How is it that January feels like the longest month in the world then, when it’s finally over, you look back and wonder how those first 31 days went so quickly?
It’s crazy to think that at the start of the year, I was still in the UK with my family and Christina had been back in Sydney for a week and a half. It’s even crazier to think that between the time of me flying home and now, we’ve managed to fit so much in. And so little at the same time.
January! What the flux capacitor? You’re a hole in the matrix, a loose thread in string theory, a spelling error in E=MC².
Be that as it may, here’s what we’ve been up to over the last month. We’re talking visits to beautiful stately homes, steaks in one of the educational heartlands of the planet, crazy jetski adventures, trips down the coast and a lunch to celebrate our favourite part of Queensland.
Cheers – Jim & Christina xx
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Carrying on from our last Flavour of the Month, I’m still in the UK with my folks after a lovely Christmas and new year. I’ve only got a few days left before I head back to Sydney, so I’m covering off a few things I wanted to do before I go.
Mum, Dad and I have come to the beautiful grounds and iconic rotunda of Ickworth House in Suffolk. This 18th Century manor house in on enormous grounds and has two different cafes to grab a bite to eat.
The initial plan was to have lunch here then go for a walk, but after we’ve eaten, we realise it’s so cold today that a quick stroll in the gardens is all we can manage. But the magnificent rotunda and its domed roof has been worth the drive.
I’m excited to be visiting Cambridge today. Not because of its history or architecture or anything like that; I’m catching up with my sister! It’s been ages since we’ve spent any time together just the two of us, and we were pretty much inseparable when we were younger.
To my surprise, she’s stipulated lunch is to be a steak, so we’re going to Butch Annie’s. Promising great burgers and even better steaks, Annie’s is an easy choice.
My sister’s picaña is excellent and packed with flavour, but I think I win with my choice: hanger steak. You don’t see this cut on menus all that often and for good reason: it rarely makes it. The butchers keep it for themselves!
We walk around town for a bit, chewing the fat so to speak, and have a quick look at the little market in town. It’s lovely to catch up with my big sis. Wish we could do it more often.
I’m finally on my first flight back to Australia. It’s been great to spend time with family, but it’s just too cold in England this time of year!
As I fly over Europe, I happen to look out and see this site below me. According to the in-flight map, this is what Romania’s capital Bucharest looks like at night. Not bad, is it.
Back in Sydney, back at home, it’s time to celebrate a very special fella’s birthday. Christina’s dad Sergio would have been 93 today. He’s been gone for 16 years, but we all miss him so much.
As he was Italian, we usually find an Italian restaurant to go to, and this year is no different. However, this is the first time we’ve been to Oliveto Ristorante e Bar in Rhodes. If you’re looking for somewhere that does superb Italian fare that’s on the water, close to the city and has a train station nearby, this is your best option.
The food at Oliveto is amazing. The top hit is the crispy calamari fritti (top). It just has a dusting of coating is so fresh. It reminds us all of how Sergio used to cook calamari at home.
Mains are also outstanding – my whole stuffed calamari (left), Christina’s sister’s steak with mushrooms (mid) and her mum’s cappelletti pasta stuffed with spinach, zucchini and prawns, and comes in a lobster bisque sauce (right)is amazing.
Desserts here are also off the planet and well worth saving room for. Happy birthday, Sergio.
This evening, Christina and I are catching up with some of our mates from the travel-writing community at the Shakespeare Hotel in Surry Hills. It’s been ages since we’ve seen each other (and even longer since we’ve been in the Shakey), but it’s like we all saw each other yesterday.
Impressively, we don’t have any photos of the night apart from something even more impressive than that: my parking efforts. How’s that space?!
Got it in there in one go with no parking cameras or alarms and with a delivery truck hard on my tail for a bit of pressure. Think I can retire now.
Today, we’ve headed north to the waterside town of Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury River. But we’re not here to relax and enjoy the scenery today; we’re here for high energy and adrenaline.
Discover Boating Australia has organised for us and few other travel creators to have a crack at riding Jet Skis – or to use the correct term PWCs – Personal Water Craft.
We’re being guided around the beautiful surroundings of the Hawkesbury by Jet Ski Safaris NSW, who have a number of different tours leaving from the marina at Brooklyn.
This is my first time on a Jet Ski and I now understand what the fuss is all about. It’s honestly the most fun you can have on the water. Plus, you look pretty cool riding one!
You don’t need a boat licence to go on these tours, but there is a bit of training you do beforehand that Jet Ski Safaris lead you through.
After our hour-long tour around the river, we hurtle back to dry land for a delicious lunch at the marina. What a day!
It’s the Australia Day long weekend and we’ve travelled down the South Coast to our friend’s holiday house in the beautiful peninsular town of Tuross Head.
There are so many lovely little spots all the way down the coast that few people have even heard of. It’s always so surprising, especially when you have views like this just from the side of the road.
Today’s the big day – our friend has organised a whole pig on a pit, and the local butcher not only delivers it but even provides the barbecue to cook it with!
This beauty has been cooking since this morning and the household is getting pretty hungry.
Thankfully there are people in the house who know what to do – it’s so good having capable friends! Before long, the perfectly roasted piggy is off the head and being prepared for lunch.
Now all we have to do is sit back, crack a tinny or two and enjoy the day.
Because I’m so very clever, I decide to go for a walk in the moonlight after more than a tinny or two and check out the beach. It’s only a short walk from the house, but I don’t count on having to cross a pile of rocks and driftwood to get to the sand.
I also don’t count on being quite so uncoordinated.
Not a great mix when you’re on your own in the middle of the night a few sheets to the wind. Thankfully my fall isn’t too bad and the cuts and bruises look worse than they are. Like I said: clever.
The drive back up to Sydney is going well until we turn and see this cloud following us. Thankfully, I’m not driving and Mr Brown is happy to truck along with torrential rain, brilliant flashes of lightning and booming thunder hurling their fury at him.
What a dramatic way to finish what’s been a truly splendid long weekend.
This afternoon, we’re excited to be seeing even more of our travel-writing chums at the latest luncheon with the good people from Visit Sunshine Coast and Visit Noosa.
They’re hosting a media get-together at Fix Wine Bar and Restaurant on Elizabeth Street in Sydney. It’s a venue that’s been here since 2006 and it’s definitely somewhere you should check out if you enjoy excellent food and a replete wine list.
We sit down to a wonderful lunch starting with oysters, roast beetroot and goat cheese salad, seared scallops with fennel, and salumi.
Next is a platter of barramundi fillets in a lobster bisque, pumpkin risotto, perfectly cooked rump steak and what I think could well be the best veal schnitzel I’ve had. There’s also wonderful madeleines and cheese plates to finish, but by this time, we’re stuffed.
The wine is also out of this world. I missed the name, but the Gruner Veltliner from Marlborough NZ is outstanding.
The excellent Peter Hook, representing Visit Sunshine Coast, introduces Fix’s owner, Stu Knox who talks us through today’s delectable meal. Peter, with the help of Maddy Schilg, then leads us through the latest news from the Sunny Coast. Here are some of the highlights you should be aware of:
- Thai-based luxury hotel brand Avani is opening its first Australian property soon in Mooloolaba, which is setting up to be one of the coolest towns in the country ahead of 2032 Olympics.
- Relatively unknown Bokarina Beach, just between Caloundra and Mooloolaba, a string of new properties – Zinc Bokarina, Oceanus, Seanna Residences – have opened, creating a new destination to explore easily
- Noosa also has a new hotel coming up: The Calile Noosa. This beautiful hotel brand always creates stunning properties and if the Calile in Brisbane is anything to go by (read our review here), Noosa’s new build will set new standards
- Heli-tour company Oceanview Helicopters has a new offering that we’re very keen to check out. The Picnic on a Peak tour flies you along the beautiful coast and hinterland, and up to the iconic Glass House Mountains to drop you off at a private peak for a secluded picnic. I presume they pick you up again at the end
- The Sunny Coast always has great food and crafts festivals, and this year is no different. Mark these mid-year dates down in your calendar:
– 1-31 May GourMay Mary Valley‘s month-long festival championing the produce of Mary Valley and its surrounding area
– 2-11 May for Horizon Festival, a 10-day multi-arts fair celebrating the land and culture of the Kabi Kabi and Jinibara Peoples of the region
– 29 May – 1 June is Noosa Eat & Drink Festival – it’s all in the name, isn’t it? A four-day culinary extravaganza with plenty of live entertainment to boot
– 25 July – 3 August is the big one: The Curated Plate. The premier food festival of Queensland, this has everything a food festival should have as well as celebrity and chef’s hatfuls of awards
And don’t forget the longest-running festival in the country is on every weekend come rain or shine in the creative hub that is Eumundi.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this taste of January. We can’t wait to see what Feb has in store for us!
Cheers
Christina & Jim xx
