Arundel Castle - Travelling with a Tudor Expert

So Faye arrived from Australia on Tuesday, and we have already done a crazy amount of sightseeing. But by far and away my favorite place we have been to so far has been Arundel Castle, home to the Dukes of Norfolk.

Structure and Substance

Here are some photos from the last week of trips around London. Highlights include a climb up St Paul's Cathedral, Spitalfield Markets and a hike in the south up Leith Hill.

For Mum

To Mum on Mother's Day,

I haven't been apart from you on Mother's Day since 2008. This year we are thousands of kilometres apart (16,516km to be precise), and I wish I could be back in Brisbane to tell you this in person. But instead we will Skype, and hug the screens in front of us and try to bridge the oceans between us. So I thought I would put down some words to tell you how much I love, adore, appreciate and god damn miss you!

Brighton Beach - Four seasons in one day.

So it was the May Day Bank Holiday last weekend in the UK, so I took advantage of the good weather and choofed off down to Brighton with Georgie.

Bloomin' beautiful Banstead bluebells

I once read an article by Peter Cundall from Gardening Australia about how he once stumbled on a field of bluebells, and how the experience of lying in a field of bluebells had the most profound impact on him. Unfortunately I can't seem to find at the article anywhere, despite the internet being my answer to every question. Nevertheless, ever since reading that article, I have always wanted to experience a field of bluebells in moody and dappled British sunlight.

Annapurna Part III – The Descent

We succeeded in making it to Annapurna Base Camp! I kept thinking back to Robert MacFarlane’s The Old Ways and how he spoke about  how the act of circumnavigating a mountain versus climbing a mountain is completely different.

Annapurna Sanctuary Part II - Poon Hill to Annapurna Base Camp





Following the climb to Poon Hill, everything started to turn a bit more serious with Base Camp the next hurdle that we had to climb.

Wanderlust - books that will make you want to travel

My preparation for moving to the UK via my Nepal trip was a long time in the planning. One of the things that I did throughout the planning stage was read tons of books to get me in the travel mood and keep up the excitement levels. It can be hard planning a massive trip over many months and maintaining motivation, so below are some of my recommendations for travelbug books.

I would love to hear about your favourite wanderlust books, so please leave a comment in the comments section below with your recommendations.



1. The Old Ways by Robert McFarlane

I can't recommend this book more highly. I read this during the winter of 2015 in Brisbane, and I think it was the book that tipped me over into travelling to Nepal.

Robert McFarlane is an academic at Oxford University, so when I first picked up the book I was anticipating a dry tome on the act of walking. Instead, I was instantly transported. Don't mistake this book for a treatise on walking, there are hilarious observations littered throughout the book.

The premise of the book is a focus on paths that have been walked since time immemorial, with the opening of the book starting with the Ickneild Way through southern England from Norfolk to Wiltshire.

However, while the book starts in England there is are diverse references to the act of walking across cultures. The Indigenous Australians get a mention with respect to navigation through songlines, while McFarlane travels to areas as diverse as Spain and Tibet.

There is also a focus on contested land, with Scotland, Tibet and Palestine all getting a chapter.

By far and away my favourite section of the book is the chapter on Minya Konka in Tibet. The chapter discusses the particular Tibetan Buddist practice of kora, an act of pilgrimage which circumambulates (in a clockwise direction) the holy site.

McFarlane notes a particularly extreme form of the kora undertaken around Minya Konka where the pilgrim will "bend, kneel, lie face down, mark the earth with the fingers, rise, pray, shuffle forwards to the finger-marks, bend, kneel... for thirty-two miles of rough rocky path."

Having recently returned from walking the Annapurna Sanctuary, I was left breathless (not the altitude I promise) at the thought of walking over 52km in this manner. I even made sure that I had this book downloaded on to my Kindle so that I was able to read it throughout the trek. Words can't describe reading sections about the Himalayas as I was standing in the mountains surrounded by flowering rhododendrons.

So if you are thinking about a long-haul trek and are in some need of travel inspiration, you NEED to read this book... like now!

2. The road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson

In making the decision to move to the UK, I had read Bill Bryson's classic Notes from a Small Island. While it was a wonderful wander around the UK, the book had become dated making it not the most useful for planning my trip. So when it was announced that Bryson was releasing a new travel book (20 years since he wrote Notes from a Small Island) and that it was going to be another look at the UK, I was ecstatic.

Simply put, The road to Little Dribbling did not disappoint. I think Bryson is one of the best travel writers out there, and I am not the only one who thinks so given his long running success in this genre. Whereas the first book had been written in preparation for his imminent departure to the United States, this book was written just as Bryson had committed to becoming a citizen of the UK. And as such, there is a definite difference in the tone of the book. Less melancholy and more biting. You get the sense that he has become, to a large extent, one of the locals.

In his previous book, Bryson had travelled from the southern most point of the UK to the northern most tip. In The road to Little Dribbling, Bryson instead decides that he will travel the longest distance possible in the UK, from Bognor Regis to Cape Wrath along what he deems the 'Bryson line'.

How could you go past a book that, rather than lecture you about the historic value of the church of Saint McSaintyface, bla bla  bla *yawn* read it all before, instead takes joy in exploring a town called Bognor Regis! Even towns that get an absolutely lashing by Bryson should be grateful, as his biting wit made me want to explore even the shittiest towns mentioned here.

If your type of travelling isn't to explore only the best of a country, but to peel back the layers and experience a country at its worst, the Bryson line methodology is a sound one. Rather than hop, skip and jumping over the seedier elements of a country, The road to Little Dribbling forces the reader to challenge the way they think about travel. Do you want to be the tourist that Miss Lavish so despises with their nose in the Baedeker (read Lonely Planet Guide) or are you up for getting your feet dirty?

I for one, know what my answer is.

3. Room with a View by E.M Forster

This isn't your modern travel narrative. I have read the more modern tales of women travelling abroad, and if you are looking for something directly relatable there are others I can highly recommend. Nevertheless whilst written in 1908, E.M Forster's characterisation of women is incredibly modern. George Emerson notes to Lucy (somewhat better written in the movie I must admit) that "this desire to govern a woman -- it lies very deep, and men and women must fight it together... But I do love you surely in a better way than he does" He thought. "Yes -- really in a better way. I want you to have your own thoughts even when I hold you in my arms."

Further, in terms of sheer romance and drama, I can't go past this classic.

When I went on my first solo overseas trip at 19, my lasting memory of the first few weeks is one of guilelessness. I still love Mr. Beebe's description of Lucy Honeychurch, where he notes that "If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays it will be very exciting, both for us and for her". That is how I felt when I first left Australia. That I needed to 'live as a played'.

I feel like there comes a time, sometime in your late teens or early twenties, when you make the decision to 'live as you play' and to be true to yourself. Lucy's trip to Florence, and her subsequent return home act as a vehicle for her to start to know herself. There is much to relate to in Lucy's journey, not so much her adventures through Florence, but her growth and development through travel.

And this is why this book is a travel classic for me. Because the act of travel should not just be about exploring the culture, or setting a physical challenge, or conquering a mountain. The act of travel should first and foremost be about getting to know oneself.

Here is what I take from A Room with a View. That the bad experiences of travel, be it a south facing room without a view of the Arno or food poisoning in the Himalayas, are just as important as the magnificent experiences. In some ways it is these travel tragedies that define you more that the moments of wonder.

I also think that A Room with a View book tells an important aspect of travel that is often missed out of most narratives. The act of homecoming and the boredom, relief and joy can be hard to capture accurately. That sense that you have fundamentally changed as a person, while those around you have been frozen in time, concerned with the mundane and domestic. Yet in the end, you realise that perhaps you haven't changed as much as you hoped and there is something to be said for appreciating the mundane and the domestic.

So there are my top three, what are you wanderlust books?

xx

N






Annapurna Sanctuary Part I - Naya Pul to Poon Hill

So I finally made it into the Himalayas and it was more incredible and awe inspiring that I had anticipated.

After a bumpy ride from Pokhara, we started off at Naya Pul  (New Bridge) with an easy five hour hike into the foothills. The Canadians in the group (Em, Kelly and Jaimee) were bemused with my appreciation of the soaring mountains. Later I came to see that we hadn't even gotten started with the mountains, and boy has it made me (re-appreciate) how flat Australia is.

At our lunch stop, we were entertained by three boys who had been trying to get an old motorbike up and running. They weren't successful, so just pushed each other around on the bike. Away from mobile phones and iPads these kids looked like they were having more fun than any kid playing fruit ninja.

The teahouses along the trek were also in stark contrast to some of the abject poverty in the outer areas of Kathmandu and Pokhara. There is a photo below which I think typifies the teahouses, with a buffalo, a goat and a satellite dish. It was eye opening to realise how much the region is dependent upon trekking and the capital it brings in. Talking to the locals, they were at pains to emphasise not only how much the economy had been effected by the earthquake, but how important it was for tourists to return to Nepal.

After lunch my tummy started to gurgle, with what I naively thought was just some lingering aftershocks from the twisting ride from Pokhara... oh how wrong I was.

We hiked on to Tikhedhunga in relatively warm weather. If you are planning on hiking the Annapurna Sanctuary or the Annapurna Circuit during the warmer months, make sure you pack for all seasons. I was comfortable in the heat at lower levels, but some of my colder climate compatriots suffered in the heat, and my 50+ UVA/UVB sunscreen was an absolutely necessity with 30+ not cutting it against the daily sweat and grime on the trek. I stupidly thought that a visor would be enough hat protection, and am now dealing with sunburn on my scalp. :|

After an evening of card games and a hailstorm let's just say that the antibiotics and anti-nausea tablets that I invested in came in handy. Frances if you are reading this, I just want to say I have undying sympathy for your stance on stomach upsets #francesisalwaysright. I was a bit concerned that I may have gone overboard with my medicine kit, but by the end of the hike there wasn't a piece of medication that someone on the trek hadn't needed.

Even without the gastrointestinal tremors the second day of hiking was meant to be a challenging climb, with a gain of 1300m in elevation and a solid climb of 3000 steps just to get to the first tea break.

The second day set the pattern for walking that we followed for the remainder of the walk. It typically went:
  • Breakfast
  • Walk for 2-3hrs
  • Tea break (ginger tea was my drink of choice at these breaks because it was boiled and refreshing)
  • Walk for 1-2 hrs
  • Lunch
  • Walk for 1-2 hrs
  • Arrive at teahouse
We arrived into Ghorepani at about 3pm in the afternoon, at the See You Teahouse. This was one of my favorite teahouses during the entire hike, with a massive common room with a (very much) appreciated wood heater. Having not eaten the entire day, sitting by that fire with a book will remain one of the highlights of the trip.

It was early to bed for everyone that night as we had to wake up very early the next morning to hike up Poon Hill for a view of the sunrise of the Himalayas. When Mum and Dad asked me what I thought of Poon Hill, my simple response was that it was the best sunrise of my life. The photos below don't do that moment justice.

Even if you don't have time to walk the 10 days to Annapurna Base Camp, I highly recommend doing the shorter trek to Ghorepani and Poon Hill. As the sun summited the mountains in the distance, I realised that the Himalayas had stolen into my heart. I am anticipating a life long love affair with these mountains.






















































Dust storm and Durbar Square

It has been completely foggy (read smoggy) here in Kathmandu. However after a day of trekking around the city visiting Swayambhunath (the Monkey Temple), Durbar Square (in Patan - one of the three cities that makes up Kathmandu) and making momos (dumplings) at a local NGO, the storm finally hit us when we were at Boudhanath Stupa, which is the largest stupa in Nepal and the spiritual home of the Tibetan exiles in Nepal.

Travelling alone - sometimes getting conned in a good thing

So it turns out I am gullible. After getting asked 'where are you from' about ten times, I realised it is the standard con line here. But while I am certain that the winding tour I got taken on was for the purpose of bringing me back to buy a painting, at least it means I don't have to go souvenir shopping at the end of the trip.

Bicky (my tour guides name) probably saw me coming a mile away, given my travelling resting bitch face was glued to a downloaded map, but the positive was that by having him show me around, I was actually able to slow down and appreciate the city rather than get caught up in the fact that I had already been lost twice in the space of 10 minutes.

Coming back from Durbar Square, the streets were absolutely heaving with people as apparently 2-3pm in the afternoon is peak shopping time. Apparently being out at 8am walking about is very early for Nepalese time.

Here are a few quick snaps from my first day. I thought I would try and get these up asap given I expect there will be a bit of a break between now and the end of the trekking section of the trip with no wifi access.











A long farewell

It has been really hard saying goodbye to all the wonderful people I have met over the years in Brisbane. But I have been really blown away with the kind messages of support and encouragement.

Maya and the waterlilies

In preparation for (attempting) to take pictures in Nepal, I have been playing around with the camera and trying out my new polarising filter. 

Lilly Pilly Jam - Forage and Preserve


This is the jam that I get the most comments and requests about from my friends and family, and is the only jam that my Dad has ever requested a jar of. So I feel that this comes with pretty good credentials.

If you are living in Australia anywhere north of about Coffs Harbour, chances are that you are pretty familiar with the small leaf lilly pilly, or syzygium luehmannii to use its Latin name.

Here is Brisbane, the small leaf lilly pilly comes into fruit towards the end of November, with fruit continuing through until the end of January. Favored by local councils as a drought resistant tree well suited to the variable Queensland climate, the lilly pilly crops up in parks throughout the city.


This makes it ideal for a cheap jam ingredient, with a complex citrus and clove flavour that is unlike any other berry I have jammed. Also, as with cranberries and gooseberries, the lilly pilly is incredibly tart. I think this more than anything is what makes it a great jamming berry, as the sharp notes of the lilly pilly help to counteract the high levels of sugar necessary for preserving.

It is important to note that the small leaf lilly pilly is different from other lilly pillies, and if you use a different variety you will get a different flavored jam. This is significant for anyone in the southern states where the larger berried lilly pillies are more common. While still fantastic to jam, these tend to give a more citrus flavoured preserve, without the complex clove and nutmeg notes of the small leaf variety.

Ingredients
Lilly pillies - 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds)
Sugar - 800 grams (28 ounces)
2 lemons
Pectin (industrial or lemon pips if looking for organic option)
Water

Note: the ingredients can be scaled up or down, depending on how many lilly pillies are harvested.

Tools
1 x 10L pot
1 x sugar thermometer
1 x juicer
1 x wooden spoon
1 x ladle
1 x jar funnel
1  x 40cm x 40cm sheet of muslin
1 x sieve (or stove top steamer)
1 x large bowl
6-8 x 250ml glass jars and lids
1 x oven tray
1 x oven mitt or tea towel

Process
1. Tip lilly pillies into sink of water and give them a really good rinse.

2. Remove as many stalks, leaves (and potentially bugs) as possible. But don't freak out if you can't be bothered removing all the stalks, as these are easy to strain out afterwards. But try to get rid of all the leaves, as they can change the flavour of the jam.

3. Remove the lilly pillies from the water and place in a large 10L pot. Add the juice of the 2 lemons and add water until just covering the lilly pillies. Bring water to boil and then reduce to a simmer. Keep simmering until the lilly pilly berries have lost their colour and the water has turned a nice shade of magenta (this should take about 30 mins - 45mins). I usually top up with a bit of water throughout the process, but be careful not to dilute the mixture too much.

4. Away from the heat place the sieve over a large bowl, and arrange the muslin cloth over the sieve. I actually like to use my two piece Scanpan steamer for this, as I feel it is less likely to topple over. Slowly pour the lilly pilly infusion over the sieve, and leave to drip through into the bowl. It is important that you do not stir or push the mixture through the muslin cloth, as this will result in a cloudy jam. I often leave this to percolate overnight, so I get every last drop possible.

5. Once you have collected as much liquid from the lilly pilly infusion as possible, measure out the amount of liquid you have. For every 1 litre of liquid you will need 800g of sugar.

Note: usually in jam making it is equal parts sugar to liquid; however, I enjoy a slightly tart jam and I find too much sugar can overwhelm the delicate flavours of the lilly pilly. In the past I have bumped the ratio back to 600g to 1 litre, however I have had to up the pectin levels in order to ensure I get a firm set.

6. Now that you have calculated how much sugar you need, add the sugar and lilly pilly infusion back into the large pot you used to boil up the lilly pillies. Clip the sugar themometer to the side of the pot making sure that the tip is in the liquid to take an accurate reading of the temperature. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then add the pectin according to the manufacturer ratios.

Note: if you are making organic jam, or prefer not to use industrial pectin, you can use lemon (or other citrus) seeds for pectin. Wrap the seeds of three lemons (for every 1 litre of liquid) up in a scrap of muslin and tie off with cooking twine (e.g. don't use blue thread like Bridget Jones). Once the seeds are secured bash them with a rolling pin as this will help to release the pectin from the seeds. Add the seeds wrapped in muslin into the lilly pilly mixture.

7. On the oven tray arrange the jars. Place in the oven, and set to 100ºC.

8. Back to the lilly pilly mixture, once you have added the pectin, bring the mixture to 114ºC (237ºF) which is the soft ball stage of sugar. This will ensure that your jam will set once cooled.

Note: If you don't have a sugar thermometer, you can test whether the jam has reached the right temperature by pouring a spoonful onto an ice cold saucer. Give the mixture a couple of seconds, and then run your finger through the middle of the blob. If it stays separated, and doesn't run back together into one blob then you have reached the soft ball stage.

9. Take the jars out of the oven and place somewhere stable. Put the ladle, jar funnel, towel and jar lids close by, so that they are within easy reach. Now carry the pot over to the jars, and places on something heatproof.

10. Fit the jar funnel over the first jar, and ladle the mixture into the jar, making sure not to fill to the very top of the jar. Secure the lid on top (using the towel to prevent burning yourself) and then once the lid is on tightly, turn the jar upside down and return to the oven tray. Repeat the process until you have used up all the jam.

11. Leave the jars to cool slightly and then turn the jars right side up. If you leave to cool entirely the jam will set to the top of the lid, making for a very funny looking jar of jam. I speak from experience, with quite a few jars of levitating jam in my pantry.

Serving suggestions
The tart lilly pilly jam works really well on toast, or with scones and cream. However it is also a wonderful cheese platter addition and is incredible paired with the stronger blues or cheddar. Enjoy!

x Nic

Ever the procrastinator


Sooooooo after taking the plunge and writing my first post, I didn't do another post for the remainder of 2015.

My bad!

However, with the greatest of intentions and to ring in the New Year, here is my second blog post ever.

As foreshadowed, I have already re-read the last blog post and cringed my way through it. But at least all that introductory gumph is over and done with.

So on to more interesting things. The plans I alluded to in the last post have eventuated and it is all finally official that I am moving to London in March this year!

*COMMENCE LAME DANCING AND BAD SINGING OF LONDON CALLING*
First on my list of Things I need to do before I leave, is apply for a new passport. The scary thing is, it is officially 9 years since I applied for a new one when I was about to leave for Denmark. I lodged the forms late last week and I'm pretty certain that I have an eighties style quiff in my photo. Cyndi Lauper eat your heart out.

In the intervening six months since I last posted a post, I have also decided that since this is the first time in my adult life where I won't have a time constraint, I am going to take my time getting to London. So I bit the bullet and booked a trip to Nepal with a ten day altitude hike. Eeeek!!!!!

However, to complicate matters my flight getting to Nepal has been cancelled once and rescheduled once. The superstitious part of me wants to take this as a sign that I shouldn't do a altitude hike, but the rest of me is just more determined than ever to go to Nepal. Particularly given the hit to the tourist industry following the earthquake.

So at this stage I am busy researching the Annapurna Sanctuary walk, and every type of delicious food I aim to scoff in my face while in Nepal, plus listening to all the horror stories of friends and colleagues who have done altitude hikes. All I can say is gimme some of those Diamox baby!

As the countdown progresses to 70 days until I fly out, I am ramping up the training and the preparation for 'The Big Move'. I intend* to update this website with my preparations and hopefully give myself something to look back on and laugh/groan at.

So read on dear reader, and leave me a comment if you have any tips for Nepal or London... restaurant recommendations most highly welcome!

x Nic
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