off to market

The London trip seems a million miles away these days but every now and then I get a little pop of memory and something I ate or saw from our travels leaps into mind.

In particular one day keeps coming back.  It was a Saturday when I went to the Borough Market and then met up with a new friend Gigi at the Bermondsey street fair in South London. It was just an all round brilliant day. The sun was shining, the markets were booming and bustling, tables piled high with loaves of bread and wheels of cheese. Brownies, cakes and turkish delight were in bacchanalian abundance, as well as tables of heirloom tomatoes and other wonderful produce.

I was a little overwhelmed by it all at first until I had an epiphany a few minutes in when I realised I didn't have to eat everything then and there, I could buy food to be enjoyed later. So I bought some brownies and cakes to take to Kristian and his mate Nick, who were working hard at the design fair in Earl's Court, and ate figs and cheese as I wandered round the stalls.

Luckily I didn't indulge too much at the market because Bermondsey Street was a whole other experience of Hog Roasts, country style fare and curiosities. Gigi and I met up with some of her friends, who had two of the cutest kids I've ever seen and proceeded to enjoy the most surreal few hours at the fair. There was a dog show, a kid show, a street performer dressed up in the manner of an extremely pregnant Victorian woman, who would periodically scream as if in labour and then launch at people to "give birth to them" through her dress. If that sounds weird, it's because it was. Luckily by this point Gigi and I had consumed a few beers so it was sort of bearable/ entertaining.

Quite a day indeed. The photos don't do it justice really but then again I think some of it is probably best left to the imagination.

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street moments

Greetings again! It's quite surreal to realise I've been back now for almost a month! Coming back to Earth has been a bit tricky and I'm still wading through a heck lot of photos and trying to get my head into Sydney and this topsy turvy spring weather and work and things. Still, there is something lovely about extending the trip feeling for as long as possible....

I was a bit like Alice in Londonland during our trip. I couldn't see enough. Everything was fascinating and magical: from misspelt, ardent graffiti to abandoned street cakes to little folk, spotted at the vibrant and loud Columbia flower market. I loved hearing the flower sellers there yelling out prices to the passing crowd, or in one vendors case giving good weather advice: 'Don't be a wally, grab a brolly, two pounds a bargain!'


There's something to be said for really looking at a place and retaining that sense of childlike wonder about the little details. Looking up and down brings into view a whole new world. I'm hoping to keep my travel eyes in place a bit longer and re-discover some of the little wonders of Sydney too.

Next up the promised food and markets!

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unexpected and wonderful

Well hello!

It's hard to believe I've been to London and back since my last post. What a trip - surprising, inspiring, vibrant, overwhelming - London was unexpected and wonderful and almost impossible to reduce to any one experience or moment.  Here are a few of my first impressions:

What an amazing city! London greeted us with blue skies and sunshine and so in the early few days we picnicked in parks and walked our legs off. We stayed in an apartment in Bethnal Green, which is near Shoreditch and Brick Lane in East London and was very vibrant and villagey. I loved that you could walk for fifteen minutes in any direction and encounter so many vastly different neighbourhoods, architectural styles, people, food....

One morning we walked for an hour or so from our apartment across town to Clerkenwell to find a shop, which sold nuts and bolts of all things, and accidentally stumbled across the best coffee in London from a tiny, little, Italian cafe in Hackney, and all because I needed to find a loo.

I think that is always my favourite way to explore a new city - no real agenda, no plans, just wander.
And what a city to wander in!

The above pics are from Bethnal Green, Brick Lane, Millenium Bridge, Carnaby Street, Shoreditch, Bloomsbury (British Museum), Hampstead and Bethnal Green again (where I had a 'how much is that doggie in the window?' moment).

Looking back over my photos from the trip I've realised I've got quite a few bakeries, shopfronts and markets to share with you too but for now it's good to be back home and also back here. I've missed this space while I've been away and missed you guys too. Hope all is well where you are.

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if you could time travel

I recently listened to a remarkable interview with the writer Ray Bradbury. When asked which moment of his life he would revisit if he could time travel, he answered: 'Every single moment.' Have a listen to the whole interview here. It's amazing.

With that in mind, here are a few moments above of late that I would be happy to revisit:
~ afternoon tea at a friend's new sun drenched flat (where she made fresh ground coffee, polenta cake and bruschetta);
~ a chat with my elderly Italian neighbour which concluded with her giving me some flowers from her garden;
~ a cheese-plate eaten with friends, as we shared hilarious flirtation and relationship anecdotes.

Not long now till our London trip. I'm really looking forward to it but trying to stretch out the delicious sense of anticipation too. Being in the moment is key.

If you are in London during 19-22 September, come along to 100% Design, Stand L318, in Earl's Court, where you will find Kristian showing his wonderful new range of products - very exciting!

Pub lunches, ciders and steaming mugs of tea ahoy!

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a few degrees

In search of a few degrees extra warmth and some down time we recently headed up north to the Gold Coast for a few days. It was a funny trip.

The weather held out its end of the bargain and was sunny and mostly warm enough for t-shirts and shorts to both make an appearance. We also enjoyed some pretty great food and an apartment with a glorious view of the sky and the sea.

And then... we both got head colds, Kristian suffered a minor foot injury, I cricked my back and managed to fulfill one of my most feared experiences by spectacularly throwing up on a crowded bus coming back from Dreamworld. Not my finest hour let me tell you. I now know that multiple roller coaster rides (including the horror inducing kiddie-spinning-boat-thing that goes around and upside down) coupled with painkillers and egg salad sandwiches do not mix. Even writing that sentence is making me feel nauseous.

On the plus side there was plenty of relaxing and down time. We walked on the beautiful but also slightly apocalyptic looking beach up to Surfer's Paradise, got some quality vitamin D action and even caught up on some classic episodes of Cheers and Family Ties. Good times indeed.  Oh and we made some awesome food - burgers, epic breakfasts, bacon sandwiches, tacos, banana desserts. I also managed to fly through the 5 novellas of Wool, which were utterly mind-blowing.

Now begins holiday recovery mode. Roll on vegetables, vegetables and copious amounts of health.

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the island pt 3: food memories and the beauty of less

It's beginning to feel like a while ago now but whenever I look through the photos from our trip I feel myself momentarily transported back to the island.

One of the things I love most about going on holiday is that, whilst broadening your horizons, it also temporarily shrinks down your world, making you simplify and enjoy making do with less.  This is something I'm thinking a lot about at the moment as we are planning to move house in the next few months.

Some of my favourite memories from Lord Howe Island have to do with simple food, especially the meals we cobbled together from what we had bought that day from the local shop, or picked from the vegetable garden - the salads, barbeques and cheese plates we prepared for ourselves, enjoyed with many a glass of red or sparkling wine.

A salad we prepared most days, with rocket and everlasting lettuce from the veggie patch, tomatoes, walnuts, grapes and parmesan.

Cheeseplates to snack on whilst we played cards at night.

An impromptu pizza picnic with my family, overlooking the water.

Amusingly named and gut-bustingly good burgers from the local store.  Ned's was the fish burger, Future was Kristian's favourite - a burger featuring pretty much everything.

And then in a moment of unforgettable joy and simplicity we enjoyed the best meal of the trip - a spontaneous breakfast picnic at Lover's Bay overlooking the ocean, with vegemite toast, Lindt chocolate and grapes, a ring, a question and a resounding yes!

And then coffee and cake to celebrate.

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the island pt 2: wildlife

One of the most wonderful things about our trip for me was becoming so much more aware of my natural surroundings. I was like a child excitedly pointing out interesting plants and spotting baby terns sitting on tree branches as we cycled past each day on our way to the beach.

A few wildlife highlights:
- making friends with our Woodhen neighbours in the back garden of our apartment
- encountering a chilled out herd of cows on a forest walk to the other side of the island
- baby bird spotting
- dodging the intricate webs of the Golden Orb spiders
- encountering a reef shark on our second day as we swam in the shallows (I far too calmly insisted it was a Kingfish until Kristian spotted fins).
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