Food!

 I am not sure if you are curious about food but this post is going to be all about food down here. For starters, Vegemite. Vegemite is really not that bad as you might think it is because we think you put a ton on like you'd put Nutella on toast, but you don't. How you are supposed to prepare it on toast is as follows.

1) Toast the bread

2) Butter your toast

3) Put a thin layer of Vegemite on it

The first time I tried it I had someone make it for me and I didn't think it was terrible. If someone made it for me I would have no problem eating it. Last week I tried it for the second time and it really wasn't bad. All it really tastes like (if prepared correctly) is a salty piece of toast.

Next, this brownie is from a brownie place at the mall. It was really dense and moist. At the place they easily have 20 different flavors of brownies ranging from s'mores to Mars Bars. I got a Nutella one and I didn't really taste the Nutella, but it was so good I didn't really care.

I forget if I already talked about this shake already.... oh well. One day I heard about this milkshake store by the beach so I went with a couple friends. Austin and I wanted to get a shake because we saw a picture of how decadent they were. We each ordered one and....yea we didn't feel to great afterwards. We walked all the way back just to try to walk it off but it didn't work. Below is Austin's which is a sticky date and butterscotch shake. I lost the picture of mine, but I got a Nutella shake.....and something else really rich along with it....I forgot what it was though.

Ok I know I already talked about these. These are the finger buns with icing that I tried at the movies that one night I went to see Tarzan with some of the guys from Weerona. Basically what they are is a sweet bread roll with icing on it! Sounds a little weird but it's pretty tasty.

Below is my favorite cereal which is Cocoa Krispies, but here they are called Coco Pops with a monkey instead of Snap, Crackle, and Pop. Just something that I thought was interesting because it's the same exact cereal and brand but marketed differently.

Now this....this is a Halal Snack Pack (on the streets it's called an HSP). This little monster has french fries on the bottom with kebab meat on top of it with hto chili sauce, garlic sauce, and barbecue sauce on top. This thing is easily a meal in itself. I made plans one night to get one for dinner with my friend Jack, but I forgot about the plans and ate dinner. While in the middle of my meal Jack texted me to see if I was still down to get an HSP. Since I had already cancelled once before on Jack I said, "Yes". Don't worry, my parents raised me to not be a quitter so I finished both dinner and the HSP. And yes I regretted the decision later on.

Next stop is coffee. I don't drink coffee often at home, but I ordered a Flat White one morning because I have heard how good the coffee is here and I was feeling adventurous. I thought it was like a cappuccino, but I guess it's more like a latte and it's so good! Really creamy and....yea I don't know what else to say about it because I am not well versed in coffee, but I highly recommend ! 

 Kit-Kats down here come in multiple flavor like this one, Coconut Swirl. I tried this flavor and it was really good, but I think it'd be better in dark chocolate. Other flavors include Cookies & Cream, Mint, etc.

Tim Tams! Tim Tams are sooooo good! I have always had a pack in my room since I have been here. I am scared to open the packs because I eat them so fast. Example, I opened this pack yesterday and it is already gone. Don't worry I did share it with someone else.

What they are are like two flaky cookies (almost?) with a chocolate cream in the center of them dipped in chocolate. Below is a picture. There are so many ways to eat them, one way is to bite off both ends and drink milk through it so it gets creamy and soft in the middle; and that is called a Tim Tam Slam. I think they are available back in the States; although I am not sure where. 

Tim Tams also come in various flavors. I like the dark chocolate ones but I have seen Chewy Caramel, Double Dipped, Apple Toffee, Espresso Martini, Pina Colada,  and White Chocolate just to name a few.

Ok I know we have this back in the states but it is straight from Australia and they have it everywhere. Bundaberg is a ginger beer from, you guessed it, Bundaberg. It is a nonalcoholic drink that goes well with lime :)

This is a lamington. It is a sponge cake dipped in chocolate and topped with coconut. They are really, really good. I bought a package of some and they were a little orange with a small hint of orange to it....so I am not sure if there are different flavors or I just so happened to buy some that are orange. Lamingtons are supposed to have white sponge cake instead of an orange color.

As I am writing this I am thinking about how it sounds like I just eat a lot down here.....which is partly true. I might do another one of these posts because I am sure I am going to try more food here that is different than at home.

August 19th-21st: Symbio Zoo, The Blue Mountains, Berry, and Kiama

Right after my tutorial got out at 12:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon I jumped in the car with Jacinta and she drove us to Symbio Zoo where her sister, Kate, and her brother-in-law, Ben, met us with their 2 week old daughter, Kenzie. Ben volunteered at Symbio Zoo for about ten years and still currently works with animals, so he was able to tell me a lot about each animal, the park, and he even called an eagle's name, Ralphie. When Ben and I were over by Ralphie he reacted to Ben's voice and started looking for him!

 They have peacocks and various other birds roaming around the park.

Saw some little Meerkats

We also saw different species of monkeys and marmosets that were about the size of your hand

Me and an albino Kookaburra.

This is me hesitantly touching some lizard because it kinda looked like a snake

Saw some active Koalas that were being fed.

Fed a Kangaroo.

Fed a Mama Kangaroo and it's Joey

And a Wallaby. 

Closeup of a Wallaby

When we walked by the farm animals enclosure this goat popped up on the fence and Kate told it to keep away from her child

Red Panda

Black Cockatoo

I forgot what these are called but they kept growling at something.

There were emus sleeping so Ben got them up and then.....

.....I got to feed an Emu!

Here's a picture of a Peacock with its plume. I had never seen a peacock show his plume before and it's very pretty in person.

After Symbio, Jacinta drove me to Woronora Dam and I really wanted to go explore around it because it was super pretty, but the sun was setting and we headed back to Jacinta's place.

That night we went to a club that Jacinta and her Mom belong to and met up with some of their friends. We had dinner and talked a little afterwards and then headed back and went to bed. This type of club is kinda of like a country club, but mainly just a restaurant with a bar and an area for slot machines. I am sure there is a better way to describe it, but we were only there for dinner.

Saturday, August 20

We woke up at 7 a.m. and left for the Blue Mountains at 8. As we left I started thinking about my packing decisions that I made for this weekend because this past week I have been wearing shorts and t-shirts. The day before Kate told me that it was gonna be cold, but I had already packed so I was thinking "Oh crap." When I packed I thought, "This past week it's been warm and it'll be warm this weekend also." No. Wrong. With that bad decision I left the house with shorts and a t-shirt and watch the thermostat on Jacinta's car drop to about 7-10 degrees Celsius.

We got up there and went out to a lookout and yea...it was beautiful.

We started to walk out to another lookout point that looked over a waterfall and ran into tons of steps, but it was worth it.

Here is Wentworth Falls. I have to apologize a lot of my photos did not turn out so many of them will probably be overexposed.

Above and below are photos to the right of the lookout point.

More stairs we encountered.

This is me enjoying the 45 degree Fahrenheit weather. Oh! I forgot to mention that it started to rain and it was windy also.  

We jumped back in the car just as the rain started to come down and drove to the next lookout point to see the Three Sisters.

The Three Sisters

I am not sure if you can see it but there was a rainbow right by the sisters.

Me enjoying the cold

As we were at the Three Sisters lookout a lady stopped me and the first thing she said to me was "Are you insane?!" I replied with "Yes I am." I got multiple weird looks.

After the lookouts we went stopped by a candy store called The Gingerbread House. Mom, you would have loved this place! I think it was in an old church due to the architecture and the lay out of the store floor. I bought some sort of strong ginger drink (I haven't had it yet so i'll let you know how it goes once I have it.....I think it's gonna burn), a gingerbread cookie, and a flour-less chocolate cookie with walnuts. 

After the Gingerbread House we went to a chocolate store and had lunch and some delicious hot chocolate.

It had two homemade, mint marshmallows on the side.

A caramel slice that I got that had some raspberry jelly on the side. When you put the two together.....YUM!

Jacinta ordered scones and showed me what Australian scones are. Scones down under are basically American biscuits with jam and cream on the side and you put jam and then cream on top and it is really good!

After lunch we went and bought me a cheap jacket, walked around an antique shop and headed back to The Shire, where Jacinta lives. Right when we were leaving and in the car it started to hail....so yea I had my jacket and was in the car so I just barely made it!

On the way back Jacinta drove me through the Sydney Olympic Park and saw where the athletes lived and some stadiums.

We were driving so I couldn't get a good picture of the sign, but here's part of it!

The archery range

The Olympic Stadium

After a while got back to her house and had dinner, watched some of the Olympics, watched Labyrinth, and some of the Bledisloe Cup, which is a rugby tournament between Australia and New Zealand.

Sunday, August 21

Woke up. Went to the Sutherland Mall and had breakfast with Jacinta's family and then hopped in the car and drove to Helensburgh for a spot that is famous for cool photos. I sadly didn't get many because I had a hard time shooting with the natural light there.(Hopefully I will be back to take more!) We went to an old tunnel that the train used to go through and is now overgrown with plants.

After shooting we got back in the car and headed down to Berry which is a small little town with some shops. The drove down reminded me of parts of the drive up to San Luis Obispo with rolling hills and scenic lookouts. 

A lookout 

The lookout and me enjoying my new WARM jacket.

Our first stop was a candy store of sorts with many candies, jams, and baking/cooking ingredients.

Stopped by a field to take some pictures of some cows.

Then stopped at a really good place called the Donut Van.

Our fresh Cinnamon and Sugar Donuts.

Above and below are some shots of Berry and some shops there.

 After shopping around a bit we headed up to Kiama and took some shots there around the Kiama blowhole, which wasn't working because the ocean was too flat; and headed back to Weerona.

I know this is a long post, but I hope you all enjoyed it!