Maslin Nude Beach – Adelaide

Mike and I spent 5 days just before Christmas in Adelaide with his brother (along with his parter) and sister.  One of my favourite places was indeed the nude beach (about 25 minute drive from the city centre).  The beautiful sediment, with it’s rugged layers exposed to the wind, sun and waves…drew me from the clothed side of the beach to the nude.  Mike tagged along and slowly we made our way closer to the cliffs.  On the way Mike and I discussed nude beach etiquette…

We didn’t really know any rules.

Have you been to a nude beach before?  Do you know what the guidelines are?  

I made sure to never take a photo when I was near any one, and distinctly kept the camera pointed to the sand to assure people that they were safe and I was not there to photograph them.

I was in the middle of taking a photograph of the succulent above when Mike asked me if I could hold onto something for him, as I was in the midst of taking a photo I held out my hand blind only to discover his shorts in my hand.  This made me laugh, and I smiled at the spontaneity and confidence he has… He does have the perfect bum.

There are plenty of wineries in the region, which is highly regarded (South Australia produces some of the countries best wines) and of course we tried some wood fired pizza at an italian vineyard before we hit the beach.

Adelaide is a smaller city, and while we only saw portions of it during our short stay, we really enjoyed the laid-back vibes and the opportunity to spend some quality time with our family.

The images above feature:

• Three joyous dogs playing at Maslin beach.
• The cutest tush in all the land.
• A small bird befriending me for some carrot cake in Adelaide’s botanical gardens.
• A dainty jumping spider in Rayden and Fredericks (immaculate) garden.
• Mangrove trees, leeching and filtering ocean water to survive and also breeding a gazillion mozzies in it’s rotten boggy bottom.
• Handorf – a little German town just outside of Adelaide which is about as kitsch as it gets.
• A German lunch of sausage, potatoes, sauerkraut and steak (I ate pickles, smoked cheese and coleslaw with dense bread and a tomato chutney.
• The mushroom pizza, top winner in the 4 types we choose to eat over lunch before travelling to the beach, bloated and not at all hungry.
• A salt lake, located beside the mangroves.  It was trespassing to take that photo, and I lost a sandal in the process.

A brief romance with Melbourne

These three cuties, greeted me on my way to meet with an old friend Derek (also known as George) for coffee in Fitzroy.

Hellas Cakes, Richmond – This place looked and smelled delicious.  They also gave me the best soy latte I’ve ever tasted.

Melbourne was my home briefly for 4 days during my time in Victoria.  I spent my days there wandering the familiar streets browsing shops and meeting with old friends.  It is a gritty, raw, edgy city filled with many pockets of interesting places to experience.

I love this city for it’s diversity, food, culture, art, fashion and people.  There is huge hipster influence here that I actually want to acknowledge the fact openly right now…

I wish I was a hipster.

Not pictured:

• My disgusting fever/head-cold/flu which I blatantly spread around the city through my trip on transport
• The vast population of men (the numbers seem higher here).
• Natalie and Ross whom I visited with over two days in Prahran
• The fashionable women and older ladies who were spotted in trendy Prahran as I trolled the streets.
• Margarita pizza from Sempre I enjoyed this amazing meal solo, one day when I made it my mission to find the best pizza in the city.  Bonus:  It was really cheap too.
• My friend Emily and her partner Lenny making me the best tofu burger in their home.
• Me pacing around Emilys courtyard trying not to vomit on her plants for 10 minutes (worst feeling ever) this was from the flu not the tofu.
• Derek’s photo, it’s not you it’s me…. Basically it’s not my best work.  Sorry Derek.

Mike and I lived in Melbourne for six months when we first moved to Australia.  Our home was located in scummy Footscray (which was also an up and coming neighbourhood) it was a mecca for international food, and despite the rough reputation it has, we loved living there.  Our time living in Melbourne was unfortunately made difficult as Mike was finding it hard to gain employment in a steady role, and I was being pushed to the brink of sanity in my job.  So we made the decision to move on to the land of opportunity, Western Australia.

Perth is exciting, and beautiful in many ways…  But, there is no comparison however for the variety in architecture, people, urban living spaces and food options found in Melbourne!

Have you ever visited or lived in Melbourne? What were some of your favourite places?

She hogs the bed.

Tessie has been visiting for 1.5 weeks.  She’s silly, strange and timid in the city.  We’ve been enjoying her company, though I’m not sure she always enjoys our company.  Her obsession with my side of the bed, extends well into the twilight hours, as she’ll come and whine at me to move and let her up…several times each night.  I have been resisting…. for the simple fact that I feel sandwiched and can never get up to eat my midnight snack, or run to the loo.

Despite the inconvenient sleeping pattern, I love watching her light up when we go out for walks.  She’s been so good for us and I’m going to be so gutted when Mike takes her back tomorrow.

These photos are from Lake Leschenaulta, and a few state parks along our drive back to the city.

Frederick.

When we came home from our trip last weekend, we noticed two fish were missing.  We moved everything in the tank but couldn’t find any hint of them.  Big Bertha and her boyfriend (also a large male) were no where to be found.  After about 20 minutes Mike noticed….Frederick was eating the male.  He ate them, bones and all!!!

He’s also been eating our plants, and has doubled in size since we got him about a month ago.  He’s a speedy monster.  Sometimes we’ll be watching him, and turn away and look back and he’s moved across the entire tank.

He may legitimately be the fastest snail on the planet.  Our other snail Rayden, moves at a normal pace and is sometimes bullied by Frederick.

 

How many fish do we have today?

Last night I went to my first ever charity fundraiser.  It was a really nice night out with colleagues and a few business associates at the Crown Casino here in Perth.  The food and entertainment were really outstanding…not to mention we all raised money for a really good cause.  Senses Australia is an organisation that helps people who are deaf/blind to connect and engage and participate in a variety of programs.  Throughout the evening we were treated to cabaret dancers, a really funny comedian and some live music.

The Raw Kitchen in Fremantle.

Mike and I had some delicious vegan food in Fremantle recently at “The Raw Kitchen”.  We both felt so good after having this meal.

A few weeks ago now, Mike enthusiastically bough a tiny fish tank.  I did not share the same excitement, as I worried that the water might make our room smell.  That was my only concern.  Despite my objections, he came home with some filtered water and about 5 generic guppies, and 2 tetra fish and two massive snails to keep the place clean.

Totalling 9 fish in a 15l tank.  Basically it was crowded!

He set it up really well with some live plants, and had to fly back to the mine site a few days later.  I was left with the job of caring for them.  Over the few days I’d become quite captivated by the snails in particular.  The brown one whom we’ve named Frederick after a friend of ours…is quite possibly the greediest and fastest moving snail I’ve come across in my life. He never sleeps, and he will knock the other off the wall if it’s in a nice spot for a meal.  Seriously entraining to watch him.

Here is Frederick doing his best to knock down Rayden from the wall.  He also climbs to the top of the tank and floats to the bottom because he is too lazy to slide all the way back down.  It’s quite entertaining watching him.

I began to see why Mike was so keen on having a little tank in our room…I’ve been enjoying waking up and starting my day by watching them wake up too.

One morning while Mike was away I noticed one of the guppies had something strange coming out behind her.  Magically something popped out and swam away.

She gave birth to 9 live babies.  Pretty amazing stuff to watch.  Life was unfolding before my very eyes!

Mike returned home and suddenly we had 18 fish in the tank.  We were thrilled to count the little goggly eyes among the plants.  But we noticed a problem…

The snails had bred as well and there were (a quick count) roughly 50 or so tiny snails also occupying the space.  We went to a fish shop last weekend, and discovered a type of fish that also eat small snails and so purchased two.

+ 2x clown loaches.

= 20 fish.

Wouldn’t you know it, within one day all of the little snails were gone…

But, this fish brought with it a disease for suddenly our healthy adults started dropping like flies.

Death Toll:

1x male guppy (orange and black – Mikes favourite)

1x female guppy (she was pregnant but was “put down” because she had mould taking over her body

1x tetra female (she was well quite frankly we’re not sure she had brains. She died of starvation.  Her male counterpart is massive and hearty and fat fyi).

1x male guppy who died a week ago and we didn’t notice (pretty gross he was stuck under the filter).

2x baby guppies

Now the tank seems to be settling, and on my last count there were 7 baby guppies.  But this morning, I’ve woken to find only one left.

We’ve lost 12 fish.  I’ve not told Mike about all the guppies being eaten (they have just vanished).  I also have developed a slight dislike for the clown loaches as they have not only eaten the guppies, they’ve been trying to eat my Frederick.

We are now have a total of 8 aquatic creatures living in our tank, which include our two big snails.  : (

Sunday Sounds

Peking Duk – High

Royksopp & Robyn – Do it Again (Moullinex-Dub)

Seinabo Sey – Hard Time

Update:  After talking to Mike about the massacre last night we decided to give the loaches away…I put an ad online and less than 10 mins later secured a new home for them.  They will be on their way to their new tank tomorrow afternoon.

Sad, but also kind of relieved…

Did I mention they grow to be 12 inches long and live for 20 years?  haha our fish tank is only 12 inches long!