Mimosa Rocks National Park

Our loose itinerary is both a blessing and a curse—it leaves us open to see what we want after talking to people and learning more, but during this heavily-traveled school holiday, the most amazing places of course have usually been booked for at least four months.  Our first try for a new spot, Murramurrang National Park, didn’t have room for us, but luckily it’s within a weekend road trip distance because our brief glimpse of the park looked awesome.

We pressed on, covering more ground than we had originally planned, and scored the last campsite at first-come, first-serve Mimosa Rocks National Park.  This is what locals call ‘bush camping’—real camping, albeit car camping.

A firepit and access to a pit toilet is all as far as facilities go, but what beautiful surroundings—it feels like we’re in Jurassic Park…especially when one of these came meandering lazily down the path right into a campsite.

Lexie--this one's for you!

My niece Lexie wanted me to take a picture of a big lizard, so I was so excited to see this goanna.  They are huge!

Just a short time later, we spotted a little swamp wallaby.  Honestly, could the name ‘wallaby’ be any cuter?  A real live wallaby!  And we weren’t holding zoo admission tickets in our hands or anything!  It’s amazing that this whole continent exists where these really cool creatures are just running (and hopping) around; it’s like living on a whole other planet.

(A whole other planet, on a side note, that has really expensive beer—I stopped by the liquor store to buy some, and a 6-pack is $23!  I left with 2 beers ($4 each), and told Sam he better drink his entire beer, because this stuff really is liquid gold down here.)

We took the short path to the beach, but outside of the protected area of our campsite, it was quite windy and cold.  

The first night, as Sam and I were settling in for bed, Sam heard something outside.  He ventured out for a look and came back to inform me that he had seen ‘something up in the tree with a fluffy tail’.  I grabbed the camera and followed him out.

the camouflaged 'something'

The ‘something’ was not scared of my flash and started swiftly making its way down the tree towards us.  I took one more picture before making some swift motions of my own, back inside the safety of the tent.

It was some breed of possum; I’m all for nature and everything but I was suddenly eternally grateful for our nicely zipped-up tent and rainfly.  You can be into nature but enjoy a millimeter or two of distance between it, right?

Through the night, we continued to hear a ton of activity right outside our tent, including the heavy thump-thump-thump thump-thumping of a wallaby.  I'll take that any day, especially over the rats that the campsite manager said tend to be present along with the possums and other creatures.  

Jackson, fashionable even while sleeping, with his Quiksilver hat

I have been managing our campsite dinners fairly well; we’ve had a big salad with grilled chicken pieces, steak sandwiches with grilled onions, avocado and cheese…ok, Ramen noodles one night, but they can’t all be gems!  Tonight we had chicken sausages with grilled onions and cheese, and Sam recalled a camp classic from his Boy Scout camp days—campfire baked potatoes.  Between the fact that it has been a mere 34 years since his camp days and the fact that he tends to be an overbuilder, he stuck those tinfoil-wrapped potatoes as deep as he possibly could into that fire and let them bake for a solid hour.  I gave him a couple of gentle reminders about checking the potatoes, but you clearly don’t tell a former Boy Scout how to cook campfire baked potatoes. 

And from the looks of these culinary delights (below), I’ll venture a bet that he did not earn his campfire cooking badge...

the proud chef with his charred potatoes

pretty gum tree bark

On our way back to the campsite the next day after a journey into town for supplies, we got caught in a major rain-turned-hail storm.  We were driving on unsealed roads, and the hail was getting big enough that we were concerned the windshield would crack, so we pulled under the safety of a large gum tree until the storm let up.

It was still raining when we got back to the campsite, so the boys all snuggled up and enjoyed a daytime session of Sam reading The Hobbit aloud, which has usually been reserved for the bedtime story.  They love the story and Alex has especially taken to acting out various Hobbit scenarios (although it often morphs into Ewok scenarios as well).

rainy day makes for a bonus Hobbit session

Sam and I bravely stayed outside that night after the kids were in bed to see what creatures might visit us.  Our old friend the possum came back, and we got a better glimpse of him.

And just a minute later, this little bandicoot came scuttling by... 

These creatures are bold--they saw us sitting there and came right up to see what was going on.  Luckily, my bodyguard was armed with a stick so they saw he meant business, and a swift tap of the weapon on the ground was enough to send them away when they got too close.

If all goes well, my next post will be from somewhere in Croajingolong National Park, out of New South Wales and into Victoria!

The Road Trip Begins: Jervis Bay

Our trusty Toyota Tarago, Ferdinand, managed to carry the five of us and our supplies for the next two weeks as we headed out on our first Australian road trip.

Because there are so many new sights, we'll be traveling short distances. And as any parent knows, short distance road trips keep down the likelihood of enduring the trifecta of torture: Children, Close Quarters, and Complete Mayhem.

5 minutes out of town, I looked back and saw this...

Ahhhhh, family perfection.

5 minutes later, Kenyon was wailing (I attempted to capture a picture to give an accurate chronicle of our experience but it only made Kenyon angrier). One hour in the car with 3 children should not be so difficult. Sam, in his infinite wisdom, had insisted on us getting a minivan so we could split the kids between rows. We eliminated the Close Quarters factor, and the rest of the hour went more smoothly.

We're staying in the nothing much to write home about unpowered camping area of Huskisson Beach Tourist Park. We’re looking for ‘real’ camping; you know, without the playground and other amenities, but I couldn’t find any in the Jervis Bay area.  But—just down a path from the campsite was this…

Not bad.

In parts, the sand was almost like quicksand, and the kids had fun pretending to be swallowed up. 

It was easy to pass the day and evening here.  Some guys caught a fish, called a flathead.

Jackson and I are really looking forward to catching a fish, but no luck yet.  I really love just standing waist deep in the water and casting.

The really amazing thing about this campsite was the hooting and hollering of kookaburras that are just overhead.  I captured them on a brief video; they sound just like monkeys.

In the morning, we headed 15 minutes down the road to Hyams Beach, which has the whitest sand in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records.  The sand was powdery soft, and next to the gorgeous water, it was absolutely beautiful.

Alex was particularly excited about visiting this beach

Sam bodysurfing

The boys tried to dig a hole to Colorado to say hello to their friends.  We talk about their friends a lot; they are all very missed!

Back in the States, I had bought a LivingSocial deal for a dolphin watching cruise ($15 each instead of $35 each).  Jackson said he ‘was giddy with excitement’ and practically skipped aboard.

It took a while before we actually saw any dolphins, but while we waited the kids acted like dolphins, and we enjoyed the boat ride.  

And then there they were, grey bottlenose dolphins, riding right alongside the boat with us and occasionally coming out of the water.

So graceful and effortless!

Alex calls them ‘angels of the water’.

Between the boat ride and the ice cream cones, it was a memorable day.

This morning, we packed up—a major effort in itself.  There’s no way we’re staying anywhere one night; it's a bit of a production.  And you’d think my kids would be tent-setting pros since they go to a school where this is an integral part of the curriculum, but Jackson and Alex did not work together well breaking down their tent.  Between that and Kenyon snapping back the elastic tent pole which made a huge welt on Sam’s hand, I thought it might be the early end of our road trip.  We'll have a lot of practice over these next couple of weeks, so here's hoping it gets more smoothly as time goes on...

Culinary Adventure Series

As we try new and interesting foods here, I'll add to this new Culinary Adventure Series.  I know what you're thinking--Vegemite was not included in the Culinary Adventure Series.  I don't know yet whether it's worthy of any extra recognition, but I am pleased to report that I followed everyone's kind suggestions to spread it very very thin on buttered toast, and it is palatable that way.  I'm starting each day with Vegemite, so I'm building up a tolerance.

I haven't yet had time to leisurely browse the grocery store aisles yet, but on a quick trip to Woolworth (or 'Woolies', because Aussies have a knack for shortening any word, making it sound adorable) Jackson and I spotted it right there in the meat aisle--kangaroo steaks! Yep, sitting there in its plastic wrap all casual-like, as if it was just any normal steak that we Americans can buy back home.

Jackson and I eagerly bought kangaroo steaks along with our run-of-the-mill steak and devised a taste test event for the evening's dinner.

We are experiencing so many firsts here; I am certain that I've never before had the occasion to Google 'kangaroo steak marinade recipe'. Google never disappoints, and in a flash all the meat was coexisting and tenderizing nicely in a dish, awaiting its fate on the 'barbie' (see? I'm practicing!).

Kangaroo meat is produced only from free-ranging wild animals living on someone's land; no kangaroo are commercially-raised. The meat is extremely lean; it's essential not to overcook it. After just 3 minutes per side, I cut the kangaroo and ordinary steak into equal pieces and I led the guys in a blind taste test.

Can you tell the difference?  Kangaroo meat is on the right.

While everyone but Kenyon correctly identified the kangaroo, it was unanimously described as delicious; not gamey at all.  I look forward to many more culinary adventures to come...

Nutella, Take Me Away!

****WARNING****

Anyone of Australian descent should not read this post, or be forewarned that it contains blasphemy of the worst kind

I'm on a mission to try as many new foods as possible while we're here, so food will likely be a regular theme in posts this year.  Of course, no one can spend a year in Australia and not try the much-loved locally (but much dreaded for everyone else in the entire world) food item known as Vegemite, a dark brown food paste made from yeast extract.  I don't know about you, but when I hear the words 'yeast extract' I don't necessarily have an immediate yearning to pop a piece of bread in a toaster and get my spread on.

But as our Australian exchange partner Garry put it, we 'have a year to form a passionate, loving relationship with Vegemite', so we woke up on our first morning here and gave it our best effort...

Ummmm...right now I can honestly say that I'm definitely feeling passionate about Vegemite.  I have a passionate aversion to spreading yeast extract on my toast.  There; I said it (or whispered it, because I'm a teensy bit nervous that the Australian Embassy will dispatch someone to revoke my visa straight away).

1924 Vegemite ad

Check out the marketing strategy in this ad.  'MAKES ALL OTHER FOODS GOOD'--which fleshed out further clearly means it makes other foods good because anything else tastes wonderful in comparison.  Then after stating its benefits, the ad goes on to state, "It is nice, too."  It smacks of desperation, like a matchmaker trying to sell the positive qualities of someone in order to fix them up but that can only come up with the fact that they're 'nice'.  If the Vegemite Marketing Team can't do better than 'nice', it shows you what kind of taste we're dealing with here.

saw this online; thankfully, only a parody and not an actual product!

Here's an idea, Australia--why don't you make Nutella your national food icon?  It's also brown, and it's a food spread.  An easy transition.  It may not be as strong in the B vitamin department, but hazelnuts have some nutritional value, no?  And I have an inkling that it will be infinitely more popular for, say, Americans that are spending a year in Australia.  There's already a World Nutella Day (mark your calendars for February 5th; I know I am!), so think of the amazing festivals that Australia can hold in Nutella's honor, and the potential boon for Australia's economy.

See?  Brown...spreadable...it's not so big of a leap!   

Maybe I will begin petitioning my local representative here; considering Vegemite's 'flavor' (and I use the term loosely because when I hear the word 'flavor' I think of something with an appealing taste) it clearly should be high on the priority list for any elected official.  It's a matter of avoiding a national health crisis, really, or a national taste crisis at least.  It's akin to female genital mutilation or Chinese foot binding; these poor Australians have lived too long with this torture and it shouldn't go on any longer.  People will look back someday and wonder anyone would ever have thought it was a good idea, this yeast extract on toast business.

*****

Whew!  Now that I've gotten all that off my chest, I am hereby announcing my commitment to having at least a quarter of a piece of toast with Vegemite each day to see if I can change this ol' palate of mine to at least some level of tolerance.  Feel free to offer tips on mustering up some sort of enjoyment out of this, or simply your condolences if you think there's no hope.  I'll keep you posted on my grim progress as the year goes on.

The BEACH!!

We've scaled back the excitement over the past couple of days; traveling caught up with the kids and it was showing with the way they were treating each other.  Yesterday was taken up by a disastrous grocery shopping trip by bus (who takes the bus to do a large shopping trip?  We clearly weren't thinking by expecting so much out of the boys, but luckily three-hour naps in the afternoon set things on a more positive note).

I'll write more another time about grocery shopping with new brands and foods--today, though, was all about the beach!  Even though we both adore Denver, Sam and I both grew up on opposite coasts and are water lovers at heart more so than skiers.  There are two beaches in brief walking distance from our condo; as we headed out we ran into Craig, half of the awesome couple that welcomed us at their New Year's Eve party--he told us which beach to go to and walked us there, even though it was out of his way.  So nice.  

ummmmm....yes, please!!

Armed with beach umbrella, picnic lunch, towels, sunscreen and brand new boogie boards, we excitedly made our way across the soft sands of the beach and set up shop for the day.

The next hour was spent doing a whole lot of this...

Surf lifesaving in Australia is serious business; there are flags on the beach indicating permitted areas for  swimming depending on the currents; there are a number of different riptides going at any given time, and the lifeguards can spot them from the sand.

With the lighthouse and the surf, this area reminds Sam of his favorite hometown beach, Its Beach in Santa Cruz.  Miami's placid beaches are nothing like this; I enjoyed being in the water but instead of boogie boarding, my activity was Keep My Bikini Bottoms On.  This surf is not meant for two-piece bathing suits; every wave meant holding on and frantic adjusting.  My mental image of Sam searching the shore for bikini bottoms as I wait semi-discreetly out in the ocean was not far-fetched, but luckily (for all present today), it did not come to pass.  I look forward to another beach trip with more athletic attire so I can try some body surfing and boogie boarding.

I spent much of the rest of the day doing some variation of this...

...relaxing and watching as the boys continue to develop a love and appreciation for the ocean and the beach.

wearing his beloved necklace his friend Finley gave him

I like him.

In another week, the difference in skin tone between Sam and I will qualify us as an interracial couple.  He keeps getting more and more brown, while I vacillate between red and white.  Jackson took this picture of us, after making me wear his other most beloved possession, a Quiksilver hat I gave him for Christmas.  He said he was going to sleep in it tonight.

This older couple looked so fabulous, with her in her Baywatch swimsuit and him with his boogie board.  We also saw a man well into his seventies stride out in the water with a back that looked as if it was leather; he had clearly perfected his body surfing technique over many decades and expertly rode the large waves.

A nice family next to us saw me taking billions of pictures and offered to take one of us as a family.  There went my plan to blend in and not act all touristy.

I'm pretty damn sure we're going to be happy here for the year.  If only we could transport everyone else we love from back home out this way, then it would really be epic.