What More Can We Squeeze In?

Squeezing In as Much as We Can!

Hello Elementary Friends,

When Mitch and I first arrived in Australia we started making a list of places to go and things to do that our new Australian friends suggested for us for our year here.   We actually asked people to tell us the one thing that they would recommend if they were only going to be here for one year.  Here is the list that has been added to throughout our time in Australia:

Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club

Drive the Princes' Highway to Melbourne

Blue Mountains

Sydney Royal Easter Show

Ferry to Manly 

Northern Beaches "Run"

Ferry to Circular Quay

Royal Botanic Gardens

Opera at the Opera House

Bondi to Coogee Walk

Italian Restaurant in Five Dock

Make sure to eat traditional Aussie food like pavlova, meat pies, lamingtons, tim tams and ANZAC biscuits

Eat at an RSL (Retired Service League)

Vivid Light Show in the city

Watson's Bay - Eat at Doyle's

Nelson's Bay

Deep Sea or Reef Fishing

Climb to the Top of the Harbor Bridge

Byron Bay - Whale Watching

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

Cairns - Port Douglas - Great Barrier Reef

Dubbo Zoo

Eat Kangaroo

Uluru - Ayers Rock

River Cat up the Parramatta River

South Head Walk

Taranga Zoo

See a Footy Game (Australian Football League)

See a Cricket Game

So last weekend we got out the list to see how we were doing on "ticking" them off.  We were surprised that we have just about completed the list!  People are starting to realize that we will be gone soon, so now, all of a sudden, they are coming up with more and more things that we must squeeze in!  We are trying to ensure that we make the most of this opportunity, but we also need some time to rest!  This past weekend, however, we did tick off a couple more - Watson's Bay and the Bondi-Coogee Walk.  Both were lovely!

Watsons Bay and Doyle's Restaurant

Watsons Bay is a harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Watsons Bay is located 11 km north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra.

Watsons Bay sits on the end of the South Head peninsula.  It provides views across the harbor to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Gap is an ocean cliff on the eastern side with views to Manly at North Head and the Pacific Ocean. Vaucluse is the only adjacent suburb, to the south.

Doyle's Restaurant

We enjoyed a seafood paella dinner at Doyle's.  Here is info from their website:

On this, our original site, we opened Australia's first seafood restaurant in 1885. We have been family owned and operated for over 5 generations. With both indoor and outdoor dining, we are located right on the foreshore of Watsons Bay overlooking the magnificent panorama of Sydney Harbour. We're internationally famous and a mecca for Sydneysiders and tourists alike, offering a stunning range of fresh seafood for lunch and dinner, 7 days a week.

Bondi - Coogee Walk

 On Saturday (15th) the weather was absolutely beautiful!  The high was around 25 c (80 f).  So, it seemed that everyone in Sydney headed to the beach!  We took a walk that has been highly recommended to us, and I can see why.  It was spectacular!

Combining beaches, rockpools, parks and spectacular coastal views, the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk winds its way along 6 km of picturesque coastal paths at the edge of Sydney's eastern suburbs. Starting by the iconic Bondi Icebergs, just above the Bondi Baths, the walk takes between 1-2 hours at a leisurely pace, offering plenty to see and do along the way. 

Here is an aerial map of the path from Bondi to Coogee:

Aussie Treats that We Will Miss When We are Back Home

Throughout our year here we have continued to be intrigued by the simple act of going to the grocery store.  It is entertaining to wander through the aisles looking at the differences and similarities in foods, packaging, and marketing.  Here are three sweets that find their way onto the Morning Tea spreads at Beaumont Road quite often.  Ask any Aussie, and they will definitely have opinions about which one they prefer most!

Lamingtons

The world-famous Australian lamington is over a century old.  Despite some dubious claims from New Zealand, the lamington is as Australian as meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars, ranking alongside the other true Australian icons of the pavlova, peach melba and Vegemite.  

This Australian culinary icon, which consists of sponge cake dipped in chocolate and liberally sprinkled with fine desiccated coconut, was created through an accident at work by a maid-servant to Lord Lamington, the thoroughly-British eighth Governor of Queensland.  The maid-servant was working at Government House in Brisbane when she accidentally dropped the Governor's favorite sponge cake into some melted chocolate.  Lord Lamington was not a person of wasteful habits and suggested that it be dipped in coconut to cover the chocolate to avoid messy fingers.  Lord Lamington devoured this new taste sensation with great delight and the maid-servant's error was proclaimed a magnificent success by all!   The Governor, however, is on the record as calling them "those bloody poofy woolly biscuits".

Lord Lamington was born in London, England on 29 July 1860 as Charles Wallace Alexander Napier COCHRANE-BAILLIE holding the aristocratic title of Baron Lamington.  He was Governor of Queensland from 9 April 1896 to 19 December 1901.  After leaving Queensland, he went on to become the Governor of Bombay in India for 4 years. He died at Lamington House, Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1940.

Lord Lamington served Queensland for 5 years but despite all of his colonial, aristocratic pomp and ceremony, the only thing which Charles Wallace Alexander Napier COCHRANE-BAILLIE will ever be remembered for in Australia is the creation of the world-famous lamington.

ANZAC Biscuits

An ANZAC biscuit is a sweet, hard tack biscuit, popular in Australia and New Zealand, made using rolled oats, flour, sugar, butter, golden syrup, baking soda, boiling water, and (optionally) desiccated coconut.

ANZAC biscuits have long been associated with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) established in World War I.

It has been claimed the biscuits were sent by wives to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation.  Today, ANZAC biscuits are manufactured commercially for retail sale and are especially enjoyed on ANZAC Day in April.

Tim Tams

Tim Tam is a brand of chocolate biscuit made by Arnott's and manufactured primarily in Australia.   A Tim Tam is composed of two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate.

The biscuit was created by Ian Norris, who was the director of food technology at Arnott's. During 1958, he took a world trip looking for inspiration for new products. While in Britain, he found the Penguin biscuit and decided to "make a better one".  Tim Tams went on to the market in 1964.  They were named by Ross Arnott, who attended the 1958 Kentucky Derby and decided that the name of the winning horse, Tim Tam was perfect for a planned new line of biscuits.

The Tim Tam Slam is the practice of drinking a hot beverage through a Tim Tam.  Opposite corners of the Tim Tam are bitten off, one end is submerged in the beverage, and the beverage sucked through the biscuit - as though the Tim Tam itself is a straw. The crisp interior biscuit is eventually softened and the outer chocolate coating begins to melt, at which point the biscuit is eaten. The Tim Tam Slam can also be performed with cold (usually milk-based) beverages.

OK - enough about cookies (or bickies as they are called here!)

Let me close with a short tribute.  As we were taking the Bongi-Coogee Walk on Saturday, we came upon Waverly Cemetary.  We walked around it a bit looking at the engravings on the tombstones.

Waverly Cemetery is a huge burial ground which was first used in 1877.  It is said that the people buried there have the best views in eternity!  The walkway provided dramatic views, but it was also interesting to walk among the graves and muse over the lives of the people.  I was humorously annoyed when I read this one:

So - Caroline Ann Lloyd - I hereby honor you for the individual that you were and not just as "beloved wife of above!"

Up next week - I am taking the Beaumont Road choir to perform with 19 other school choirs at the Sydney Opera House!  Should be amazing, so stay tuned!