Among my favorite memories from this recent trip to Australia - sitting on a beautiful countryside by a roaring campfire, enjoying a lovely meal with friends and family.
During our stay in Tasmania, Alexis, Jude, Truman, Pamela and I visited Bangor, an historic 15-thousand acre farm and vineyard located on the Forestier Peninsula in the southeast region of the island state. Our delicious feast was conceived and prepared by chef and author, Sarah Glover. We enjoyed fresh seafood and just picked farm vegetables and fruits. It was a most relaxing and delightful outing for us all.
Enjoy these photos.
Wouldn’t you like to be treated to an outdoor picnic like this when you’re traveling around an exotic place like Tasmania? Well-known Australian chef, Sarah Glover, invited us and friends to a lunch entirely cooked over open fire at Bangor. It was utterly delicious.
Tasmania is becoming a more important agricultural state – growing everything from ordinary vegetables to extraordinary fruit, such as bing cherries and apricots.
Many of the vegetables we had for lunch were picked right here in the expansive fields of the farm.
The ride to our picnic location was over dirt roads through fields of luscious hay bales and grazing sheep.
Here are just some of Bangor’s well-cared for superfine merino sheep grazing in their paddock.
Sarah brought everything we needed for the picnic.
Her Land Rover Defender is outfitted with stoves, ice boxes, and lots of room for chairs, dishes and other cooking supplies.
Here is the side of the 4WD vehicle complete with a serving window.
And in just a few moments, she had a gorgeous table set with linens, glassware, and china.
The children spent some time exploring the promontory. Truman and Jude love to explore and Bangor looks out onto both Blackman and Norfolk Bays, so the sweeping views were breathtaking.
Sarah then showed me and the kids all the foraged vegetables, fruits and seafood that she had collected that morning. Truman was curious about the octopus – here he is holding it.
Abalone is a common name for any of a group of small to very large sea snails.
The thick shell is composed of mother-of-pearl, which in many species is highly iridescent, with a range of strong, changeable colors. This abalone is covered in sea growth.
We also had three beautiful lobsters.
And sea urchins – another popular delicacy in many parts of the world.
After our fire was started, Sarah had the children nail the salmon to a log, so it could be cooked.
Under the fish, Sarah placed many herbs and made deep cuts through the skin to the backbone and stood the log up vertically along the fire. The radiant heat cooked it slowly and perfectly.
Tripods were set up for a grill and cast iron pots. And as the salmon cooked, the skillets and pots were heated over the fire.
Alexis, Pamela and Jude watched everything closely, while Truman and I learned how to clean abalone and urchins.
Truman was entrusted with a knife to split the lobsters and clean them well. He is an excellent chopper.
Next to cook – steamed potatoes strained over steam water, quartered and fried in butter.
Jude was entrusted with all the ingredients to make an apricot cake.
First she creamed the butter, added sugar, flour, milk, and a little bit of baking powder. Sarah forgot to bring eggs but that did not phase her one bit – she simply added more milk.
Jude broke apart the apricots with her fingers to remove the stones, and then put the halves in the pots – everything was so fresh.
The pot was covered, placed on the tripod over the fire, and then the top was filled with hot coals. The fire cooked it perfectly.
Truman did great cleaning and seasoning the lobsters. They were all placed shell down in a skillet to cook slowly over the coals.
Rosemary was added to the potatoes along with salt and pepper. My job was to make sure these potatoes were perfect also.
While waiting for the meal to finish, we all walked around the property and down a steep cliff to the small, private beach. Truman tripped and bruised his legs and arms, but he was just fine – recovered quickly as young, energetic boys do, and continued with the walk.
While walking, we saw these pointed rocks – they reminded me of a view from St. Bart’s in the Caribbean.
Once back at our campfire, Sarah and I posed for this nice photo near our cooking foods.
The salmon is almost cooked.
Sarah made herb pesto and used it to flavor the lobsters.
Sarah also served fresh garden fava beans with the octopus, which was cut into one-inch pieces, and seared with herbs and butter.
Everything was cooked to perfection. The abalone was cooked quickly in butter and devoured as the appetizer.
The fish was kept on the log. Here is Sarah’s boyfriend, Nick, and Bangor’s owner, Matt Dunbabin, carrying it to the buffet.
Here’s Sarah making a fresh green salad with sesame dressing.
And here is our buffet – so beautiful and so very delicious.
We also had a pinot gris wine from Bangor, a pinot noir, and a sparkling wine that tasted like great champagne.
And finally, our dessert made by Jude – this apricot cake was so good it tasted like steamed pudding.
Here I am with Sarah, Matt and his family – wife, Vanessa Dunbabin, and sons Henry and William. Thank you for such a lovely time at Bangor, and for the delicious food we shared. Please get a copy of Sarah’s book, WILD Adventure Cookbook – you’ll love it. https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Adventure-Cookbook-Sarah-Glover/dp/3791384937
Since its inaugural race in 1945, the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race has become one of the top three offshore yacht races in the world. It is also widely considered to be one of the most difficult competitions of its kind. Last weekend, I shared photos from the start of the race in Sydney. The finish line of the Yacht Race is located off Castray Esplanade on the River Derwent in Hobart.
Here are more photos - enjoy.
We went out to the dock in the early morning. We stayed at the luxurious MACq01 Hotel, which was right on the water.
Crowds of spectators arrived on the quai, or dock, to catch a glimpse of the winners. The Taste of Tasmania also started on this day, so thousands of visitors were in the area. The Taste of Tasmania is the state’s largest food and wine festival. The week-long event is held in Hobart’s Salamanca and waterfront precinct and is run by the City of Hobart.
Here is a great shot taken from above. The race’s line honor winners are just reaching the end. The first place line honors went to Wild Oats XI from New South Wales. (Photo provided by Cruising Yacht Club of Australia)
Wild Oats XI was first to cross the finish line at 8:07am, Australia time, after one of the closest contests in the event’s history.
I took this photo while watching some of the footage on television.
Wild Oats XI won in a time of one-day, 19-hours, 7-minutes and 21-seconds.
And the total distance of the race is approximately 630-nautical miles from Sydney. Here is another view of the finishing boats with their large black sails.
Watching the sails come down is also fun – these are self-furled sails, meaning they are brought down and rolled with the push of a button.
The docks were full – so many people turned out for the race. There was music playing and lots of fanfare.
Afterwards, we went to a small, but delicious restaurant called Small Fry on Bathurst Street in Hobart. It serves cutting-edge Tasmanian cuisine.
Small Fry is open for breakfast and lunch or for a coffee and snack on the way to work.
Small Fry only seats 20-people, so we did have to wait, but in the end, the service was sensational, the coffee spot on and the breakfast top notch. Here is my beautiful daughter, Alexis.
While we waited, we enjoyed some delicious coffee – here is a latte made with espresso and hot steamed milk – it is milkier than a cappuccino.
And here is a cappucino – they always add their designs with cocoa.
Here is another nice photo of Alexis, Jude and Truman.
This is Small Fry’s head-chef, owner, and general manager, Rhys Hannan. He wanted the restaurant to have an open kitchen and casual, fresh and relaxed atmosphere, where visitors can interact with the staff while the food is prepared. Here, Chef Rhys is using an Italian slicer to cut meat.
Look at this carpaccio of cured beef – so fresh.
They also had quail eggs. Quail eggs are much smaller than chicken eggs, but also richer in vitamins and minerals. These eggs are farm fresh and barn laid from Kettering Quail in Tasmania.
They make their own homemade breads at Small Fry – they were so delicious.
Several freshly wrapped croque monsieur sandwiches sit nearby ready to be cooked.
The establishment is famous for its donuts. This is an apple crisp donut. All the fillings and toppings are handmade from scratch. Pastry chef, April Matusik, starts baking at about 1am and cooks through the early morning hours to deliver the delicacies fresh by 7:30am each day.
And look what they use to catch any dripping water around the cafe – used corks.
Here is our breakfast being prepared behind the counter.
The children enjoyed these grilled cheese sandwiches made with four types of cheese and served on brioche.
Look at the inside of the croque monsieur – so full of warm cheese.
Truman loved it and ate every morsel.
This is a hot smoked Huon salmon served with local avocado and a salad.
This fried egg was served with greens on sourdough bread.
I had this egg white omelette with bacon – everything was so flavorful.
It was a spectacular meal and worth every minute of our wait. Of course, they sent us off with a little gift.
More of their amazing donuts. Please visit Small Fry if you are ever in Hobart – it is a wonderful eatery. http://small-fryhobart.com.au/
If you’re ever in Tasmania, Australia, and want to visit a most intriguing and inspiring museum, I encourage you to make a stop at the Museum of Old and New Art, MONA - it is among the biggest attractions on the island state.
MONA was founded by art collector, entrepreneur and businessman, David Walsh and opened in January 2011. Thousands of visitors tour the museum every year to see its enormous collection of ancient, modern and contemporary pieces. Alexis, Jude, Truman, Pamela and I loved this museum. In fact, my grandson told David that visiting MONA was “perhaps one of the best three days of [my] life.”
Here are some photos - enjoy.
In order to get to the Museum of Old and New Art, you must take a ferry from Hobart up the River Derwent – about 25-minutes one way. Here is a photo taken from above. (Photo by Rémi Chauvin, courtesy of Museum of Old and New Art)
We saw several statues along Hobart Harbor. This is one of two bronze pieces by longtime resident, Stephen Walker. It is called Bernacchi Tribute (2002).
This is the other called Seals and Penguins (1998). Both art pieces are made of bronze and presented to the city to honor the brave explorers who passed through this Antarctic gateway.
Once we arrived at MONA, we met its founder, David Walsh, and his wife, art curator, artist, and practitioner of sustainable architecture, Kirsha Kaechele. Here we are posing for a quick photo.
We walked up a giant stairway called Mona’s 99 Stairs. The 99 stairs lead to and from the Boltanski Pavilion, and the Mona MR-1 Ferry jetty. (Photo by Rémi Chauvin, courtesy of Museum of Old and New Art)
I took this photo looking up another section of the staircase. In the black dress is Emily Wood from Black Books VIP Travel. She coordinated our entire visit to the museum. The exterior of the museum is clad in concrete and Corten steel panels. Corten steel is a group of steel alloys which were developed to eliminate the need for painting. They form a stable rust-like appearance after several years of exposure.
Here is a view looking down. If you look closely, you can see Kirsha in the gold dress with her young daughter, Sunday Walsh. The museum is built on a sandstone hillside cascading down and facing Hobart.
This is the Courtyard House designed by Sir Roy Grounds. (Photo by Rémi Chauvin, courtesy of Museum of Old and New Art)
Here is a closer look at the architecture of the structure – everything is a piece of art.
This 1950 building is the Round House, also by Sir Roy Grounds.
The single-story MONA building appears at street level, but most of its interior is underground.
This is one of several installations by artist James Turrell. It is called Amarna and springs to life at dusk when large lights of various shades play against the changing night sky. The hole in the center was created especially for visitors to see the light and spatial relationship in the sky.
Here is the side of the expansive museum. The museum had a lot of new construction in the works. David also announced plans to open a small high-end casino on the museum’s grounds.
Here is a closer look at the concrete waffle facade and Corten steel walls. (Photo by Rémi Chauvin, courtesy Museum of Old and New Art)
Near the entrance to the museum, there is even a well-kept, hard-surface tennis court – David likes tennis.
Jude and Truman loved Chen Zhen’s musical trampoline. Each child was allowed two minutes alone inside the trampoline. Smaller children were accompanied by an adult. Truman was not very happy about the time limit.
Another part of the playground included this climbing pyramid.
On another side of the expansive property was an outdoor grill area.
Here we are in the circular lift, or elevator.
The lift is made of glass and surrounded by a spiral staircase.
This area inside the museum is called The Void, the lowest level of MONA. It includes a 240-million-year-old sandstone wall, a full cocktail bar, and a waterfall artwork called bit.fall by Julius Popp, 2006-2007. Notice the Victorian furniture in this very modern space. The seats allowed for a very participatory and comfortable experience. (Photo by Leigh Carmichael, courtesy Museum of Old and New Art)
I captured this quick photo of Alexis, Jude and Truman walking through The Void.
This is called the Pharos Lawn, which overlooks the river. Music plays all the time for visitors of the Pharos Lawn. (Photo by Jesse Hunniford, courtesy of Museum of Old and New Art)
Here we are at ground level walking toward the lawn – the views were so beautiful.
Here is one visitor taking advantage of the nature – resting on the real grass and under the summer sun. More Corten steel walls surround the lawn.
Here is another outdoor view of the museum. Fender Katsalidis Architects in collaboration with Antarctica Group designed the MONA. Many of the works come from David’s own personal collection. He made this museum a place that not only shocks and intimidates, but also inspires – it was a great visit.
MONA has roof sections that are removable to lift bulky artworks into the building gallery.
Truman loved this installation – Spazio Elastico or Elastic Space by Gianni Colombo, 1967-1968. Strings fill the room from top to bottom. I took this photo with the flash…
…And this photo without. Truman is still there.
This is in the museum’s restaurant, Faro, the Spanish word for ‘lighthouse’, which is the English word for ‘pharos’, which is the Greek name of this wing of the museum.
This sphere is called Unseen Seen, 2017, also by James Turrell. (Photo by Jesse Hunniford, courtesy Museum of Old and New Art)
The sphere sits in the middle of the restaurant with tables all around. It is quite large.
Here are the children sitting across from me at one of the tables. They’re actually several feet from the sphere.
Aside from the restaurant, there is also a bar – all spread across the complex and supplied by MONA’s in-house brewery and vineyard.
This is a black margarita. The blackness of the cocktail is made with the addition of charcoal powder. The glass is also rimmed with black salt. It was quite delicious.
We enjoyed a lovely dinner at Faro and had more tempura bay bugs. This salad also has seaweed and other greens.
At the end of our visit, the children lined up again for another two minutes each inside the trampoline – this was where the children could use up some of their energy. Jude and Truman loved it.
More than 1.28 million people have visited this museum since it opened in 2011. If you plan to visit Tasmania, put this on your list of things to do – you’ll love it.
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