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From Coogee to Les Mis and that is not a trick…. April Fools Day!

I love the holiday where you can get deliciously conniving, all in the name of fun. The one and only ‘April Fools’! This year because we were so busy, had company and I was still trying to recover with my Asthma and Sinus issues I didn’t put as much time into it as I should. But it was just enough…..

Here are my somewhat ‘tweaked’ Super Chocolate Energy Balls (you will find the recipe below with my added ‘tweaks’ or you can find the recipe on food doodles – my favorite place to find good healthy recipes). I had made these a few days previous and rolled in coconut.

For Keaton and Debbie I took cotton balls rolled in chocolate then rolled in coconut and strategically put them in the same container as one other Super Chocolate Energy Ball. Keaton picked first, threw it in his mouth in one full sweep and mentioned very nicely that it was a bit chewy (I had to warn him not to swallow and watch while his mom ate hers). Walking to the next room I offered one to Debbie who, for some odd reason took the bigger of the two balls which was NOT the April Fools ball. I was sadly disappointed that she would not be able to experience such a divinely crafted deviant snack.

We were headed on a hike from Coogee Beach past four or five more beaches to finally get to Bondi Beach for some surfing and fun. The walk was suppose to take a couple of hours so naturally we would need lots of water. I had offered to bring some for Debbie and Keaton as I had put a tablespoon or so of sugar in each water bottle. But again, Debbie declined as she said that they had their own…. I guess Marissa would be the only one to enjoy this gag. She took one sip and made a face before dumping it out. Imagine the girl that loves sugar disposing of it!

Incredible views along our beach walk.

On our hike we came across a guy in the parking lot playing the drums because (A) his neighbors probably wouldn’t like or allow it (B) his wife didn’t know he had them yet. After taking this picture we assured him that we would be happy to text his wife a photo… he just laughed but he did let the kids take a minute on the drums.

A beautiful cemetery overlooking the sea.

After finally making it to Bondi Beach Dale was able to join us for just bit, long enough to try his hand at surfing again.

Dale and Keaton are just headed out to see what the surf is like on famous Bondi Beach!

Marissa and Keaton catching a few waves before heading home to get ready for Les Mis.

The producer of this show flew out previous to us attending and said that of all the ‘Le Mis’ performances worldwide… this was the best.

We would have to agree! The performance of ‘Les Mis’ moves you to make changes for the better in your own life … to us that is some of the magic in this play. Patrice Tipoki performed the part of ‘Fantine’ with extreme feeling and wonder, as a mother myself I cannot imagine what I would do in those circumstances, Patrice has a way of pulling you into feeling her pain and love for her daughter.

This performance of ‘Les Mis’ was definitely a highlight of our trip!

Chocolate Fig Truffles

3/4 C almonds
1/2 C dates
1/2 C dried figs
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch sea salt
2-3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder(or raw cacao for an added boost of antioxidants)
1-2 tbsp water if the mixture is too dry

Blend the almonds till they become a fairly fine meal – but not quite till they turn into butter. Remove from your food processor and add the dates and figs. Blend till there are no large chunks of fruit left. Add all the other ingredients to the food processor including the previously ground almonds and blend. Before it forms a dough stop the processor and taste a little and add more cocoa if desired, then continue to blend till a dough forms. Scoop and roll into balls, press into cookie cutters for fun shapes, or press into a loaf pan and slice into bars. You can also press whole or roughly chopped almonds into them for a change of texture or roll them in cocoa powder to cut the sweetness. These can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature but we prefer to eat them straight from the fridge.

*I didn’t have figs so I just used dates, instead of water I used about 3 T. coconut oil, 3-4 T. of Chia seeds, & I used mixed nuts (unsalted) because I did not just have almonds. Don’t be afraid to mix things up in your recipes, that is half the fun.

Mission Impossible almost meets the Bartletts and Martins

The eye catching Bare Island where a bit of ‘Mission Impossible 2’ was filmed is also known as a wonderful spot to snorkel and scuba dive, and so of course we needed to put it to the test. As we walked on the beach we found that it was another ‘squeaky’ beach… what luck!

Marissa and Keaton decided they needed to bury Dale which was fun BUT then Debbie decided to up the excitement. She suggested that they put chips around Dale for the seagulls to eat. And eat they did….

Watch what happens now!

Notice the beautiful swirling colors of these rocks.

After our ‘Seagull Exploits’ we started hiking to the next beach, almost arriving before noticing it was a nude beach (apparently ‘Bare Island’ really means ‘Naked Island’). Yikes! Not surprisingly we spent much of the day laughing until we hurt.

You can never enjoy TOO many beaches.

Dale found this kookaburra sitting outside our apartment. This quiet moment didn’t last too long as the birds LOVE to fight loudly…. very often in the middle of the night. We feel like we live in a bird sanctuary between all the different kinds of birds (and at night the bats are loud also).

Close to Manly Beach you will find this little gem called ‘Shelly Beach’ which is a wonder for scuba diving and snorkeling. We decided to take a few hours to snorkel and soak up the sun.

Dale and Keaton hiked back into the bush and up over the top of the rocks to reach their perch.

Marissa enjoys catching up with Debbie while drying off from a short snorkel swim.

What do girls love more then getting our photos taken in our swim suits…. the dentist?

Of course Dale had to climb the tree. Why you ask? He never needs a reason. Maybe because he never climbed one with buggy boards before.

We enjoyed a dinner on the beach overlooking this incredible view. Maybe we should have brought our sleeping bags.

Free?

We love the FREE Walking Tours that are offered in Melbourne and Sydney. In the 3 hours that you tour those cities you come away with a rich understanding of it’s upbringings, secrets, history and interesting stories. If you think the wild west only takes place in America, you are sadly mistaken. You may want to read up on Ned Kelly (or watch the movie but be forewarned there is lots of wild west shooting).

Selfie sticks can be a lifesaver…. and sometimes they are just too much fun.

There is a very interesting story behind this pig and because of it people rub it in two prominent places for good luck. Marissa only would touch one spot, smart girl!

The Martin’s found their ‘Australian’ Place.

Debbie and Keaton were in search of ‘Bugs’ for dinner. They are quite famous in Sydney and not at all what you think. We know what you are thinking because we thought the same thing. What kind of ‘Bug’ would they eat in Australia. We’ve been to countries where ‘bugs’ were definitely on the menu and you wanted nothing to do with them. We were glad to find out that ‘Bugs’ here in Australia mean small lobster type creatures which are very tasty. The ones in Sydney are called Moreton Bay Bugs.

We ended our day enjoying the time with the missionaries, Summer and Cherry.

And Australia makes three!

Our great friends from Chicago came to visit. We started our vacations together in China when they joined a tour we were hosting. The next year we met in Island Park, Idaho for some great snowmobiling with a few families. Now they came to visit us in Australia. We can now say we have vacationed on 3 continents together. We couldn’t wait to see what the next week together would hold.

Keaton and Debbie had arrived early that morning… how do they look so awake and rested after such a long flight? They do have their own secret for that but we will let them share it:) We knew that they needed to stay awake as long as they could and then they would acclimate better to the new time. With that said we planned moving activities, so why not walk to downtown Sydney with the outdoor market, street performers, and lots of fresh air.

Dale and Debbie to see if they could take on a new look…. they opted to not keep these for good. Thank goodness!

This contortionist was not only nibble but she was hilarious. We stood for over 15 min. watching her on the pier by the Sydney Opera House in the distance.

We ended our long day by taking them for a traditional New Zealand meal. The local LDS ward in Sydney was having a family dinner with the big NZ meal cooked underground as it is traditonally done.

This delicious traditional New Zealand meal is called the ‘Hangi’ which means Earth Oven. Historically the Maori’s used this method of cooking meat and vegetables in the ground which gives it a smokey taste. We were lucky enough to experience the full meal cooked just as it was traditionally done. Everything had a wonderfully smokey taste. As they say, “Kaore te kumara e korero motona ake reka”.

Travel Saving Tips:

1- We planned the day of activities with our friends that would not cost anything (while trying to keep them awake and moving all day because they had just flown in that morning – the best way to beat jet lag is to get on the same sleeping schedule of the country you are in). We walked around downtown to some outdoor markets, watched the entertainment on the pier by the Sydney Opera House, & a ‘Hangi’ dinner at our local church. FREE.

2- Keaton is quite the sailor (Yep, at 16) and because ‘Sailing on Sydney Harbor’ was on his bucket list we were able to join. Debbie looked for different offers on various sites such as Groupon, etc… to find the best price to hire out a boat. You can also just google discounts and see what comes up.

Can you feel the breeze off the water?

The Martin’s were off early in the morning for Keaton to do a little scuba diving off of Shelly Beach. While they enjoyed the morning in the sun, we decided we wanted to attend church but Michelle didn’t feel too great as she had just finished with a cold a few days before which now was aggravating her asthma and sinuses. After church we did a little Clinic shopping but could not find anything open so we opted for a few things from the pharmacy and a long nap.

Sunday evening’s weather was so perfect for our ‘Once in a lifetime boating in Sydney Harbor’ experience. The Martin’s treated us to this as Keaton is a sailor and it was on his bucket list to command a boat here… we had a great captain that let him do just that (while keeping good taps on everything). Keaton did a such phenomenal job that Marissa (and I) who both get deathly seasick unless we have our trusted friends (Dramamine or Bonine) LOVED every minute of it. Marissa was a bit timid about the idea at first but afterwards we are pretty sure she would go for a few more hours, if she could!

Look at that… Keaton at the wheel with the Sydney Opera House and Bridge in the background! Beautiful!

Debbie relaxing while taking in the view.

Marissa having her Titanic moment.

Dale was happy to learn a few tricks about sailing while Keaton was still at the helm.

The City was starting to come alive just behind us, everything a glow.

Keaton finally took just a few minutes to sit and enjoy some dinner served by some culinary wizards, Michelle and Costco (mostly the latter)!

Apparently Marissa didn’t think Dale was carrying enough.

A beautiful night with incredible memories!

The magic eggs!

This afternoon found us meeting up with Summer and Cherry for lunch. Summer insisted that we try this wonderful and authentic Chinese Restaurant. We are always up for trying something new so we let them choose dishes that were traditional Chinese. Marissa and I usually will pass on the seafood but we will try almost anything else. You will be shocked when you see what is served for dessert in the video below!

Our fun Chinese host brought us a few ‘special’ desserts that he himself created. Watch closely as he cracks the egg in front of us but wait until you see what is inside.

This egg look alike has a yellow mellon ball with some sort of white jello-ish food surrounding the mellon ball. When he cracks the egg… you really think you are going to be eating some sort of interesting Chinese fermented egg but your taste buds sing a different tune. Yummy! But not too sweet.

In the next egg he cracks, a rainbow colored Jello egg falls out. Such a fun meal and conversation out with the girls. WE will be going there again.

There is never an end to the seafood here.

Business friends who have quickly been added to our list of friends invited us to dinner. This was Marissa’s first time meeting them…. she was soon drawn in with Helen’s stories and delightful talk along with Peter and his quick humor. Helen and Peter might want to watch out as Marissa could easily ‘adopt’ them!

As we were just getting ready to leave the table next to us was served this Gigantic Goliath plate of seafood. As I was talking with them in taking the photo, I told them I would come back next week to see if they had finally finished (notice that all their phones were out taking photos of this onsite delight) or stomachache hangover.

Brunch with our new friends, Summer and Cherry was delightful. Of course, I am always thrilled to receive beautiful flowers which adorned our apartment for days along with some yummy juice to accompany our Brunch Spread. Breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day, although most of the time now I do a green smoothie as no one at my house really eats breakfast, so it is nice to have others over so I have an excuse to cook and EAT a big breakfast.

That evening we walked down to Coogee Beach for a little father daughter swim and snorkel, I was just getting over a bit of a cold so I bravely volunteered to take the photos…

…while Dale checked out the available fish.

Marissa braving the semi-cold water to check out the underwater wonders with her Dad.

Gladly she did not see any sharks which can sometimes be seen here but they are the more calm and docile type but you definitely do not want to touch the Blue-Ringed Octopus which often hide in the rocks as their bite can be fatal. Who knew you might need to worry more about an octopus then a shark?

Marissa has cooked for a few times each week for us. Tonight she chose to make ‘Kung Pao Chicken’.

We are not just bragging because we can but this was much more flavorful and delicious the the Chinese restaurant we ate at (SHHH… don’t let them know). We tried to see if we could pass on the recipe, and she was happy to as she found it on Pinterest. You can check Marissa’s Pinterest or TravelingU Pinterest:

Servings: makes 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinkiang (Chinese black vinegar) or balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chicken broth or water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons oil
10 dried red chilies
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns, toasted*
1 tablespoon garlic, grated
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
4 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup peanuts
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions

Mix the soy sauces, Chinkiang, broth, sugar and corn starch and set aside.
Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a pan over medium-high heat, add the chicken and saute until just about cooked and set aside.
Heat the remaining oil in a pan over medium-high heat, add the chilies and peppercorns and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
Add the garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
Add the sauce mixture, bring to a boil, add the chicken, green onions and peanuts, remove from heat and stir in the sesame oil.

* If you are new to Sichuan peppercorns you might want to start with 1 teaspoon and build up to the full tablespoon that I go with.

Enjoy!

Travel Saving Tips:

1- Cooking at home can save you a tremendous amount of money. Marissa made this Kung Pao Chicken which was delicious and cost much less then going out for dinner (although it is nice having someone else to do the dishes).

2- We often try to find activities that won’t cost us anything… or maybe a small amount, if needed. We brought our snorkel gear with us to Australia because we knew that we would have many opportunities to use them, and we have. Marissa and Dale took the evening to snorkel around a little cove off the beach by our home in Sydney. Cost? $0 – This is our favorite word – FREE!

Sydney has lots of …..

….Beaches!

We now get to find out what life will be like living 15 min. from the beach. Marissa is not sure she is up for this challenge BUT she is willing to take this challenge on!

Now that it is a week after our arrival and we have both had a ‘bit’ too much sun, we are taking a break from the beach for a few sad days. We wanted to spend almost everyday down here exploring as much as we could. Though some days were just finding that happy place by taking a short nap with some music on while listening to the waves hit the shore.

Dale found this wonderful ‘Beach Bath’. We all went for a ‘dip’ (a bit more Aussiness jumping out) one afternoon. Dale checked out the snorkeling in this area of Coogee Beach while Marissa and I slowly reveled in the extremely cold water before finally just taking the plunge. Because the tide was coming in rather quickly it kept pushing us farther and farther so we finally hopped out once we were able to finally stop laughing…. we just got the giggles and couldn’t stop.

The laughing just intensified when we returned to our apartment and found that the key for our place had fallen out of Dale’s pocket on the beach – somewhere. It was now dark and Dale had to climb to get to our 2nd story window. Marissa and I were holding our breath as he climbed so we forgot to get a photo. You will just have to use your imagination (Yep, it was as ‘Spidermanish’ as you can get, without the suit).

Beautiful Coogee Beach.

The view of the Women’s Beach Baths which is insanely gorgeous and serene, we just needed to be strategic on which direction we aimed our camera since many women like to enjoy the freedom of not having males there…almost anything goes.

We finally took Marissa to see the infamous ‘Sydney’. We wandered through all the historical streets close to the wharf, amongst all the architectural beauties that bless this gleaming city. We found a little seaside outdoor market at the “The Rocks”.

Dale has always felt unstoppable, so why not try the hottest chili “Carolina Reeper Pepper” sauce? 100 times hotter then a jalapeño, supposedly the hottest pepper, even more then the Ghost Pepper. After Marissa and I stopped laughing we could finally be of assistance: running for a drink, grabbing some bread to help ease the heat, and of course, taking a video:)! Which he has banned us from posting. Heartbroken.

Marissa receives credit for this pano of one of the world’s most famous icons and cities. She is taking orders!

Travel Saving Tips:

1- All of our beach experiences so far have been Free including all the beach baths EXCEPT the Women’s Beach Baths… it is an outrageous 20 cents – what a deal!

2- We didn’t have to pay for anything on our fun filled day in Sydney except our bus fare to get there (and lunch-see #3). It is much easier to do this then fight traffic, find a parking place and pay the exorbitant amount of $ it costs to park downtown.

3- For lunch we did decide to eat in Sydney. As you walk through town notice which restaurants offer daily specials. Last time we were here we happened upon this classically old European style building by the wharf which offers a few $10 meals, so we ordered two and shared. They were big enough that two was plenty for the three of us.

From Farewell to Welcome.

Our ‘Farewell Committee’ came to help us clean and pack. Brendan and the missionaries allowed us one last photo. Moving shouldn’t be that much work when you are only moving a little bit but surprisingly our car was so full we wondered if we would need to leave Marissa.

During our 3 day seaside drive to Sydney we discovered the ‘Garden of Eden’….. it truly does exist. There is an Eden but it is in Australia. Here is the view from ‘Eden’s’ shore. Would you say this is beautiful?

If you have a phobia of bats you may not want to watch… we were just about to end our long day of driving when we heard a loud noise, we looked up and were so shocked at the hundreds of thousands of bats flying overhead. So of course, we had to stop at the side of the road for a video, thankfully none of them stopped by for a visit.

Sometimes the beauty in this world is so incredible…. it literally takes your breath away!

What an alluring morning for a seaside breakfast!

The 3 day road trip was coming to an end with only 1 hour to Sydney and everyone was ready to be OUT of the car when Dale discovered a wild life zoo. Big question: “Did we want to go?” We had to think pretty deeply but decided to see what Symbio Zoo had to offer.

We shouldn’t be continually surprised to find little gems like Symbio. So far we have visited four similar wildlife/sanctuary parks and they have all been good, but nothing like Symbio! We had the great honor to meet with the owner of the zoo who told us that the word, Symbio is derived from the symbiotic relationship between man and animals. You will have a hard time to try and find a better word to describe the feeling at Symbio. John also told us that they do not build cages or even refer to them as habitats, they are homes developed specifically for each animal. He and his family purchased this zoo 15 years ago when it was in need of some TLC.

This is probably one of the best kept zoos we have ever visited. It also has to be one of the best kept secrets just outside of Sydney. If we had a choice between the Wildlife Parks and Sanctuaries close to Sydney or Symbio, we would drive twice the distance and pay twice the amount to visit Symbio, it is so worth a visit. Just think, we almost drove past this little gem, but now we are going to return for a full day as we were only able to spend an hour this last time. We promise, you won’t be disappointed!!

Marissa wasn’t even sad to wake up from her nap! Marissa had the Kangaroos eating out of her hands. What could be better then that?

Welcome to Sydney! Here is our new pad for our sojourn in our next beautiful Australian adventure.

Category: blog

Ingredients

Directions