Word of the week!

WAYFARE.
To travel, to journey, to go to and fro.

Word of the week!

JAUNT.
A short journey especially taken for pleasure.

Wongaling, Mission Beach!

As you all know we have travelled to quite a few places around the world. One of our favourite, most treasured destinations is just 138 kms south of Cairns.  Mission Beach is a sleepy coastal town that looks out to Dunk Island. Here the pristine beach meets with the warm tropical waters; you can walk for an hour along the shore and feel like the only person on the planet. There are several resorts in the area as well as caravan parks and short term rental houses/units. We stayed at Mission Beach resort at Wongaling. They have hotel style rooms or apartments to choose from. All the rooms open out to a pool and BBQ area, and it is only a five minute stroll to the very quiet beach. Mission has a large variety of restaurants to tempt the taste buds, two supermarkets and a couple of boutiques. Just enough to satisfy the city folk!

Apart from just relaxing and soaking up the ambience of this gorgeous hideaway, there are plenty of hiking oportunities to be had in the Licuala State Forest. Known as the Cassowary Coast, the area has world heritage rain forest.  A hike up to Clump Point will provide you with spectacular views across the bay or catch a water taxi across to Dunk Island for more exploring. For the thrill seekers, parachuting, hangliding, scuba diving and snorkeling are all on offer.

Queensland; beautiful one day, perfect the next!

Word of the week!

Vamonos!

Spanish word meaning "let's go"

Travel tip 19!

If you cannot afford travel insurance , you cannot afford to travel!
Everyone has heard the horror stories of travelling mishaps; that is why it is essential to have insurance. It can cost over $50,000 to be evacuated from a foreign country. We have always had top cover travel insurance when venturing abroad and actually have a yearly one that covers any trip we take. (Even a weekend break). Having made several claims over the years,the outlay was worth it. We highly recommend covermore, they have paid every claim without argument and even helped us in Cambodia when hospitalisation was neccesary.

In the world kitchen!

In south America and especially in Peru, quinoa (pronounced keewa) is a staple food. Quinoa has made it to the super food list and is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world.

TOMATO AND QUINOA SOUP

Serves 4,

Ingredients.

1 tab of oil, 1 diced onion, 1 diced celery stick, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 diced large carrot, 2 x 400g cans diced tomatoes, 4 cups chick or veg stock, 2 cups water, 2/3 cup quinoa (rinsed and drained), salt and pepper, chopped parsley.

Method.

Heat oil over med heat in a large saucepan.  Stir in onion, celery, carrot and garlic the cook for 2 to 3 mins. Add tomatoes,  stock, water and quinoa. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer covered for 10 mins. Season to taste and garnish with parsley.

Guest blogger! Highlights at Highgate!

This month's guest blogger is long time friend from Frankston days! Michelle Long.

Highlights at Highgate!

One of the best things on my London trip was my visit to Highgate Cemetery. I’ve always wanted to go there, and made a concerted effort to get there on my very last day. I had to check out of my hotel and had the whole day to fill in before going to the airport in the evening. Off I set!

The history of this place is quite unusual, but basically, in 1832 a Bill was passed in London allowing the creation of private cemeteries in the greater London area, to alleviate overcrowding in the inner city’s parish cemeteries. In the 10 years following this bill, 7 private cemeteries were created, known as the Magnificent Seven. Highgate was one of these, opening in 1839 with an initial 17 acres (15 acres for Church of England burials, and 2 acres for dissenters!). A further 20 acres was purchased and opened as the East cemetery, 20 years later, with the original (older) part becoming the West cemetery.

The topography/views around Highgate, and the snobbish mentality of wanting to be interred in a place seen as exclusive, meant that wealthy Victorians rushed to be buried here, hence some pretty awesome graves and tombs – the architecture of some of it is amazing, a bit spooky sometimes and completely fascinating. The most spectacular area is the Egyptian Avenue and Circle of Lebanon, built up around a 300 year old Lebanese Cedar tree. Even in decay, this archway/tunnel and circle of massive tombs is so impressive, and must have been unbelievably stunning in its heyday.

There are many famous people buried here, with the most visited grave being that of Karl Marx, in the East cemetery. The guides also tell many quirky stories about people lesser known to us, but who were famous at the time or who just have fascinating backgrounds.

By the 1930s the cemetery was in decline and it was eventually “sold” to the local council for a token amount and taken over by volunteers in 1975. It is heritage listed (grade 1) and a balance is tried to be maintained between upkeep/restoration of the graves (a constant battle – I saw headstones even from within the last 10 years, that were seriously wonky and tilting – the ground is very soft and wet underneath), safety for visitors, respect for the original purpose (and inhabitants!), access for families of those buried, and keeping it’s unique fascination/gothic decay/attraction to tourists.

Something I thought funny, was that in the 1970s when money was really needed, in desperation one section of land in the West was sold off as real estate. Hence over near the dissenters’ section there are a couple of huge, modern, very ugly, houses that literally have their homes on the edge of the cemetery – with big glass windows and balconies hanging over the graves! They really look awful and spoil the look of the edge of the cemetery, but what a great place to live, looking out over all those graves and green ivy every day. Maybe I am a bit strange (well, yes I know I am) but I would love ....

You can still be buried here (although there isn’t much room left – there are 170,000 interments in 53,000 graves), it costs from about £1,000 (ashes in an urn, in a wall, for a 50 year period) to £37,000 (burial in a prime front row spot!). I was really surprised at these prices – I thought it would be a lot more, especially as the cemetery is seriously in need of funds to maintain it. Because it is not a government concern, the cemetery is run by volunteers and the only income is from donations/entry fees/guided tours (currently £4 for East side, or £12 for East side/West tour). The main reason, I was told, for not allowing general access to the West cemetery unaccompanied, is for safety reasons – which I do understand as there is a LOT of subsidence in/around the graves, and it is often wet, slippery and muddy as well. At the same time, it was a bit frustrating not to be able to wander at will and do some serious exploration (get lost in a graveyard, yay!!). The tours (which are limited to 12 people and take an hour) don’t cover everywhere – not enough time – so each guide decides where he/she will go and they mix it up – I need to go back and do another tour to see different graves.

If any of you have read Tracy Chevalier’s Falling Angels novel, it is set in and around Highgate Cemetery, and mentions many of the graves/tombs/features there.

Happy ghost hunting!
Chelle.

Word of the week!

Gallivant
To roam in search of pleasure and amusement.

Quintessence of life!

"The secret life of Walter Mitty". This film was recommended to us by Rachel as maybe her favourite movie. Well, it was not a disappointment that is for sure!

Travel tip 17!

When packing for a trip is it better to fold or roll? You can fit in more when rolling clothes ( a rolled up tshirt is perfect for filling the gaps in your case) and clothes do unroll slightly less creased. However bulky jumpers do not roll very well, better to fold them. A bit a of ocd method that we came across was to sort out your clothes for each day of your trip and vacuum seal them in separate plastic bags. For example in one labelled bag, you would have shorts, tshirt, cardigan and underwear for one days wear. In theory, a pretty good idea but do you really need to take 21 pairs of undies for a 3 week holiday? What about washing some clothes along the way! The best way to work out what or what not to take is to capsulise ( see travel tip 18). Another must if making several plane journeys is to pack spare clean underwear and  a tshirt in your carry on. Helps, if god forbid your luggage goes missing .

Gypsy's muse!

Travelholics anonymous! Come join.....

In the world kitchen!

In fnq we have an abundance of tropical fruits growing in the backyard.  Locals are always sharing their crops with friends and neighbours. We arrived home to a banana bushel ready for the taking and decided to combine that with leftover frozen mango to do some baking.

Banana and mango bread.

Ingredients 

1 tab butter,

1 egg,

1 cup brown sugar,

1 1/2 cups sr flour,

1 tab milk,

3 mashed bananas,

1 cup mango pulp.

Method

Mix ingredients together and bake in greased loaf tin on 200 C for 50 minutes.

Serve hot or cold with yoghourt.

Word of the week!

Peregrination 

To travel from one place to another especially on foot.
A course of travel, a journey.

Travel tip 16!

Money options when traveling is an important issue to get organised before heading away . It pays to do your homework by researching options and the bank fees associated. Whether you use credit, debit or travel cash cards, you should be aiming for cards that give you the least amount hassle combined with the lowest fees and charges. Use a combination of methods to be on the safe side. Nothing worse than an atm swallowing up your card and having no other choices.
We chose a master and visa credit card as well as debit cards. It goes without saying , memorise you pin number and don't tell anyone! Looked into cash card but fees were much the same  as credit/ debit cards and you need internet access to top card. Great idea for European travel but not so for Central and Sth America. Cash cards only have EURO, GBP, USD, AUD, NZD, THB, CAD HKD and YEN currencies  so that meant we would have had to pay cross currency fees in many places.

In some countries, the visa would work not the master or vica versa and sometimes only debit card. Smart idea is to take some universal USD with you as it can be exchanged at all international airports. Ensure USD currency is not older than 2008 as a lot of countries will not accept older notes.

We registered with secure sentinel to protect all our cards, passports etc. That way if something is lost or stolen you only have to contact one person to organise cancellation and renewal of missing items. www.securesentinel.com.au  or phone 1800022043

Miscellaneous safety  travel tips.

Keep cards and cash in a separate place,  we always worked out how much cash we would use for the day and kept that in a small wallet to carry around . Always sort money in private and lock valuables in  a safe when available.

Use a money belt, pacsafe handbag and RFID wallet.

Set up global roaming for emergency purposes.

Make sure the ATM you are using is an actual bank ATM, and when you enter your pin, be sure that there is nobody who can observe.
Skimmers; they are out  to steal your identity – they've gone as far as putting little webcams at the ATM's focused on the keys so that they can gain your PIN and card number.
Cover keys when entering information, and don't use the ATM if you see someone close by, or notice anything unusual.

Being safe is much better tha being sorry!

Money money money; life is sunny in a rich man's world!

Blogger's books!

Who loves " The hunger games"  series ? The marketing angle, " the new twilight" nearly made us miss out on this brilliant series. Biting the bullet, we did read the 3 books in quick succession. After eagerly waiting to watch "Catching fire" , the day finally arrived, again this film was fanastic. Book adaptations have certainly made an improvement these days, but you can still come out wanting more details portrayed in the film version. This brings up the question of whether it is better to read the book first or watch the movie? A bit of a chicken or egg dilemma!

Gypsy's muse!

In the world kitchen!

Borcht is a famous Russian beetroot soup. We were lucky enough to try some traditional homemade borcht during our adventure in St Petersberg and it certainly was delicious as well as warming after a busy sightseeing morning. The preparation of this national dish is very time consuming and takes several hours to cook. A little research came up with a recipe more suited to today's busy lifestyle.

Ingredients. Serves 4

4 beetroots, 1 mashed sweet potato, 1/4 shredded red cabbage, 1 chopped brown onion, 1 tab olive oil, 1 tab minced garlic,1 teas cumin, 1 dried bay leaf, 2 cups vegetable stock, 2 cups hot water, ground black pepper.

Garnish with a dollop of greek yoghurt and dill.

Method.

Heat oven to 400 c , wrap beets in tin foil and roast until tender (approx 30-40 mins). When cool; peel and julienne beets. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat; add beets, potato, onion, garlic, cumin, bayleaf and cook for 5 minutes (stir regularly). Add stock and 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer covered for 20 mins then stir in cabbage and simmer a further 10 mins. Season with pepper. Allow to cool slightly then blend soup until smooth . ( I like it more textured)
Serve hot or cold.

Naslazhdat'sya!