Another Interesting Meal

Dot and I have recently been in Canberra to celebrate Max's 17th birthday - how the years fly by! That was on the 25th June and, on the following day, we gathered at an up-market restaurant to bring family and friends together. It was an expensive gathering as the meal cost A$88 (48 GBP or 66 US$) per head plus c. $40 per bottle of wine. With 7 participants, the whole show must have cost around A$ 690.

What does one get for A$88? Well, it was an 8 component meal!

2    Tom Yum infused prawns with rockmelon and apple.

3    Tea smoked duck breast with pickled winter melon, goji and osmanthos.

4    Whole Barramundi, with Yunnan style roasted vegetables.

5    Tandoorie Chicken.

6    Lamb Rendang.

7    Stir-fried green beans  with oyster sauce, and

8    Dessert.

Some of the courses were quite small in volume, but the whole show had staff busily delivering food and bowls over quite a long time 

This event was held in the Lanterne Rooms. Here are some pictures of the delicious food in question, which I for one ate with chop-sticks:

And here are some of the participants starting with Max himself and friend Ryan, then Dot and her friend Jane, and finally Rebecca and Rob.:

    

Altogether it was an interesting and delicious event.

AS

Rotary Armidale North's 50th Anniversary

 I'm a member of Rotary's North Armidale branch and, just over a week ago, we celebrated our 50th anniversary in grand style. It took place in the local Bowling Club's auditorium, where well over 80 guests were present. Like many such events, we had a great 3-course meal, heard long-serving members recall important occasions, applauded prominent members as they obtained various awards, listened to a prominent Aboriginal leader as he reminisced about his tribe's past, and networked with members of other Rotary clubs. Armidale has no less than 3 other such clubs in a town of just 25,000 people. Here's our leader, Bob Ryan, introducing the event.

Then a prominent Aboriginal leader, shown here, welcomed us 'to country'.

Then there was a ceremonial cutting of a cake

Here's a long-serving, and indeed founding, member voicing his recollections of club history and events.

Awards were then made to a range of individuals, and the recipient here was Adam Marshall - our member of the NSW Parliament and Minister for Agriculture.

More awards to a variety of people.

Alas. this event also marked the end of our group since Armidale Rotary North will fold from the 1st July 2021 - the start of the Rotary New Year. Loss of a series of members over the last 2 years has meant that we can no longer deliver services effectively and efficiently. For me, this marks the end of my role as the club's youth director and I am tossing up whether to join one of the other groups whose meeting times are unfortunately incompatible with my other activities. I gather than many such organisations are facing membership difficulties in our fast moving and complex age.

AS

A great birthday party!

 Yesterday, Dot and I were invited to a 70th birthday party organised on behalf of a family friend whom we have known for several decades. The event was organised by Chris Martin (her maiden name) who lived next door to us for a long time and had two daughters of a similar age to Emily and Rebecca. The guest of honour was her brother, David. He's a train enthusiast and much of the party revolved around train themes. This included the invitation card which kind of invited us to a rail journey, some food on the table, and a train silhouette along one wall. The event took place in a large up-stairs dining room at the local bowling club and attracted about 50 people, many of whom we knew. We had a lovely meal and some great entertainment lasting almost 3 hours. These pictures illustrate the event quite well. Here, for example, is the 'train on the back wall, but one could walk behind the image and peer out of the windows. David, up front, was having a great time driving his pretend train, as the second picture shows. 

I have often thought 'wouldn't it be nice to drive a steam train', and yesterday I could pretend to do precisely that, as shown above! People mingled freely and often had long and vibrant discussions about this, that and the other.

There were ceremonial occasions like the cutting of the cake.

After that, a band of instruments and singers played several songs about life and travel on railways and each guest had some printed pages providing the words and musical guidance so they could participate. That didn't include me as I have a voice like a foghorn.

 

And at one stage guests formed a kind of rail-trail to meander through the room in a long line before coming together to join in the singing.

Once this was over, people started leaving the event, which had gone on quite a while and included a great meal. Just we were about to depart we seized upon our choo choo biscuits - molded to look like a steam engine!

Thanks must go to the organisers for their imaginative rendition of the party's main theme and its social and gastronomic success. Everyone had a great time.

AS

Reconciliation Week

 A week ago Australia celebrated reconciliation week, which is designed to bring Australia's immigrant population together with Aboriginal communities that have been in our country for maybe 50,000 years. It seeks to better understand and celebrate Aboriginal culture and acknowledge the harm done to Aboriginal peoples stemming from British occupation of this continent commencing in 1788.

Armidale held its now annual reconciliation march, called the 'bridge walk' in which I participated this time around. I took lots of photos of the event many of which are displayed here, starting the Aboriginal flag 'flying' from the city's main bridge. The walk commenced at this bridge but only after numerous speeches presented by important locals.

Here we are assembling - and I found I knew quite a few of the participants, including our mayor, member of state parliament, university vice-chancellor and so on.

Prominent local Aboriginal and member of the Armidale Regional Council, Steve Widders, delivered the main speech remembering the impact of European settlement on Aboriginal peoples, both regionally and locally. These impacts were, in some places, disastrous ... with large loss of life and dispossession of important territory. Steve is speaking into the microphone below.

Some local leaders:

Children unfolding Aboriginal flage to use in the procession, accompanied by someone playing a didgeridoo. 

Kids ready to lead the procession to the bridge and the crowd assembling to follow.

Our walk took us maybe 400 m or so in a loop around the creeklands, after which it was time for additional community leaders to present more speeches outlining the significance and purpose of the day. 

The formalities concluded with a ceremonial dance conducted by three young Aboriginal girls to great applause.

After this, people gathered together for drinks and barbecued food.

It was a moving ceremony and one of great significance for the numerous participants.

AS

Bec makes it to Birdsville

 This is just a short message to say that Rebecca has made it to Birdsville to participate in the annual 100 km run across the Simpson Desert in far south-western Queensland. It's apparently a popular event attracting many people who like running on sand dunes like those in the Sahara, Wish her good luck!

Have a look on a map to see where Birdsville is located ... it's almost impossibly remote.

AS

Lunar Eclipse

 Last week we saw a great eclipse of the moon and this post provides pictures of the event. The evening started cloudy and I was unhappy that I might miss the eclipse.

But then the cloud decided to clear and the next four images show how the shining moon progressively disappeared to be replaced by an orange-colour over a period of about an hour.

AS

The Big Chill

 Last weekend, 15-16 May 2021, the Armidale Reigonal Council staged a brand-new event at Curtis Park down on Armidale's creeklands. It attracted a large number of people for several good reasons. The weather was brilliantly clear and reasonably warm for mid-May with the temperature 15 C or maybe a little more. Secondly, it was a food festival with a mssive variety of food-stalls supplying ethnic foods (I had a Turkist meal), or top quality foods produced locally or regionally. Alongside, there were many local breweries selling their wares - and I tried a couple of brews including a ginger beer from the Welder's Dog. Also available were various wines - and our disctrict has its own  "appelation controlee" as the French would term it. Other stalls were selling locally produced household goods of various kinds. Finally, and this really appealed to the younger generation, bands played jazz and rock numbers for much of the time. The volume was so loud it almost deafened me ... and I have a hearing problem.

So there you have it! A place to meet up with people like Dot and I did by prior arrangement. A place to sample delicious food and drink. A place to enjoy balmy weather and soak up the sun. A place to listen to 'popular music'. A place to walk gently around eyeing local produce and services. No wonder it was packed. The place even had the local constabulary to keep an eye on things. Let's have a look at some pictures of the event, starting with the entrance policed by the Armidale Regional Council.

Here's one of the several local bands in action.

Heaps of chairs and bags were provided to accommodate the listeners.

The craft breweries and wineries were groups together.

Likewise, other local craft producers were grouped together.

The came the foodies like the orange duck kitchen

The organisers provided heaps of tables and chairs in the middle of Curtis Park to accommodate people eating their lunches or sipping wines and beer.

As I noted earlier, there was a police presence but, surprisingly, on horse-back. Here they are awaiting a drink.

And also roaming around the park.

Here's Dot eating her interesting meal ... and in the left background there's Maria Hitchcock OAM, leader of the New England Visions 2030 group of which I'm a member.

And here, finally, is the royal flush of the event ... a collecion of portaloos. I've left the image small in case the picture reveals someone important exiting one of the toilets

It was a lovely event that I'd willingly attend next year if offered. And did any one looking at tthe pictures see any clouds in the gorgeously blue sky. Armidale's a great place to live for its many events and great environment.

AS