Friday, August 31, 2012

Yummy tummy-friendly recipes by Nat

http://www.lowfodmap.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/front.jpg 





If you have a special diet, you are always on the look-out for new recipes and ideas. Some tips are useful, quite many, especially online, are not. Low FODMAP diet is not very well-known yet, and therefore, there aren't that many recipe books directed to us who have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) or who treat people with IBS. I happen to fit into both categories.

Jess had a brilliant idea that we'd meet up with one of the creator of IBS-friendly recipes, Natalie Nott, whose The Low FODMAP cookbook is filled with delicious and easy recipes for everyday cooking. Nat also has a blog at www.lowfodmap.com. I JUST noticed on Facebook that she posted that her blog just turned 1 year - congratulations, Nat! 

 Before we arranged a meeting, I bought my own copy so i could take it home with me and would not have to pay the postage fee to Finland. Nat's book is sold on her webpages and even though the postage abroad can be costly, I'd say it's worth it, if you want tips to brighten up your low FODMAP diet. A diet, not terribly complicated, but not always very logical, if you don't know the background to it. And if you have a friend coming over to Australia, then request the book as your souvenir. ;)  

To be honest I haven't had time to cook much from the book, but have tried the recipes on her webpage already in Finland - quinoa tabouli is my favourite! Nat's recipes focus on being low FODMAP, not gluten free or otherwise targeted at hyper-sensitive or allergic readers and cooks. But the thing is, the recipes are quite simple (in a positive way), and you can always alter them a little bit according to your needs. I, personally, will be cooking chicken recipes with tofu and probably trying a few of the meat dishes with quorn, a good protein source for the veggie-minded. I just heard the news that it's going to be sold in Finland too very soon! (Can't find anything on it online, though...)

Chatting with Natalie was lovely (over a cup of tea and a super-tasty banana muffin), and I somehow saw myself of being a bit of a fan in a meeting with her idol! That's why I also asked her to autograph the cookbooks. ;) 





***
FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligo-, Di- and Monosaccharides and Polyols. These substances cause problems for many people with IBS, because they are digested poorly in the small intestines. That's why they end up in the large intestine where the gut bacteria use it as their food and gas is produced. Imagine one of the long shaped balloons we blow up at first of May (or whenever feeling festive) and you probably get an idea how that feels when it's happening in you! Other symptoms related to IBS are diarrhea, wind, feeling tired and even depression. The low FODMAP diet helps alleviate symptoms in about 75 % of people with IBS.

Remember, that FODMAPs are good for the gut bacteria, and should not be completely avoided. Instead, the diet is good for CONTROLLING your symptoms. Say, you have a job interview in the afternoon, so it's probably not a good idea to have lentil soup and rye bread as a lunch before it or you might end up having to cut the interview short whilst trying to find a loo... It's also beneficial to determine a personal threshold for individual FODMAPs, so you don't end up cutting out healthy, nutritious (and delicious) foods from your diet unnecessarily.

If you have any questions, send me an email at putkonen.leena@gmail.com

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

To ski a marathon or not to ski a marathon?

If you are truly passionate about skiing, then this event is for you - The Kangaroo Hoppet.

Is it a struggle? Does it take your breath-away - in a non-descriptive way? Are there kangaroos on the track you could have a collision with? 

Yes, it's bit of a struggle, and yes, it does occasionally make you gasp for air. No, there are no kangaroos racing you to the finish line. 

The reason why I said it's for skiers-at-heart is because you really have to make an effort to a) get to the snow (4-5 hrs from Melbourne by car, longer if you take public transportation, which is of rip-off price b) you're not sure, if you'll even be able to ski and whether it's really going to be a ski marathon for you or not. So to ski or not to ski is really not up to you. 

It's up to the weather, which in mountainous areas is unpredictable and changes in just a few minutes. Therefore, I must admit: I didn't do a ski marathon. Neither did anyone else who dragged their tight-ski-bums up to Falls Creek. We did 30 km. 

Morning weather at Mt Beauty before Kangaroo Hoppet

And boy, that was some sweet 30 km. I fell in love even more with skiing, and even though, I thought I don't have a competitive gene in me, I feel like I really, really want to try and be faster and stronger at this. It's the same little reckless feeling after your first strong porter beer at a bar and the wild ideas that follow, or the one you get when you've been swimming in the icy water in Finland (at Rauhaniemi, if I may add). The sense of endorphins rushing through your veins. You know you can do anything you want and desire. I'm not sure, if I can make you understand my point, but this the best description I can give you. 

Due to strong winds, we weren't allowed to ski the highest peak and not climb up the Paralyser, which lives up to its name, like I learned the last time I was up at Falls. Instead, the track was quite easy, much, much easier than I expected. But this is just my experience from this year. Every skier will have a unique experience from year to year, depending also on whether they get altitude sickness or if the snow is icy. No ice this time, beautiful soft snow and I have my beneficiaries (meaning the lovely couple I borrowed my skis from) to thank for the awesome skis and waxing.

It was a little windy, but luckily I finished before worse weather took over the ski area. Felt sorry for the skiers finishing their laps. Due to mist and blowing winds the views were at times breath-taking and mystical, but hey, there's was no stopping to take pictures this time! 

This was my second ski marathon (of many more to come), and I think I did pretty okay, 2,5 hours with very little skiing behind me. The fastest ladies finished an hour before me, so long way to go. ;) Very grateful to Len for letting me skike with them on Wednesday, so I didn't completely forget how to ski during my "summer months".  

Last time I was complaining about the altitude taking a toll, but I honestly can say, I had no such experiences this time. I do admit - I did some lenient doping. I took liquid iron a month before, just in case. I didn't really feel like hunting down a lab to check my status, so I just thought I supplement mildly with iron and all the herbal + vitamin stuff that came with Swisse's liquid iron. The same company behind Aussie Olympic team, so can't be that bad. ;) 

The rest of the weekend was spent watching TV at the motel at Mount Beauty, where I could live my Goldilocks life, because I had three beds to choose from. :D I had really nice company on the way there and back, but felt like a total weirdo on my own at the evening celebrations, where I stayed for as long as it takes to drink down one gin&tonic. So one advice: try to do these ski trips with someone; preferably in a group. Small towns are picturesque, but for a lonely traveler they can be a little dull, especially when most of the shops were closed during the weekend. Even the places, which said open 7 days a week.  Maybe they ought to specify, which week. ;)  


Mt Beauty is not  a mountain, it's a valley. Logically.

The only graffitti I could find. :D

Autumn, summer, winter?


Where have I seen this view... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhJo7aljnQg

Spring approaching

Local art work.


As always in Australia, the people I talked to during my stay, were super-friendly. If staying in Mount Beauty, I highly recommend Mount Beauty Motor Inn, which is clean, warm and cozy and the owner was very hospitable and flexible with check-out time. 

Since had plenty of time to look around, I took the opportunity to visit the visitor centre and learn about the history of the mountain area. I also too the time do some souvenir shopping and learning to photograph better while walking around the town. All in all, idle time turned out to be quite productive after all! :)

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Pictures to follow, so pop in again to see them later! :)  Still problems with uploading at home.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Setting up a restaurant for a day - This is how it's done!

I've been eating very well during my stay in Melbourne and Australia in general. I have done some cooking, but haven't had any dinner parties or hard core cooking sessions. The blog crew of Mindo in Finland were setting up a restaurant for Restaurant Day in Helsinki and I decided to join in the fun - all the way from Melbourne!

The menu of the day consisted of several savoury and sweet foods listed here:
  •  Pumpkin coconut soup with roasted pumpkin seeds
  • Spelt Karelian pies (spelt crust with rice porridge filling)
  • Vatruskas (potato pastries)
  • Mint chocolate brownies (vegan)
  • Zucchini cake with Philadelpia icing
  • Blueberry-almond cake
 I think that was it! :) 


Most of the foods in the picture. Pumpkin soup was bubbling on the stove at this point.
 
I love pumpkin and these funny Chinese mushrooms. They look like Moomin characters - hattivatttisienia! :D


All food ended up being brown. Insprired by the upcoming Finnish autumn or what?! :D


The making of process wasn't all smooth and easy, and the spelt crusts stuck together and had to do it twice. Also note to self (yes, I'm aware I use this notion often... ), next time when baking muffins, buy muffin forms. All the effort was worth it, because I was very pleased with the end result and it seemed that the guests, my lovely Melburnian friends, enjoyed it too!

 
Spelt crust making with wine bottle filled with vinegary wine. It's in the shelf waiting for the next baking. ;)

Karelian pies with spelt crust

 
My sweet and beautiful guests -Tahlia, Jess (fresh PhD!!!), Emma and CK.
Almost-birthday-girl Tessa trying not to burn her tounge.


***
Suomenkielinen postaus tulossa luettavissa täältä:

http://mindo.fi/blogi/ravintolapaiva-la-melbourne


Saturday, August 18, 2012

Checking out the chick (pea) flick and the madness of Antti Reini

If there's something I miss terribly from Kuopio (the town I lived in for many years), besides my closest friends there, it's Kuvakukko and the university film club Hyvät kuvat. And if there's something I remember from my time in Dar es Salaam, it's watching films on my old, very moody laptop on Sokoine Street, going to Mlimani cinema and buying not-so-tax-revenue films from the corners of the city centre. In Tampere, I've managed to once attend Anime Night, but that sucks, because it's at night and I'm basically paying to sleep in the cinema with Japanese anime characters yelling at the top of their lugs every second minute. I love anime, but not sleeping through anime films. Did win an anime DVD in the raffle though, which was good. :D

Not surprisingly, it was quite natural for me to get excited about the Melbourne International Film Festival or MIFF as it's known here. I had big plans; I should attend shows every night! Then the reality hit me, shows are not cheap and I remembered film festivals are hard work. Hard on you buttocks, hard if you are sleepy and hard if you don't enjoy frantically trying to catch a show, because you bought the ticket in advance - just in case (normally you buy tickets to shows that are shown to half empty theatres).



The first week of MIFF passed me by without me having time to take notice. We had even made plans to go together with a few friends, but everyone seemed too busy to make determined plans. Then came my wild party night with the girls last Friday. That ended short when I didn't realize that I'd need ID to get in (yes, they check everyone, I haven't suddenly started looking like under 25). It was raining, girls were wearing party clothes, and I told them to continue without me. I just had a beer and laughed at myself. But this lead to a early, hangover-free morning and me realising that MIFF is on. And boy, wasn't this revelation worth it. 

Saturday was the last day of showing Chasing Ice. It's a documentary about the photographer James Balog and his crew and their effort to photograph the melting of glaciers. National Geographic Society never disappoints when it comes to stunning photos and big issues, which was yet again proven by this piece. The lady sitting behind me during the show would agree. She was sighting, commenting with quiet whispers ("no!", "aaah!")  and I'm pretty sure she shed a few tears at the end (I could just feel it). To be honest, I did have a few jaw-dropping moments myself. The science is there. Now the pictures are too. James Balog's bit in the effort "to do something" is taking photos of global warming in action. I hope that my bit will be in trying to figure out how to feed us all without destroying the planet in the process. I'm sure I've said this to so many of you before, but I love the saying I heard somewhere (in Finnish, though) that human as a species are the only one's pissing in their offspring's cereals. Sounds poetic, but so is the phenomenon itself. 

This contradicts what I've just said. :D
  The second films of the day was set in as serious settings, but the topic was hilarious. Make Hummus not War asks a question whether the peace in Israel and Palestine could be reached over a bowl of hummus. Although, there is passionate debate going on, where the best hummus comes from and where does hummus originate - Arabs, Jews, who came up with hummus? For those who don't know what hummus (or hoummous, humus or any other way to write it) is, I'll give an easy recipe: soaked and boiled chickpeas, sesame seed paste (tahini), lemon juice and garlic makes a delicious paste that at it's best will blow out your mind. Inspired by the film, I intend to find a nice Lebanese restaurant and check out their Melburnian hummus quality. A tip: if watching this at home, check out on of the recipes on the webpage and make yourself a BIG bowl of hummus before setting yourself too comfortably in front of the couch. I was drooling and dreaming of hummus throughout the film. Since it was a world premier and the director, Trevor Graham, was there too and the audience got to ask him questions. According to him, the best hummus comes from Lebanon. But hey, you can only argue about taste preferences, so who knows. :P

 My third film was a patriotic act to see a Finnish/Swedish film from 1991, Il Capitano. Kappale kauneita Suomea. Not. If the actor Antti Reini has been accused of not doing a very good job as the popular detective Vares, then watch this film and be awed by his earlier performance. Man, the madness is tangible and the bandit story (Reini and Maria Heiskanen) drills into your brains. Now that we've recently had Batman massacres and all other outrageous shooting incidents, this film reminds again how irrational world and people can be. It leaves you wondering what could be done to avoid people going to the darkside. Noticed that the ratings for this film aren't too great, but I was captivated by the acting and tension, so I think I got my money's worth definitely.

I finished my part of the film festival by seeing The Suicide Shop, a cartoon for adults. To my surprise when I got there today (Saturday) it was in 3D. Had not read the small print. And fun it was. Hard to feel completely sad, mad or pissed off after that flick. :) So for the moments when you are feeling like you need something artistic, fun, mood-lifting, but not too sweet and innocent, then this is the pick for you.

****
I will be posting the next blog post in Finnish and in English. Why? Because I'm inviting lovely friends I've met whilst in Melbourne over tomorrow (Sunday) to enjoy Restaurant Day (http://www.restaurantday.org/) with me and I'll be writing a story about that here in my blog in English (so they can also understand). But since I'm partially having the same menu as the Mindo blog crew in Helsinki, I'll be posting on our event (that I'm offering to friends) in Mindo ( http://www.mindo.fi/blogi/ravintolapaiva-mindofood). Making a promise publicly so I get the pieces done. ;) I hope this will also ignite a passionate writing fire in me so that I'll finally start writing to Mindo regularly and quite often. Another public promise, where will these lead me...?

Sorry, no photos from me till Monday. Uploading them is impossible with home Internet. :/ Quality is too good. ;)

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Who's the greatest? And other conversations on Great Ocean Road

First of all, thank you for clicking the link on Facebook, on Blogger or on your friend's email. For it seems that many have been clicking and readings number has gone over 1000 a few days ago. Many are reading about skiking, which is great, because you must pass the word on that great activity. Just today I did probably the nicest skiking bit so far. Weather was sunny and around 16 degrees (trusting Len's estimation here) and the nature in the park is getting livelier by the week. After all, spring time is approaching. 

I hope my blabbing will be interesting in the future too. ;) And people, please, leave those comments! Just click "no comments" if there aren't any and leave something, anything, let me know you are out there! I speak Finnish, Swedish, English, little German and even some words of Kiswahili, so seriously,a comment on ANY language will be appreciated! 

***

I think I'm about half way into my stay here, and it feels like there's just so much to experience still. That's why I'm trying to keep up the tempo by seeing and doing things as opportunities arise. This is the prelude into the story of how I ended up doing Great Ocean Road on a short notice. ;) My buddy from work, this Irish lad, mentioned that he was thinking of doing the trip the following weekend. I think this was a Monday afternoon conversation. Little did he know that I'm good at tagging along and so asked straight away, if I could join them (meaning him and his flatmate), and so the planning started. 

What planning? I was feeling tired all week and finally on the last night before going on Saturday I checked at where should we go and see. By that time, 10pm the previous night, we didn't have a car, clear plans, def nothing to take with as a snack, and I booked the hostel there and then at late hours. Well, that bit was SOOOOO useless, because there were probably 5 other people in Port Campbell Hostel. :D The hostel was very quite, but I can imagine it's packed and lively during summertime. It's very neat and clean, hot water in showers and funny eco toilets (which were little inconveniently on the corridor, but at least they were spotless and there were several there). Good value for 25 dollars a night (BYO towel place - we shared mine :D ).



On Sunday morning, we, that being me, Simona from Switzerland and Simon from Ireland, met up at car rental shop. His flatmate couldn't come after all. My master mind had suggested Sunday-Monday trip due to weather forecast (actually it was Jess's master mind), and although, I felt sorry that the two other people couldn't come because of this, it seemed to be good planning weather-wise. Hardly any rain, lot of sunshine or half cloudy weather, nice for driving. Driving in a thirsty rental car, which was sweet to operate, but probably not the cheapest option available. So in case someone gets inspired and wants to do the road trip on their own and not with a tour operator, then check prices in good time and book in advance. This is NOT to say our trip cost a lot! Not at all, just providing some travel tips as I blab along. 

Vroom, vrooom, first stop Kew East, because I grabbed my driver's license, Vroom, vroom, the next stop, Torquay, because I wanted to check out surfing outlets. Think Quicksilver, Roxy, Billabong and Rip Curl. Oh, Rip Curl you don't have to imagine:



Nuts about surf gear?
Lunch at Subway and off we went. As day was turning to afternoon this route planner soon realized there's no way in hell we'd be able to see much on the way, if we wanted to reach the most famous site on this road, the 12 Apostles by sunset. And we (I think it was we) wanted. "Tomorrow. We'll do that tomorrow." Soon Simona and Simon started making remarks that there seems to be quite a few things left for tomorrow. Stopped at Apollo Bay for some refreshments and since the liquor shop owner was Iris (of course, the Irish are everywhere, because they are so great) Simona and Simon got some souvenirs and all I got was an empty bladder. Guys, next time, grab something for me too! 

Views from the car window were indeed wonderful. There was a lot of debate in the car whether the road deserves its reputation and for me, it seemed like many of the places looked liked either from Ireland or Switzerland, if the remark in the car were to be listen to. Personally, I was happy to see the waves, rocks, beaches, rainforest and gumtree bits, serpentine roads (no, nothing like in the Alps, I know) and pastures. Amazing colours, so much lush green bits, and different shades of blue both in the sky and in the ocean horizon. I'd do it all over again, no doubt. Perhaps during summer time, though, because I bet I could spot a few more juicy Ozzie surfers then. ;) This time only one sighting. And that poor thing was far away and looked lost. 


Somewhere on the road


Sunset time. Made it easily to 12 Apostles. Just like the odd hundred other tourist, most of them from Asia, it seemed. There we were, team Europe taking pictures like the Japanese. A lot. Hence my facebook album, which you ought to be able to access. There are many pictures of the Sow and Piglets, the previous name for the 12 Apostles. I prefer the previous name. Oink. 



Evening was spend eating at a lovely Italian pizza place called Nico's in the quiet village of Port Campbell. I even spotted a beach and even though favourite Finnish summer time activity, skinny dipping, didn't get support, we decided to come down for a morning swim. And I promised not to act all promiscuous and wear my swimming gear. :P If we are to give away prizes of weird activities, I think Simon should get it. He went running after the pizza evening in the dark at 9.30pm. (Okay, I was just jealous that he was being all active and I was just sleepy from wine and all that driving. Oh, the Irish beat me in this too!)
At Nico's

Cold morning. I was commenting that it's really misty and cold. Simona grunted from bed that "you two were talking all day on your swimming, you go!".  :D No, I wasn't hesitating. I was just commenting. Town was sleepy. 




I love cold water. I may be all whiny about cold weather, but I love cold water. I'm addicted to the endorphin rush it causes. And now I can say I've swam (or dipped, hard to swim in shallow water) on Great Ocean Road Trip. :)

Simon had to mention that water in Ireland is colder, but they still swim in it. Well, this is one of the rare accusations I'm able to top with my avanto (hole in the ice) swimming almost weekly.






Here's the brave lady from the States enjoy the Finnish icy water swimming.
(Amy, hope you don't mind the pic!)

The next day was spent checking out the London Bridge in the morning. Beautiful. Especially now that the great Irish mind on the trip taught me how to use the panorama function in my camera. 






The next stop was Otway National Park and the Otway Fly to be exact. This was one of the places highly recommended online, so thought we'd check out the tree top walk and rainforest. Got there and realised that this is a tourist place and you have to pay 24 dollars to do the tree to walk. Since we'd come all the way, off we went. And I thought it was rather pleasant. Nothing mind-blowing, but to be honest, I like these kind of small nice things. And the history of the place was interesting. This could be read on the boards in the park and in the leaflet given to us at the beginning of the trail. I swear I could imagine the dinosaurs roaming the place thousands of years ago. 


We like lighthouses so after lunch we tried to see the Cape Otway Lighthouse. But visiting it would have cost another 20 dollars, and since it was already 4 pm and we'd have only an hour to check out the lighthouse area, we decided just to wonder around and indeed, we did get a glimpse of the lighthouse. And a good sighting of wallabies.

The most rewarding bit of the drive to Cape Otway was the koala population living in the area. They were everywhere! At one stop my counting was 17, which doesn't include the baby koalas holding on to their mommies. :) I though my battery was dead (that's why don't have may pics from Otway), but miraculously the thing recovered enough to capture there fur balls. 





I think I speak for everyone on the trip, if I say that this was one of the highlights on the trip. And need I mentioned the first spotting was by the Irish eyes?
 
Driving home was pleasant, although, I'm not sure the other passengers appreciated my backseat karaoke. I'll always look back on those moments as being memorable in a positive way. Simona and Simon may think them memorable, but in less positive way. ;) 

Why the title of this post? Isn't it obvious? I'm willing to put my hands up and just acknowledge that the Irish are the greatest. They are here and there and seem to be making it everywhere. I think I have to go and see for myself where these strong survivors come from. So Ireland, I'll see you next year! ;) 
 

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

St Kilda pier - check, penguins - check, Victoria market - check, lanes and allies - check, Shrine of Remembrance -check...

The ultimate tourist weekend is behind me. I'm very happy I didn't go to the snow this weekend, though I was tempted. Came to my senses and remembered that we get plenty of snow and winter in Finland, and I needn't be worried of missing out on some experiences regarding winter activities... :P

Started Friday by leaving work early (not embarrassed to admit this - on my way to recovery from workaholism) to see a performance art show at the National Theatre in St Kilda organised by the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA). It was  by a German artist called Torsten Lauschmann and it was peculiar. I enjoy contemporary art, but I've long ago stopped analysing or trying to understand it. It's best enjoyed short and with an awe of "how did he/she come up with that?". The show was shorter than I expected (half an hour or so), so I wondered off towards St Kilda Beach - I wasn't in any kind of a hurry, since I had decided this is my week of doing what ever touristy thing comes to my mind. 


I took out my camera and made another promise: take as many pictures as you can during these couple of days. Make sure, you remember where you've been and that you have documentation of it. First, the amusement park Luna Park, which wasn't open, though. Perhaps it's open only during the summertime? The rollercoaster looks a little dodgy, so perhaps, I'm not missing out on anything. :D 

Luna Park gone mirror houses
The late afternoon was gorgeous, definitely one of the best weathers we've had since my arrival. I was so pleased, because I'm not much of a photographer (still learning to use my new camera) and it helps when the light is good. I strolled along the beach seeing all sort of things, like this: 


And some that pleased the eye even more: 


Rainbow tastes like bubble gum



The sun was beginning to set, and I had read somewhere that at dusk one ought to head to the end of St Kilda Beach Pier where there's a small colony of penguins. Although, I wasn't able to take a proper picture (no flash allowed) I did manage to see two penguins that were brave enough to come out to meet their admirers. The others seemed to like more the peace and visual protection the big rocks provided. However, they did make a lot of noise at some point (sounding like my nephew who has a fantastic talent of making a penguin sound; I can talk dolphin) and they stank. There, I said it. They may be cute and small, but they eat fish, hence they stink. So if one is blessed with the hound dog qualities that I possess (my Mom's nickname for me in Namibia aged 10), one can simply follow one's nose and wait for the penguins to show up. ;)



The back of a penguin :D

Even if the penguin spotting was modest in number of species spotted, I did get a good look at a swimming rakali, a water rat, that is also special to this location. The rakali is native species of Australia (tells the Wikipedia), and the one I saw was smoothly swimming just next to the pier. The funny detail was its white tail tip. Camera wasn't ready, so didn't get a picture of the fellow, but perhaps next time. For there will be a next time. St Kilda Beach is one of my favourite places so far in Melbourne, hippy, somehow unique and definitely beautiful. Jess just told be that one ought to be careful by the beach. There might be used syringes in the sand. Stick to the paved path, I say, and you'll be fine. 



St Kilda pier at sunset

Ended the evening with a glass of red wine at Little Blue, the kiosk at the end of the pier just next to the penguins. An amazing view, Rolling Stones and Gotye in the background - loved it! 

Since our house turns into an ice box somewhere around 4 am, I need to get up at 7 am even during weekends, because I NEED to put the heater on. This means lazy and long mornings, which is not bad either. So did a bit of shopping in the morning at eco d in Baldwyn and then took the tram to the city, aka CBD. I admit, I did feel like I was on a mission "See and experience the city - it's your duty!". Luckily, that feeling started to fade as I concentrated on taking pictures and just looking into the nice little shops and cafes the lanes offered me. I was guided by a small booklet they give out at the tourist information centre at Federation Square just downtown. This one was number 4 Arcades and lanes. 




I did stray from the path intentionally, because I decided to check out Queen Victoria Market, which has been operating since 1878. The market was packed with good things and then goodies made in China. I suppose I've seen so many markets in my lifetime that the place didn't at first struck me as something unique or a must see. But then I strolled to the organics and delicatessen section, which made me think, I need to go again. :D The market was closing for the day, so I think I ought to go there one morning to experience it then. I bet it's nicer then. Besides, I need to go back for the raw chocolate I got to taste, but tried not to buy too many things for me to carry. 




Someone's calling out for my dear nephew. :)

After Arcades and lanes, I intend to try the On the waterfront walking tour next weekend. If I'm in town, that is. :) 


Organic, healthy delicacies


A sly toucan on the wall 



Wheel of fortune - I know, I know! ;)

I ended the day by heading to the hipster area along Smith St and had a pint of lovely porter (finaly!) and a pizza (not so lovely) at Grumpy's Green. The best part was that there was some GOOD live jazz music being played and the atmosphere was really nice. But save your dinner money for another place. Perhaps the Las Vegan Bakery down the road towards the city. There are just so many restaurants in this town, that if I once get something not so great in one place, I wouldn't bother going back to eat there another time.
Sunday, third tourist day in a row - what is wrong with me?! ;) Although, I started the day early (due to the temperature) and by cleaning the house. Get the not so fun part of the day over and done with, even though, I seem to enjoy domestic household chores a lot more these days, when I'm mostly working on a computer. Trying to find the balance here. 

Well, it was sunnier when I left. This is the destination. The tallest building is Eureka Skydecker, which I aim to visit one of these days.

Sun. Possibility to get a little colour in a form of an Aussie tan. Solution: Take on the Main Yarra Trail with a bike. Distance from our place in Kew East to the city: 20 km. And like the name says, the trail goes along Yarra river and is somewhat clearly marked (roadwork at the moment, which can be distracting; my solution was to stalk a purposeful runner...). I left around midday so the trail track was busy with cyclist, runners and walkers, but we all fitted in well. My main problem was the fact that my landlord's bike's saddle isn't the most comfortable one I've been sitting on. I was wearing padded pants, but still, autsch.

I pedaled to the city's edge and then decided to check out the Tan Trail, a 5 km track around the Royal Botanical Garden, which is for tanning and running. Well, me, like a salmon in a stream went across the stream. For it seems that there is a direction that most of the people take (clockwise). My initial idea was to cycle to the beach (yes, I like it a lot), but since my butt wasn't cooperating and the clouds were gathering, I decided to check out the Shrine of Remembrance instead. 


The Shrine is a war memorial and inside the visitor's centre are pictures and information about the role of Australia and New Zealand in WWI and WWII. I thought the pictures were a good insight into war time conditions. One picture captivated my mind. It was a picture of an Australian soldier giving water to a Japanese prisoner of war who was severely malnourished and weak. A hand of a person not shown was holding the prisoner's head carefully and assisting him to drink. Makes you think. The Shrine is a must go to all visiting Melbourne. It gives you something to think about, but  also offers you an opportunity to view the city from the balcony. Past and present in balance. 

The trail was a lot quieter on my way back. It really doesn't take more than an hour to the city, depending on traffic and how fast you want to pedal. Next time I'll follow the Yarra Trail towards Westerfolds Park, the one I go to skike in. And that is 15 km away, so there really is an opportunity to combine cycling and skiking in one day... If only my bum can handle it.