Sydney, Australia: Part 2

So, it turns out that I have a tonne of pictures from Sydney that I want to share.  Personally, I'm not a big fan of blog posts that go on forever.  My attention span is just too short.  So, I'm going to have to split Sydney up into three posts, rather than the intended one two. You can read Part I here.

On our third day, we took a bus to Bondi Beach.

A beach that is packed in the summer is pretty much limited to the odd tourist and surfers in the fall.

;

We spent some time walking around the area, which has a mix of surf shops and cute locally-run shops (e.g., used bookstore, cafe, pet store, etc.) and beautiful homes that will set you back at least a couple million, each.

I read that Hurricane's Grill & Bar is the place to go on Bondi Beach.  Although their restaurant isn't open as much in the off season, they did have a take out stand, next door.  So we ordered our ribs and ate them on the beach.

Their ribs are goooood!  Lots of bbq sauce, tender and filling.

Only problem was the crazy-aggressive birds that harass you for food.  

After stuffing ourselves full of ribs, we walked along a path that takes you to various beaches.

The next day, we took a train to the Blue Mountains, named for the colour that is produced by the eucalyptus tree oil.  I spent, what seemed like forever, debating between an organized bus tour or just taking a train.  We decided to do the latter since organized tours seems to have mixed reviews and we didn't have any major goals for the Blue Mountains, aside from seeing the Three Sisters and doing some hiking.

We trained to Katoomba and walked (a couple of kilometers) to the Three Sisters.  Seemed reasonable, until we realized how freaking cold it is there.  I think I underestimated the warnings about the temperature difference in Katoomba.  Bring warm clothes (sweater, jacket, mitts, toque/hat, etc.).  R ended up buying a hoodie to wear under his rain jacket.  

But, when life hands you lemons cold weather, drink hot chocolate.

At first, I thought it was a cold-induced mirage. 

me:   Does that sign say chocolate?!?  

R: Probably not

10 steps closer

me: No, seriously, I think it says chocolate.  OMG - it says chocolate!  I bet you there's hot chocolate.  

Not just any hot chocolate, Blue Mountain Chocolate Company serves real hot chocolate.   Truth be told, I would have bought a cup even if it entailed pressing a plastic red button to get hot chocolatey sludge in a cup.  But, this stop was exactly what we need to recharge our batteries and convince us that it was wise to walk across town rather than take the tourist bus that takes you from the train to the Three Sisters.  The slices of pie were also delicious.  

After our stop, things were looking up.  Turns out that the chocolate shop is very close to the Three Sisters.

Here they are, the famous Three Sister rock formation. 

 I figured that the Blue Mountains had an unfair disadvantage, in our eyes, seeing as we had recently come from New Zealand, which has some of the most amazing mountain views in the world.   But, there are nice views to be had and various hiking trails.

After a few pictures, we walked toward Scenic World, taking pictures along the way.  

I was a bit skeptical about Scenic World.  Something about the name made me think that it was going to be cheesy.  But, it was actually a pretty good tourist site.  They have several different "experiences" for visitors to partake in.  One of which is the Scenic Railway, the steepest train in the world.

I love the signs in Australia and New Zealand -- much less formal that the stuffy (usually government issued) signs you see in Canada.  Yet, it did make me wonder what I was getting myself into.

Here's a video of our ride of the Scenic Railway.  For your viewing pleasure, I've cut out the cursing.

At the bottom of the railway, there is a network of paths that take you through the vegetation and mining history in the area.  

Back at the top of the railway, there are a variety of wild parrots, who return to this site to be hand-fed by tourists with endless handfuls of bird food.

Stay tuned for Sydney Part 3!

Sydney, Australia (Part I)

Time to return to my trip report! After Cairns, which you can read about here, we flew to Sydney. There is so much I want to share about Sydney, that I think I'm going to have to break this up into two posts.

Knowing that Sydney has a lot of great restaurants, I forewarned R that I wanted to eat out more and not adhere to our usual pattern of cooking in the hostel kitchen. As a restaurant guide,  I spent some time looking through Sydney food blogs, like Grab Your Fork and Eat Show and Tell and received some great advice from @MBAMamaMusing.

I loved Sydney. We spent a week in Sydney, but we barely scratched the surface.  I would happily spend a year living in Sydney, exploring the various neighbourhoods and restaurants.

After taking the train to The Rock (the part of town by the harbour), we made our way to the Sydney Harbour Hostel. R gets credit for lugging our bags up several flights of stairs. The hostel, although relatively expensive as far as hostels go, is well-located. This is the view from the balcony:

Not to mention that it is an interesting building, built above an archeological dig.

We spend some time walking around the Rocks, and decided to go to Lowenbrau for dinner. 

R ordered this dish, which I can't seem to locate on the menu, so I'm guessing it was a special.  Not the most photogenic dish, but he liked it.

I ordered the Löwenschnitzel:

The portions are plentiful tasty.  Service is good, though I'd guess that there is pressure or incentive for servers to up-sell with alcohol and dessert.

The next day, we walked to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, intending to climb the bridge.  I figured that a bridge climb would cost somewhere around $30.  Yeah...not quite.  I was so shocked at the price, that I had to take a picture:

After verifying that paying this price didn't actually entitle us to partial ownership of the bridge (yes, I asked), we decided to just walk across the pedestrian portion of the bridge.

After making our way past most of the bridge (and returning to The Rocks side of the bridge), we continued to walk toward the opera house and onto the ground of the botanical gardens.

I don't think we have Magpies in Ontario.

I think this is around the time where R starting singing, "Bird is the Word" (the version in the video, below).



(note: I can't stand Family Guy)

At one point in our walk, we came to an area where bird were making squealing noises.  I learned afterwards they were flying foxes (fruit bats).  Whereas bungeeing off a bridge seems unreasonable scary for me and fun for R, a tree full of sleeping bats is fascinating enough for me to take multiple pictures from various angles while R is quickly running past the tree to avoid any unwanted encounters.

I was really impressed with the amount of green space in central Sydney.  We continued through to Hyde Park, where they have the Anzac War Memorial.

St. Mary's Cathedral

Archibald Fountain

The next day, we took the ferry to Taronga Zoo.  Although quite expensive ($44 / adult), we both really loved the zoo.  The grounds were beautiful and the exhibits really nicely laid out.  I really liked the bird enclosures, which allow you to walk through a jungle-like setting with many species of birds.  Love this bird:

Here's a kangaroo, sleeping on its back:

This is a Cassowary, one of the most dangerous birds in the world.

Speaking of dangerous, Australia is home to some of the most dangerous species in the world.  Thankfully, I was able to put this little tidbit to the back of my mind while travelling.

s

Emu (another bird R didn't want to go near while I was willing to hand-feed it):

Koalas!

All in all, a great day.

That night, we went next door to the hostel to visit Australian Heritage Hotel, well known for its interesting pizza varieties.

I had the Tandoori Chicken pizza, which was okay. But, I grew tired of the taste pretty quickly.

R had the kangaroo pizza. Kangaroo is fairly tough, but the taste is decent.

Part II: To be continued...

Ricotta Cheesecake with Concord Coulis

I will very often check what's in my fridge, think about the ingredients and then start canvassing the recipe sites for inspiration This week I had some ricotta cheese and cream cheese, both earmarked for different dishes that never came to fruition. I found an interesting recipe at Cooks.com for Ricotta Cheesecake!!! I love easy; very in to immediate gratification.


I also happen to be a happy camper when recipes turn out the way they're supposed to. This was not the case with my attempt at Concord Grape Jelly. Instead of jelly, I now have coulis; delicious but certainly not jelly.



Ingredients

1 lb. ricotta cheese (I used reduced fat)
1 lb. cream cheese (I used reduced fat)
1 c. sugar
4 eggs, beaten lightly
1/2 c. sugar (this can be reduced slightly)
1/4 lb. melted butter
1 pt. sour cream
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
3 tbsp. cornstarch
3 tbsp. flour

Ricotta and cream cheese in a bowl. Beat it very well. Stir in 1 cup sugar. Add the beaten eggs, lemon juice and vanilla. Sift 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, flour. Add gradually to cheese. Add the melted butter and sour cream. Blend thoroughly. Pour into a greased pan. Bake at 300 degrees until firm, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Turn off oven, open door and cool thoroughly in oven. (Takes several hours.)

As you can see, I served it with fresh peaches and concord grape coulis. The message is that sometimes when you fail (i.e. jelly), you actually win (i.e. killer coulis)