Aussie Foods Pt 2

My last post on Aussie foods and the fail that is Vegemite apparently rubbed one of the actual Aussies I know (there really aren't many of them...) the wrong way. He told me that the real way to eat Vegemite was to put it on a crumpet and alternate bites with a crumpet with honey on it. He was confident that this would change my perception of the food.


I tried it. The taste of soy sauce on a pancake/crumpet is no better (actually, I think it's a bit worse) than the taste of soy sauce on toast, even if there is a sweet bite following. Sorry, Skip.

I use these updates to procrastinate.

The weather here has been so bad lately. I am pretty sure it's rained every day this past week, and I hate rain. I hate how lazy it makes me feel, I hate how it gets my clothes wet and then sticky when I have to sit through class, and I hate how it manages to make life just so miserable. So, when I signed up for a kayaking trip for today, I didn't want to get my hopes up too high. I was prepared for another cold and rainy Adelaide winter day.

Luckily, though, the weather (finally) started to cooperate with us today! WHOOP! We managed to get both blue skies and weather over 15 degrees. You cannot imagine how happy I was about that. Garden Island is not the most scenic of islands (it's the home of Port Adelaide's power plant), but it wasn't bad- the mangroves, even though they totally stank, were pretty, and there were some pretty nifty shipwrecks along the waterside. Plus, thanks to the power plant, the water was a bit warm. That's not super exciting until you realize that dolphins really, really enjoy warm water. In fact, they enjoy it well enough to frolic around kayaks. But the sassy things wouldn't get close enough to let me pet them without having to be afraid about falling over. I wish I could have taken some pictures, but my camera is anything but waterproof, and it's a pretty bad idea to take non-waterproof items and store them in a boat that will capsize. Oh well, maybe next time!

I'm really enjoying these outdoors adventures. I realize that there are probably similar adventures in College Station, and I kind of feel bad that I've been missing out. If anyone has any ideas/suggestions on what I might be able to explore once I get back, please feel free to let me know. And on that note, I should probably work on my Renaissance English paper. If I can write 250 words on kayaking in 10 minutes, I should be able to bust out 1000 words on Wyatt and Spenser easily, right? Right?

Such Great Heights

Yesterday, I went natural rock climbing for the first time at Morialta Conservation park. There is a mountain club here that goes on kayaking, mountain biking, bushwalking, and climbing trips throughout the year, and I figured that joining it would be a good way to get out of the city and meet some chill people. Yesterday was my first outing with the group, and it was one of the best adventures I've had in Adelaide yet.

I am a little afraid of heights. I honestly don't know why I climb, considering that whenever I am more than 3 m off the ground I get shaky. Here, the cliff we had to walk down (and climb back up) was ~18 m (54 feet) high. Needless to say, I freaked out for the first part of the trip. By the end, though, I was able to sit on the edge without worrying whether I was going to fall to my death- that's an improvement, right?

The climbs here were really nice. The rock at Morialta looks like it could fall apart at any minute, and so it's definitely a good idea to test your hand and foot holds for the first few climbs. After a few routes, though, you get more comfortable with the rock and can work more on your problems. There is a good range of climbs at Boulder Bridge. I was actually able to get a 17, which in the American scale would be about a 5.9- a pretty decent intermediate climb. Of course, completing it took a few tries, but I'm pretty proud of my accomplishment. An outdoor 5.9 is not at all like an indoor 5.9. There's a certain amount of creativity you need outdoors that can't be re-created with taped holds, and a lot of times you can wear yourself out just looking for a new handhold or foothold.

The thing I loved most about the trip was how chill everyone was. The group was a good mix of international and Aussie students, and I knew a couple of people on the trip. But when you have to trust a complete stranger to belay you and not let you die when you fall, you make friends really really quickly. I've always enjoyed being with climbers- people who put themselves in danger willingly usually have a refreshing outlook on life- and this was no exception. I am definitely looking forward to going on more trips with them. 

Also, I'm realizing that I probably have to go climbing more often. My hands didn't callus like I had hoped they would (the rock was so cold!) and my grip has definitely gone downhill ever since I stopped climbing a month ago. I guess that's just another thing I have to work on now! I can tell I'm going to be really busy this year :)

Aussie Foods!

This is a good song. The food it references (Vegemite)? Not so good.

I tried Vegemite a few weeks ago but, being the bad blogger I am, delayed writing about it until today. For those of you who either a) don't listen to Men at Work (FOR SHAME) or b) don't listen to any song lyrics ever, you probably don't know what Vegemite is. Before I got here, all I really knew was that it was an Australian food that most (all?) ex-pats try once and only once. So, obviously, I had to give it a go while I was here.

In a sentence, it tastes like soy sauce on bread. Vegemite is the product of the stuff that didn't make it into beer- they just ferment it again until it turns into a thick black paste. It's supposed to be totally good for you- full of B vitamins (some of which can help your brain, fun fact of the day!) but I feel like being forced to eat this daily would make me go insane. Yet people here love the stuff! They eat it on toast with lots of butter. I'm getting hypertension just thinking about it.

However, the Aussies save themselves with their version of ambrosia- the Tim Tam. Basically, these things are heavenly:

Chocolate cookie, chocolate creme filling, and chocolate outer coating. HOW CAN THIS GET ANY BETTER? The only way I see them getting better is if they put more than 8 in a box. Buying multiple boxes at a time makes me feel gluttonous.

Apparently some Aussies enjoy using Tim Tams as straws- Wikipedia mentions it here. Pro tip- don't try it with lemon tea. It's not a good time.