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.

Weekend Vacation Part 3: Smoky Cape Lighthouse

After walking through the Gaol, Mum and I headed back onto the roads driving south again. We had planned to try and stay off the main highway as much as possible and instead stick to the winding "Scenic" highways instead; they're not all very clearly marked however, and one wrong turn led us into the beautiful Arakoon and Hat Head State Parks and eventually to the breath-taking Smoky Cape Lighthouse.





This little homestead turned out to have a very rich history.
Smoky Bay was named by Captain Cook himself; named for the great amount of smoke rising in the area from Aboriginal burn-off fires.

It's also claiming to be the highest residence on the Western shore of Australia. I don't know if it's true or not but it certainly is up very high, and has an absolutely spectacular view.

This lighthouse was finished in 1891 and is apparently one of the last lighthouses built for "architectural excellence" or aesthetics. All future lighthouses would simply be engineering projects with all the stress on functionality, not beauty.



It also has an octagonal tower. It's electric now of course, but for many many years it was run by keepers and their family. Now-a-days you can actually rent rooms to stay at the old keeper's house!
Looking around from the top of this headland, you can't see any signs of human civilisation. It's an incredibly isolating feeling which is very rare now-a-days with beach-front views and properties becoming all the rage.
I really can't imagine what it would have been like living there back in the days before cars though; so far from other people.



It IS a drop dead gorgeous location though, and whoever is the current caretaker is doing a phenomenal job. Fresh new paint and trim on everything!
I've aways had a little secret dream of being a lighthouse keeper.

Weekend Vacation Part 2: Trial Bay Gaol

After the delicious breakfast, mum and I hopped into the car and drove around to the Trial Bay Gaol located just south of South West Rocks.







The Gaol (pronounced just like "Jail") was established in 1876 as an experimental Public Works Gaol. The intention was to have the inmates construct a breakwater which would shelter the notoriously difficult to navigate Trial Bay. The whole project had to be abandoned by 1903 with only 300 of the planned 1500 meters break wall completed. Mostly due to severe storm damage and not enough governmental funding.







(tee hee; John Howard)


Absolutely stunning views; you can see what's little left of the breakwater.



During World War 1 from 1915-1918 the Gaol was given a new lease on life as a German internment camp.

Weekend Vacation: Part 1 - South West Rocks

The beginning of a fairly massive catch-up. Starting with the weekend vacation to a couple of towns south of Coffs Harbour Mum and I did about a month or so ago.

Our trip started with an overnight stay at the lovely South West Rocks.



We arrived in the afternoon. After checking into a local hotel we took a walk along the waters, admiring the amazing rocks they had along the beach.

















There were several options for places to eat for dinner, but as it so happened I had been reading a book at the time called "This Way To The Sea" by Gillian Nicholson. It's a very well told non-fiction story about Gillian and her husband's Sea Change; moving out of a Sydney apartment and to a Scotts Head farm-land (quite literally just north of South West Rocks). In the book she mentioned going to a restaurant in South West Rocks called Geppy's for her and her husband's wedding anniversary and raved about the food!

It didn't take very long to find the restaurant (South West Rocks is not a very big town) and we enjoyed a very amusing and delicious dinner!



I had never quite seen a more eclectic restaurant! It's supposedly an Italian Restaurant and highly involved in the Slow Food Movement; meaning all of their ingredients are sourced locally.
But as you can see; for an Italian restaurant they had Escher and Jazz musicians on the walls and Spanish flamenco music playing over the loud speakers!
To make it even more international while we were there eating a large Irish group of friends came to enjoy dinner (at least they certainly had the right accent!) It was St. Patrick's Day that day, of course so they were very jolly and decked out in their greenery!



The beautiful Heritage House was all booked out, so we couldn't sleep there. Mum and I consoled ourselves by having breakfast at the lovely Cottage Cafe just below it the next morning instead.

Excuses, excuses...

So I had everything opened and set up ready for me to start writing catch-up posts...
Then Mum came back from her morning out and asked me if I wanted to take a trip down to Urunga to do a walking circuit we've been meaning to do forever.
Of course I said yes!

It was fun! I wish I wasn't so stuffy headed and sniffly though, I also wish it had been a good deal shorter then the trek turned out to be...

Now I'm still nursing allergies AND aching muscles from two days of long walking.
Blog posts will have to wait until Tuesday.

I'm Alright. Really. Just feeling like a big baby.

Sorry for the silence, when I haven't been running around actually doing things ("omg!" I hear you say, and trust me no one is more surprised then me!) I've been spending my time curled up in this little corner of my world nursing what appears to be allergies from hell.

Yes, allergies. Years of teasing the rest of my family about their seasonal allergies has Karma'd me SO HARD.
Nobody told me that all your joints feel like they're on fire though!

But oh... oh the stories I have to share about what I've been up to!... the photographs!
For once I don't actually have anything planned to get done tomorrow, so I am now planning to make a couple blog posts top of my To Do List.

For now my cozy bed with it's pretty sheets and pillowcases is calling my name.

April Meal: Pumpkin Soup

Wait... What day is it again? MAY?! When did May happen?!
April started out and stayed for the most part very warm and mild; definitely not soup weather...
We did manage to snag one cool day which inspired me to get around to the April Meal.
And hear me well, I beg*. After making this soup, I'm sorry I put it off for as long as I did!





This recipe is -fabulously- easy. Not very many ingredients (although Chestnuts can be hard to find; I wasn't able to come across any fresh ones, but did find some canned.)
Soups are also a great way of using up some of your older, sadder looking veggies.

In fact the only hard part was the chopping...




And the peeling...



Everything after that happens in the magic pot!
Throw everything into the pot except for the nutmeg. Don't forget those fresh herbs!



All herbs came from my garden; parsley, sage, thyme and oregano.
Bring up to a simmer and just let those things cook away until everything is tender.

Now you need to blend everything together; which can be done with lots of awkward trips to the Cuisinart blender ... OR! You can grab one of these babies:



I love this hand-held blender with all my heart.



Blend baby blend!
Now, I have to admit that I was very disappointed at this stage and how thin the soup was; I like my pumpkin soups to be much thicker then it was, so I decided to throw the rest of the chestnuts from the can which thickened it up nicely.

After this all that's left is to stir in the nutmeg and slice up some bread to serve with your soup.



And then ladle it into a pretty bowl and decorate with your favourites! Mine happens to be a dollop of Greek yogurt and some Parmesan cheese!


(Apologies for the poor photo; it gets dark so early here now!)

Recipe!

Golden Pumpkin Soup with Chestnuts

Ingredients:
8 cups rich chicken stock
approx 750g deep yellow pumpkin, peeled and cubed
3 brown onions, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks (with leaves), sliced
2 tablespoons mixed fresh herbs (such as thyme, sage, oregano, parsley)
3/4 cup chestnuts, peeled and diced
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
light cream, yoghurt, chopped chives and/or Parmesan cheese for garnish!

Combine stock, pumpkin, onions, celery, herbs and chestnuts in a large saucepan. Cover and simmer until all vegetables are tender. Blend liquid and vegetables together until silky smooth.

Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Reheat for a couple of minutes.

Ladle into serving bowls and garnish however you like your pumpkin soups best!
ENJOY!


* I've been reading far too much Dark Tower...