There was some time spent in the kitchen, resulting in my first use of the nut milk bag I bought a year or so ago (!) but hadn't used prior to yesterday. I am delighted to have christened it and will be blogging about the results at some stage soon.
I also made rice paper rolls, rather on the spur of the moment, which meant the fillings were a little on the plain side: commercial barbecue-marinated tofu (a flavoured pack bought because it was on special), carrot, and watercress - until I ran out of watercress and put baby spinach into the final roll instead. A little random, but delicious nonetheless.
We also bought new plants for our vegetable plots, which were in urgent need of updating.
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| Roma tomato plants |
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| Baby corn (plus some kale at the back) |
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| More kale, which will hopefully grow in a pot! |
Then, today, we took advantage of mild temperatures and clear skies to head east to Walyunga National Park, which is about 45 minutes from Perth. During summer, our desire to do long walks in the bush is greatly reduced, and we wanted to squeeze at least one more outing in before the temperatures rise too high.
We were rewarded with a national park almost to ourselves - we saw 7 other people in total over the time we were there. We were also fortunate enough to see a kangaroo, as well as plenty of bird life.
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| A content kookaburra |
Walyunga national park incorporates the Avon river, which form the basis for Perth's Avon Descent (an annual, 2-day paddling race that sees kayaks and other vessels cover 124km in total). We walked the light blue route shown on the map below, which looped along the river and then up through trees.
The water level wasn't high enough for rapids, but it was sufficient to give attractive views on the river-side stretches.
The higher part of the walk was pretty attractive too, with uninterrupted views over trees and bushland.
In all, it was a really lovely afternoon - and a nice end to a lovely weekend. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for some more mild days before summer heat arrives!
Tell me - what did your weekend involve?
Walyunga looks like a beautiful place. Some friends came over to help me with my balcony herbs today, but unfortunately two out of three had already died :( Oh well, I will buy some more.
ReplyDeleteI figure buying fresh herbs for growing is not much more than picked fresh herbs from the supermarket, which always makes me feel better when they die :)
DeleteSounds very relaxing - the national park looks beautiful -aren't they always better when less people about - and your garden sounds full of interesting veg - I had a good run with kale for a while - hope yours does ok - my lemon tree is seeming a bit underwhelming but the mint is going crazy!
ReplyDeleteMy lemon tree is exactly the same - it's growing fine, but no lemons! The mint is doing well, though, and my one kale plant did ok over winter so I thought I'd try some more. I do wish I could keep plants going for more than a few seasons though!
Delete"Before the temperatures rise too high". Bah, humbug. ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's a pity I can't post you a few degrees!
DeleteThat last photo makes me want to get on a plane and come over. :) I've got herbs in pots and that's about it but it does look rather jungle-y out there with so many of them. :)
ReplyDeleteI say embrace the jungle :) Better than a desert, anyway! I would like a garden with more than pots one day though.
DeleteGlad you like the scenery too!
Your kale is looking great! Too cute!
ReplyDeleteWe have started planting a couple things so fingers crossed they grow well! :)
I hope they do Kristen!
DeleteI have to agree with you about Perth heat! We only ever headed up there from Albany just before Christmas to pick up our yearly stocks of Asisn food and visit Kakulis for our bulk bought spices etc. It was HOT and we used to stay for a week and "do Perth" ;). I miss Perth and WA but NOT the heat...I am quite content to languish in the mist down here in Tasmania :)
ReplyDeleteMm, I'd be content to languish there too! I definitely prefer your temperatures to ours. Even the difference between Albany and Perth is amazing - I can see why you stayed down there when you were in WA ;)
DeleteYou weekend looks like it would be my perfect weekend! Tyler and I were way too busy this weekend. We spent the whole weekend running around going to Birthdays, parties and get togethers. Exhausting fun! We went to the National Park in Manly. Super beautiful :) Loving your pictures.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cass! It sounds like you packed a lot of fun things into your weekend too :)
DeleteYour rice paper rolls look delicious, Kari. And how lovely to go for a bush walk. What a relaxing day that must have been xx
ReplyDeleteIt really was Charlie - thank you :)
DeleteIt is so interesting looking at your part of Australia, Kari! On my to- do list is to repot my vegetables - some of my herbs have gone to seed and I'm ready to experiment with some different vegetables!
ReplyDeleteGardening is certainly a fun way to experiment! I hope you have fun with it - and hopefully with the eating at the end too :)
DeleteWalyunga looks like a lovely spot, how nice that you were able to enjoy it without many people around!
ReplyDeleteI planted some tomatoes and kale recently and they are both growing madly. Your rice paper rolls look great too!
Thanks Mel! I'll hope that my new plants grow like yours - they have a bit of catching up to do given spring started 2 months ago now :P
DeleteHooray for veggie gardens! I've just given mine a bit of TLC too :)
ReplyDeleteHooray indeed!
DeleteI have been meaning to go to this national park for ages now. I will have to check it out soon
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely worth a visit Anne :) There's a good picnic spot shortly in from the entrance too.
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