Things I love about spring in Hobart.

magnolia blooms.

the odd shirtless runner.

the legitimacy of icecream.

uncomfortably warm cars.

getting my pins out.

the short period where winter veg is still sweet and delicious but you can get the occasional mango.

the smell of daphne and jasmine heavy in the air on a warm evening.

grand final day.

not lighting the fire.

how quickly the weather changes.

what I don't love about spring in Hobart.

the bird (a wattlebird I'm sure) that makes a terrible noise outside my window for roughly 30 mins from 5:30AM every single day. 

Dee x

An Exercise Overload.

So, I feel like I should preface this with a bit of a spiel about my past sporty self. I used to play a lot of hockey and most summers I disappear into the mountains and turn into a bushwalking guide (cue huge quads, rock solid hammies and a diet that consists primarily of fruit cake) so my body does know how to move, I'm just lazy. 

This is what happened. Parkrun started up in Hobart and Eli convinced me to go with her. We decided we should go for a warm up walk one afternoon on the Mountain before our first run where we some how decided that we should also start going to a boot campy thing type. WTF was happening? In the space of a few days I had gone from being a chronically lazy person who occasionally commutes to town on a bike to doing 3 separate exercise events a week! On top of that, I soon remembered that I had earlier committed to playing futsal once a week. Shiiiiiiit.

So, I wanted to document how all this exercise was going down...

Did I suddenly feel fit and fabulous?
Was I crippled by the activation of muscles that I never knew I had?
Was I compelled to eat whole bunches of kale in one sitting and drink coconut oil for breakfast?

Parkrun.
I thought I'd take the couch to 5k in a morning approach. It felt pretty good at the time but now, I'm not so sure. Eli and I plodded along, playing jump frog with a few people who were doing the whole run fast then walk thing. I can't do that, I'm all about maintaining a pace. The first week left me feeling pretty bloody sore! In fact I think it might have started off a bit of a knee problem but I'm sure it's nothing that a few Voltaren 25s and the physio can't sort out.

6:30am Boxing.
Boxing, also known as mildly aggressive cardio in disguise. It's pretty great! There was lots of interaction with the others in the class and as a total newbie, I felt myself improving over the space of a single class. The only issue is standing face to face with someone else's morning breath. Alex's morning breath is the only sort I can handle and even that gets tough sometimes.

Sunrise Pilates.
It's not actually called sunrise pilates but I think it makes it sound so delightful and whimsical. It's more accurately described as torture as it awakens looooong dormant muscles like there's no tomorrow. The deep breathing made me feel a bit faint and the foam roller caused all sorts of pain but afterwards I felt like I had been stretched out from top to toe and my muscles were fatigued but I didn't feel lethargic which was pretty amazing.

A paddock full of daffodils to brighten your day. 

Futsal commentary to come! First game is tomorrow; GO YOLANDA!

Dee x


P.S Eli wants me to do Zumba some time. I tried telling her that I have about as much rhythm and coordination as a drunk baby lamb but she didn't believe me. She'll learn.

P.P.S There's been no kale or coconut oil drinking. In fact, I think I've been using all this exercise as an excuse to eat like a football player.

Details:
Parkrun is a weekly event that runs all across Australia. The principle is run for 5km against the clock and yourself, they will time you and compile your results so you can track your progress. It's free and fun and you should all get around it.

Go Booty is run by Mel, a superwoman disguised as a normal person albeit one with great muscle tone. She has established an amazing atmosphere of support and makes you want to go to her classes!

Science, smchience...

At 5:30PM on Saturday the 16th of August I was perched on a rock, chin resting on my knees, watching the setting sun colour the sky pink, then red, then dusky blue. I had Frenchman's Cap on the western horizon, the King William range a little to the south and Mt Gell to the north. I could feel the last warmth in the sun on my face and could hear the carrying on of 8 school kids playing in what was left of the winter snow. To me, this was a blissful moment, an accumulation of my passions falling into one single experience. I was in nature, completely aware of how lucky I am to love and live this life and I was sharing that with others who might one day develop their own connection to the raw and true natural world, just as I have.

There was a small part of me that wasn't present in that moment because in that same moment, under different circumstances I would have been wearing a silly hat and a long robe at my graduation. I will instead receive the very important A4 piece of paper via Australia Post in the next few weeks.

While I don't attach a lot of worth to the ceremony surrounding things like graduations, I could see the value of my degree in that moment. Science has shown me how to not only love nature but to know it. It has given me the tools to write and talk about detailed natural processes in a way that resonates with people who wouldn't normally be interested in or able to understand them. My science degree has helped me in my guiding career, makes me feel closer to my Dad, given me endless exposure to amazingly passionate people who are my role models and mentors and continues to be a blessing as I study nursing.

So while I may bitch and moan about the size of my HECS debt and how I will never work in science because I hate data analysis, blah blah blah, this blog hopefully shows you and may serve as a reminder to me in the future that my science degree has been instrumental in putting me where I am today and for that I can only be grateful.

Dee x.

Eat. Shop. Sleep. Repeat. The Melbourne Edition.

Once again, too many words, not enough pictures. Sorry, I suck at this, I know. 

After a cancelled flight then some lengthy delays and a hypothermia inducing walk across the tarmac, we arrived in Melbourne early on Friday morning (we're talking 1AM). We went straight to bed only to be woken early by the clatter of construction works next door so we did the only logical thing to do; left the hotel to get breakfast.

Two birds, One stone

12 Claremont St, South Yarra

My favourite cafe in Melbourne. The interior is light and open and they have the most amazing pale aqua coffee cups. Laura was still sleeping thanks to her ear plugs so it was just Alice and I for this meal. We shared the veggie breakfast, a huge plate with perfectly poached eggs, sauteed spinach, haloumi, avocado, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes ($19) followed by the house made crumpets with mandarin curd, mascarpone and figs ($13) which was delicious but totally unnecessary given the size of our first course.

We didn't make it back here (other than for a takeaway coffee) but distance makes the heart grow fonder and there's no doubting that I'll be back. They also have Top Paddock in Richmond and the very new Kettle Black in South Melbourne which I would looooove to check out. 

Emporium Foodcourt (foodcourt does not do this place justice).

On the bottom level of the very new and shiny (and still slightly unfinished) Emporium is a foodcourt that exceeds all expectations. We went in search of dumplings that Alice had read about on a blog but also found fresh rice paper rolls, ramen and thai street food. Yum yum yum. A great option if you find yourself overcome with hunger while lining up in the fitting room queue at Top Shop.

Colonel Tan's

229 Chapel Street

After a bottle of Prosecco and a cheese platter on the floor in our hotel room, we finally ventured out to find some food at around 9pm. Still on Hobart time, I was amazed and pretty excited about the fact that many restaurants were still just warming up! We headed up Chapel Street to Colonel Tan's; a thai restaurant that becomes a bar come 11pm. The steep staircase and the winding corridors leave you with no misconceptions; you are about to eat dinner in a place that has no doubt been the site of many indecent acts but I feel that this just adds to the appeal. The low red light and sticky tablecloths aside, this place is happening; awesome cocktails, great (and very reasonably priced) food equals good times all round.

P.S by the time we left the tables were being pushed back and there were numerous people looking a little bit too comfortable on the couches.

Oscar and Cooper

160 Greville Street Prahan

We arrived just before the hordes of lorna jane clad ladies which was lucky because I would've felt a bit self conscious stuffing my face in front of them and their post exercise glow. This place had one of those menus that is hard to order off because everything sounded so freaking delicious. I settled for the thyme roasted mushrooms on seeded bread with smashed avocado and soft Meredith's goats cheese ($16.50) with an added poached egg ($2). It was my ideal meal. I gobbled the first half without thinking then had to savour every bite til sadly, it was over. The girls were wooed by the eggs benedict on potato roesti which was deemed to be incredible. Coffee good, service awesome, vibe wonderful. Go.

Burch & Purchese

Chapel Street, South Yarra

Ah, Darren Purchese, if I was religious I might start referring to you as God but alas, I am not, so instead you are just the King of Dessert. I managed to resist the urge to buy a second jar of salted caramel but couldn't say no to a dessert. I settled on the staff favourite, a plastic tube filled with layers of mint and passionfruit gel, passionfruit custard, a white chocolate mousse dome sprayed with caramlised white chocolate, a mint crisp and finally, coconut caviar. It's a pity I ate this when I was a) full of Kong goodness and b) a little bit drunk. I'm sure it was amazing though.

Kong

599 Church Street, Richmond

So, we arrived at 6PM-ish, well aware that this was a no booking restaurant. We were told there'd be about a 30-40 minute wait so we gave our number and popped down the road for a glass of wine. We headed back before we got a call but quickly found ourselves sitting at the bar, overlooking the kitchen. Our waiter poured us wine and suggested we eat various things and we nodded because we didn't know what else to do. We ate: kimchi 3 ways, wagyu and kimchi dumplings in a light soy dressing, roti roll filled with cabbage, kewpie and lemongrass BBQ chicken, lamb ribs with curry sauce and BBQ chicken. The focus here is on the wood fired BBQ and oven, combine this with the pumping Chin Chin-esque vibe (same owners) then you are guaranteed a good time.

Until next time Melbourne,

Dee x. 

Break time.

Off to Melbourne tomorrow for four nights of eating and shopping. Doesn't that sound amazing?

Will report back with tales of tasty treats and a bank balance in the negative.

Dee x

A little note to say I miss you.

To my Dad,

I've missed you every day and I know that won't change. You are gone but you are alive in my mind and in everything I do.

There's an eskimo proverb that reads like this.

'Perhaps they are not stars but rather openings where the love of our lost ones pours through'.

For me, nothing could be truer on a clear starry night like tonight.

Dee x.

Eating my way through Launceston.

Nutella Hot Chocolate. Inside Cafe Launceston. 

Eating is one of my favourite past times. I see this as quite a productive past time because you may as well get more out of chowing down than the sustenance alone. I love cooking delicious things and then eating them in place of more convenient and sometimes more nutritious options but what I especially love is eating out. I love walking into a cafe/restaurant/shop etc. and feeling like a welcomed guest. I love the simple agreement that you enter into when you walk in that says simply 'this is what we offer, we believe in it, we hope you do too'. There's just nothing like bonding over food and all the things that go along side it.

So this post has been prompted by the last 36 hours I spent eating my way through Launceston. I knew immediately when my friend Alice moved north for work a few months ago that it would provide the perfect opportunity for a gourmet tour of the city that I had previously only really stayed in before or after guiding trips. Such stays usually involved me sleeping at a backpackers, wandering the aisles of Coles for something I could eat for breakfast the next morning and getting a takeaway meal of tofu vegie stirfry (pretty exciting stuff, especially when you do it once a week for 3 months).

This trip was going to be different and here's how it went.

Friday

Arrived in time for lunch. Made the walk from the CBD up Charles Street to Aroma's where we enjoyed over priced but delicious olive pizza and chicken and pumpkin risotto. It was good food to whet the appetite for things to come.

Wandered Launceston's small but interesting selection of boutiques, I particularly loved the ranges at Home Body (for now) and Justin Paul (for when I am a wealthy middle aged babe with a liking for italian leather bags and cornflower blue cashmere).

Made just enough room in my stomach for half a chocolate mousse cake and a pot of Prana Chai at Sweet Brew. This cafe is super cute. It's tiny, the staff are the perfect blend of chatty and polite and the coffee is also top notch.

Rolled back to the car to drive to Alice's via a trip to collect the other member of our food tour (Laura) and a quick stop at Cocobean, a small shop filled to the brim with some classic and some more interesting chocolates including a Boag's Wizard Smith Ale Truffle. I bought a few for 'after dinner' but I'm pretty sure I ate them all before we got home.

7pm saw us walking into the Black Cow Bistro, a place that has been near the top of my where to eat list since it opened more than five years ago. I was about as excited as one can be to eat steak. Everything was amazing. You must go. You must order the carrot and cauliflower sides and a steak of your choice. You will enjoy. Thank me later.
P.S. this meal cost a metric shit tonne but it was worth it. I noticed that dining in Launie is about 10-15% dearer than what I am used to paying for similar things in Hobart but I think this might adjust once the community starts to appreciate all the deliciousness that is on their doorstep!

Nursed my huge bulging gut to the car, sat in a moderate amount of discomfort until we got home where I could lie down. The steak was worth it.

Saturday

We woke to a super clear and cold morning, just the way I like them. Off we went to a 9:30AM booking at Blue Cafe in Inveresk. The other girls ate prosciutto and herb croquettes with poached eggs on charred asparagus with hollandaise. Looked lush other than the pork factor. I had the sweet corn fritters which I can never refuse when I see them on a menu. They were served on a board with half a wedge of lime and tabasco with chopped cherry toms, avocado, chilli jam and yogurt. I thought I'd struggle to eat so early after such a stuffing the night before but I managed, mainly because they were so delicious.

Off we went to check out the Harvest Market. More food to eat there and less produce than the Farm Gate Market in the south but still very worthy of a wander. We tried some tasty jams and I bought some brownies (wattle seed and walnut and a salted caramel) that I am going to annihilate when I stop feeling sick.

We spent the next hour looking at furniture I'll never own in the Design Centre before heading to Inside where I tried on THE MOST AMAZING GREY ASYMMETRICAL WOOLEN COAT EVER and then consoled myself for not being able to justify buying it by drinking a nutella hot chocolate. This is probably the best hot drink known to man. It is literally an enormous scoop of nutella in the bottom of a large glass with steamed milk poured over the top. Heaven.

Feeling slightly nauseous and with our top buttons undone we got in the car and started the drive south.

My next post won't make you feel so jealous, I promise.

Dee x

Where we ate:

Aroma's Cafe Restaurant
272 Charles Street
Sweet Brew
93a George Street
Cocobean
82 George Street
Black Cow Bistro
70 George Street
Blue Cafe
Inveresk Railyards
Harvest Market Launceston
Cimitiere Street Carpark, every Saturday 9am-12noon
Inside Cafe
10-14 Paterson Street