Kookaburra on the balcony

A few weeks ago we got a visitor on the balcony. 

We woke up hearing a crazy laughing sound come from the balcony, dazed I said to Nicole. "Nicole, Nicole. There is a monkey on the balcony!" knowing well that there i no monkeys in Australia.

Of course, it was no monkey but a Laughing Kookaburra.  

Kookaburras have a strange call that sounds like laughter, it goes through cycles where it sometimes sounds like it is having a conversation with someone.

Check out a video, not mine, of a laughing kookaburra.

We have had a couple of visit of Kookaburras on the balcony since then. On one occasion we had three of them on the balcony at the same time having a little orchestra. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of that.

There are two species of of Kookaburras in Australia.

• Laughing Kookaburra, are really common here in Sydney and I have seen several dozen of them. That's the kind that visit our balcony.
•  Blue-winged Kookaburra. I have only seen theses at a wildlife park but would love to see them in the wild one day.

I really love the bird life of Australia, there are so many strange and exotic birds here that we don't get in Sweden.
Check out my post on Centennial Park for more bird photos.

Thanks for reading!

Visiting Black Markets on Bare Island

This weekend we headed over to visit the Black Market on Bear Island with my partner Nicole and our friends Vinny and Luan.

Black Markets

Black markets feature authentic Aboriginal products and is run by an organisation called First Hand Solutions which focuses on . They had ceramics from a group called Black Sun, not sure if the similar name was a coincidence or just how they branded themselves at the market. Nicole picked up a bowl. They sold bush food in the form of bbq crocodile and kangaroo. You could pick up CD's from indigenous artist and touristy stuff like boomerangs.

There were workshops on basked making and catching fish Aboriginal style and talk of indigenous history. We didn't go to any of those but we did catch the traditional dancing, pictures below.

There was also a selection of stalls which I am not really sure had an indigenous connection like scented candles and taro readings. I had expected a bigger market but it was still fun to explore it.

Read more about First Hand Solutions and Black Markets at 
http://www.firsthandsolutions.org/#!markets/c176a

Traditional Aboriginal Dancing

Bare Island and The Fortress

While I enjoyed the market I was really more interested in the Island and the Fortress on it.

Bare Island is located in Botany Bay which was the spot that the First Fleet lead by Captain Philips first arrived to when they settled in Australia, they later gave up the location for the better suited Port Jackson, today's Circular Quay and the location of Sydney Harbor.  

There are guided tours of the fortress and a museum in La Perouse. So it is definitely on the bucket list to check it out and take one of the tours.

Read more about Bare Island at http://www.au.timeout.com/sydney/aroundtown/venues/2912/bare-island

Beach just outside the fortress, water was amazingly clear.

Wooden Trestle Bridge out to the Island

Bare Island and fortress.

View from the fortress inland.

Australian flag flying over the fortress.

Aboriginal flag flying over the fortress entrance.

Fortress courtyard.

Getting there.

Getting there by public transport was easy. From Bondi Junction were we live it was about an hour on the bus and only one stop. Nice buss ride too. :)

Map

Introducing the HALT, Lord of Sandwiches

Today me and Nicole invented a Sandwhich, we called it the HALT

Halloumi

Avocado

Lettuce

Tomato

It's a vegetarian option to a BLT, or BLAT. Simple and fun to do, so simple that I feel kind of ridiculous putting a "recipe" here, but here it comes.

1. Get some good bread and toast two slices
2. Fry the halloumi in a pan, or even better, grill it on your barbecue.
3. Spread a quarter of an avocado on one piece of toast.
4. Add halloumi on top of the avocado
5. Add a couple of tomato slices and some lettuce.
6. Close the sandwich
7. Eat and Enjoy, preferably in the sun on your balcony or back yard.   

Here are some pictures from when we made it this morning. 

Frying some Halloumi

Sandwhich building in progress

Lots of healthy and delicious lettuce.

Here you have it in all it's Glory.

The HALT

Nicole trying to eat the HALT. 

Need a bigger mouth!

Help me spread it to the cafe's around the world. The people deserve HALT!

Museum of Sydney

After spending most of my time the latest weeks for the apartment hunting and moving I decided to spend an afternoon doing something touristy and educational. So headed downtown to visit the Museum of Sydney.

It's not a very big museum, it's three narrow floors with a couple of rooms in each. But its pretty packed and I spent a good 2 hours in there and I still have a few rooms left that I saved for a future visit with Nicole. It naturally focuses on the history of Sydney and NSW.

First Government House

The museum is located on the site of the first Government house so it has an exhibit about the house and how the museum came to be. The First Government house was the home and office of the first 9 Governors of Australia and was extended many times before it was in such a bad shape that it had to be replaces by the new Government house, which is in great condition and can be visited in the Botanical Gardens. The first government house was not only in bad shape, it was also located in a prime location what had become central Sydney and when the streets needed to be extended they demolished the house. It was forgotten until a few decades ago when the site was going to be turned into another of Sydney sky rises and an archaeological dig found the remains of the old government house. 

Visit the museum to learn more or read about it here

http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/first-government-house/index.html

Well worth a visit

Though the museum is not very big it's still well worth a visit. My favorite rooms where the models of the 11 ships from the First Fleet, the model and story of the First Government House and the rooms with Aboriginal history. 

Entrance to museum and a monument to the Aboriginal tribes of the Sydney area. 

The white stones in the ground outline the houses of the First Government House.

Model of the First Government House.

Models of the ships of the First Fleet

Painting depicting when Governor Phillips got attacked and wounded by an Aboriginal spear.

Memorial Stone

Visitor Details

Admission:

•  Adult $10 I
•  Child/Concession $5 |
•  Family $20 |
•  Members free |

Hours:Open daily 10am — 5pm | Closed Good Friday and Christmas Day

http://www.hht.net.au/museums/mos

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Bronte Beach

Sorry
Sorry for the lack up of updates the last few weeks/months. My life has been pretty stressed out lately. I have changed jobs and Nicole and I have been looking for an apartment. I will aim to blog more from now on. I'll try to have smaller posts more often. 

Bronte Beach
Bronte beach is one of several beaches on the Sydney East Coast. It's south of the famous surf beach at Bondi and the tiny Tamarama. It's north of Clovelly and Coogee.

It's a lovely beach. The last two days I have walked down there from our home in Bondi Junction to go for a swim and some sun. It's a surf beach with pretty high waves. It's safer to swin in the sheltered southern part of the beach or in one of the pools. There a huge park, a kiosk, sea water pool and several bbqs.

Map

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How to get there
Take the train to Bondi Junction and walk.
Or take the bus.
http://www.131500.com.au

Regent Place

Regent Place is a funky two story alley filled with quirky Asian restaurants and cafes.

Hard to stumble across if you don't know about it but easy to get to if you do. It's located just across the street from Town Hall train station with multiple entries around the block.

View Larger Map

Me and Nicole went there one evening after work to celebrate that I had been in the country for a month.

We started out with entrees at Yebisu Izakaya, where you ordered everything on tablets which sent the order straight to the kitchen. A fun idea but not so convenient if you are a picky vegetarian like me who likes to ask about the ingredients in everything.

We both ordered two entrees each. I had tofu topped with miso paste (delicious) and some sushi pieces. Nicole had teriyaki salmon belly and gyoza.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/70/1743489/restaurant/CBD/Yebisu-Izakaya-Sydney

Yebisu Izakaya

Still hungry and not finding any mains that we liked we headed to the floor below to Senyai, a good but fairly standard Thai restaurant. I got the Phat Si Io Tofu and Nicole the Chicken Sate.

http://senyai.com.au/

Senyai

After dinner we took a stroll around at the other places which looked cool so we are definitely going back.

I think I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese...

...I really think so.

Lots of places to eat.

Manly Beach

Hi

This weeks outing went to Manly Beach in North Sydney. Manly is a bit touristy but is absolutely lovely, you take your walks down long car free streets with plenty of opportunity to stop for a beer and chips, or more fancy food along the way, there are plenty of streets going of the main one where there is less tourist and more laid back places.

We found a lovely little Swedish Cafe called Fika where we stopped for Swedish Coffee and Kanelbullar. On the menu they served Swedish Meatballs, Skagenröra, Knäckebröd and other Swedish goodness. The staff was a friendly mix of Scandinavians so I get a chance to talk my mother tongue if only for a few minutes. Well worth a visit and it takes you of the crowded main streets in Manly.

http://fikaswedishkitchen.com.au/

To get to Manly you take a 30 minutes ferry from Circular Quay, it's about $14 return and it's lovely to go out during the day and return to the city after dark so see the city lit up. Both leaving and returning to the city gives you great views of the Opera House, Sydney Harbor Bridge and Luna Park. But be prepared to be crowded by all the tourists with their cameras if you want to get some good photos.

The Manly beach is pretty long compare to Bondi and Tamarama, my two local beaches, it's about 3 km long and there is a promenade that goes along the beach. I am sure it's crowded in the summer but at the moment it wasn't to busy. A dozen families with kinds building sand castles and 50 or so surfers. We walked along the promenade from the south to north where the beach connects to a large lagoon. There we found a park where a street artist displayed his soap bubble stunts.

We walked back as the sun set, grabbed a snack at the wharf and headed home. 

Finishing the outing with dinner at Grilld in Bondi Junction made this day pretty much perfect. 

http://www.grilld.com.au/locations/#location/new-south-wales/sydney/bondi-junction 

Thank you for reading. 

Fort Denison

Nicole and the Sydney Harbor Bridge

The Sydney Heads, just before Manly beach.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Heads

Nicole at the play ground.

Lagoon at the end of the beach

Balloon guy doing his art

Sun set at manly. The sun actually sets the other direction. But you get some colorful lights.

Manly looking North

Manly looking south

Opera House by night