The perfect supper

It sounds like to title of a schoolkid’s essay, doesn’t it?

On Saturday we spent most of the day at the beach house, leaving our hosts to do the things they needed to do.  We wandered into the local town for lunch, a round trip of 6 kilometers in baking sunshine.  Needless to say I did get a little pink on the shoulders, but nothing too serious.  We stopped for lunch in Avalon, Jon had the most perfect Thai chicken salad and I had a tandoori chicken wrap – but wished I’d had the salad!

 

After we had cooled down a little, Alan returned from his afternoon sailing and Deb from the beach.   We drove down to Palm Beach where Alan went off to order some fish and chips while Deb led us down to the bay to find a suitable place to sit while we at them watching the sun set across the bay.

 

Could there be any better setting for a fish and chip supper (and I have to say, they are probably the best fish and chips I have ever tasted!

 

 

Northern Beaches, Sydney

We were met by our good friends Alan and Debs at the airport.  They then took us for a drive by Sydney’s best sights and a stop for lunch at a Sydney institution in Woolloomooloo (I just love that name Woolloomooloo, Woolloomooloo – Just rolls off the tongue!)

Harry’s Cafe de Wheels has been a favourite for over 60 years.  Sitting by the naval dockyard it was used by sailors on shore leave and it’s reputation soon grew.  The speciality of the house is ‘The Tiger’ – a meat pie topped with a ring of mashed potatoes and mushy peas.  Well, we had to really, didn’t we?

A leisurely and picturesque drive brought us to our hosts house in Avalon in the area known as Northern Beaches.  We were blown away.  Alan and Debs bought this place a few years ago for their retirement (which hasn’t happened yet), it’s a gorgeous white beach house on three levels with decks on each level and a view of the bay  through some trees.

The most amazing thing for us poor Europeans is the array of bird life.  Cockatoos, parakeets and kookaburras are just out of hands reach squawking away all day.  We wake each morning to the sound of the kookaburras laughing loudly, it seems, just next to our ears but although they are loud and shrieking, I can’t help it but wake up laughing at this infectious giggle coming from a bird!

Yesterday afternoon, our friends hired a ‘tinny’, a little tin boat with a motor and took us out into the bays on the inland side of the peninsular.  The houses are just amazing from the shore side and each has a boathouse, most of which have been converted into guest rooms or dining rooms.  It was a wonderful couple of hours on the water.

The weather has been very warm but, fortunately for us pale skins, not too sunny so far.