Perennial Coriander

This is a new-to-me herb I just happened to come across at one of my local nurseries over the past couple of months. It's a perennial coriander plant(!)
It has very thick, fleshy leaves and very, very spikey margins (almost like a thistle!) But they smell and taste exactly like the more delicate coriander plants!
I love them, because these are so hardy, and they're perennial. Just chop them up finely just like you would regular coriander and cook away!


Hanging out with his more delicate coriander buddy.

Coriander is such a hit or miss for me in terms of growing; they're notoriously difficult though and certainly they don't seem to last very long (I guess my family and I cook with them too much) but this perennial version is really doing fantastic. So well in fact that I bought myself a second one the other week!

Weekend Vacation Part 7: Nambucca

The very last part of our little get-away was a stop in Nambucca.
We had a reservation for lunch at the Jaaning Tree restaurant there. The place is run by chef Clayton Donovon who mum and I had met at the Saltwater/Freshwater Festival earlier this year. He's a fantastic personality and cooks amazing food, specialising in native bush food (he actually sources several of his native fruits from Vally of the Mist!)

We had some time to kill before our reservation though, so we took a little stroll through town.





There's a very fun mosaic running along a bit of the main stretch made from all sorts of recycled materials!









We were walking along the boardwalk beside the river when a woman walking her dog pointed out two creatures swimming against the tide. They were fairly sizeable and sending up bubbles every few seconds. They were a complete mystery! We were walking along with them trying to figure out what they were; they weren't coming up for air, so they couldn't have been dolphins... We guessed maybe turtles but it was a lot of bubbles for turtles and they still weren't coming up for air.
By this time we had come across a fisherman who spotted them as well, he flicked out his line towards them to try and perhaps encourage them up to the surface of the water so we could see; his guess was dugongs(!)
Eventually one of them came close enough to an outcrop I was able to get onto for me to recognise what it was:
A pair of divers! Without a diving buoy!
Jesus; that's stupid. This is an active river-way too with boats; certainly the fisherman was keen to get his hook into one of them.
Note to all divers; SWIM WITH A BUOY!





It was a perfectly delicious way to end a truly remarkable couple of days; a much needed break for both Mum and I between hospital visits and other family activities.

Weekend Vacation Part 6: Valley of the Mist

The next morning we were up early with the sunrise. We were heading to the highlight of the trip.
Mum and I had come across the Valley of the Mist farm in my latest Australian Permaculture magazine.

Valley of the Mist is a farm run by a couple (Dennis and Marilyn) in Macksville. They grow Australian bush food for market; Lemon Myrtle, Lilli Pillis, Davidson Plums, Finger Limes and a dozen others.
Not only that, though, their property includes this incredible wetland ecosystem with a wealth of unique plants and animals; including the largest nesting colony of black swans in this part of Australia.

Dennis was kind enough to paddle us around in his canoe. There are no words for this experience. It was simply amazing.



I'll let my photographs do the talking for me.
















































Really... There are no words.
Thank you, Dennis and Marilyn, for sharing with us your remarkable corner of the world.
Also to introducing me to Davidson Plums and Finger Limes! I'm a huge fan now!

Weekend Vacation Part 5: Ricardo's Farm and Macksville

Our last outing for the day was at Ricardo's Farm. Mum had learned about this little gem near Port Macquarie through one of the Sydney Weekender-type shows. Ricardo's is a hydroponics farm specialising in strawberries, tomatos and lettuce. For visitors they offer a pick-your own area for lettuces and strawberries.






It's beautifully set up. And oh my god. The strawberries.









We had a whole lot of fun walking along with our little scissors; picking out the best looking berries. It's so easy! No bending over!



After we had picked our fill we drove up to Macksville where we would be spending the night. We stayed at the pub hotel which wasn't anything fancy but sure had a very pretty location right along the river.



It was the perfect location to sit with a glass of wine or two and a bag full of strawberries and watch the sun go down (until the mosquitoes drove us away, that is!)

Before the mozzies overcame us we noticed a spectacular event happening!



You see all those dots? Click on it to see it in full size to see just how many there actually are; those are bats! There were SO many of them! They flew past in this amount continuously for several minutes straight. I have certainly seen large colonies of bats before, but never in this amount.

Weekend Vacation Part 4: Billabong Wildlife Park

From the coast we drove inland through the backroads to the town of Wauchope where they were beginning their Lassiandra Festival. (Lassiandras are a shrub with beautiful purple flowers.) Sadly I did not seem to get any photographs from this; it wasn't quite exciting since we were visiting on a weekday and the main festivities wouldn't really begin until the weekend. But it was nice to see the town all out; lots of street vendors and dressed in purple!

From there we intended to drive into Port Macquarie and visit the Koala Hospital there, instead we ended up at the Billabong Koala and Wildlife Park, which is known for their Koala breeding program.





It was very nice for a quiet little Wildlife Park. Mostly native animals, as one would expect. Lots of interactive opportunities and really beautiful landscaping (I really should have got more photos of that!)














(uhh...sir?... Well HE'S sure comfortable. God I love wombats!)




(I love it when wallabies sit like this, although they always look so dour. "Oh, woe is me. Not as many tourists mean I don't get fed as much corn kernels.")


(I did my best to try and cheer them up.)

And of course: Koalas.