Thursday, January 17, 2008
WEDDINGS AND STUFF II........
So, Christmas Eve was spent at my sister’s with her housemate and good friend Charlotte, Mum and Snorkmaiden.
It was the traditional Polish affair with all the typical foods reserved for that time of year.
The good thing about celebrating Christmas the European way is that one is allowed to open one’s pressies a day before everyone else!
After making the little ‘ears ’ ( little pierogi style stuffed pastries in the shape of pigs ears ) to go into the barszcz ( beetroot soup ) we tucked into the lovely culinary combination.
I was placed in charge of the fish.
From memory it was some sort of lemony creation with fresh herbs from my sister’s garden cooked on the barbeque.
Came out rather well I was told.
I was stoked to receive a T shirt with Moomintroll on the front from Snorkmaiden, as well as a gas cooker.
The latter went well with the gas lamp and pole from my sis.
The next day Snorkmaiden and I drove the 3 hours to her folk’s farm for their Christmas dinner.
Joining us there were her brother Anthony and a couple of the friends of the family.
Snorky’s mum cooked up a storm which included yabbies ( fresh water crayfish from the local farm dams ).
We spent a couple of nights there before making our way back to Melbourne
It was rather nice to be out of the city in the quiet countryside, does wonders for the soul.
Back in Melbourne I went on the hunt for a suitable tent for the upcoming holiday, which will see me cover something in the order of 8,000km.
The criteria were: one that would be fairly weather proof ( in case of inclement weather ), big enough to cook and eat in ( in case of inclement weather ) and quick to set up and pull down.
After some deliberation and research I found one for sale second hand in the local rag.
Having bought it I figured we should give it a shakedown trip so Snorky and I took of for four days into the high country.
We picked the last days of 2007 and it was darn good choice as the temperatures in Melbourne soared above 40 degrees!
She was a stinker!!!
I figured we lost about 10 degrees due to altitude, but that still put us above 30 degrees.
Good thing we were next to a mountain river as we spent a lot of time cooling off in the fast flowing waters.
The tent also allowed us to eat in relative peace due to its ability to keep the blow and march flies outside.
I can’t remember the last time I was bothered by that many of the annoying and biting insects.
One morning Snorky went for a dip and I watched a swarm of march flies surrounding and trailing behind her as she ran to the sanctuary of the river, not unlike some character from a Warner Brothers cartoon.
Even there they tried to bite her head, so from then on we wore bucket hats when swimming, that seemed to do the trick.
We explored some of the high country near Jamieson tracks in the Subaru.
I kept wanting to go and check more tracks and all Snorky wanted to do was go swimming, can’t blame her really, it WAS pretty hot.
New year’s eve was spent drinking by a fire next to the river with two couples also camping nearby.
One couple was around our age and the other markedly older, but both were pleasant company and we were more than happy to see the year out in this fashion.
On the return trip Snorkmaiden lived up to her threats of car sickness and we had to pause once we’d come off the mountain so she could expel breakfast.
Makes me wonder how she’ll cope in Tasmania as there are not too many straight roads down there.
One week ago we went to her sister’s wedding.
Pretty good as far as weddings go and a near disaster was avoided when the lead bridal car came very close to colliding with a motorcyclist who found himself on the wrong side of the road exiting a bend.
This happened about 5 minutes from the wedding location so bride and mum were a little frazzled.
Not they showed it.
The happy couple are on their honeymoon in Tasmania, which is where Snorky and I will be heading in 8 days.
We’ll spend 2 weeks there, camping, bushwalking and catching up with some of my old mates.
After that I’m off for 3 weeks on a trip to Townsville via the coast and back to Melbourne through outback Queensland and South Australia.
Should be epic.
That’s if my arm heals up ok, as it seems to have picked up an infection in the last few days.
The doctor has prescribed a course of antibiotics which should do the trick.
Knees are still very sore and the walking in Tasmania will be a bit of a test as well a form of physiotherapy.
I'll be taking my anti-inflammatory pills as well the morphine ones just in case.
Currently I’m going through some last minute preparations for said trips with just a few things left to do.
So far so good.
.
It was the traditional Polish affair with all the typical foods reserved for that time of year.
The good thing about celebrating Christmas the European way is that one is allowed to open one’s pressies a day before everyone else!
After making the little ‘ears ’ ( little pierogi style stuffed pastries in the shape of pigs ears ) to go into the barszcz ( beetroot soup ) we tucked into the lovely culinary combination.
I was placed in charge of the fish.
From memory it was some sort of lemony creation with fresh herbs from my sister’s garden cooked on the barbeque.
Came out rather well I was told.
I was stoked to receive a T shirt with Moomintroll on the front from Snorkmaiden, as well as a gas cooker.
The latter went well with the gas lamp and pole from my sis.
The next day Snorkmaiden and I drove the 3 hours to her folk’s farm for their Christmas dinner.
Joining us there were her brother Anthony and a couple of the friends of the family.
Snorky’s mum cooked up a storm which included yabbies ( fresh water crayfish from the local farm dams ).
We spent a couple of nights there before making our way back to Melbourne
It was rather nice to be out of the city in the quiet countryside, does wonders for the soul.
Back in Melbourne I went on the hunt for a suitable tent for the upcoming holiday, which will see me cover something in the order of 8,000km.
The criteria were: one that would be fairly weather proof ( in case of inclement weather ), big enough to cook and eat in ( in case of inclement weather ) and quick to set up and pull down.
After some deliberation and research I found one for sale second hand in the local rag.
Having bought it I figured we should give it a shakedown trip so Snorky and I took of for four days into the high country.
We picked the last days of 2007 and it was darn good choice as the temperatures in Melbourne soared above 40 degrees!
She was a stinker!!!
I figured we lost about 10 degrees due to altitude, but that still put us above 30 degrees.
Good thing we were next to a mountain river as we spent a lot of time cooling off in the fast flowing waters.
The tent also allowed us to eat in relative peace due to its ability to keep the blow and march flies outside.
I can’t remember the last time I was bothered by that many of the annoying and biting insects.
One morning Snorky went for a dip and I watched a swarm of march flies surrounding and trailing behind her as she ran to the sanctuary of the river, not unlike some character from a Warner Brothers cartoon.
Even there they tried to bite her head, so from then on we wore bucket hats when swimming, that seemed to do the trick.
We explored some of the high country near Jamieson tracks in the Subaru.
I kept wanting to go and check more tracks and all Snorky wanted to do was go swimming, can’t blame her really, it WAS pretty hot.
New year’s eve was spent drinking by a fire next to the river with two couples also camping nearby.
One couple was around our age and the other markedly older, but both were pleasant company and we were more than happy to see the year out in this fashion.
On the return trip Snorkmaiden lived up to her threats of car sickness and we had to pause once we’d come off the mountain so she could expel breakfast.
Makes me wonder how she’ll cope in Tasmania as there are not too many straight roads down there.
One week ago we went to her sister’s wedding.
Pretty good as far as weddings go and a near disaster was avoided when the lead bridal car came very close to colliding with a motorcyclist who found himself on the wrong side of the road exiting a bend.
This happened about 5 minutes from the wedding location so bride and mum were a little frazzled.
Not they showed it.
The happy couple are on their honeymoon in Tasmania, which is where Snorky and I will be heading in 8 days.
We’ll spend 2 weeks there, camping, bushwalking and catching up with some of my old mates.
After that I’m off for 3 weeks on a trip to Townsville via the coast and back to Melbourne through outback Queensland and South Australia.
Should be epic.
That’s if my arm heals up ok, as it seems to have picked up an infection in the last few days.
The doctor has prescribed a course of antibiotics which should do the trick.
Knees are still very sore and the walking in Tasmania will be a bit of a test as well a form of physiotherapy.
I'll be taking my anti-inflammatory pills as well the morphine ones just in case.
Currently I’m going through some last minute preparations for said trips with just a few things left to do.
So far so good.
.
