A Little Long in the Tooth...

I know this took a while coming through, but here is Australia post mark 2:

Absolutely NO apologies for the gratuitous number of food pics in this post.  Fresh, gorgeous vegetables, fruit and other delectables I had sorely missed (ok, so I'm not completely without, but there's just something to be said for fresh Aussie produce - especially when it doesn't have to be shipped halfway around the world prior to consumption).

There's also a fair few number of drinky drinky shots.  Cause that's what we did.  A. Lot.

Cue Jules and Stu + bevvies:

What did I tell thee?  Roasted vegetable goodness straight from the Adelaide Central Markets, which, P.S, are WAAAAAY more expensive than I remembered.

Awww.  Stu and the Rock.

Salmon on the BBQ - yumoo!

Crushed new potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, feta and herb salad.

Salsa and Tzatsiki, all of these foods made by moi, bien sur!  The salsa has the usual suspects, plus chilli, mango and coriander.  It's a knock out, if I do say so myself.

Stu waiting at the gates of China town.  Me want dumplings, he says.

Another Mez salad, this time featuring that little-revered hero of crunchy delight, the radish.  So good.  Fresh from the farmers markets in Canberra.  Edinburgh, pay attention Canberra has a decent farmers market. 

The gates of Melbourne's Chinatown.  Home away from home.

Rooftop Bar in Melbourne town, on a warm but blustery day which brought with it my lest favourite Aussie Springtime product: Pollen.  Gawd it was a bad day of noses everywhere.  I am quite clearly stifling my gazillionth sneeze here.  Note the strain in my collarbone.

Lord, more roasted veggies.  Might I be a tad obssessed?  I blame Eburger - the only way to deal with cold weather like this is to eat your body weight in roasted goodness, everyday. 

The weirdness.  Both of these expressions are so silly, I just had to include this one.

The delightful Laura in all her Laura-iness.  Miss you!  Also, great little wine bar offering much-needed respite from the pollen attack.

Ahhh, Shanghai Dumpling Village.  Delightful house of delectable dumplings and other delicious delicacies.

My cousin Adrian and his wee boy Alex - at mum and dad's place for brunch in Canberra on a beautiful sunny day.

Adrian's wife Clare, and their little girl Izzy.  I can't quite believe this is the first time I've met Izzy - and what a cute kid!

Blood organes - taking me back to my youf.

Possibly the cutest thing ever - wee man Alex in dad's old school hat.  Looks like dad after a particularly bad Head of the River, no?

Mmmmmmm, the most obscenely good lemon tart I've ever had - made by a french pastry chef who happens to think Canberra's the place to be and has set up shop in town.  We commend his pioneering spirit.

Can I get an 'awwwwwwwwwwww'?  Meanwhile, check out those shades - Stu, you're a dreamboat.

Mum's bloody brilliant (fledgling) herb garden.  I'm seething with jealousy.  Have. To. Have. It.

The infamous chimenea all four girls went in for one Christmas for ma and pa, that only ever got used by us girls at parties now has pride of place in the Canberra yard.  When asked, mum explained that it was mostly being used now to burn off the weeds she's been pulling from the garden.  Ok, well at least it's being used.

Pimms anyone?  Drank a lot of Pimms on this trip.  Thanks Duty Free Sydney.  You have significantly increased my overall rotundness.


Cheers.  My kajillionth Pimms cocktail.

Stu gets arty.  I think he was actually doing this to mock me and my incessant food/drink photography.  Whatever Stu, you've actually managed to create something quite cool by accident.  What. Ever.

Out nation's capital in all it's symmetrical glory.  Seriously though, if you don't really go in for glamour, nightlife, parties and cultural pursuits beyond a bit of ANU Am-Dram, then Canberra does have things to offer - beautiful parks for example.  We went for a lovely walk on our last morning there on the penninsula, and you know, just walking right by the odd kangaroo mob, right in the heart of the city.  Pretty cool.  It's all about the outdoors in the ACT - they got it in spades, and it's quite special.  Also, only 2 hours drive from the Snowy Mountains.  Great for bushwalking in the summertime (love), and skiing, etc in winter (I have issues with winter sports).   ACT should totally hire me to write some tourism promotional crap.  I could edit out the bit about cultural wasteland if you like.

The War Memorial - ie - placating Stu.  He could've spent the entire weekend here.  Fortunately we only had an hour to spare.

Then we flew home.  Same movies on the flight back as they had been on the way over - and they were shit.  Curse you China Airlines, curse you and your stupidly cheap but treacherously unentertaining flights.

The End.

Let's Talk Strayn Part 1

Australia Mission:

Edinburgh to London to Taipei to Sydney to Adelaide to Melbourne to Canberra to Sydney to Taipei to London to Edinburgh.

In 15 days.

First day in Australia, landed in Sydney to be met by ma and pa and on to Watsons Bay (ahh Al and Al, so many memories) for lunch with the seagulls.  This brief encounter was the last we saw of dad - he had to wizz off to China a week earlier than he'd thought, so he wasn't in Canberra by the time we got there.  Hope to see you in Edinburgh in 2011 dad!

We were dropped off at Rose Bay by mum and dad in the afternoon where we waited for Katy to arrive home on the ferry after work.  A lovely place for an afternoon kip - until it got uber cold when the sun went down.  We must have looked like strangely well-heeled bag people.  Literally - so many bags.

Ok, zooming right ahead here to the wedding (after a wonderful night in Sydney with Katy and Jan) - a majorly important component of our trip.  Jax was an amazing bride, she was so cool.  Not a bridezilla in sight, and she looked absolutely beautiful of course!  Her bridesmaid Lucy (Simon's sister) was also stunning.

The bridal party.  Jax walked down the aisle with her mum and brother (little Deanie!)


The whole shebang was at Longview - and was a fantastic set up.  The perfect location for a hoe down.

Noo and H:Bomb. Love you guys!  Can I just say, Nadsie, thanks for everything honey.  You were an amazing host and I can't believe how much you bent over backwards for us.  Hopefully we can return the favour soon?  Come and visit!

The wedding cake.  Chocolate fudgy goodness.  Yum.

Cutting up the dance floor.  Kels had some fantastic moves - you still got it lady!

Awe, little lovey moment.  Drunky lovey, but still lovey.  H:Bomb - you were on fire.

The dance floor was wherever Heather and Vee were.

Kels and Heather, there was so much love!

More hugging - awe Stu never had it so good.  What can I say?  He got the heat.  Literally - he emenates heat even when it's freezing.  He's the sole reason I didn't die in Edinburgh last winter.

The amazing Charlie and Jack.  Love you guys!  I was so thrilled to hang out with you, and I can't wait til the next time.

One of my favourite moments, nudey rudey Roc and Stu (thankfully bather-clad), and a garden hose.  Never has there been such delight to be had.  When Stu showed Roc the magic of creating spray by putting your finger over the nozzle, I honestly thought Roc was going to lose his mind with glee.

Then they gave all the animals a bath.

Charlie - expert flying fox-er.

Super Jack!

The gorgeous Vee and her beautiful niece Matilda.

There'll be more photos later, but a lot of them are on facebook, so I won't double up if I can help it.  There are also quite a few I won't be posting anywhere, because I think don't think it would be wise to put them up.  They're not terribly risque, but it's not my place to make that judgement.  If those people who were there would like to see them, ask Nadsie.  She has copies!

Cannes Cannes

Whats seems like a lifetime ago, I was lucky enough to gain access to the world of sun, sand, scrumptious food and incredible vistas that Bec and Mark are fortunate enough to call home.  There was also a day of torrential rain, and the worst cold I've had in years, but bygones.

I landed in Marseille one Saturday morning in early October, undeniable hazy and ever-so-regrettably ill after a rather massive night in Eburger, and was met by a slightly harried Bec (it later turned out that in her mad dash to pick me up, she'd earned her first French speeding ticket.  I owe you one or ten elaborate cocktails B!).

We headed first to Aix-en-Provence for a little fresh air and old-town gawping (it is a truly charming place and deserves the time if you have it.  I was particularly enamoured with the flower and fresh produce markets - what can I say - I'm a whore for an outdoor marketplace and the French do it goooood.) We had a lovely, lengthy lunch that would have been even better had I not still felt so very green.  Things were going so well...

Then France happened.  When I say France, more specifically French industrial dispute #infinity happened.  The French, in case you weren't aware, lurve them some protesting.  This is both an admirable testament to their indomitable spirit, as well as an irksome example of ill-conceived empathy garnering.  Ill-conceived because it tends to do exactly the opposite.  Prior to my exposure to 'Le Manifestation' in Toulons, I may have felt at best understanding, at worst indifferent.  However, after 3 hours in bumper to bumper traffic with an overheating engine, followed by a trip back to Cannes the loooooong way round, I was exasperated.  I won't go on about the value of industrial action, Bec's already been there, and she summed it up nicely, but it was an annoying waste of an afternoon.  Being stuck in a car all afternoon when I was this close to vom wasn't to crash hot's all I'm saying.

Before we launch into pics, let me explain that I only have some from the day I borrowed Bec and Mark's very very lush camera.  I had carefully packed all my holiday fare into a bag before the debauchery in Edinburgh.  Leaving my camera at a club the night before I left (and not realising this til Stu called me some time later to say so) was not part of the plan.  It just, organically, became part of the plan I guess.

What follows are some pics of the stunning village of St Paul we visited on the Sunday in perfect weather.  Then we have various shots of delicious foods.  No apologies for those, you read my blog, you get photis of food.  That's how I roll (pun intended).

To summarise St Paul very briefly:
Old.
Perched on a hill or two.
Artisan community - inhabited (therefore beautifully quirky and impeccably preserved, a living, breathing piece).
So so so pretty.

This is maybe my dream front door.

Heather, I thought of our trip to Krakow.  How wonderful are these toys?!  The boys would lurve.

Here comes the food.

Mark cooked a delightful roast chicken dinner on the Sunday night.  Superb.

Howzzat?!

My efforts on the Monday night.  Greek-inspired lamb, veggies and my very own Tzatsziki.

The end.

Next comes our trip Down Under.  Won't be long, I promise.

A-po-Logies

Dear Blog,

I'm sorry for ignoring you for so long.  I understand that your existence is only really justifiable in the instance that I contribute words and images to your cyber pages.  I will do better, I promise.  Reasons for my neglect include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Briefly, but oh-so fleetingly, I had something of a life.  This meant I was less inclined to sit in my flat perfecting prose that could turn the dull into drole, the dreary into entertainment.  Of course, this assumes that anything I ever write could or even should be classified as entertaining.  Indulge me, oh blog.  Now that it is wintery cold, and I have no money nor inclination to venture out into the harsh winds and frigid air, I shall be spending far more time with you I think.

2. In early October I was stricken with a particularly nasty cold-fluey thing and became a mucuous factory.  This left all other endeavours as secondary perogatives, and when (if) these were considered, they were quickly dismissed in favour of bed.

3. Perhaps most annoyingly, my transformer cable for the laptop became so hopelessly twisted and entangled that it simply stopped working, rendering my battery (and therefore my computer) inoperable.  This final problem has only recently been resolved.

Excuses, excuses I hear you say.  Well Dear Blog, I'm afraid excuses are all I have.  Accept them and move on, or mull over my ineptitudes and mire your thoughts in the doldrums of negativity.  Your choice.

Love always, and with the best of all possible future intentions,

Mezzle