The parade of dogs and their owners is the first give away. Then comes the parade of Clydesdale horses, vintage cars with white wall tyres and their owners with the wives waving gloves hands like the Queen. These were followed by a tractor who was then followed by a vintage tractor. The Narooma Oyster Festival had come to town! It was all so utterly country and Queen Viv and I just loved it.
There is a long queue that has formed out front. Entry to the Narooma Oyster festival is $5 and the show starts at 9am where the largest street parade on the South Coast winds it way around the riverside area and onto the streets. Queen Viv and do scout out the various stalls on offer. It’s surprisingly large with three rows of stalls covering crafts and food including a 12 metre oyster marquee plus a range of stalls.
Knitted bears (I purchased the one on the right lying down)
The craft stalls are manned and made by grandmothers and there are some absolutely gorgeous items at completely bargain prices. I nabbed myself a brand new knitted bear for $3 (stick a little scarf on him and a label and I can totally picture in a Woollahra shop window for $30!).
The trend here seems to be Dammit Dolls which are dolls that you can whack in times of frustration – kind of a more actionable figure than a voodoo doll I suppose!
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| May 17th, 2010 by Not Quite Nigella
Love these scarecrows!
Town 1: Tilba
We were on the third day of our Sydney to Melbourne Road Trip and doing quite a bit of driving on this particular day. We had mentally prepared for the long drive – I had drinks at the ready and snacks as well as wipes for my hand washing OCD. Our first stop after breakfast is the Tilba region of which there is Central Tilba and Tilba Tilba. Central Tilba’s main street is where most of the shopping and eating action takes place and we start off our tour at the ABC Tilba cheese factory where we stop off for some morning tea snacking. At the front counter there are a range of cheeses with tastings for all varieties available. Mr NQN and I try some as sampling is encouraged and my favourite is the chive and the Tilba gold where he likes the Olive cheese.
There’s all sorts of useful kitchen items as well as their own honey which are also sampleable. I try the round box honey that reminds me of a golden syrup which I think would be perfect on some crumpets so I choose this along with some ginger lollies and I admit rather randomly, a cling wrap cutter (well I do make Mr NQN sandwiches every day!).
I lament not having a fridge as we’re travelling as there is a three layer cheese wedge for sale that combines the chive cheese with a layer of sun dried tomato cheese and another cheese. Of course the alternative was just to buy it and eat the whole wedge (ok not that odd for me) but we had a lot of eating to do that day as you’ll see…
A Penny Farthing outside a store
Rose & Sparrow Tea Rooms
We then head out of the store and up the street and spot some nice homewares in some stores. It reminds me of Arrowtown which is a gold mining town in New Zealand. There’s Rose & Sparrow which was recommended by the SMH Good Food Guide so we stop for lunch. The menu is on the chalkboard inside and there are a lot of gluten free options. Mr NQN chooses a burger and I go for the mandarin and almond gluten free cake for morning tea which reminds me of those lovely flourless orange cakes. All of the cakes are homemade here. The service is not particularly friendly and we get our order after everyone else, even the people that arrive after us.
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| April 2nd, 2010 by Not Quite Nigella
Camel Pie?
It was Day 2 of our Sydney to Melbourne Coast drive tour and we had just left Paperbark Camp in Jervis Bay. After a bit of a time we drove through to Mollymook in the hope of having lunch at Rick Stein at Bannisters. Sadly the restaurant wasn’t open for lunch today so we had to keep going and before long eagle, eyed Mr NQN spots a sign proclaiming “Camel pies” from Hayden’s Pies. We have to stop and try one, after all how often is one offered a camel pie?
Yes Camel Pie!
We chuckle – the address is “166 Princes Pieway” according to the sign. We walk in and service is friendly and we get a square camel, coriander and chickpea pie to eat outside and tomato sauce is from a giant pump dispenser (don’t you love free sauce? It’s always extra in Sydney). The camel meat (from the camel rump) is similar to a beef or lamb, although slightly more sinewy and the filling is soft and tender with a tomato-ey base with whole chickpeas and ground coriander and it’s a very good pie indeed with is a buttery shortcrust pastry. Apparently the camel appears often on the menu and if it doesn’t, there is usually a game option such as venison, rabbit or kangaroo.
The Bodalla Dairy Shed
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| March 21st, 2010 by Not Quite Nigella
The Kiama Blowhole
Dear Reader, I must tell you that once upon a time I almost failed year 12 Geography because I refused to go camping. For someone with hand washing O.C.D., the idea of camping is unacceptable to my fragile being. I know it won’t kill me but it would have been a miserable few days and even the threat of failing Geography didn’t stop me from opting out. Mr NQN has tried many times to convince me to go camping to no avail. It was only when I given the option of “Glamping” that I finally relented. And “what is Glamping” you may ask? It’s Glamour Camping!
The Pink Post Office!
We were taking a five day drive down the scenic coast thanks to the nice people at Sydney to Melbourne Touring. On the way we’d be stopping at various places to eat and finding quirky little places. Did I mention we’d be looking for seafood too? Oh yes seafood monster reporting for eating duty!
Kiama view
Our first stop is in Kiama. And yes there’s a pink post Office which is so Elle Woods don’t you think darlings? The blowhole isn’t spouting any water today so we stop by for some lunch at the Sebel Kiama where they’ve kindly prepared some of the items from the 1871 restaurant dinner menu for us to have at lunch.
Lobster and scampi papardelle
Serves for mains are huge as we soon learn and the papardelle ribbons are paired with a generous serve of local lobster and scampi. The sauce is thick and creamy and very rich.
Chicken breast with wild mushroom and chard fricasee and port jus
The chicken breast comes out sitting in a huge pool of creamy sauce. It’s incredibly rich although good but even Mr NQN who seemingly has a bottomless stomach for food barely finishes it. The chicken is nicely tender though and the deep fried leaves are a nice contrast to the creamy sauce. After having a quick tour of the grounds and seeing the lovely heritage listed former school building turned into a conference centre, we set off again for the picturesque area of Jervis Bay.
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| March 3rd, 2010 by Not Quite Nigella
I have been friends with my dear friend Queen Viv for almost 20 years. And in that time we’ve had some wonderful adventures most of them to do with the fact that she truly attracts some unusual circumstances. So when she asked me if I’d like to come on a road trip to Wollongong I answered an enthusiastic “Yes” and then thought “Oh dear: we’ve both got no road sense and no GPS. Would we end up in Perth?” Then the image of Thelma and Louise flashed through my worried mind.
Wollongong is one of those areas which is great for a day trip as it’s only an hour and twenty minutes away from Sydney by car but the beach side atmosphere and laid back lifestyle means that you actually feel like you’ve gotten away from the “big smoke”. We drive through the Royal National park to take the scenic drive down to Wollongong. It’s full of flowers this spring and Queen Viv, a keen gardener points out the native flannel flowers and huge Gymea Lilies. The drive is scenic and she also points out a nice place to stop and have an ice cream on the way.
Driving south we emerge out of the National Park to see one of the most breathtaking views. It pure Californian beauty with sweeping cliffs and blue water and little cottages on the cliff’s edge below. There are cars that have also stopped just to look at the view. There are also gliders a plenty here suspended in mid air only metres away.
We stop at Ruby’s Kitchen in Stanwell Park on the way. Queen Viv points out that this is near where Jane Campion wrote Sweetie in a blue fibro house. Ruby’s Kitchen Cafe used to be called Ruby’s on the Dust which was a popular surfers hangout where they’d buy lentil burgers after a surf. Indeed there’s a group of surfers with surfboards standing outside as we pull up.
We order a Mezze plate to share as it’s lunchtime but when it comes out we’re a little floored at the size. It’s rather enormous (I guess surfer size) and there are two large wedges of vegetable frittata, three types of dip (beetroot, hummous and olive tapenade), some toasted Turkish bread and a rocket, pumpkin and feta salad.
Mezze Plate $25
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| February 19th, 2010 by Not Quite Nigella
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