Many gardeners at the community garden grew eggplant (aka aubergine) quite successfully last year, and I was wishing I had planted some too. There’s so many nice combinations of tomatoes and eggplant, and wouldn’t it be nice to have an abundance of both at the same time? So early this…

The Sunday we were in Sydney, we went on an overnight trip to the Blue Mountains with Colette and Colman. Here are some pics from day one. This scenic viewpoint shows a good overview of the Blue Mountains, with famous formation the Three Sisters in the foreground. The mountains don’t…

Sydney is a really an amazing city. Here are some great things we had a chance to experience. 1. It’s all about the water (indirect quote from Colette and Colman). This aerial photo taken on our way out of Sydney shows the harbor, which the city is built around. To…

One of our favorite activities in Sydney was a visit to the Parliament of New South Wales. Colman’s new-ish job is as the Chief of Staff for the NSW Minister for Mental Health, and so he was able to have us invited to listen to question time from the public…

Colette took the day off Thursday, our first full day in Sydney, and took us on a tour of the CBD (Central Business District, aka downtown) and parts beyond, including The Rocks, Darling Harbour, and Chinatown. We joked about this being her second time giving me a tour of a…

We had two delicious meals at Whet restaurant in Cape Trib. Definitely recommend it if you’re in the area!  

We hiked up Mount Sorrow, which was really tough! Of all the whiney names Captain Cook gave points in the Cape, this one didn’t seem too far off. We did see some excellent examples of strangling vine trees though, and John and Liam reported that the view from the top…

We took a lot of walks along Myall Beach, just about 50 meters (that’s right, we braved the world’s most poisonous snake population, crocodiles AND the metric system while in Australia!) from our campsite. Liam enjoyed a kangaroo burger and Bundaberg Ginger Beer (aka ginger ale) one afternoon.

The Exotic Fruit Farm is a great place to visit. The couple who runs it set out to grow fruit from all over the world that would grow in this climate. We learned loads about fruit growing, including facts like mangos won’t grow in the rainforest because it’s too wet,…