This post follows on from: Torres del Paine Calafate and El Calafate The Calafate berry is symbolic to Patagonia, being indigenous to the region. Around a metre tall, the bushy plants produce edible berries that look a little like blueberries and have a taste that some describe as hinting of black currant, mulberry and/or blackberry. You will find them in …
Torres Del Paine National Park
This post follows on from: Tierra Del Fuego and Cape Horn Patagonia Patagonia is one of those mystery places: we know the name but we don’t really know much about it or where it actually is. Patagonia isn’t a country but a region on the southern tip of South America. It is large – a little bigger than South Australia …
One of Australia’s Great Drives – And Food And Wine Trails!
The Tamar Valley is one of the most beautiful parts of Australia, perhaps the most beautiful. This blog post is about a day we spent in July, 2017, where we started at Windermere, headed into Launceston and drove down the West Tamar to the Batman Bridge. It was a perfect day, starting with a light frost, but turning into a …
A VFT System for Tasmania!
Why is a food blog interested in a VFT (Very Fast Train) route from Burnie through to Hobart via Devonport and Launceston? Well, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to board a train in Launceston at 6.30 pm, for dinner at a Hobart restaurant at 7.30 pm, then be home by bedtime! In the following map, the dream VFT …
A Tassie Dinner Party – In July!
Tasmania does get cold, let’s be honest. So entertaining at Olive’s Cottage in winter has to be done inside where there is limited seating and the cooking is done just a metre or two away from the dining table. Recently we had a dinner party for four of our family members on a Saturday night in July. At one stage, …
Tierra Del Fuego and Cape Horn
This post follows on from: Four weeks visiting Patagonia, Atacama and Mendoza Ushuaia Ushuaia is at latitude 550 South, the same as Macquarie Island, making it well south of Hobart at 430. Naively we expected a small isolated settlement in freezing barrenness. Yet we found a thriving tourist hub of 60,000 people with good infrastructure, interesting architecture and a bustling port …
Four Weeks Visiting Patagonia, Atacama and Mendoza
This post follows on from: Cazuelas and Empanadas On the 12th of March 2017, sixteen of us started a four week tour of the southern parts of South America. Everyone in the group knew each other, all friends of ours. It was a private tour organised for us by our Melbourne travel agent, Natural Focus Safaris. It would be one …
Cazuelas and Empanadas
This post follows on from: Buenos Aires – The Food! In this post we give two recipes inspired by what we ate in Argentina. However, they are as much methods as they are recipes, meaning you can use them as guides to your own versions. Our recipes are not traditional by any means but hopefully you will enjoy them if …
Barbecues Galore!
Click here for: Buenos Aires – The City! One reason for going to Buenos Aires is to eat! There is a definite Argentinean cuisine, with many of the dishes and customs duplicated in some form or other in neighbouring South American countries. The Spanish and Italian influences on the cuisine are clear, though there is less of an indigenous impact …
A European City in the Southern Hemisphere!
A five-week tour of southern South America We flew to Buenos Aires mid-March, 2017. It would be the start of a five-week tour covering the huge region of Patagonia (in both southern Argentina and southern Chile), the Atacama Desert in northern Chile and the wine region of Mendoza in north-west Argentina. We will make a series of blog posts covering …