...but we did enjoy Labor Day Weekend like some! I didn't care that much about the Prince coming to visit, but I did enjoy having 3 days of fun! I mean really, after a month of holidays, who doesn't want another holiday? I felt like royalty.
Wine Tasting:
My roommate and I drove up to Harkham Winery (which is awesome and I reccomend to Sydney people).
By accident we ended up on the coolest street i've ever happened upon:
(Of course we pulled over and took a picture. Next Mission: Darcy Street)
A few hours, some singing to the radio, and some reminiscing about childhood later, we ended up in wine country and it was beautiful!
Then we met our bro Andy. This guy made the whole wine tasting experience incredibly fun. Part comedian, dj, and wine connisuer, he made the afternoon a party. The weather was perfect and the wine was delicious. Not to mention that this stuff is some of the best wine you can find. It comes from a small operation that is all about natural happy wine. You just get the vibe from walking around the place. Also all the wine comes from hand picked grapes, made in small batches, that are preservative free, and most are sulfate free. They also play the grapes music. Yeah. That's some happy wine.
(l'chaim)
Footy:
We got home from the wine country just in time to catch the last 7 game minutes of the big Footy game--the temporary National obsession, much like football during Superbowl Sunday. So we went to our Apartment's party hosted by the Kiwis in unit 6. These guys are so much fun and we always have a good time with them. This night was no exception! What started as a game viewing, ended up becoming a building party that went on into the night--complete with dancing and beer pong. Which, somewhat suprsied to say I became the reigning building champ. #UScollegeEducation...? It was fun to see all the apartments come together and I really got the feeling of the word "mates".
Also, best conversation of the night:
"after the review of a play...
me: was that a touchdown?
guy: no, it was a try
me:well I know they tried, but was it a touchdown
guy:yeah, it's a Try
me: I know, but is it good?
guy: yeah. "
...so apparently when you win points and get the ball in the end zone, it's called a Try. Cultural experiences! But really screaming Tooouuuuccchhhdoooowwwnn! is way more exciting than yelling Trrryyyyy! and yes, please don't remind me that I didn't get to do that very much this weekend either. Still love my Huskies. Go DAWGS!
Urban Hikers: Manly to the Spit
I've made some friends and we hike and stuff. There is a debate on whether we should be called "Jew-burban hikers" or "Urban hikers" but our mission is to find hikes that you can get to from public transport. And if you can't tell from the name, we all have Jewish mommys or know someone in the group who has a Jewish mommy. Well some people have Mums. But still.
We went on a gorgeous hike along the Northern beaches area that ended up being about 16KM in total. Check out the diverse landscape all in 1 hike. All in 1 hike we got to using public transport.
Also we learned that you should be careful who you get to take the group shot. *note the finger where the view should be...
Who doesn't know how to use and iPhone camera?!?! That's ok. It adds to the charm!
Fireworks!
To be honest, I don't think any one really truthfully knows exactly what this whole "Naval fleet review" thing was about. But here goes: Basically a bunch of war ships from nations around The World came into Sydney Harbour for all of 48 hours. The Prince flew in for all of 24 hours. Hands were kissed, babies were shook, I mean...hands were shook, babies were kissed, and boats boated. I guess it was for the Navy's 100th birthday. But all that really mattered was that a bunch of hubub happened for really no reason. But it was ok with me, because there were Fireworks!
Although I don't like the polution and checmicals and yada yada yada, I figure if they are going off anyway, why not enjoy. So a group of us went and watched! Brought some drinks and nuts and had a lovely evening. Then a few of us decided the night was young and we went and walked around the Rocks. Saw the boats lit up at night. Also, took an obligatory bridge picture which, thank you, I did not request. But I do like it!
Food Blog:
If you don't care about the weird things I make and eat, I reccomednd you stop reading now. However, I have decided to do more blogging about my food creations. I'm pretty proud of the yummy things I can make out of only things that: come from the ground, don't contain chemicals, are un-processed, gluten, grain, legume, dairy, egg, and nightshade free so I'm going to post them.
Up first: Dessert. Because I can and they look so pretty.
(Almond nut "resses peanut butter" cups)
Over the last few months i've gotten really into "living foods" and lacto-fermentation. I think bacteria are pretty cool. They make things really yummy. The hardest part is being patient and waiting. My flatmate is amused by the number of things that I leave fermening on our counter tops. This week, co-yo and saurkraut.
The following is part of the feast I made for shabbos with the Posniaks--(the family into which I have most recently been adopted).
I went over early and played in the kitchen with Mama P. As much as I love my 2 butt kitchen, her kitchen was bigger and better. I made a "tex-mex" inspired shabbos menu with cilantro lime culiflower rice, lime chiken, salsas, and guac. For the other meal I made veggies and wine poached chicken. Because Papa P is vegetarian, I made wine poached mushrooms too! Cooking for 7 (and 15) also meant making lots more food than normal. It was so yummy and fun. It was also great to know that everything at the tables was Darcy-Friendly! The Posniaks are so generous to let me cook all the food and subject them to my weirdness. They think its me helping them, but really they helped me have an incredibly relaxing shabbos.
One last pic of the week:
I got on the train to go home one night and this was waiting on the seat for me...
Scariest headline ever! haha
...to wherever my adveture waits
