Last day downunder

The sunshine, warmth and ozzie adventures must come to an end as we leave for the northern hemisphere tomorrow evening. With current temperatures in the high 30C, every pore of our body is trying to soak up the heat in preparation for the big freeze that we expect to welcome us back in London.

We're gradually saying goodbye to all the ozzie family and trying to relax a bit before we head back to work.

Besides packing, and last minute shopping we plan to have a look at some old gold mines tomorrow. Apparently, the main reason for Swiss immigrants to come to Australia was gold - and wine.

Happy New Year

We wish everybody a very happy 2008.

We started the new year on the beach. It was such a warm day, we and many other people went swimming in the sea at eleven at night. And even after midnight there was no need for a t-shirt.

The last day of 2007 was so hot, we spent most of it inside or in the neighbour's swimming pool. The temperature was around 40° C. And 2008 starts similarly hot: we woke up from the heat.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Here's the pie we made for Christmas day and for a family birthday party on the 29th:

Have the baker who makes mince pies to make a bit more short crust pastry, preferably with a bit of grated lemon and orange rind.
Refrigerate, then bake blindly in a round cake tin at about 180 C degrees until brown (10-15min).
Go - that's my favourite bit - into the garden and pick two nice and ripe lemons from the lemon tree.
Grate about two teaspoons of lemon rind off, keep it out of the uncle's sight (apparently he doesn't like the rind), and squeeze the juice (about 3/4 cup).
Put six tablespoons of cornflour (because we didn't have the plain flour as suggested in the recipe), one cup of sugar, the lemon rind and the lemon juice into a saucepan, add 1 1/4 cups of water and bring to the boil.
Get someone in the room to stir it continuously.
Once boiling, turn the heat down, and continue for another two minutes.
Separate four fresh eggs and lightly beat the yolk.
Take lemon filling off the heat, stir in almost 90g of butter and the egg yolks.
Let it cool down.
For the meringue, add two tablespoons of water and a pinch of salt to the egg whites and beat them at a high speed until stiff.
Keep on beating and gradually add 3/4 cup of caster sugar into it.

Spread lemon filling into the pastry base, and heap the meringue on top of it.
Bake the cake for 10-15mins at 180C until lightly brown.

Make sure you don't miss when the cake is served: it vanishes quickly..

Sweating down under

It's hot. The sun has come out with scorching fervour. The wind is warm and dry. This is a picture of our balcony - but at the moment it is too hot to sit even in the shade. We are sat in the dark, keeping cool and taking it easy.

Yesterday was equally hot so we travelled around in air conditioned vehicles... we went on an adventure to the Yarra valley (wine making region near melbourne). We enjoyed the wines of one vineyard and then had to shelter from the heat in a nearby brewery cafe...such is the life of a holiday maker. We visited ancient rainforests and enjoyed the stream of ice cold water running through it, taking a paddle to cool the feet. We were also lucky enough to have the company of wild parrots, which were happy to sit on our hands, arms or head- where ever bird feed was available- and nibble on a few grains and pulses.

Read it all again

With a bit of time on our hands, we managed to upload some pictures. Enjoy the view.

Happy Christmas.

The Christmas warm up?

A 7 hour car journey brings us to Melbourne. Typical of the weather here, we are enduring rain and wind for the festive season. At least Santa will not get too hot. We are told, however, that the sun is set to shine and warmth will come.

We also find ourselves in the luxury of the melbourne suburbs, in the comfort of a family home. This means we have been busying ourselves with pre-xmas activities such as shopping, cooking and drinking cocktails. Hot Indian veggie curries for our christmas eve celebrations. Perfect for this weather and the festive season...The real excitement will kick off tomorrow when christmas day brings enornmous amounts of food, beer, and lots of family members together.

The italian connection

After a 9 hour train and bus journey, we find ourselves amongst the italian community of griffith. The sun is shining, the wine is flowing and everyone is a cousin to us. We are reunited with the bird family and look forward to a day sampling the fine wines of this area. We have already experienced the hospitality and generousity of the local italian friends and their love of food and drink. Some of the group are feeling a little worse for wear as a result.

We look forward to a big villiage party tonight- where all the friends and family come together for a little pre-chrissy (christmas in australian language) celebration.

The sun is shining and we are expecting up to 32C so we may be taking a dip in the motel swimming pool or hiding out in our air conditioned room.