having a grand ‘ol time having dinner, and catching up with old friends and family. I really enjoyed the fact that they all waved and wished us all a G’Day as we passed by, but was really surprised to see them holding wine glasses and sampling wine. But then again, that’s what you do when you’re in the Hunter Valley.

Hot Time for a Parramatta Winter

We live in the happening city of Parramatta, which is a suburb of Sydney, and is Australia’s sixth largest central business district, (or downtown in American).  I will admit that this town has all kinds of people in it, and if there is a festival, all of them will be sure to come out and check out what’s going on.  The city council knows this, so they try to have a lot of different things planned to keep all their residents happy.

One such idea that they came up with is The Winterlight festival.  According to the local newspaper, it’s a “16-day event that transforms Church Street Mall into a magical winter wonderland and features a giant outdoor ice rink and an impressive line-up of entertainment.” The paper also stated, “The event will feature a giant outdoor ice rink, vivid lighting and scenery, spectacular performances, food stalls, roving entertainment, live video gaming, outdoor movie screenings, workshops for kids and more!”

Well, who wouldn’t want to see all that?  Seeing how we are in the dead of winter here in Sydney, (well, it is July after all), I decided that we should just go during the day so Gene wouldn’t have to hear me go Brrrr, Brrrr, Brrrr all the way home.

When we got to the open-air mall, I was quite surprised! Even though it was midweek, there were a ton of people there, and as usual, everyone was having a good time.

You could tell  from blocks away that something big was going on.

They had the whole area all decked out in a winter theme, complete with ice rink and drip-less icicles.

From the photos I saw later in the paper, I must admit that we should have gone at night just to see the lights.

I had heard about a “Mesmerizing ice show by champion skaters from Australia’s premier troupe, Stars on Ice,” but I found out that they put their shows on only at night, under all the lights.

Since we were there in the daylight hours, we decided to check out all the booths that were there.

Nothing says winter like a fresh fruit and vegetable stand.

Yes, that’s  an American Indian.

They had some booths that were like a cross between a garage sale and a flea market.

What kind of festival would this be without food booths!!!  Yes, there is always room for food that is deep-fried.  What was really neat about this section of booths was you had to cross over one of the bridges to get to them.

Here’s Gene with the two mini versions of the Sydney Harbour Bridge that you had to cross to get food.  Besides being smaller, the only difference was there were no cars on them, or water under them.

All kinds of people were there.  The over 40 group that expect people to believe they are still in their 20’s,

And the ones that thought this was a renaissance faire and the people who would humor them.

What would a festival be without  music?  There was very nice, soothing, live classical music,

And also rap, but for some reason, no one paid any attention to the rapper.

Australia is a free country, so if you pay for your booth, you too can set up and peddle your wears, no matter how stupid they are.  This group had their booth right next to the rapper. (They got even less attention than the rapper)

After we walked around awhile, I decided to watch the skaters on the ice rink, because I figured this would be the best show in town.  Seeing how Sydney temperatures  usually don’t get down past 48°F on the coldest of days, most of the people trying to skate have only seen ice in their drinks.  Being a novelty and the price of a 45-minute session on the ice included skate rental, there was a huge demand for this attraction.

The show was great!  Everyone skated in slow motion, and no one knew what they were doing.  It didn’t matter to anyone, because they were all having a great time!

One thing they did offer that I thought was a GREAT idea, were these little penguins to hold on to.  You hold on to the handles, and push the penguin as you skate, and you got to keep your balance. Just look at the look on her face.  Not only did kids use them, but also there were plenty of adults using these tuxedo clad helpers.  Being from Detroit, and spending my childhood on skates, I have never seen anything like this.  Absolutely brilliant!

Its things like this festival that make me very glad I moved to Parramatta (That, and Gene of course). Where else can you walk around with bright pink hair, dressed in chain mail and rental skates while crossing a mini version of the Sydney Harbour Bridge as you  push a penguin?

Silverton and South Australia We’re ready for our close-up Mr.DeMille….

And the adventure continues…..

Just outside of Broken Hill, there is another outback town, known as Silverton. It is sort of a Mecca for artists that use old cars, truck, and bicycles as their medium.

This is what I call the  Vegas jeep.  It’s covered with bling.

Here’s more proof  that this is Oz.  Seems Almira Gulch parked this here, and went looking for Toto.

They had these “works of art” placed all over this little town, but you have to give them credit, they used what they had to try to fix up the place.

See what dry desert air can do to ya?

Not quite the Herbie the love bug I remember.

The most popular type of vehicle that was used was the VW beetle. I have no idea what the significance of the beetle is, or why they used them. All I know is they had a bunch of them.

They even had a used car lot. It seemed that all two vehicles that were for sale had seen much better days. Now don’t get me wrong.  This tiny little town does have

more than just old cars.  (Not much more, but more.)

There is a Silverton hotel, and they do sell beer, so you do have somewhere to go to have a drink after taking in all the art and purchasing your new vehicle.

 

I did not go into the hotel, but when I asked for directions to the restroom, this is where I was sent.  Seeing how it was in use, I decided to wait until we came to the next town that had running water.

Now I am sure you are asking yourself, “Has Jay run out of things to write about?  Why is she showing us photos of some small hick town in the middle of the outback?”  Silverton is not just your average small hick town! It’s a famous town!  It’s so famous, that they even made a movie there!  For all you Mel Gibson fans, this is the place where the Mad Max movies were filmed.  Seeing how they are considered “guy films,” I haven’t seen them.

Max must have forgotten where he park his car. It’s been here since the movie was finished.

From the look of Max’s car, he must have been a real manly man.

 

I am guessing that they didn’t want to pay to have them hauled back to Hollywood, and besides, they  go with the decor of the town.

There was even a Mad Max version of a bug.  I have no idea why there are two emus driving this vehicle, but then again, why not.

Here’s Gene reliving one of his glory days…

Now I must explain why it was so important for Gene to show me this car from this movie that I have never seen, nor will ever see.  It seems that while Gene was living in Broken Hill, he was in charge of the roads in that area.  When the movie people came in, Gene had to work with them to make sure there were no regular cars around.  As a thank you to all the locals that helped with the movie, a picnic was thrown in their honor, and all the movie people (including actors) came to it.  Gene became close personal friends with Mel Gibson, and even had an in-depth conversation with him.  It was sort of like: Gene: “How ya going Mate?”  Mel: “Good thanks.”  Now keep in mind this was before Mel went off the deep end quite a few years later from women trouble.  So yes, Gene has had his brush with greatness, and he  would like everyone to know that he is available for autographs.

South Australia

We were very close to the South Australian border, so before heading back to Broken Hill, Gene decided to take me to the closest town in SA so I could say I have been there, but he didn’t say HOW small it was.

Must be another government job….

The whole town consisted of this one house that has sat unfinished since long before Gene lived in the area 30 years ago, 3 road signs, a pub (of course), a few other buildings, and a whole lotta outback. That was it. Period.

Here I am standing by one of their original road signs.  It dates way back , because the distances are listed in miles, and not kilometers.   (Australia used to use the same measurement system as America, but changed to the metric system in 1977)

Insert your own dirty joke here.  There are just too many of them for me to list here.

Here is the last sign. It sort of says it all doesn’t it?  All I can say is it must get reallly hot here during the summer, and I think it’s darn right neighborly that they let you know up front which parts of your body can get burned.  My question is, if this is a taste of the outback, why don’t they have sunscreen stands all over the place?

All in all, this was a good trip, and  I finally got to see the world-famous Australian Outback.  In a nutshell, it’s nothing but a HUGE desert, with not much to see but a whole lotta nothing.  If I have my way,  I’ll  spend my time on the white sandy beaches that are all over the place here in Australia. Besides, there aren’t’ as many VW bugs at the beach, and who knows, maybe I’ll even spot a roo taking a dip in the ocean one day. That will be the day I forget my camera.

Broken Hill The Outback adventure continues…

Last time I wrote, we were headed for the world-famous Australian outback.  Well, here’s the second of the three in this series… (I’m still on the lookout for some outback roos.  Will I find some? Keep reading!)

After 2 days in the car, and one and a half of my knitting projects done, we finally pulled into Broken Hill. I had questions that were haunting me, and I wanted some answers.  Is there really a hill that was broken, and if so where was it?  Who broke it?  How long has it been broken?  Why hasn’t it been fixed after all this time?  (I’m guessing it’s a government job) If I climb to the top of this hill, will I be considered king of it?

To get all these answers, we headed off to the information building, and spoke with the information lady.  Seems she had answered these questions before, because she had all kinds of answers for me right away, without having to look up any of the information.

It seems that the original “broken hill” was actually a number of hills that appeared to have a break in them. These broken hills no longer exist, having been mined away. The city of Broken Hill known as the capital of the outback, and is Australia’s longest-lived mining city. It had a massive ore body, (which by the way, in true Aussie fashion, is shaped like a boomerang) and was formed about 1,800 million years ago. As it turned out, this ore body proved to be among the world’s largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits.

Even though the mine isn’t being worked anymore, all of the structures are still there.

This is what they call the line of load, and it’s nothing but the waste byproduct of mining.  The two structures on top are open to the public, and have a gift shop (of course), a cafe (naturally),  and a  memorial for all the miners that lost their lives.

The town is pretty big for being out in the middle of nowhere. Gene’s old office is the one story office building on the left with the big white roof.

Even though it’s the desert, they do have their own dam for their water supply.  There has been a ton of rain, so the lake is full.

Once you get out of the city limits, you are back to desert.  So here I am, in the Aussie outback. I finally made it.

Even though we were in the middle of the outback, Gene took me to the Menindee Lakes. Now keep in mind that Australia has some rather strange type of lakes.  Some of them will totally dry up and stay that way for years.  When the rains finally come, when it rains long enough, they will fill up, and be that way for quite a few years.

Here out in the middle of the outback is this beautiful lake.  It’s Huge! Not a Great Lake, but still pretty big.

You can tell where the old water line was by the ridge of trees that are still growing there.  We were there in winter, and the trees are dormant, so no green on the living trees.

The lake has a very sandy bottom with no rocks of any kind.  I’m sure this lake gets used a lot when it’s warmer.

One attraction that is around Broken Hill is the living desert sanctuary.  In 1993, artists from around the world came to Broken Hill, and made 12 sandstone sculptures that are supposed to tell a story.  Not being one that can read sandstone, for most of the sculptures   I couldn’t understand what story they were trying to tell.

Looks like a plain ol’ regular rock to me.

This one had some kind of carving on it, but a lot of it was worn away.

One good thing is they were close to each other.

This is it is supposed to be the sun and the moon, and  is considered the most famous of all these sculptures. This is the image they use on all the brochures about Broken Hill.

Here’s Gene reading about what I thought was just another sculpture.  It turned out to be a survey marker.  Leave it to a retired road and bridge engineer to find something like this out in the middle of nowhere.

Now this one I got!  Seeing how this is a horse’s head, I am positive that this is in honor of The Godfather…..

Next time we continue to see more of the outback, and get to check out a place that was immortalized in film!