I am no tiger mum, but the kids were given some holiday work to be completed so here they were spending some time doing some Maths problems. Eli recently had been requesting us to give him additions and subtractions so it was fun seeing him using his toes when the sums get more than 10.
Kids were all ready to help for breakfast. I recently came across Jamie Oliver’s one-cup ingredients pancake so decided to give it a try as all we have are mugs and no measuring jug or scales. Check out my adapted pancake version here.
Pretty stoked that his recipe for the one-cup ingredients worked out really well. The pancakes were nice and fluffy. Added precose pears, strawberries which were getting a little too ripe and Fuji apples inside the batter. This makes the batter sweet without having to add too much sugar. Topped with Margaret River pot set yoghurt, granola, figs and grapes and a drizzle of honey. Kids would want Nutella with these, too. This is a great base for savoury pancakes which I will try in the future. It also goes really well with my Aussie-inspired brekkie with poached eggs recipe.
Having a buffet at breakfast, Isabella adding whatever she wanted to go with her pancakes
Trying to steal the plums or helping me place a piece of mint on top of the pancakes? All I can say, I have a future food stylist and chef in the brood!
Eli giving the thumbs up with his pancakes with yoghurt and nutella! Too busy focusing on his breakfast to look at the camera.
One of my favourite pictures for the trip. Our breakfast cooked on wheels, and enjoying our breakfast in the open air! We got threatened with raindrops a couple of times before this, but it will never deter us from having our brekkie outside. The kids just wore their raincoats! To them this is what fun is about.
We actually have a pretty tight schedule as we needed to get back to Perth by 5pm in the evening. But as usual, our social ways get the better of us. While we we packing up, kids met a German family with 2 girls. So it was endless giggly fun playing catching and running . Another hour went by exchanging travel tips and what camera we used, travelling with kids, best places to eat in Singapore, places to visit in Germany. It was their last day here and they were flying back to Germany the next day. The mummy asked me how to make tom yum soup and ingredients needed. Loved to share this snippets of information of our Asian culture and foods.
Priceless pics of kids meeting friends from all over the world! This will never happen if we only stay in hotels when we go on holidays. For sure, we get all the modern comfort, but to me, seeing the kids have fun and entertain themselves, brings a smile in my heart. Aren’t these kids beautiful, the little one especially. These little girls can’t speak a word of English and neither can my kids speak German, but they still managed to have fun. Truly, play is the international language for kids.
And finally, it was really time to say goodbye and checkout. Loved this pic. We stayed past the checkout time! Amazing that they even impose a 10am checkout time for tourist parks and all we had to do was drive off!
On the way back to Perth, we stopped to get some woodfired bread from Yallingup Wood Fired Bakery (7 McLachlan Rd, Quindalup).
Feels like a scene out of a cowboy movie.
Give us our daily bread, stoneground, biodynamic please!
It was pity they were not baking the breads at the time we were there. The baker informed us that they usually bake the bread in the afternoon, as they needed to fire up the oven with the wood blocks and that takes a pretty long time. He was kind enough to give us a history of the place while showing us around. They specialise in handcrafted traditional bread made from locally biodynamic grown grain stoneground to the finest flour. The bread is then gently mixed, can carefully fermented over many hours.
TIP: Best time to be there: 5pm, that is when the freshly baked breads come out of the oven, and the place is bread heaven with scents of fresh bread permeating the air with slightly burnt notes.
Baker checking the oven. The oven is built from volcanic stones and are heated by the flickering flames of a woodfire.
Once the oven is ready, the loaves will be placed on the hot stone and baked till they are well done.
Rustic or rusty?
Bread pans used here in the rustic environment
When no one is around, you can still get breads. This is the wonderful trust system, just leave the money into the container and collect your own change and choose the bread of your choice. We grabbed the fruit loaf, so fill of figs, raisins and apricots.
Simmo’s icecreamery (161 Commonage Rd, Quindalup) was a sweet treat for the kids! It was really just further down the road from the bakery. It was not crowded at all, as we were there on weekday late morning.
This place is huge, huge playground facilities, mini golf, a maze and huge carpark with plenty of lots. I could not imagine coming here on weekends in summer!
Interesting signs they put up around the place. Isabella enjoying her chocolate ice cream! My ice cream princess! Eli on the other hand, is the opposite. He does not particularly like ice cream, only the cone would be what he wants.
Lunch was by the beach. We have beach babies, our kids love to pick seashells, and play with sand. While they were enjoying themselves, I prepared lunch, a salmon and quinoa chowder inspired by the seafood chowder we had at The Goose Beach and Bar Kitchen. I wanted to make a healthier version for the kids and also use the leftover ingredients in the pantry. Yes, we over packed for the road trip!
The waterproof camera was a gift to Isabella when she was 3 years old with the addition of baby brother Elijah into the family. Why such an expensive gift? It was advice given to us by friends to ensure that Isabella did not feel left out with a new member. We told her, she would now need to take pics of Elijah. It is waterproof and we have encased it in a rubber protection. Drop proofness mighty important! 4 years on, the camera is still intact and working! Good gift idea!
Isabella found an empty fresh pasta box from the previous night’s dinner and asked me whether she can have it. She had used it as an impromptu carrier to be filled with seashells in all sorts of sizes. This has been a holiday tradition for us. Since she was 10 months old, we collected stones, pretty unique ones gathered from our hiking trips to Grand Canyon to sea shells from the Santa Monica beach, Lake Tekapo in NZ and shells from our Taiwan trip are there to decorate the shelves at home. We now have the plain Ikea glass vases full of shells and stones and all to remind her of the places she has been. She came and told me “Mama, look at all these pretty shells”. They were old shaped ones all awashed with sand still. That innocence, we certainly hope to enjoy it a little longer before she becomes too worldy and practical like us.
Calling once, calling twice, lunch is ready!
A one pot meal made with fresh Tasmanian salmon with tri-colour quinoa, kumara (sweet potato), sweetcorn, fennel and dill. I crisped the salmon skin as I did not want to throw away the omega 3 goodness. With leftover avocados and heirloom tomatoes, I made a quick salsa to complement the chowder.
Showing off my red beet stained nails and perhaps lousy knife cutting skills!
Ok, the chowder looks way too thick now, but trust me it was rib sticking good!
I have seen Chinese restaurants selling it on their menu, so I decided to try it out, and I must say it was yummy.
Lunch is served! The salmon quinoa chowder is ready.
Our mobile kitchen was perfect.
Salmon and quinoa chowder with an avo tomato salsa and crisp salmon skin. No wastage! Everything can be eaten. Some freshly ground black pepper would be a mighty companion.
This is the first time the kids had quinoa and they absolutely adore it. I was quite worried at first as they may not like it. There was no way on any occasion at home, I could have gotten Elijah to take fennel.
TIP: Soups and chowders are great way to feed kids veggies without them knowing.
Isabella finished a whole bowl and asked for seconds. To any mums, this is the best compliment for our cooking, wont you agree with me?
Perth traffic has definitely gotten heavier in my opinion. There were significantly a lot more cars now, probably with the population boom due the increase in mining activities and Australia’s migration policies.
We got back just in time for our small bar walking tour conducted by Ryan, the operator of Two Feet and a Heartbeat. Now, most of you would probably be thinking “Seriously? Does Perth even have a night scene? Aren’t they all just the traditional pubs with men in long beards having a drink?” LOL. My exact sentiments. I was pleasantly surprised.There has been a quiet revolution taking place all over Perth with all these inconspicuous small bars opening their doors on laneways and alleys. It is hopeful that with the emergence of these small bars, that people will drink more sensibly, cater to a wider crowd who just wants to hangout after work, have a good time with friends, and not necessarily in the rowdy environment of pubs and the traditional sports tavern. It is to also created with the aim of bringing people back into the city out of office hours to make Perth a more livelier place to work and live in.
This tour was more like a history tour through the Perth district, learning Perth’s transformation from a port with warehouses to what it is today, with a new nightlife and cultural scene catering to a much more well heeled and sophisticated crowd. I have learnt more about Perth than I ever did over the 5 years I stayed as student in the 90s. The 3 hour walking tour saw us visiting small bars and restaurants in the least conspicuous, somewhat secretive locales that not many know. You can read more about my experience here.
Ryan was a great host, introducing us to the small bar operators, some entrepreneurs themselves, sharing their stories, what they do. We strolled through back alleys painted with street art. Little did we know, these were all commissioned by FORM to bring art to the people and make the back alleys of Perth the talk of town.
Street art commissioned by FORM
Encounter of the 3rd kind?
Thank you Ryan for being such a gracious and knowledgable host. Our tour exceeded 3 hours as we shared our entrepreneurial journeys, exchange notes and just life in general over some drinks at Choo Choo’s.
It was time to say goodbye and to go home to the kids. The tour took approximately 3 hours. It was indeed a memorable experience to be able to explore Perth via the various nooks and crannies and shed a different light on a city I thought I knew pretty well.