As much as I bitch and moan about Australia being rude, it sure is nice to be having a hot Christmas and seeing old mates. There is nothing better than meeting up with an old friends and chatting like no time has passed at all. Perhaps there are a few more smile lines around the old eyes, an extra kilo or two around the waist, but the conversation with old friend flows freely like Coopers Pale Ale at the Exeter.
My time in Brisbane was brief (too brief), but my last night was a super chilled gastronomic explosion: Angus beef, tasty cheese and Maggie Beers quince paste from the Rosalie Gourmet Market topped off with a 2008 Grant Burge Filsell Old Vine Shiraz.
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| Even the elephant got in the act! |
It is always nice to land in my home town of Adelaide. I consider Adelaide my oldest and dearest friend; always cheery and calming. My favourite moment is when the clouds part and I see the northern most suburbs from the small window of the plane. But the moment when I see the twinkling blue ocean is the moment when I know that I have arrived home.
My family always greets me at the airport. I was once greeted by my Pop with a small esky of home brew beer that we cracked open on the way home from the airport. It was only 9am when my plane landed this time, so beer was not on offer the morning I arrived, but it was promptly drunk at "Beer-o'clock"; usually, anytime after 12pm in his household.
I was lucky enough to catch my old friend Aimee when she returned to Adelaide for a brief visit. Unfortunately for me, my family now lives 45 minutes from the city of Adelaide, so I couldn't join her in the Christmas wine that she was consuming at our favourite pub on Rundle Street, The Exeter, because I had to drive home. However, she kept me entertained for hours with her amusing tales of 'life in university' and 'life in Bathurst'. A delicious meal at Cafe Micheal 2 was almost not had; restaurants in Adelaide close promptly at 9pm (a clear sign that I am not in North America anymore). We arrived at 9:05pm and my approach was 'Gosh, Adelaide sucks'. Thankfully, hers was more articulate and convincing. Luckily, Aimee still has her magical powers of persuasion and we managed to convince them to seat us. The duck and lychee red curry was my personal favourite, but every dish was cooked to perfection.
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| Duck Red Curry with Lychee = YUM! |
It was so much fun to see Aimee. Her vivacious personality is infectious and I love spending time with her when I come home to Australia. After dinner, we sat at the Austral for old times sake and drank the rest of the sparkling burgundy wine that we ordered at dinner. In Adelaide, if you order a bottle of wine at a restaurant and you don't finish it by the end of the meal, you are allowed to take the bottle with you as long as it is re-corked. We improvised and shoved a serviette in the top and then snuck it over to drink it sitting on the outside seats of the Austral. I must say, I used to work at the Austral and it is disappointingly ferral these days. People were running amok. One group of sloshed middle-aged men came up to us and asked where to party. We both looked blankly at each other and replied that we didn't know. It was a sobering moment: no longer are we the queens of nightlife, partying as we once were in 1995. Gone are the days of buying a bottle of Seaview Brut sparkling wine at the Royal Oak Hotel bottle-o and asking for 2 plastic cups so that we could sip it on the walk into the city. We used to have a club date from Thursday to Sunday and religiously we would party until all hours every weekend. Times, they are a-changing. We don't really want that lifestyle anymore, but I think we both took a moment to morn the loss of our reckless lifestyle and lack of responsibility that we had as Adelaide University students.
Since then, I have been filling my days with beach walks. Beaches are quite close and I have been taken by the Grange to Henley beach jetty walk. It is approximately 4.5 km's and it is the perfect way to spend an early morning. It is my aim to see the ocean as much as possible while I am here.
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| Beware of snakes at Semaphore beach! |
On this Christmas eve, I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. So, where ever you are in the world, enjoy your day tomorrow!
Jody xx
