Do Mobile Phone's Come With 'L-Plates'?*

My mother is pretty new to the texting game. She owns my father's 'hand-me-down' mobile phone and since my father has gone gallivanting over to the other side of the world to visit my sister (amongst other places) mum has had to learn the techniques of mobile texting. My dad is texting both of us to let us know where he is etc.,

Two weeks ago my mum only knew how to answer her phone.

Last week she learnt how to read text messages.

This week she is writing them.

Not bad for a 61 year old who wouldn't even know where to turn on a computer (let alone operate one) and only bought a microwave oven in the last 4 years. And she's never really operated a dishwasher before, but she is getting one of those too in the very near future when her 30 year old kitchen is being remodelled. (I don't know who is more excited about that - her, or me, who lives over 3000 kilometers away!)

I spoke to my mother on the phone on Monday and told her she could practise her texting on me. So she did.

My text: Hi. Just got your card in the
mail. Monet said thank you and thinks the card is beautiful.
Xx

My mum's (return) text:

My text: There was no writing in your
message. Did you just do that to let me know you got my
message?

My mum's text: Good

My text: You did it! Yippee.

My mum's text: Fantastic

My text: Getting better!

My mum's text: Fantastic

My text: You already sent that
one. Monet is just about asleep in her Max and Milly chair. She fell
asleep on the couch last night at 7pm. Slept until 6 45am.

My mum's text:

My text: Nothing there again.

My mum's text: Sorry

My text: Do you know how to put in gaps
so you can write a sentence? One word sentences are fine
though.

My mum's text: Yes I do but no full
stops etc

My text:Ahh well done! Don't worry about
punctuation.

My mum's text: Yes I do but no full
stops etc

My mum's text (again): Yes I do but no
full stops etc

My text: You have sent that message to
me 3 times now. But that is ok.

My mum's text: Yes I do but no full
stops etc

My text: 4 times now.

My mum's text: Yes I do but no full
stops etc

My text: 5 times now. Same text
message. You need to delete it.

That was on Monday. We laughed about it on the phone on Wednesday when we spoke. But she is definitely improving on this text messaging thing which is great, as I never thought I'd see the day when I would see her use a mobile phone.

I'm hoping the new dishwasher is easier to use than her mobile.

*Kimbofo - you need to show Dad this post. I hope he finds it amusing.

Pan-roasted Pork Cutlets with Balsamic Vinegar and Thyme

This dish was surprisingly very beautiful to eat. It would also be lovely omitting the pork and adding beef steak... I served it with some steamed carrots and on a bed of garlicky, cheesy mashed potatoes, which is recommended in the recipe.

*Taken from Tobie Puttock's 'Daily Italian'*

Ingredients

2 x 200g pork cutlets

1 tbs thyme leaves

sea salt

freshly ground pepper

1 tbs olive oil

2 1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar

Method

Using a sharp knife, cut a crisscross pattern into the flesh of the pork. Mix the thyme with a pinch of salt and pepper, then massage the mixture into the grooves created by the incisions.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the pork for 1-3 minutes on each side, or until the flesh is nice and brown.

Splash in the vinegar, making sure to turn the pork over so that both sides get a coating. Once the vinegar has nearly evaporated, remove the pork from the pan and allow it to rest. Add 2 tablespoons of water to the pan, and give it a shake to loosen the vinegar. Arrange the cutlets on plates, and drizzle with a spoonful of the pan juices. Serve with a green salad and mash potatoes.

Serves 2

Feeling Hungry?

You are more than welcome to come over tonight to help us eat this pavlova...

Or why don't you bake one yourself? You can view the recipe here on my Recipe Blog.

Enjoy. Or drool over the image. It is up to you...

Margaret Fulton's Pavlova

Another wet day here at home, so what better thing to do but bake? With plenty of eggs sitting in the fridge and some cream nearing it's expiry date, what's better than to decide to bake a pav! I used 4 egg white and 1 1/2 cups caster sugar in this recipe, which Margaret recommends for a smaller, family-sized pavola, but leaving everything else the same. I also always dust my baking sheet with cornflour when baking pavs to ensure it doesn't stick!! Enjoy.

*Taken from 'Margaret Fulton's Kitchen'*

Ingredients

6 egg whites, at room temperature

a pinch of salt

2 cups caster sugar

1 1/2 tsp white vinegar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 1/4 cups cream

fresh fruit to decorate

Method

Preheat oven to 200C. Place a piece of baking paper onto a baking tray and mark a 23cm circle on it to use as a guide (the pavlova will spread a little).

In an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt at full speed until they stand in stiff peaks. Sift the sugar and gradually sprinkle into the egg white mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating at high speed until all the sugar has been added. Lastly fold in the vinegar and vanilla. Spoon large dollops inside the circle on the baking sheet and smooth over the top lightly. Place in the oven (reducing the heat to 150C) for 1 hour. Turn off the heat and leave pavlova in the oven until cold. (If using a gas oven, bake at 150C for 1 hour, reduce heat to 120C for a further 30 minutes and then turn heat off and leave the pavola in the oven until completely cooled.)

When the pavlova is cooled, slide onto a large, flat cake plate, removing the baking paper. Don't worry if it collapses slightly, you should also expect cracks on the surface. Whip the cream until stiff but still shiny and spoon over the top of the pavlova. Decorate with fresh fruit and serve.

Serves 8-10

Hair Fixed

Monet had her hair cut, or "hair fixed", (as she says) yesterday, for the first time. I know, I wish I could go 2 years and 9 months without visiting a hairdresser!!

It was so cute to see her sitting all propped up in the chair, sipping away at the offered juice and nibbling on the two biscuits given to her. Just like a real grown up...

She had that worried look on her face the whole time her hair was being attended to.

"I'm okay" she reassured me. But when she says that, I know she is reassuring herself... (Her hairdresser thought it was hilarious!)

After cutting, the hairdresser sprayed her hair with 'princess sparkles' which left a layer of 'sparkles, glitter' all through her hair, (and hands and face and legs) much to Monet's delight. Hmm. It did look pretty cute though.

My hair is now due for a cut, since Monet's new 'do' looks so neat and tidy against mine.

When was the last time you visited the Hairdressers? And did it cost you A$9 like Monet's did?

The Skyrail Experience

After living in the Cairns area for 14 months time, we decided it was about time we visited the much awarded Skyrail. A tourist destination. We had been wanting to go on the Skyrail since we moved but it was just one of those things we just didn't do. But since last week's escapade to Cooktown, we've decided to actually get out and about more up here and see the sights. We've got a list that is slowly dwindling, but we've still got a lot more adventures to go on. Like we did today.

The Skyrail was worth waiting to travel on. Sure, the weather wasn't crash hot (it ended up pouring with rain), but it brought out the beauty of the rainforest. After all, it was rainforest area we were in. Only seems fitting that it rained.

So what is the Skyrail? Opened in 1995, (and built by a local, who has just bought a multi-million penthouse apartment in the complex at Lyndon's work!!) it is a 7.5 kilometre trek through rainforest clad mountains. The catch? It is via a cableway, being one of the world's longest gondola cableway and was a lot of fun. The cableway towers were lifted into the rainforest via the use of helicopters, to avoid disturbing the rainforest. Something like only 12 trees were destroyed along the stretch, which I find amazing.

The gondolas (114 in total) stretch up over mountains, above the rainforest canopy. The view was amazing, from above. There would be no way one could trek through the forest below...

There were two stops along the way. The first one was called Red Peak Station, where a ranger gave us a walk along the 175 metre boardwalk, where the views were fabulous and it was oh so green. It was nice to stand and look up to see tall trees and all types of ferns and the like.

The second stop was at Barron Falls, but since it is in the dry season, they weren't at full force like they were when we saw them when we first moved up here (just after Cyclone Larry had passed through).

The cablecars finished at Kuranda, a self-proclaimed Hippy Town in the Rainforest. Full of markets and eateries, we had been here a few times before so there was no need for us to explore the town. Instead we went for a quick wander down 'the main drag' then settled into the old Irish Pub near the Skyrail Station. It was one way to avoid the onslaught of tourists and the buckets of rain that arrived not long after we did. (And the rain didn't stop!)

Of course the beer was tasty. Midday this time.

The trip back down to the original Station, 7.5 kilometers back along the mountains was just as enjoyable, bar the fact that we were draped in clouds, fog and rain. But we remained dry of course, all snuggly in the pods above the rainforest.

Experiences like that makes you appreciate nature. And makes you want to preserve it.

Okay I'm all inspired now, I'm off to do this.

The Lion's Den

I had been wanting to visit the infamous Lion's Den since my sister visited there in the summer of 1990. It was just one of those places people talked about. The Lion's Den? I hear you ask. It is a well-known watering hole (ie. pub!) which dates back to 1875 (another history lesson here!)

It is off the sealed road to Cooktown, but is situated on the non-sealed coastal route up to Cooktown, which runs through the Daintree and Cedar Bay National Parks.

The three of us actually really loved the Lion's Den. We didn't want to leave. We figure we might one day, even ditch 5-star resort style accommodation for a night spent here. (They have basic cabins, campsites available!) It was really nice, with a safe playground (which someone didn't want to leave), loads of freshly cut lawns to run around on, roaming pet dogs, a few chooks pecking around the whole place and overall it had this lovely warmth to the place. Here's the website, so have a little look.

And considering we had travelled out of our way (a whole 4 kilometers off the main road) and we had been wanting to visit The Lions Den, Lyndon and I had to have a beer each. Had to. It was an Aussie thing to do. At 10:30 in the morning. And let me tell you, it went down an absolute treat. No wonder we wanted to stay.

Monet enjoyed seeing the Lion which greeted us under the outside sign. She thought it was funny and did her best to imitate the Lion for her parents...

(Cute ain't she?)

Inside the pub was amazing. It was full of memorabilia, graffiti, hats, stickers, flags - you name it. And a great array of bottled/canned beer on offer (no 'taps' in this neck of the woods.)

If you are ever up this end of Australia, a visit to The Lion's Den Hotel is an absolute must. I can't wait to revisit some point down life's busy highway...

Cooktown

In June of 1770, Cooktown became the site of Australia's first non indigenous settlement, when Captain James Cook anchored his ship, The Endeavour, on the banks of its river. (The river later became known as the Endeavour River!) Captain Cook and his crew spent 48 days here while they repaired damage to his ship which had earlier struck a reef off Cape Tribulation. It was during this time that Joseph Banks, the chief naturalist on this voyage, named the kangaroo. Aren't I just a wealth of information?

There is a plaque near the river which (as shown above) shows us where abouts Captain Cook stepped onto Australian dirt for the first time. The plaque reads "THIS CAIRN MARKS THE SPOT WHERE CAPTAIN JAMES COOK BEACHED HIS BARQUE H. M. S. ENDEAVOUR ON THE 18th OF JUNE 1770"

I can see why Captain Cook stayed here for so long (besides the fact his ship was being repaired!). The view from Grassy Hill was spectacular and oh so peaceful.

Driving up the hill was probably one of the most hilarious things we have done in a long while. The track (no sealed section here!) was at least a 50 degree angle (maybe more) and very, very bumpy. It was not made for a 2WD 4-door Utility to go up. The three of us laughed practically the whole way up. I'm not sure if it was because of nerves or because it was just so damn funny! You should have heard Monet in the back going "Whoa!!! Bumpidy-bump-bump" then giggling away...

We stayed at the only resort in town (of course!), the Sovereign, which was pretty nice. The three of us stayed in the same room which consisted of a single and a queen-sized bed. Have you ever slept in a room with a 2 1/2 year old who had her own bed? That was another hilarious thing we laughed and laughed at. Talk about one excited little girl. (And two extremely proud parents!)

Before bedtime though, we had explored the 'main drag' of Cooktown. Lots of old, beautiful buildings but not a lot happening. To say the least it was very quiet, but we had expected that. With a population of now of 1600 people it is full of 4WD vehicles which gather outside the one pub at one end of the street. I think the rest of the town spent their afternoon/evening fishing down at the lovely wharf. Cooktowns population once reached 30,000 with 94 pubs!! 94 pubs!!! Now, there is just one. And we didn't even have a drink from there! (I know, sooo unlike us!) Oh well.

When we set out for dinner at a swanky (well, as swanky as Cooktown gets!) restaurant down by the wharf, we saw the most spectacular sunset. One that I will remember (hopefully) forever. The last time I saw such an amazing sunset, was in Edinburgh in 1997. True. I'm sure you'll agree with me that it was pretty impressive (such vivid gorgeous colours!) Even the restaurant staff stopped for 10 minutes to watch, the waitress said.

Our meal was delicious (mine was Coral Reef Trout on Coconut and Orange infused rice!) and the Heineken's which we washed down with them were just as delightful.

We spent the morning being eaten half to death by the tiny little sand flies down at the playground (my legs are covered in awful itchy bites - worse than bloody chicken pox they are!) and the little girl who spent the most time playing in there only got 3 bites. Typical.

We walked around and then exited Cooktown at about 10am, not before having a peek at the peaceful Quarantine Bay just down the road...

We enjoyed Cooktown and we're all very glad we went. It made us, well, me anyway, very appreciative of our Country. I'm thankful for the opportunity that life dishes out to us sometimes, to explore and travel. I would have never have thought two years ago that I would ever see Cairns, let alone Cooktown for that matter and now look at us!!

Stay tuned for the detour we took, 35 kilometers south of Cooktown. Heehee.