2004-2005 Australia Trip, part 7
It's now Christmas Eve and we need to get to Sydney another 500-600Km away. After breakfast at the hotel we hit the road. Soon we make a stop at the Bega Cheese Factory. Check them out at: http://www.begacheese.com.au/ We have already tried some of their cheese and getting to the factory was nice. Also bought some nice coasters made from unusual native Australia woods, a real find for me. We continue to plug our way up M1 but just have to detour off this main road to see some of the beach areas. We finally make a stop in the Bateman's Bay area at a lovely beach and get out for a walk on the beach. About mid afternoon, and after passing many signs advertising fresh oysters and prawns, we pull in to a seafood store and actually buy stuff for supper. We end up with two dozen oysters and 1 kilo of steamed prawns, as we figured to have supper both that evening and Christmas from our booty. In the store we meet our first "real" aborigine. He is raving about the prawns at this store, but we have trouble with his thick accent. He was an interesting character to say the least.
It's getting late in the afternoon as we approach Sydney and we decide a stop at a grocery store is in order, especially if we plan to have anything to eat with the seafood. Knowing it is Christmas eve, and not knowing what we will find open later one, we pull into a shopping center which has a supermarket and a huge seafood store. Well, this is a real feast for my eyes. Here I am looking at many fish I have never tried, plus prawns piled mountains high. Other goodies such are both Balmain and Moreton Bay bugs were available. Never heard of a Moreton Bay Bug? No it's not a bug, but a crustacean in the spiny lobster family. They are quite delicious. more info about them is here: http://www.frdc.com.au/species.php?f=200&v=f
Maybe it was good we already got our seafood, or I would have been tempted to buy oceans more! We stock up on normal supplies and drive into the city to find our hotel. We are finally at the hotel around 7pm, but it doesn't seem much like Christmas Eve. We find that our reservations are not quite what we requested and end up doing an upgrade at the cost of $25 more per night. We touch base with Jill, a member of an Aussie Food Yahoo group who is arranging Christmas lunch for us, then make our supper, watch some Christmas programs on TV and hit the sack.
Photo: The Bega Cheese Factory
It's getting late in the afternoon as we approach Sydney and we decide a stop at a grocery store is in order, especially if we plan to have anything to eat with the seafood. Knowing it is Christmas eve, and not knowing what we will find open later one, we pull into a shopping center which has a supermarket and a huge seafood store. Well, this is a real feast for my eyes. Here I am looking at many fish I have never tried, plus prawns piled mountains high. Other goodies such are both Balmain and Moreton Bay bugs were available. Never heard of a Moreton Bay Bug? No it's not a bug, but a crustacean in the spiny lobster family. They are quite delicious. more info about them is here: http://www.frdc.com.au/species.php?f=200&v=f
Maybe it was good we already got our seafood, or I would have been tempted to buy oceans more! We stock up on normal supplies and drive into the city to find our hotel. We are finally at the hotel around 7pm, but it doesn't seem much like Christmas Eve. We find that our reservations are not quite what we requested and end up doing an upgrade at the cost of $25 more per night. We touch base with Jill, a member of an Aussie Food Yahoo group who is arranging Christmas lunch for us, then make our supper, watch some Christmas programs on TV and hit the sack.
Photo: The Bega Cheese Factory
Added on August 18, 2006 by bvdrangs
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