Australian Food

So a couple weekends ago a few friends and I decided to have a taste testing of Australian food. My really good friend Shanley cooked us amazing food and we introduced her to some American card games (Cards against Humanity) and a couple others.

Shanley! 

Sydney is the home to many different types of food. Food from all over the world basically. With a high number of immigrants, it is pretty easy to find all ethnicities represented here in Sydney (except decent Mexican food but I think I am a bit biased because of where I am from). Specifically, Asian food can basically be found everywhere. I am living in the Vietnamese part of town so that is a majority of what I have found near me but Chinatown and Thai town are not far which I have yet to try out. It’s on the todo list and I will talk about them later, I promise.

Anyway, there are a couple foods that are labeled strictly Australian food. Sausage rolls, Lamingtons, Vegemite and Tim Tams.  Shanley helped us (me and Lizzie, another American girl) try these foods.

Vegemite

First I will talk about Tim Tams which are a breakfast tea cookie. They can basically be found in every supermarket and everyone eats them here. They are covered in chocolate and filled with gelato. My favorite (and the local favorite) is the mint Tim Tams which taste exactly like Thin Mints. I love them.

Next, I tried Vegemite. Vegemite is a strong flavored butter which tastes a little like grease in the bottom of the frying pan. It is basically just yeast and salt. Most people put it on toast with basic butter here. I like the Vegemite but I think you need to use it in moderation because it is a very strong flavor. Lizzie really didn’t like the Vegemite but I actually liked it. I think it requires a special person to eat it.

A Vegemite Sandwich 

Shanley then made us Sausage rolls. These are just little meatloaves cooked in puff pastry. I liked these as well. They are best served with tomato sauce (ketchup). Again I think they require a special person but they were very good.

Sausage Rolls 

Lastly, I got to try Lamingtons. Lamingtons are cakes rolled in chocolate and covered in Coconut. I really liked these, even though I don’t particularly like coconut. They are usually served with coffee and can be eaten as desserts or like a breakfast pastry.

Lamingtons 

Other Sydney foods include shrimp(which can be gotten at the Fish Market for a decent price. It was really fun to learn to clean shrimp and have it fresh in homemade shrimp scampi, popcorn chicken, pie (meat and sweet pies),

This is an apple pie but I have gotten to try other pies too. They are everywhere here.

and fish and hot chips (they call french fries “hot chips” and normal chips “chips,” it can be a bit confusing at times). Also fun fact most people don't eat kangaroo. People usually think it is funny to feed Kangaroo to tourists, so of course, I had to try it.

Shrimp, which are called Prawns here, and Kangaroo

The Great Barrier Reef

So this weekend. I had the pleasure of going to Cairn, Australia. Cairns is on the coast of North Eastern Australia and is best known for the Great Barrier Reef which I actually got to see.

Cairns from the Plane 

So when I flew into Cairns, the line for getting taxis was really long and taxis were very expensive. I decided to walk to Cairns which is only about 3 miles away from the Airport. It was hot and sticky but I was having a nice walk when about halfway there a mom pulled over onto the side of the road and offered me a ride. To be honest, this was really stupid but I was hot and I took her up on her offer. It turned out fine but I don’t recommend anyone doing this kind of thing because it is really risky. I made it to Cairns and I started walking around. I ended up at the Lagoon which is a local hangout that resembles a swimming pool.

The Lagoon

It cooled me off and I continues exploring the town. After seeing the harbor and walking around town I ended up at the mall because I was so hot. After drinking three bottles of water, I went swimsuit shopping which was fun and I ended up getting a new swimsuit. I then checked into the hostel that I was staying at. The hostel was great it had a VW bug just sitting in the common area and lots of cute things like a book exchange and giant Jenga constantly going. It looked like it came right our of the 70's

The retro hostel

After a quick rest, I wandered back to town and went to the night market which was a cute tourist shop under some of the bigger hotels near the beach. I didn’t buy anything but it was fun to talk to the shopkeepers and see all the Australian made things.

I then sat on the dock and watched the sunset while eating fish pizza and listening to live music. It was a really busy day but It was really fun.

On Saturday I went on a Great Barrier Reef tour with Compass Cruises. I didn’t know what to expect. The reef has been dying for years so I wanted to see it before it dies completely but didn’t know how it would look. Also, it was my first-time scuba diving so that was really exciting.

Getting Ready to Scuba

I started scuba diving and due to my Go Pro malfunctioning I didn’t get a lot of pictures but I will post extra pictures later. So the first thing I saw scuba diving was Nemo! I am not joking I saw an adult clownfish and a baby clownfish living on the Great Barrier reef. I learned afterward that this is actually really rare because a lot of the clownfish on the reef have been taken away to aquariums. I also got to hold a sea cucumber and touch a jellyfish and an anemone. It didn’t hurt it just startled me. I then got to snorkel over the reef.

It was the prettiest reef I have ever seen. The colors were amazing, the fish were huge and they were very friendly even coming right up to me at times.

Isn't it pretty

I saw parrot fish, barracuda (I think), and a lot of other huge fish. It was like swimming in a giant fish tank.

Rainbow Parrotfish

We went to another reef that was just as pretty but looked like the Reef in Finding Nemo, the drop off included. I didn’t get to see the turtles that live there but I didn’t mind because everything was so pretty. On the way back I tried boom netting which is the Australian equivalent of tubing except you just hold onto a giant rope net. It was really fun and I loved it.

All in all, I loved Cairns the town was beautiful and the reef was spectacular. I did a lot of firsts on this trip and had the best time.

My Favorite thing about Sydney is the mix of cultures. There are so many people who come from different parts of the world. I have spent a lot of time in Ultimo, the university part of the city, but even in other areas, there is a wide range of different cultures and customs.

This is the Thai market in the basement of Paddy's market. They have everything from live fish to dragon fruit and everything in between. 

Being so close to Asia, people from different Asian countries represent in high populations here. Not far from my apartment (They call them flats here) is China town. In Chinatown, you can find legit Chinese food, some really fun Karaoke bars, and Chinese shopping markets. Not far from Chinatown is Thai town and Paddy’s market which holds a complete Thai grocery market, Australian souvenirs, clothing markets, and a dollar store. Vietnamese-Australian fusion food is also a common mix here.

The Bottom Level of Paddy's Market is basically the one stop shop for cheap souvenirs.

There is surprisingly a large group of Europeans that have made Sydney their home. The second day I was here. I was invited to do a human pyramid game with a group of people from Spain. Apparently, it is a common practice in Spain to climb on top of each other and make human pyramids. I wasn’t very good but I had fun and got to try the game with my new flatmates (roommates).

Me trying the Human pyramid thing with the people from Spain

I also have gotten the chance to talk politics with another student who was from France. We ended up having very similar viewpoints on a lot of global political issues and talked for a long time. I have had similar conversations with other students from Australia, Italy, and Canada.

I have 5 flatmates. One from Russia with an Australian accent, One from Italy who has become my good friend, one from China who I haven’t met, One from Malaysia who is really nice, and another girl from the US who again I haven’t met.

Trying Bondi Beach on a rainy day with my flatmate Italian Madeline, (to the right of me) her best friend Stefania, (to the left of me) and our friend from Colombia, Sarah. 

People speak in many different languages and accents here and it is not uncommon to switch into a different language mid-sentence. Oddly enough Spanish has come in handy multiple time and the fact that I have an American accent isn’t that big of a deal.

Sydney is very Global, a bit like New York in a lot of ways but even more global because of the heavy emphasis on acceptance for and from everyone.

First Few Days Continued

After leaving St. Mary’s church, I wandered through the botanical gardens which is not too far from the church. The botanical gardens are kind of like the Central Park of Sydney. In the middle of all the craziness of the city is this serene park where people can see different native plants as well as roses and other cool flowers. It also seems like a local place to eat lunch. There were a lot of different parts of the garden, like an area where all the plants seemed to be from the jungle and another area that had grassy fields that looked like they belonged in “The Sound of Music.” It was such a cool park and was in the middle of the city but allowed me to start to understand the wildlife of Australia.

The Bridge from the Gardens 

The Forest Part of the Gardens 

At the end of the park, I came across the Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Opera House. The Opera house is a must see when going to Sydney. It has tourists galore but it was fun to see anyway. It was a lot bigger in person than I expected and looks different from every angle you look at it.

Across from the Opera House is the Sydney Harbor Bridge. You can stand at the Circular Quay (The ferry docks) and you can see both the Opera House and the bridge at the same time. I also got the chance to hear some local music from some aboriginals who hang out at the Circular Quay.

I then had the fun adventure of getting home. I wasn’t quite sure how to use my opal card yet (my bus pass) and after asking several bus drivers, I ended up walking all the way home which is about 2 miles away. I now know, that there is a train that would have gotten me home in a few minutes, but at the time I was lost and didn’t have cell phone service yet. It’s alright, though, because I got to see the city again and now I have a great story to tell. I also have some nasty blisters so for anyone going to Australia make sure you understand the opal cards before getting lost in Sydney.

The Next Day, I ended up going to the Sea Life Aquarium in Darling Harbour. I love aquariums and was really excited to go. I ended up paying a little extra so I could feed the sharks and get a top view of the aquarium.

The aquarium had these adorable penguins called Little Penguins that are found right here in Sydney. These penguins only get about a foot tall and can still be found in the wild. They were very cute and I was sad to learn that pets like cats and dogs are killing these local birds. But good news, their populations are on the rise again and more wild Little Penguins can be found in Sydney.

Next, I got to see a Dugong which looks a lot like a Manatee but they are a little different and are only found near Australia. The Dugong’s tail looks more like a whale’s tail than the Manatee’s in the States and they only eat sea grass that is endangered off the coast of Australia. The Sea Life Aquarium has two of the only five Dugongs in captivity. Their names are Pig and Wuru but Wuru was the only one on display when I went. Because they can’t feed the Dugong’s the endangered sea grass, they feed them Romaine lettuce which is really expensive here due to shipping costs. They told me that the Dugongs have high-class taste

Wuru

I then found Nemo and Dory but I didn’t find them at a dentist office.

I got to feed the sharks and get a tour of the shark tank from a guild named Dakota. There are over 100 million sharks killed every day. Some people might be happy about this, but sharks are very important for a marine ecosystem. They remove any sick fish and rarely attack humans so it is catastrophic to the ocean that so many sharks are destroyed each day. It was neat getting to see these sharks up close and see them right below me through the glass bottom boat. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done.

This is Brian the guild told me that he is her favorite because he is really stupid and keeps running into the boat.

I ended up heading home after spending close to 5 hours in the aquarium. This time I managed to figure out the bus system and get home without a two-mile walk.