House sit in Kefalonia Greece

Cafe in Kefalonia - Image courtesy Simpson Travel

I was just notified of a by House Carers of a house sit in Fiscardo, Kefalonia in Greece. So I had a little peek to see what Fiscardo was like at Fiscardo.com... "Fiscardo is a picturesque and beautiful Greek harbour village on the Northern tip of Kefalonia, largest of the seven Ionian islands. Of the approximate 365 villages on this large and diverse island....

Fisherman Kefalonia - Image courtesy Kalemi Travel ...Traditional Kefalonian fishing boats moor alongside the more extravagant temporary visitors during the summer. If you are early enough you can buy freshly caught fish.

After a gorgeous month on the Greek Islands a few years ago, I could be tempted to head over again, just looking at the pictures of Kefalonia has me almost home sick for Greece. Well I should say the Greek Islands, and particularly the coast, I'm a coast dweller at heart. I'm not Greek, but gosh I feel at home there.

Fiscardo, Kefalonia - Greece

There is something about the light, the colours, and the clarity of the water there, that has to be seen to be believed. The water never looks really deep when you're swimming, due to the clarity, until, that is, you start attempting to dive to the bottom. It comes as a surprise when in an attempt to touch the anchor of the boat you are near, that you are unable to... and, the water is so unbelievably easy to float in.

Photo courtesy of The Bridal Consultants.com

We were chatting to a friend at Tango the other night who is off to a wedding on a Greek Island next month... I couldn't think of a more beautiful place. Could you?

Argostoli Kefalonia Photo courtesy of Kefalonia.co.uk

If you'd like to be notified of house sits in Greece or anywhere else in the world for that matter, I suggest a visit to House Carers. (This is our house carers affiliate link).

Slacklining or how to improve your balance on a little bit of webbing...

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine
Book Sculpture spotted at Shorncliffe Queensland

One of the best things about travel for me, is the discovery of things to put on the 'to try out one day list'. The other day we came across a young man practising what seemed to be walking on a low but wide tightrope. Well I didn't know what it was until I went online to find out what he was on, and discovered it was called slacklining.

Image from Slackline.com.au (you can try it out there too)

Until then I had no idea what a slack line was. At first I thought he had a low tightrope and the process did seem to be similar. But when got a little closer up, I saw the wider line that he was walking on, and wellll... I have to say I was tempted for a small moment to ask if I could try it out.

Don't get me wrong, heights are an issue I would never be tempted to try this one.
Image from: National Geographic

Slacklining in action... Dominique Harrison

It's amazing, not only that people are able to balance like this, but the places they manage to set the lines up as well, must be a trick in itself. Water's got to be a good place to try it out, at least it would be a soft landing... given that you're not up to high I might add.

Speaking of tricks... don't try this out at home kiddies...

I became more and more interested and then I found this - The Ballerina Stunt...

World record-holding slackliner Faith Dickey

So who is coming with me to give this a go?

Bird Watching

"The gull sees furthest, who flies highest." Jonathon Livingston Seagull

I never thought I'd be writing about bird watching, but the more I watch birds, the more fascinating I am finding them. Even the common seagull. Once upon a time seagulls used to annoy me with their screeching, and their efforts to steal my hot chippies. But now, well, I hate to say it, I'm a bit fascinated with the little rats of the air.

Did you know that you can tell whether the weather is going to turn nasty, by watching the seagulls and where they are sitting? If you see them all gathered up on a beach away from the water and huddled down together, we're about to get some rain. And - the further up the beach, and the more huddled together, the nastier the weather will be.

We watched them sitting on this drainage pipe in Moreton Bay the other day, and noticed that they take off in a pattern. One would fly off, then a certain amount of time later, another would fly away. The more experienced ones take off in a similar pattern and distance from one another, then the teenagers... bless their hearts just randomly take off and the pattern goes to pieces.

We were wondering what was going on, but then we realised that the tide had just come in, and then we noticed the fish jumping, so we figured that they were off in their fishing patterns. Well that's our theory in watching anyway - would love to know more - please do send us a message if you know.

Swans on the Lake

A bit of a rainy afternoon so we headed of to Lake Samsonvale for a walk and an explore.

From what I could tell from my google planning preparation, it looked as though there was a walk around the foreshores of the lake. I know it's not probably a good thing to expect too much when heading to a new place, but the promise of a lakeside walk had me imagining a lot of beauty. I didn't realize setting out that Lake Samsonvale is another name for North Pine Dam and is man made.

Desolate beauty.

I think that on the way to the lake, I was recalling another lake on the way up to Whistler in Canada, and was starting to imagine a gorgeous lakeside walk. So we arrived and hmmm... well... what can I say... the winter grass is nearly dead with lack of water here at present, combine that with the dead trees in the lake, and the steel blue skies echoed in the water, were all giving the area a decidedly eerie feel. In one of the areas smashed beer bottles embedded in the clay soil near the water, were not adding to the ambience. Reading the 'what not was allowed at the Lake sign' ie: no dogs no horses... I think they'd be better off banning some of the humans from the site. I don't see animals causing that kind of problem. There were however, excellent barbeque and rest area facilities around the lake and maybe on a clear day after some rain, it might be a nicer experience.

But just about the time when we couldn't see the wood for the dead trees and were about to head back to the car, the most beautiful swans glided into view. We watched them for quite a while entraced.

About the time when I was starting to get used to the area, one of them waded out of the water and headed towards me onshore. My overactive imagination recalled that scene from the AAMI commercial. You know the one where the swans create havoc with the cars on the road? . We headed back to the car, despite Kevin's assurance that it was just used to tourists, and probably after bread - that's similar to what he said just before the bush turkey tried to drag me away by my little toe - but that's another story.

A concerning ABC report and video on North Pine Dam

A Parisian cafe at Albany Creek

Vegetables are a must on a diet.
I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie. ~Jim Davis

A big thank you to our housesit hosts, who prepared a few maps for us to discover walks and local eateries. The highlight of one of our walks is now the French and Mor Cafe at Albany Creek. Oh my goodness, they serve the most beautiful food.

How can I tell you how delightful these were... the best I can do is to mirror Gary Mehigan's comments on Masterchef when something was really good... 'yum, yumm, yummm'. Crunchy lemon meringue tart and a mouth watering chocolate mousse with a touch of lime jelly. Aside from the fact that the food is great, and the service warm and friendly. I also loved that French and Mor are doggie friendly, and brought out a lovely cool water dish for our Candy. The cakes are made at Le Bon Choix Bakery - you can also find the delights from Le Bon Choix in Ascot, Brisbane & Paddington.

French and Mor - Dawn Road, Albany Creek

The Ekka - House Sit at Sandgate

"What's life without whimsy?" Dr Sheldon Cooper - Big Bang Theory

Have I mentioned that I love a touch of whimsy? Well our walk along the foreshores at Sandgate or were we at Brighton by this stage? I have no idea. Anyway, our walk led us to a heart warming touch of whimsy. I loved that Rick brought a mini Ekka to the Beach (wherever we were).

Rick, I loved the book you left for people to write in too.

Kevin's favourite was the horse and the size of what followed on the far side of the concrete circle. I think mine was the wood chopping - although I did love the size of the rooster compared to the size of the horse. Thank you Rick, you made our day.

With warm hearts we continued on our walk, and watched the kite surfers battle the waves.

I imagine kite surfing feels amazing once you know how to.

Perfect day for kite surfing

The sky was amazing too

On our walk back we spotted this statue in a front garden
we named it, woman with dog on head (or is it a cat?) (love it) (want one - with a dog).

After an hours walk, and with slightly wind burnt eye balls, we wandered back to our car, headed off around the water front and stumbled across MT Matthew Thomas. This lovely eatery is perched high above Moreton Bay in an old Masonic Hall. An interesting building, with great views, we decided to perch on their veranda and stop for lunch.

So lovely to get out of the wind and thaw out on that deck. I could sit under that bullnose awning for hours. Such friendly people at Mt Matthew Thomas - think we need to go back for breakfast before we head home.

Mauritius, Rodrigues and Beach Parties

August is a time filled with birthdays in our family, and one of the reasons that we housesit, is that we get to catch up with family who live interstate.

Thanks to the housesit we are on, we have been able to attend two family parties this month.

No we aren't in Mauritius, but the next best thing, a birthday party on the beach with our daughter-in-law who hails from Rodrigues. Rodrigues is an island just off Mauritius and from the pictures I've seen - looks so gorgeous.

Paella for the birthday girl made by her employer. Funnily enough we watched Jamie Oliver make one of these the previous night on tv - you can get his recipe here

Don't know if this is the same recipe, but I loved watching Jamie make Paella for hundreds in this.

A quick trip to Rodrigues - hopefully one day a future post from here.

Not all those who wander are lost

Not all those who wander are lost.J.R.R. Tolkien

We've been doing a lot of wandering this last week on our house sit. We're not too far from Moreton Bay and have been taking advantage of the warm weather to wander around The Bay. Our plan today was to head towards Woody Point and then go for our walk. It was coffee o'clock when we arrived, so we stopped and had a lovely sit overlooking The Bay.

Pelican Bike Racks at Woody Point
Loved how this artist changed an everyday item into something special.

Great jettys at/on/in Moreton Bay

and we couldn't help but think it would be fabulous with a coffee shop at the end - hint hint :)

Such a gorgeous day and you never know what you'll find around the next corner...

The wreck of the HMAS Gayundah
click here to learn more about The HMAS Gayundah

Gayundah was deliberately beached here - looks a tad creepy to me.

We decided to continue on around The Bay and before too long found ourselves in Scarborough. A couple of yummy wraps for lunch at Sangas By The Sea - it was right on closing time, yet the staff happily made us our wraps - how nice to find that kind of lovely attitude and great food too... We decided to go for another wander around the foreshore and I was so glad that we did.

A little way along our walk and we discovered this tree. I so love finding a touch of whimsy on our walks. Now where's that art teacher who told me, that there are no such things as doors in trees?

This tree may now unfold,
a secret this far untold.
So shake all about
wiggle thy bum
he may then speak
to the Chosen one.

One of us, who shall remain nameless, being an avid Tolkien fan, even went as far to comply with the sign. Sadly I have to report that NO he wasn't the chosen one. Don't I wish I'd had the video going sooner.

The Bay is just gorgeous and a real delight to walk around...

and an idea for dinner...

Crab and Ham Rolls
You'll need: amounts vary according to how hungry / how many hungrys you have to feed...
cans crab meat - or fresh if you have it
some diced ham - how much depends on how much ham you like, you can just use crab
finely chopped fresh ginger - again to your taste
lime zest
coriander or parsley
finely chopped spring onions
free range (goes without saying) egg/s, beaten
filo pastry - melted butter
mayonaise
dill chopped finely

How to...
Mix crab, ham, ginger, lime, onions and egg, wrap in filo pastry in little spring roll like shapes. Brush with some melted butter. I use baking paper on a cookie sheet to bake them... in oven set about 180d until brown and crispy. To serve with crab rolls: mix mayonnaise with dill - or maybe some sweet chilli sauce.