Camping trip to the Grampians

This weekend Dan and I took a much needed camping trip to the Grampians, which are a mountain range located in Victoria's north-west. I had only been there once before, and even then it wasn't really a proper trip there. So I was pretty excited to be going somewhere new!

Working for a farming organisation, I was pretty excited to be driving through new country and able to check out the tiny baby lambs and canola that's currently flowering. The country side looked amazing!

We stopped off at a couple of wineries on the way, because that's how we roll (This may be the time to comment that the detox of last week was...well, not a fail, but not really a win). Mount Langi Ghiran was the second winery we checked out, which was actually by the same people as the first one. Langi means 'home' in aboriginal, but the meaning of Ghiran has been lost in the sands of time. Which is sad considering this is our culture that is lost, the culture of our land and it's original inhabitants.

Once we reached the Grampians and decided where we were going to camp, it was a 30km drive on a very crappy road which our little girl car didn't handle well. I couldn't get over the terrain though - it was very Outback/desert -like, which I just didn't expect at all! Red earth, grass trees, and even an friggen emu! In the wild! In Victoria! Phenomenal. We also saw a black snake, an echidna, and an overturned four wheel drive who had lost control trying to avoid one a stumpy tailed lizard

When we reached our campsite it was perfect - gorgeous view, far enough from other people but not too much to feel isolated. Sadly it was my first camping purely for the sake of camping trip - every other time has been at festivals or hiking. So it was nice to not have much to do at all. Dinner was cuppa noodles with broccoli (yes, I love that shit), and plenty of toasted marshmallows over the open fire. We then gazed awestruck at the night sky for a good several hours. Living in the city it's easy to forget that there are SO many stars out there. Absolutely stunning.

After waking up early with the dawn chorus and seeing a kangaroo just hanging out near the tent, it was time for the best meal of the day - breakfast! After scoffing at how Dan was making the cheese toasties, I realised it worked and had to get in amongst that action.  

A cheese toastie, two coffees and some vegetarian sausages later and we were ready to ROCK! First stop was Hollow Mountain, a two hour walk which was hopefully not going to destroy my knee. I dosed up on anti-inflammitories and off we went. It was a lot of fun. The first section was again quite desert-y, and then the rest of rock scrambling to the top. The view was phenomenal. Stupidity was had.

All in all, it was a great weekend! 

Monday Detox time

I did it again. This weekend I ate entirely too much cheese, drank too much, and didn't do enough exercise. In my defense, I have Runners Knee, or Girls Knee as my doctor likes to call it (thanks doc). Basically this means that my knee cap isn't tracking smoothly and is rubbing against one side of the knee joint so the cartilage surface is irritated. It can be fixed with a lot of exercises to strengthen the (non-existent) muscle near the knee, so I am allowed to keep running. But it hurts and I am worried about damaging it further so I'm taking it slow and cautiously.

But I really miss running, and when I don't run or exercise I tend to eat a whole lot of crap and feel sluggish and tired. So this week is semi-detox and exercise week! I think I said something similar a couple of weeks ago, but I swear, I mean it this time... ;)

Semi-detox rules:

• Coffee is allowed. I mean, really. I don't want to lose the will to live now do I? 
• More fruit (at least two pieces a day)
• More herbal tea (one-two cups a day)
• More water (1.5 litres, plus the herbal tea. It's all good). 
• More plant based foods 
• More 'real' foods (eg oats are OK, toast and Vegemite preferably not). 

Exercise rules: 

• Just do something decent every day

Dan and I will be embarking on the exercise thing together. Today I think it will be a run and then chin-ups, tricep dips and push ups at the park. Tomorrow a walk and ab work, Wednesday a run and yoga, Thursday some more arm exercises etc. We're going camping on the weekend so there will be hiking, but probably bad food. But that's ok. Every bit of nutritious food helps :) 

In other news, I really want to sign up for a half marathon in November. It is in Marysville, which got decimated in the bush fires a couple of years ago, so it will be a bit emotional I think. But it's regenerating well, and there will be trails rather than just roads, so if I train properly and cautiously, I think it will be doable. And it will supporting a region that lost so much, which in itself makes it worthwhile.

Steavenson Falls, Marysville

Things I Love Thursday

Sometimes when you're having a bad day, it's important to focus on the awesome. So here is my Things I Love Thursday.

Big umbrellas on rainy days <Fried eggs for brekkie and good coffee<PD days with great women<Massages by my wonderful fiance <The idea of a big pint of cidery goodness tonight<
Bicep curls<Walking to work <Dr Who <Tickets to Creepshow, AND good costume ideas for it <Adorable kitties purring on my foot< Conversations with good people <Other people who use the word awesome entirely too much too! Awesome.

I do feel better now :)

The Royal Melbourne Show, aka Tiny Baby Lambs!

This weekend I attended the Royal Melbourne Show for the second time. I'm not really a big fan of the Show since it's a financial death trap (entry! rides! showbags! food! miscellaneous crap!) so getting free entry helped. I attended a forum relating to work, and the caught up with my housemate and ran amok. Well, not really. But we had fun.

Now, since I work for a farming organisation and was attending a farmer's forum, I thought I should pay attention to the agricultural aspects of the Show, which is really what it was all about back in the day. Luckily, the thing I most wanted to do was to pat a tiny baby lamb. You may think that the tiny baby part of it is encompassed by the lamb part of it (lamb does mean young sheep after all), but no. I wanted a TINY BABY LAMB! And I scored with these little guys that had just been born that day. Possibly that hour (I think there was still placenta...).

They were frolicking and gambolling and just being adorable. I may have let out several delighted squeals of things such as '"s that not the cutest little fucker you've ever seen?!?!" 

I failed in my attempt to get a photo with one of the tiny baby lambs, as little kids like the ones below kept on cock-blocking me. Damn kids! ;)

After the animals and showbags (hello Bertie Beetle!), it was time for rides. Or, one ride. The XXXL. This bad boy flings you up, over, around and down, and frankly, I was scared for my life. It was awesome. I'm glad the guy told me to take my glasses of though, because otherwise they would be somewhere in the Maribyrnong by now I think. When you're as blind as a bat and not wearing glasses, the world looks like this:

The XXXL

When you have your glasses back on, it looks more like this: 

If you're thinking about going to the Show I'd say do it. Any day that makes you learn something, squeal with delight and fear for your life has got to be a good day!*

*It also helps to go with someone from Tasmania who has never seen anything like it before. You can laugh at their quaintness, and enjoy the fact that they are having a friggen awesome day! :)

Tofu of Win™ with soba and vegie soup

After having a bit of a health scare on the weekend and cutting short our weekend away, I decided it was time to eat less cheese *sob* and a bit more healthily. This is how Dan's Tofu of Win™ came into being!

Buckwheat soba soup (with Tofu of Win™)
Serves 4

1 large handful of dried shittake mushrooms that have soaked for about an hour (keep the water for the soup)
Water 
1 large teaspoon sambal oelek (or any chili would work)
Half teaspoon dried ginger (or 1 full teaspoon fresh/crushed)
1 or 2 teaspoons of crushed garlic
1 sachet of miso paste
A splurt of mirin
Salt
A heap of Vegies (we used broccoli, carrot, corn from the cob, red and green capsicum)
Diced spring onion
Soy sauce
2 packets of buckwheat soba noodles
Tofu, diced into chunks
Vegeta (vegetable stock)
Peanut oil


Make the broth first and when it gets to a boil you can blanch the carrot, then the broccoli. You don't want to leave it in there as they will go all mushy, so use common sense. Other vegies will be added last, but it's all up to you. You can also use the mushroom soaking water as that will add flavour. Soba can be added last as that will also go mushy. 


Whilst that's all happening coat your tofu in vegeta and fry it. I was skeptical at first, but holy crap. THIS IS DELICIOUS. I couldn't stop eating it. It's tasty, great textured, and just awesome. Try it. You'll never look back. If there's any left it can then be added to the bowls before you pour the soup in. Sprinkle with spring onion, add a healthy dash of soy sauce and voila! Instant awesome. It won't make leftovers since it will all go mushy so make enough to eat, or give some to your housemates!  

You'll note that you can't see much tofu. This is because I ate the rest of it :-/ There is more in the bottom of the bowl, but personally I would prefer to eat it as is. 


And, because I realised I haven't posted a picture of me on this blog yet, here is a shameless pic of me at the farm we stayed at in the Yarra Valley (before I got sick). Although I work for a farming organisation, I don't think I could look more like a city girl if I tried! 

Tough Mudder

As I was trawling the interwebs the other day (well, facebook), I discovered a little ad on the side called Tough Mudder. It looked interesting so I clicked the link...and fell in love. If by love you mean instant excitement.

Tough Mudder is billed as 'probably the toughest event on the planet'. I don't believe it's that' tough, but I'm sure we'll see. It involves a 12 mile (which equates to 19 kms...eep!) obstacle course with things like mud pits, monkey bars, dives into icy water and other vaguely masochistic challenges. Awesome. Actually, looking at some of the individual challenges has made me wonder what the hell I was thinking! Particularly since it will be two weeks before our wedding!



BUT it does tie in nicely with some of my challenges - eg one of the requirements is to be able to do at least 6 chin-ups and at least 25 push-ups. So I can think of it as epic way of achieving my goals, yes?

I was hoping that my friend Anna would do it with me, but she said hell no. But I live in hope! (although I didn't realise it was 12 miles rather than 12 kms...this does make quite a difference).

Now to buy me some kettle bells or at least a dumb bell bar. Good times ahead! :-D

30 before 30

Hello! Finally I have time to revisit my 30 before 30 list and see what I still need to do in the next 3.5 months.


1. Go to a new country with a different culture and language

2. Learn another language

3. Run a half marathon

4. Learn to surf

5. Learn to sew (properly), as in take a sewing course.

6. Climb a palm tree

7. Go scuba diving - booked in for this year! 

8. Swim with sharks - half done, if you consider snorkelling with sharks in Sea World as swimming with sharks.

9. Travel around Australia - half done - I'm slowly making my way around, but I haven't seen the outback yet. 

10. Go to Tasmania

11. Go skiing

12. See snow
13. Go to the Amazon - half done. I've been to the Amazon Basin but not the actual Amazon River. 

14. Get a degree

15. See the full moon over water (ideally a beach)

16. Live inner city

17. Go camping under the stars

18. See Macchu Picchu

19. Attend a High Tea, preferably with my mum.

20. Go to a gallery

21. Go to the Museum (I have been to museums, but not the Melbourne Museum...)

22. Do the Oxfam Trail Walk

23. Have a stall at a market

24. Go to Canada

25. Buy a brand new car

26. Do Bikram or Hot Yoga

27. Do 10 chin ups/pull ups

28. See Rammstein Live

29. Go to New Zealand

30. Go to the Melbourne Comedy Festival

I thought I was doing pretty well actually, but I've only done 16 out of the 30...crap! Some of them have been half done, such as swimming with sharks and going to the Amazon, but they're still ones that aren't completed yet. I have plans on cage diving with sharks in the future, and whenever I see pictures of the Amazon I have pangs of longing so clearly that isn't finished yet. 

Some of these I haven't completed and know I won't. For instance I know I won't get to Canada before I'm 30, and that's ok. Oxfam Trail Walk I physically won't be able to do since it's next year and even then I won't be able to do it. I would prefer to climb a palm tree in a tropical island paradise, which will most likely be Thailand for our honeymoon. I'm not really craft anymore so I can't imagine having a craft store, unless it's for old clothes or a glorified garage sale. Learning to surf and taking a sewing course have been on my list every year for a good 5 years or so, probably longer for surfing. Since we're saving for the wedding I don't think they'll happen this year (again!). 

Overall, there's still a good couple of things that I can do in the next few months to knock off the list: 

High Tea with mum

Visit the Melbourne Museum

Bikram or Hot yoga

10 chin-ups or pull-ups (although I'm not 100% convinced about that. But I reckon I should be able to get up to 5. Can't I?!).

Realistically...that's not too bad. I can knock the first two off in a weekend easy. Sweet! 

But one day I will get back to South America. I will boat or canoe along the Amazon, and I will see these guys, the Amazon River Dolphin, or Boto. Even though they look a little freaky, one of my favourite memories was waking up one morning to see my dad (who worked night shift and had just finished work) watching a documentary on the Amazon. In the river was in flood, and there were dolphins frolicking in the water between the trees. Dolphins! In a forest! Fucking awesome. 

Image via Kevin Schafer @ Nat Geo