Australian Mexican Food

....or more correctly, Australia's lack of Mexican Food.

Australia has a pretty diverse mix of food. They do pretty much everything and from what I've tasted they do most things pretty tastily. However they haven't quite figured out Mexican food or anything from South America either, or Texas style bbq....but anyways we'll focus on Mexican for today. Granted Mexico is kind of far away, but they figured out burgers and fries so surely they could venture a little further south. To be honest I have had some decent tacos, but the Chipotle wanna-be-restaurant =no bueno. And anything like enchiladas?? They would be like encha-who? So after three months my Mexican food craving was getting a little out of control, so I thought I would venture into the kitchen and whip up some enchiladas....then I went to the grocery store.

They don't even call them tortillas!!!!!!What the heck are mini wraps Australia??

And the normal looking sour cream came in a carton like this, except of course it said sour cream instead of 2% milk.....
What am I supposed to do with LIQUID sour cream?!?
 (ps. it's so weird I couldn't even find a picture of it on google images....)

I wasn't ready to tackle liquid sour cream so I adjusted my plans and went to look for a can of beans. Oh wait, neither of the grocery stores I went to had black beans, or refried even though I didn't want to eat them and was just checking for research purposes....Mexican food fail.
But I ended up with theses...and they were pretty tasty so I've been temporarily satisfied.

Yum.

Note to readers: Before you come visit Australia eat some Mexican food, because as soon as you can't have it you want it all the more. If you live in Australia, come to the states or Mexico and make eating real Mexican food one of your goals.

A Saturday at the Farmer's Market

So I was having a bit of a post-holiday slump. Granted my one day of class week wasn't exactly killer, but let's remember what we both already know: I'm kind of pathetic. But anyways. Today was a lovely Saturday so I went off to the Eveleigh farmer's market. It was just what I needed. I.love.farmer's.markets. And this one was especially good. It was filled with people dressed cute with their cute reusable bags riding their cute bicycles. I felt cuter just by association. It was held in an old railway building which was also awesome. I got some delicious pesto, and the cute old man who sold it to me threw in some free homemade pasta too....so I'm psyched about dinner. And some falafel too....for some reason I currently love the stuff, although I'm pretty sure I've never eaten it before I got here. They also had the most gorgeous fresh flowers that they wrapped in brown paper when you bought some, and I soooo wanted some to top of my farmer's market experience except I wandered a bit after and wasn't sure they would survive my wanderings and the train ride home. So I resisted. But in case you were ever wondering I love fresh flowers(hint,hint). Seriously they just like brighten your day! This lovely little Saturday was just what I needed to boost my spirits and remind me of the goodness that is Sydney. 

in the midst of fabulousness....

DELICIOUS mango, cane juice frappe. (yes, I'm too lazy to re-upload this the right way...)

old railway carriage works.

I'm in love with old buildings. 

Don't you want to live here? And walk to the farmer's market every Saturday??

eveleigh.

Wishing a lovely Saturday to those of you that haven't had one yet.

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital of Queensland, and I spent a few days exploring. Brisbane isn't actually on the coast....I'm not sure how far it would be to a beach from there. But it is built around a river, so still a major water influence. It pretty cool city and thanks to some lovely chicas that let me crash on their floor  (thanks Becks, Laura, and Bonnie!!!) I had a lovely time there:)

Becks took me up to Mt. Kootha.....a kind of pathetic mountain, but it had pretty views of the city.
Or I assumed they were good behind the clouds that I saw:)

That's the area of Brisbane I stayed in...you can almost see their house. HA. not.

The clouds did lift a little after our coffee and apple pie...so here's a better pic.

Queensland is the only state where it is legal to cuddle a Koala, or at least its allowed there and not in NSW. Andrea hit up the Koala park when she was in Brissie and of course it was on the top of my to do list as well. So Monday the rain thankfully held up long enough for me to enjoy the little cuties.....get ready for soooooo many pictures of koalas. Seriously I just couldn't get over how cute they were. And this isn't even all my pics of them....

It's a bat....just to compare a koala to a non-cute animal.

As I started my trek through the park, I was like "awesome, I paid to see animals in cages that chill in my backyard all the time."
Thankfully it got better from here.

Except this little dude was pretty cool and he wasn't in a cage either....

Platypus skeleton...I saw a real one too, but he was impossible to get pics of. But those little dudes are tiny! I don't know why, but in my head platypus' were bigger.

And the koala pics begin.

They mostly just sleep...alllll the time.

There is no way you could say that little face is not the cutest thing ever!

A dingo!!! This one did NOT eat a baby...

It's like a ball of adorableness.

A wombat....NOT really the cutest thing ever. More just like weird.

There were sooo many....surely they wouldn't miss one.

They looked the most uncomfortable sleeping positions ever, but to each his own I guess.

Lizard, yes I know it was probably way cool too, but just no competition for a  koala.

Another lizard. Australia apparently has heaps of those too.

Some crocodiles/alligators. I know I've heard the differences like 50 times but they still seem the same to me.

Admittedly this bird was pretty cool.

BEST PART OF MY DAY!!!!! Don't I just look like a natural?? I kinda wanted to just run away with it at this point...

Going to the "birds of prey" show was probably not my best idea ever....

You can't tell, but this bird was ripping apart a dead mouse at this point. it.was.horrifying.

SECOND BEST PART OF MY DAY!!!!

Kangaroos are no koalas, but they are pretty stinking cute too.

HOW could you resist that face?!?!

This one was like baby....so cute!

Obviously this dude missed the picture memo....

Roos in motion.

They look so graceful jumping...our hops do NOT compare.

Kangaroo party...the massive Asian tourist group had scared them:(

Ok. seriously. I was THISCLOSE to breaking the law so I could bring him home.
(It's illegal to have a koala as a pet...)

If your ever in Brisbane, go. If you're ever in Australia, find some koalas.

And the rest of Brisbane can wait, because I want you to fully enjoy the cuteness of these koalas....

oh wait...there's more

So I wasn't actually done with my time time in Surfer's....just finished with pictures. FAIL.

Imagine a not so awesome Gold Coast Art Gallery.

Then imagine a way awesome Aussie BBQ with some fabulous Gold Coasters (I don't know if they actually call themselves that...but I like it).

See....if your imagination is good, it's practically better than pictures!!!:)

Surfer's Paradise

So actually this post should probably be titled Burrleigh Heads, but its a long-ish story. Let me explain.

I was totally loving Coolangatta, gorgeous nice hostel, awesome people. But I forced myself to move on because usually even though you are traveling and find a place you could stay for a month...the next place is equally as awesome. So I dragged my bum up to Surfer's thinking fabulousness awaited me. And I was mostly disappointed. Surfer's is like the Vegas of Australia....except less awesome than Vegas. My hostel was mostly scuzzy, there is not a whole lot to do besides lay on the beach...or get wasted. It was a little too cold for the beach and well the other option....not what I wanted either. So my first day in Surfer's consisted of me being grumpy and taking ZERO pictures in protest. Day two in Surfer's I actually left Surfer's and therefore had a better day...in a place between Surfer's and Coolangatta called Burrleigh Heads....

Closer to the city a wee bit.

 

Gorgeous little national park along the coast.

TURKEY.

And there's the sun!!!!

So I took in some gorgeous views and it actually was sunny and warm enough to lay on the beach. Then back to Surfer's for the night. However some girls I had met in Coolangatta ended up staying in the same room as I was in. And we partied like we were British....well they just partied like normal and I partied like I was British:) And trust me if this is your idea of a party....

....we do not have the same idea of a party.