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As you know, I moved to stay with family in a different suburb outside of the CBD. These family members are various cousins, second, third, once removed (I'm not quite sure which). The last week, I have been able to spend much more time getting to know the family and enjoy time together. Last week was one of the younger member's birthday and we had a small gathering on the Sunday to celebrate. I met my cousin's wife's family also who were excited about my plans and offered good advice for travelling in Australia.
This Monday was spent cooking and baking for a family dinner in the evening. It was a surprise to the rest of the family that they would be getting cake at all and my cousin actually made two (for two different birthdays) and I lent my artistic hand with decorating the cakes. It was a bit of laugh, as I had never used mouldable chocolate before and with the amount of fat that came out of it when I softened it in the microwave, I don't think I would have wanted to eat it. It actually worked very well and the two finished pieces looked really fun. I also helped make Cornish pasties for the main dish…yes, Cornish pasties in Australia! But with roast veggies and gravy it was very tasty! We had a great evening and the food went down very well.
On Tuesday my cousin took me back to the Dandenongs, but this time to visit the William Ricketts Sanctuary; a garden in the mountains formed by William Ricketts expressing his dedication to the aboriginal people and his ability to have become one with nature. There are 92 clay sculptures placed throughout the undergrowth, along winding pathways and hidden in little nooks, built specifically by William to fit into the rocks. We watched a couple of videos about William, his life and his reasons for creating the sanctuary. It was interesting to watch him try to connect our 'spiritual essence' with nature and the wildlife around us. He came across as a bit eccentric and unfortunately could not find the words to describe the epiphany that brought about the sculptures. I was impressed though at how he was able to integrate into an Aboriginal tribe in the Northern Territory and how they allowed him to recreate them in a way that so beautifully captures how aboriginals live so closely bonded to the flora and fauna around them. I explored the grounds and read the carved out tiles that annotate the various works.
She then took me into the little township of Sassafras where we ate lunch at Miss Marple's Tea Room; a little bit of England in the Australian countryside. It was truly wonderful, waitresses in starched black and white uniforms and cosy nooks in a cottage style building; we sat very close to a little fire where we could warm up nicely as it was a bit of a grotty day outside. The menu made me crack up as there were dishes such as 'Vicar's Folly' and the drinks section was labeled: 'Inspector Craddock's Whistle Wetter's'. We indulged in an individual cottage pie each with a big pot of tea to share (nice and English) and then shared the pecan and fudge cake with cream and ice cream in chocolate sauce. Well it was a good thing we shared, as the pudding was just enormous! It was a wonderful meal.
After, we took a stroll around the shops and in particular, we took a good browse through Tea Leaves, a shop dedicated to all things tea related; pots, mugs, ornaments and almost every variety of tea under the sun. Some of the teapots were quite extraordinary and made you wonder how anybody could have thought of turning that animal/flower etc into a teapot!
We drove on into Olinda, the next township, and had a good long through a beautiful antiques store where you knew you could buy some wonderful gifts but there was just too much to choose from. After a lovely day out we drove home before the rain set in again.
I spent most of today at a baby shower for one of my cousins. I wasn't sure how it would play out, having never been to such an event before, but we spent the time chatting, drinking and eating and playing games such as 'name mash-up' - a game involving making as many names out of the two parents names as possible. We also played 'baby scattergories' and had to answer certain questions such as 'worst place to give birth' and 'baby's future career' but only with a word beginning with the letter T (after the baby's nickname, Traveller) Then presents were opened and we could all ooh and ahh over the tiny baby clothes and cute teddies.
I can't believe my time in Australia is almost over and I will be flying onwards to Vietnam tomorrow morning. I'm saddened that I'm leaving this new home behind but so excited to see my family and prepare for my brother's wedding there! So I say goodbye to the land down under and look forward to the next time I will be here.
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Alison MacKrill Please give them love and thanks from us as you leave for the next stage of your travels.