We have not long returned from a wonderful family holiday. Gary and I, together with a friend from France, flew to Brisbane for a couple of nights to visit with some very dear friends. While we were there we travelled to the Gold Coast and dropped into a wild life sanctuary to catch up with some of the locals.
The trip home was crazy… What should have taken a little under an hour, took more than three hours! And they say Melbourne traffic is recidulous!!! We all had a bit of a laugh about it and needless to say some of us weren’t too keen to sit down for a while after we arrived home. Thanks to Krys for a wonderful roast leg of lamb with loads of veg on the first night, it was absolutely delicious.
Back at Brisbane Airport we met up with our son, his fiancée and our grandson, who had been up since the wee small hours of the morning in order to be there. We then all travelled to Townsville together. From Townsville we took a ferry to beautiful Maggie (Magnetic) Island. Maggie Island is a special place for all of us, and we soon settled into our accommodation, stocked the fridge and picked up some local seafood. During our stay on the Island we got to walk the beaches, watch some stunning sunrises, enjoy a little reading, and for some there was a little swimming.
Of course there was a little cooking happening. Fresh fruit platters, salads, and some pretty good breakfasts as well.
Tropical Prawn Salad
A few days later we all packed up and headed back to the mainland where we picked up a couple of hire cars and headed of on a 5 ½ hour drive to Port Douglas. We had rented a house for four nights, and during our stay here we made a trip to the Daintree (getting ourselves terribly lost along the way to the Ferry),
we had breakfast with the birds at a local wildlife sanctuary,
the younger generation went Bungy Jumping!!!
5-4-3-2-1 BUNGYYYYYYY……
and we all went shopping. Those that wanted to, spent time in the pool and there was fund cooking (and eating), using some wonderful fresh seafood. I loved having the opportunity to cook with our son, Chris, and friend, Fabien.
A collaboration – Surf and Turf cooked by Chris, Fabien and me
Now we are back home, there has been some serious work happening in the garden. We have planted 31 fruit trees. Now we have to trim and train them espellier style, then be patient and allow them to settle, grow and hopefully provide a little fruit in the years to com.
There has also been time for cooking – Chris introduced Fabien to Chicken Parmigiana during their time together, and Fabien wanted to know how to make it. He now plans to introduce his friends, back in Paris, to my version of Chicken Parmigiana!
Chicken Parmigiana
While we have been working hard in the corner patch, we have also taken a little time to explore our bigger back yard, this time we discovered Lake Tyers Beach, it was a lovely afternoon, the men enjoyed some local fish and chips while I had a gluten free burger with the lot – that is without the bun. Then we went for a nice walk to the beach.
Until next time…
Bon appétit!
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