Laneways here are what we might call alleys back home, although they are certainly more than places to drop off deliveries and leave your trash. Melbourne’s laneways are the result of the city centre grid being designed with broad streets, wide enough to accomodate goods hauled by cattle teams. The people actually living and doing business in the city, however, started to create new access ways to avoid the wide and chaotic streets. Thus the laneway system was developed and became an indelible part of Melbourne’s urban form.

Throughout the years, the laneways enjoyed varying popularity, and were even home to unseemly enterprises at some points, not surprisingly. It wasn’t until the 1980s that the city began to appreciate what the laneways could offer and efforts to revitalize them began. As you can see from exploring the network, the efforts worked, because now the laneways are certainly one of the most delightful things about Melbourne. Compared to the main thoroughfares in the CBD they’re more subtle, charming, unexpected, intimate and artistic. Many have their own aesthetic and personality. In the days you can wander around and appreciate the street art (much of it commissioned or at least condoned by the city) and shop in boutique shops, and at night you can duck into an inconspicuous restaurant or bar. So, if you do visit Melbourne, do try avoid the main drag in the CBD, Swanston Street (my least favorite place to walk in the city), and opt for a full-on laneways tour. You could easily spend a half or whole day doing so and you’ll be all the wiser for it.

We had a great visit to the States and got to see many family members and friends (see Sopapilla News soon for news on our cat). We came back from the US armed with delicious tortillas, green chile and Reece’s peanut butter cups (which generated a LOT of enthusiasm at work with lots of “these are noice!”). So we will make it through these last few weeks.

 Not much else is new in Melbourne other than it’s leafier, hotter and Tiger Woods is in town. It is nice to be back in Australia, not least because of the stupendous weather they’ve been having here lately. Summer has arrived early in Melbourne (and here’s to hoping it stays this way); the temperature has been in the 90s all week. Great iced coffee and flip-flop weather–it’s brilliant. We rode a tram to the beach last weekend and went for a sail in the Port Phillip Bay. We’ll drive to an ocean beach this weekend, making sure to take advantage of these final weeks of good weather and easy water access.

If you’re reading this, thanks for checking back and we hope to fill these last remaining weeks with interesting blogs for you. If you have any suggestions of what you’d like to read about, send ‘em our way! Cheers, mates.

Other things to report about Australian beers: there are a few big beers brewed in each state, and the different states seem to take a lot of pride in their home brews. In our state of Victoria, Victoria Bitter (called a VB or the green can) is probably the most popular beer here. Another interesting tidbit is that the different beer sizes you can get in this country, 20 ounce 10 ounce beers, have different names in the states. For example, in Victoria the the terms are pint and pot; in New South Wales it’s pint and middy; in South Australia, pint and schooner; in Western Australia, pot and middy.  

I think Jeremy and I are not alone in liking the Aussie beers; most of our American visitors have seemed to enjoy partaking in the gold Aussie liquid as well. Josh and Liza, fellow beer aficionados, were recently here and enjoyed the Cascade Light (a popular Tasmanian beer) and the Little Creatures beer from Western Australia. Jeremy’s partial to the Mountain Goat, brewed in Melbourne, and my favorite is James Boags from Tasmania. If you happen to have a specialty beer shop by your place, you might want to check out some of these beers. Cheers!

Clothes Lines – It took us a while to learn this, but most Aussies dry their laundry on clothes lines rather than with a dryer. There’s a rotary clothes line that was invented by an Melbourne man, Lance Hill, called the Hill’s Hoist. The Hill’s Hoist has endured in backyards in Melbourne and other Australian towns since around World War II. Having asked Aussies about clothes dryers, most people really don’t feel like they’re necessary, and sometimes they’re surprised to hear about our reliance on them. I’ve asked, “don’t you ever just need to fluff your clothes after they hang out to dry?”, but no, they don’t. And if it rains, they just let them dry out again. Think of all the energy that could be saved by us doing the same. So smart. Let’s bring the clothes line back!

Water Tanks - The other practice that has intrigued us is the use of water tanks. Born out of necessity after years of draught, water tanks are pretty common here. Water is simply “harvested” from rooftops and channeled into tanks where it is used for watering the garden and yard or for toilet water in the more sophisticated systems. The city has also ingeniously installed large water tanks in certain parks where the water infiltrates through the impervious surfaces (lawns) and is then stored and distributed by truck to water other parks and golf courses around the city during the drier summer months. For those of us in the US, especially in arid places, this treatment of water like the valuable resource it is, seems like a no-brainer and hopefully the wave of the future. Maybe someday it will seem antiquated that we flush our waste down the toilet with water that’s of drinkable quality.

Plug: speaking of carbon footprints, Michael Reynolds (aka the Garbage Warrior) was in Melbourne all the way from Taos, New Mexico a few weeks ago and we were lucky enough to see him give a talk. If you are interested in checking out the eco-houses he designs, here’s a link (and the documentary about his houses, Garbage Warrior, is highly recommended): http://www.earthship.net/

- Aussies start off with a minimum of 4 weeks of paid vacation and work their way up from there. Employees can often buy more vacation time if they’d like. I really think this accounts for Aussies being so well travelled–they certainly have plenty of time to see the world each year.

-The average work day here is 7.5 to 8 hours, with most workers starting at around 8 or 8:30.

-Aussies accrue time for ‘Mid Service Leave’. This means that if they work at the same place for 10 years, they get 3 months of paid holiday. It’s like a sabbatical, but you don’t have to be a professor, and it’s so common you don’t have to feel guilty about it.

-Some employers also offer rostered days off (RDO), which is one paid day off each month. So, if you’re working 8 hours a day, 15 minutes of that time is going toward your RDO for the month.

-Aussies know the value of taking a good chunk of time off, and the culture is accepting of such holidays. And, they know how to actually go on holiday, with none of those Americanisms like “I will be checking my email and blackberry while on vacation and can be reached on my cell phone.”

-A typical Aussie work place offers Friday night drinks for employees, with free beer and wine supplied by the employer.

-In general, young employees can rise through the ranks more quickly in Australia. I don’t know if this has to do with having a smaller work force or what, but it is not uncommon to see jobs with a lot of responsibility–what you’d think of as a position suited for a 50 year old–belonging to a young 30-something.

-Although Aussies take much more vacation time than the typical American, I really think they make up for this lost time through an efficient work ethic that includes a relaxed but non-chatty attitude at work. Less water cooler talk, but more vacation time…hmm…I think they’re on to something!

-I’d also say that in general the workplace is less hierarchical here. Students fresh out of school are called graduates for one year, but after that, are simply “engineer” or “planner.” I think this reflects the Aussie attitude of everyone having a “fair go.”

-Aussies are probably at about the same place as Americans as far as women in the workplace go. Not that many women here are filling in the upper management roles and there still is in a gender gap in incomes. Also, like the US, Australia lags behind in offering women paid maternity leave. In fact, among developed countries, only the US and Australia have not legislated for minimum paid maternity leave across the workforce (if you can tell this irks me, it does!). But, Aussies will receive 18 weeks paid maternity leave starting in 2011. Good on ya’, Prime Minister Rudd.

My hands down favorite Aussie dessert, Sticky Date Pudding, can be found in many restaurants, maybe 1 out of every 3 you go to. Not being a fan of dates, I wasn’t too excited to try out this iconic dessert. But, I can assure you it’s a classic here for a reason. In fact, the dates take a back seat to the caramel sauce the dish is usually served with. If you can’t make it to Australia to sample the deliciousness that is Sticky Date Pudding, there is a recipe for you to try at home at the bottom of this post.

Another notable dessert is the lamington. Lamingtons are just a basic yellow cake, cut into squares, then dipped in melted chocolate and then coconut (the can also have raspberry jam layered in them). They were created in Brisbane in the early 1900s and were named after the then governor of Queensland, Lord Lamington. Lamingtons can be found in most bakeries around Australia and are tasty, especially if you’re a chocolate and coconut lover. The chocolate coats the cake and keeps it moist.

Other desserts that seem to be uniquely Aussie are florentines (cookies with cornflakes, cherries, and chocolates), Yo-Yo’s (shortbread cookies with cream layered in the middle) and slices. Slices are just cookies baked in a cookie sheet and sliced up instead of dropped like a regular cookie recipe. We have Seven Layer Bars back home, and probably a few other “slice” varieties, but slices seem to be much more popular here. There’s the hedgehog slice (with nuts), caramel slice, lemon slice, jelly slice, vanilla slice and malt lodge slice. The malt lodge slice recipe I’ve gotten from a work friend is good, and here it is:

Malt Slice

• 90 grams butter (about 3 Tbs)
• 1/2 cup condensed milk
• 1 Tbs Golden Syrup (not readily available in US, so can substitute honey or corn syrup)
• 1 packet malt biscuits (plain, ordinary golden brown cookies, not sweet)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup sultanas
• handful dessicated coconut
• cooking chocolate

1. Grease a ‘slice’ tin (shallow baking tin) and sprinkle with coconut
2. Crush malt biscuits
3. Melt butter, condensed milk and Golden Syrup on low heat
4. Mix all ingredients together
5. Press into tin (a potato masher helps)
6. Melt chocolate and pour/spread over top
7. Refrigerate
8. When cutting, it helps it is is taken out of the fridge 1 hr before (or use a knife dipped in boiling water)

Other recipes for you, readers:

Florentines:http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/Florentines-L272.html

Sticky Date Pudding: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/7828/sticky+date+pudding

Lamingtons: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/3352/lamingtons

BREKKIE  – Eating breakfast out in Melbourne is a popular activity. There are loads of good cafes and restaurants out there dishing out tasty vittles. My only beef with brekkie here is that when you order a coffee with your brekkie, it’s a small espresso drink with no free refills. I really enjoy eating my breakfast with multiple drip refills, but on the other hand I guess the Aussie way is good for limiting caffeine intake.

Pancakes with ice cream

Muesli – very popular, sold as a meal with fruit and yogurt in restaurants and commonly eaten at home.

Muffins – I like the muffins in Oz. They’re airy and not greasy and come with fancy butcher paper wrappers.

Pancakes with ice cream – Sometimes sold with syrup as well. In general, maple syrup is a little harder to come by down under.

Poached or scrambled eggs on toast – A favored combination down here. Sometimes served with arugula (called rocket here), but often just served simply as in ‘an egg on a piece of toast.’

Coffee scroll- We haven’t come across any cinnamon rolls per se, but they do have coffee scrolls down here, which are similar, and almost always have raisins.

Weet-Bix – A popular cereal here. Rectangular, flaky wheat cereal that gets soggy in minutes.

Scones with cream and jam – Different than our scones. These look more like biscuits, are usually plain and served with fresh cream and jam. Pretty tasty.

Big Aussie brekkie – Sometimes you see this on a menu. Similar to a big English breakfast. Eggs, bacon, grilled tomato and a piece of toast. Sometimes served with beans, I think. Speaking of bacon, it’s a whole different thing down here. It’s not crispy and is more like ham. And eggs are almost always runny unless you ask for them otherwise.

LUNCH - Lunches are similar to what we eat back home, but there are a few differences. Hot and cold meals alike are more likely to be served with chips (fries). Sandwiches are often served on white bread and Turkish pide bread (more doughy than our pita bread). Toasting your entire sandwich on a sandwich grill seems pretty popular. Here are some other uniquely Aussie lunch items we’ve noticed:

Hamburger. Notice the beetroot?

Hamburgers ‘with the lot’ – same burger but with different tasting meat, a fried egg, bacon and sliced beetroot. A heart attack on your plate, yes, but pretty tasty.

Meat pies – perhaps the iconic Aussie fast food. Sold in mom and pop bakeries across the country. Typical fillings are steak and mushroom, beef curry, lamb, kidney (not the bean!).

Vegemite – on a piece of white toast with butter.

TEA (dinner) – Aussies do often call dinner dinner, but as we mentioned before, the meal is often called tea, too. So, we’ll call it that now because that’s more interesting. Before World War II and the country’s influx of immigrants that arrived after the war, dinner was all about “meat and three veg.” In the generations since, influences from all over the world, but particularly Italian, Greek, and Asian, have made food in Australia more cosmopolitan. And, as a result, dinner is similar to we’d eat back home, if not even more globally influenced. That said, Aussies do seem to really like their meat (especially sausages) and seafood is also pretty popular, probably on account of  expansive–and almost always nearby–coastline. If you are going out for a bite, pub fare is usually a more casual and affordable option. Dinners are usually served with chips and chicken parmesan seems to always be found on the menu. Last but not least, pizza is big in Australia, just as it is back home. There’s even an Aussie pizza, which is ham and egg.

Aussie pizza

We’ve delayed a little talking in length about Aussie food. This has been good in a way, because now we can write with a little more authority on some of the subtle–or not so subtle in some cases–differences between food down under and not down under (we need a better nickname for the northern hemisphere, don’t we?).  Oz Food Part 1 will cover general food matters while Part 2 will tackle food commonly eaten for daily meals. Dessert will also be tackled, but of course.

In general, Aussie food gets two thumbs up from us. Not enthusiastic thumbs up–it’s not up there with Italian food or anything like that–but still. Aussie food largely developed from the  British influence (think bland, boiled food, heavy on the meat), but now seems to embrace more global influences, especially Asian and Italian, as well as fresh ingredients and novel combinations. In a way, it’s similar to Californian cuisine, just with some more of the British cuisine vestiges thrown in.

Food is revered in Melbourne. There are lots of food events, cooking schools, even some book shops devoted to cook books and books about food. Just like back home, there are national and local food celebrities (Maggie Beers, Matt Moran, Karen Martini to name a few), and enticing food magazines (Delicious and the Australian Good Food). Two restaurant books are published every year and seem to be staples in Melbourne households: The Good Food Guide and Cheap Eats.

Some of the food culture has been interesting to observe. People in Melbourne will go to great lengths to eat outdoors. You will seriously see people eating al fresco in all temperatures, and no, many of them are not enduring the extreme weather just to be able to smoke. They just have a thing about eating outside, which also probably explains their love of barbecuing.  The partiality to eating outside seems to go hand in hand with the strong cafe culture that exists here, a beloved activity that gets even dearer if it involves sitting in a cozy little alley or lane way. 

Aussie etitquite dictates that it’s more polite and well-mannered to eat with your fork in your left hand and your knife in your right. This does not come easy to these Americans. I tried this at a few formal dinners shortly after arriving and it felt (and probably looked) really awkward. When you’re finished with your meal, you signal this by placing your fork facing the blade side of your knife at 6 o’clock on your plate. And, if you’re at a formal dinner, it is customary to have two different entrees staggered at the table: that is, this person has the salmon, the next has the steak, and then the salmon and so on. Once the meals are sat on the table, the guests should ask the person next to them if they’d prefer to trade. And, speaking of entrees, here appetizers are called entrees and entrees are called mains. And to make things even more confusing, dinner is sometimes called tea. And just when you think you’ve figured that out, you’ll go to a morning tea at work with your cuppa (cup of tea), only to find that no one else is drinking tea (silly literal food), but they are just eating snacks of course. Another peculiar thing we’ve noticed is the importance placed on making a reservation (or booking) at certain types of restaurants, even if you’re the only couple there. “How many?” “Two please.” “Have you made a booking?” “Uh, no.” A worried look crosses their face. “Well, we can sit you in that dark corner. Do you mind leaving by 8:30, when the table is booked?” You want to say, “There’s only two of us, and it’s only 6. I think 8:30 should be OTAY.”

Finally, on the food itself. The produce in Australia, while more expensive in general than back home, is usually quite good. We have enjoyed eating a little more of the produce here that we overlook, or just don’t usually have, back home: passion fruit, Japanese pumpkins, figs (speaking of fruit, did you know the Granny Smith and Pink Lady apples were developed in Oz?). As far as the organic and local food movements go, Australia seems to be a little further behind than the US, I’d say, in terms of affordability and selection. On the other hand, they’re really aware of gluten free foods and low Glycemic Index foods. If you are allergic to gluten and live in Australia, you can get a gluten free cookie nearly anywhere. Sweet.

Check back again for a look at typical breakfast, lunch and dinner foods, as well as favorite Aussie desserts, in Part 2.

We were in Queensland again, this time in the far northeast corner of the country where the climate gets tropical. Our purpose for going was twofold: taking advantage of the long Easter weekend (they get two days off for Good Friday and Easter here) to make it to the Great Barrier Reef and to meet up with our friends from back home who were on a month long holiday in this part of the world.

We met up with our friends in Townsville, where we were supposed to depart for a Great Barrier Reef boat trip and snorkel. Unfortunately our boat had engine problems that week, and we had to find other things to do with our time. So we checked out the town, went to a rugby game between the Cowboys and Raiders, toured around Magnetic Island across the water from Townsville, and visited a wildlife sanctuary.

Townsville’s not bad–it’s kind of like a big little city–but the main reason to go there is probably to see the reef. Still, you can never go wrong hanging out in a tropical location with friends. We were glad to be stranded in Townsville with them and especially enjoyed having a barbie with them under the mango trees.

After Townsville, we parted ways with Patrick and Jennica, whose vacation was coming to an end. Jeremy and I travelled north to Cairns (pronounced ‘cans’). It’s funny, we thought Townsville seemed tropical until we hit Cairns. From Cairns,  we were able to book another reef trip.  We departed in the early morning and sailed along in clear conditions in aqua marine-hued water on a medium sized catamaran that had about 50 passengers. The snorkeling did not disappoint. The water was a comfortable temperature, the coral looked healthy, and there was a good variety and plenty of fish. The highlight was looking at clown fish (yes, like Nemo) straight in the eye. I swam down as close as I could get to him, and he was staring straight at me from about two feet away. The only thing that might have topped that was spotting a white tipped reef shark. This actually scared us, even though we had vaguely heard about reef sharks (I don’t think they get talked about much because even though they’re actually harmless, the mere mention of anything ‘shark’ scares people too much). The shark was about six feet long and was just cruising along minding his own business. We had to swim over him, and after that we pretty much called it a day.

After Cairns we travelled up to the old fishing village-turned tourist destination, Port Douglas, which I’d say looks and feels more American than any other town we’ve been in in Australia. Beyond that is the Daintree National Park, famous for being one of the earth’s most ancient ecosystems. The Daintree is filled with beautiful surprises: super vivid bright blue Ulysses butterflies, coconut trees, tropical flowers, and cassowaries (we actually didn’t see any up there, but they are hairy, large flightless birds with bright blue and red heads found in northeastern Australia). We hiked around the rain forest a bit, did a short canoe trip hoping to see sea turtles (didn’t), and ate amazing ice cream made out of local tropical fruits I had never tried before such as jakfruit, mangosteen and durian.

It is true that northern Queensland has deadly stinger jellyfish in its waters, mossy crocodiles in estuarine areas, temperamental cassowaries that can seriously injure a person, plentiful lizards, lurking snakes and you name it. But we reckon the real danger is that it’s so warm, relaxed and pretty that you’ll always want to go back for more (especially of the reef).

For more Queensland pictures, see here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42931980@N00/sets/72157617479830841/show/