Throughout the day as we got prepared to go out some of the usual birds that visit Cameron's backyard appeared and waited patiently for their lunch. Mr. Styles tosses pieces of bread out to them to eat on the covered patio, so I'm sure they enjoy their daily stop at Cameron's house. There were several, maybe 15 or so today, but there can be more than 20 or 30 depending on what time of day it is here. These birds are absolutely beautiful and only one of the varieties that come to visit on a weekly basis. I made sure to take some photos this time as there were quite a few resting outside today, their feathers completely soaked from the rain.
About 20 minutes later another much bigger bird came to visit Cameron's house once the other birds had finished their dinner and flown off. I could not believe what I was seeing... it was a TURKEY! His nickname is Trevor, and he stops in their backyard occasionally to be fed. I don't know if I've ever seen a turkey up close before, and certainly not in someone's yard. In Australia, there are several bush turkeys and they do live near people's homes. He was fun to watch hobble around, and he decided to play with a hat he found outside before he had his dinner.
While Cameron's mom was out shopping earlier in the day, she surprised us by picking up two traditional Australian desserts; a vanilla slice and a lamington. A vanilla slice is hard to describe, as we don't really have a dessert that is similar in Canada. It's basically a layer of thin pastry, then a solid vanilla custard middle, then pastry on the top covered with a passion fruit icing. It was like a cross between a cheesecake bar, and jello, and cake. 'Slices' are very common in Australia and you can find some different varieties in supermarkets here. A lamington is a traditional type of cake shaped into a cube covered in chocolate and coconut. I don't really care for coconut normally, but this was actually really good! All of Cameron's family is very welcoming and sweet, and I really appreciate them picking up so many different types of foods for me to sample.
After we had our vanilla slice, we watched a bit of racing on TV. In Australia racing is quite a popular sport, and I think I mentioned it before that while I'm here I will be attending a V8 supercar race that actually takes place on the Gold Coast. The regular roads are converted into a racetrack and spectators are able to sit around the sidelines and view the whole thing. The one we watched on TV was quite interesting, there was a crash at the start of the race (the driver was just fine) and a little bit later a kangaroo hopped right over the track but wasn't hurt. Seriously, that can only happen in Australia. We drove to Cameron's brothers house to watch the last 20 minutes of the race, then we left to go out to dinner.
Sometimes, being in Australia is so overwhelming because there are just SO many places I have to opportunity to visit. When I wake up even though it's raining there are a billion options of places to go and see. That may be why we visited 3 different restaurants before finally settling on one called 'Bugzies' at the Broadbeach Promenade. We actually went inside, looked at the menu and left the first 2 restaurants because we couldn't decide what type of food to eat. I am so glad we picked Bugzies though, because we had the BEST dinner! We ordered the seafood platter to split and it was incredible. It was covered in fresh shrimp, Morton Bay bugs, calamari rings, deep fried shrimp and perch (accompanied by fruit, salad, and fries). This seafood was so fresh that I actually didn't know what the shrimp was at first! They came with their heads still attached so I didn't immediately recognize it as a shrimp, and when I ate my first one I looked over to Cameron and said, "this tastes kind of like a shrimp, but SO much better!" and he laughed because obviously, I've never eaten fresh (not frozen) shrimp before but they really do taste completely different. The Moreton Bay bug was HUGE, as I'd only imagined it to be the size of a shrimp but it was more like a lobster, and it tasted like one too. The calamari was a lot more elastic-y than I had imagined but I enjoyed it, and the fresh perch was a wonderful fish to try. I can't wait to eat more seafood here, it really makes a difference that it is fresh and caught so close by.
After dinner we drove back to Cameron's house, completely stuffed, played on his Wii for a little while, then went to bed.
The birds in Cameron's backyard
A lamington (top) and a vanilla slice (bottom)
Trevor the bush turkey
Our seafood platter
Well, Monday the 11th was the same as the day before, another rainy day on the Gold Coast! The forecast looks better for this week so fingers crossed that I'll get a good, sunny day somewhere in the mix. I decided not to let the weather stop me today, so we planned a fun day out to distract ourselves from the rain.
To start off, Cameron drove us down to Surfer's Paradise to visit Pancakes in Paradise. I don't remember if I explained before, but Surfer's Paradise is like a REALLY really amazing Whyte Avenue because all of the shops open to the street and it's constantly busy, not just on weekends. There are many attractions to see and restaurants to visit lining the streets, and it is literally 5 minutes from the ocean itself.
When we got to Pancakes in Paradise I just stared at this incredible menu of JUST PANCAKES. I mean, I was obviously expecting pancakes from the name of the restaurant, but I guess I didn't realize just how many different ways you could dress them up. After spending about 10 minutes just reading the menu up and down, I settled on 'Chocolate Juliette", which is 2 chocolate pancakes and chocolate ice cream covered with whipped cream, chocolate fudge, and chocolate chunks. Cameron ordered the 'Pancakes with Strawberries' which are regular pancakes with icing sugar, strawberries, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. We were thinking of splitting one, but when I read the menu I thought to myself, "2 pancakes, is that really enough to fill me up?" so instead we each ordered our own choice. Oh my gosh... I didn't realize how HUGE these pancakes would be! When I make pancakes they are thin and small and 2 pancakes can be devored in about 20 seconds. These were gigantic, fluffy, and spanned the entire size of the plate. I will say they were incredibly delicious and basically a work of art. I want to have a pancake restaurant in Edmonton, but at the very least I plan to mimic some of their recipe ideas when I get home!
After we finished our extremely filling lunch we walked a block or two down to an arcade named 'Timezone'. I know we have arcades in Edmonton, like the one at West Edmonton Mall and the small ones you find in a movie theater, but this one could eat them for breakfast. There was any and every type of game you could possibly imagine and it was packed full of people, even on a weekday during the afternoon. Cameron loaded up his game card and we played all different types of games, from racing to basketball to shooting down Australian animal puppets. I played the 'Deal or No Deal' game, and I picked 12 as my suitcase number (for my birthday) and it ended up holding 50 tickets (the 3rd highest possible amount) so I think I was pretty lucky with it! We headed home early for dinner after that.
I was really looking forward to supper, Cameron's mom made chicken schnitzel and salad, and it was a really delicious way to eat chicken for a change. I know you can find it in Canada as well, but it's an extremely popular meal here in Australia. After dinner, Cameron's friend Zidane stopped over, we talked for a while, then we drove to pick up his girlfriend and all four of us went back to Timezone. We played pool, air hockey, and several more games before heading home. I'm going to make sure to save up all my tickets while I'm here and hopefully come back with a really great prize!
After we finished at Timezone for a second time we drove back to Cameron's house and ended another pretty fun day on the Gold Coast.
Cameron's Pancakes
My Pancakes
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