New adventures in old haunts

Whilst it's often nice to return to a familiar place for holidays, it's also nice to throw in some new adventures just to 'value add' to the experience.

I've just spent four days down in Sydney with the Mister for a bit of a get away, and a chance to participate in the annual Good Food and Wine Show.

The familiarity of wandering through Town Hall Station and QVB, over the foot bridge from the hotel to Darling Harbour was a comforting feeling. Like a flashback of something that never actually went away. The smell of the hotel foyer reminded me that there was a weekend of exploration (and inevitable expense) awaiting me. The sound of the car horns expressing their angst in having drivers desperately needing to uphold deadlines in their urgency to get to their next location made me even more aware that I had four whole days of freedom and pleasure awaiting me.

So, Friday was the flight down and the Food Show. There was a little drama on the flight - let me just say first up that a two hour delay in your departing flight at 7am is not an adventure worth having! And then the drama continued. About 20 minutes prior to landing, as the plane was well in to it's descent, I had a slight attack with my heart and then that horrid sensation of wanting to black out... some of you may remember that I had the same thing on a return flight from Tokyo last year, albeit the sensation actually resulted in me completely blacking out. So that was some excitement (and anxiety) for the morning. I really didn't expect it, I wasn't thinking about it at all, and I really didn't want it either!

We eventually made it to the Food Show at the Exhibition Centre on Darling Harbour. I've been attending the show now for about 6 or 7 years and thoroughly enjoy the chance to spend a day wandering between exhibition halls, sampling food and wine, and spinning stories to stall holders to try and score additional freebies! This year was, as is always, a success. Too much drunk, too much sampled and many free items packed in to our bags. By 4pm we were both knackered!

Saturday involved much city discovery, and consequently much shopping. The glory of the boutiques and finery of independent shops throughout historical arcades and malls is always an adventure. The afternoon allowed for indulgence in Sydney Harbour with wine and oysters overlooking the sun setting behind the Harbour Bridge.

Sunday was a first for me - in all the years I've lived in and visited Sydney, I have never taken the ferry out to Parramatta. The train ride was a common occurrence, but never the journey down the river. To visit the old streets of my work and many a lunch feast showed me just what the region had grown in to. The fact that the town was like a dead alive hole also let me see some of the finer points to the buildings and features around it.

Sunday night at the casino - just for a quite bite to eat and a flutter. I can't say I ever missed that place though! If you're not like a moth to a flame for poker machines, I really can't understand the attraction - though $14 steak sandwiches and chips are quite the deal!

Monday, the last day to shop and experience. A trip to Peters of Kensington is always in order, and should I return from a trip to Sydney without a pink bag, I don't believe I've done my holiday complete justice! The bad weather rolled in and the weather chilled. As Mister explained, it was the tears of Sydney farewelling us!

At least our flight home was on time (albeit feeling like it was hours past midnight and we'd been running around for all four days straight) and uneventful (other than my constant stressing about something going wrong again).

All in all, the weekend was full of firsts, lasts, news and olds.. what more could you really ask for?

Astrological Traits

Regardless of whether you're a believer in the powers of the zodiac, or the fortunes of astrology, we were all born in to a phase from which certain persons believe you will adopt personal traits and characteristics. Taking in to account the position of the planets, moons, sun and potentially even space junk, you will inherit your own unique personality under the umbrella of your sign.
I remember as a young child I took great interest in my zodiac sign, and as a teenager I further investigated the compatibility of my sign with those of my crushes throughout school. This resulted in a purchase many years ago of a large framed print detailing my sign. I think at the time I would have been too young to identify if the traits were accurate or not, however these days I often read the print which hangs in our powder room downstairs, and have a giggle at just how apt some of the statement are. Since I'm not able to copy down what the print says at this time (silly work interfering with life!) I decided to troll the net to see what various sites had to say about me.
I'm a water bearer - of the Aquarius astrological star sign if you like.


According to the wikipedia entry: In astrology, Aquarius is considered a "masculine", positive (extrovert) sign. So, there's my first characteristic - strength.


My web searching has told me that the traditional Aquarian traits are:

Friendly and humanitarian Honest and loyal Original and inventive Independent and intellectual

Unfortunately, on the dark side, the traits are:

Intractable and contrary Perverse and unpredictable Unemotional and detached

Whilst, in all honesty, I believe I can relate to much of that, it doesn't shine a particularly fine light on me, let alone the masses of population who also fall under this sign. A further search on other astrology sites concluded that:

'I KNOW' is the motto for Aquarius. You have an original and inventive mind and can take the long view. You also have a scientific or technological bent.

I accept that.

Original, independent, individualistic and freedom-loving, you can be rebellious and perverse if you do not handle these qualities well. Your strong likes and dislikes can make you seem stubborn and unyielding.

Fair call.

You have a charming disposition, a great love of life, and you are affectionate and social.
You are charming, gracious and easygoing. You have many artistic talents as well as the ability to express them.

You are strong and self-disciplined. Self-reliant, efficient, dignified and intense, you seldom act until you know what is right for you. Idealistic, probing and set in your ways, you are very trustworthy and you expect the same from others. You lack adaptability and the power to relax. A planner and strategist without equal, you have an all-or-nothing attitude that makes compromise difficult. Sexually you are strong, powerful and secretive; if you misdirect this drive you can become intensely jealous.

Yeah, OK... I think we get the message!

Oh to be a derby girl

Many moons ago, as a child, I spent my weekends learning how to roller skate. Artistic roller skate. It was a short lived past time I must admit, but not for lack of skill. I recall being able to cleanly skate around the rink, spin 180º and stop abruptly on my stoppers, and more impressively, skating backwards around the rink for several laps at a time. I also recall participating in a speed skate session and having some smaller child clip me on the inside curve. This was immediately proceeded by pain, tears and wrist smash that haunts me every winter with a dull ache reminder of the perils of the sport.

With my historical heart set in the ways of roller skating, I took an interest in the resurgence of Roller Derby a couple of years ago. It was an interest held from afar as a spectator. Until last night. I decided to don a pair of scungy hire skates from the Sports Centre and join the fresh meat training for Gold Coast Roller Derby. With much apprehension in lacing (or more aptly should I say 'roping') up the skates and encasing myself in half-fitting protective knee, wrist and elbow guards, I took to the court with a firm belief in the 'it's like riding a bike' theory. Back on the stoppers, in, out, weaving feet, plough stops, T-stops, 180º turns, cross-overs and of course skating backwards. It was all there, and not once did my backside make friends with the ground.

It was comforting to know that my abilities hadn't completely failed me, and I knew that deep down with more time dedicated to practice, it wouldn't be long before I was zooming around the court with full balance and confidence. Just as an aside, please note I say court and not rink as the session was held at an indoor basketball/volleyball/soccer stadium.

But my personal conquests were not enough to make me see that the Roller Derby scene was where I wanted to be. My grown-up requirements for organisation and planning and professionalism were not met by the squad and the whole shindig didn't give me great faith in being able to join in with something which just didn't feel quite right.

Nevertheless, I now know that if I were to ever stumble across a pair of size 10 Riedells with hybrid wheels and a spare pair of bearings, I'd not hesitate in adding them to my collection of shoes!

My gastronomic plans

Food... the heart of life, the life of love, the love of the soul (I don't know if that actually makes sense, but it seemed to flow together in my mind when I was writing it!)

Anyway, I have a small dinner party planned for this weekend and have consequently been tossing up all kinds of ideas for food. It's a tough balance when entertaining guests - you want the attention to detail in your meals, but you don't want to have to dedicate extended periods of time to it, especially during that pre-feast mingle time when your guests arrive. So things must be able to be prepared ahead of time, or ovenable. My entree and dessert options easily satisfy this, but mains are a little more complex (without having to resort to things like stew and casserole where they can just sit in a pot until ready to be dished out). This is what I've come up with so far:

Entree/appetisers: turkish bread with a variety of dukkah's and macadamia oils and caramelised balsamic vinegar, fetta and olives





Main: pork fillet wrapped in prosciutto and smeared in basil pesto, served with asparagus spears, oven roasted truss cherry tomatoes and piped domes of mashed potato

Dessert: chocolate mousse with berry coulis






And now to decide on which wines to serve with it all!