south australia: napperby

For as long as I can remember my family 

spoke of my grandmother's uncle, Cyril, who enlisted at the outbreak of World War One and was killed on ANZAC Day at Gallipoli at the age of 22. My grandmother's mother, his sister, was only one and a half years old when he died. 

This photograph of Cyril atop a camel in Egypt was displayed in my grandmother's home. (It turns out that copies were sent home and distributed to each of Cyril's siblings from Cyril himself in Christmas 1914).  

Leading up to the centenary of the Gallipoli landings a group of West Australians made it their mission to identify each of the West Australian soldiers who died at Gallipoli. They have also identified many of the men of the 11th Battalion who were photographed at the pyramid in Cheops. Cyril is #587. 

Articles have been published in the newspapers and, as a result, more family has come out of the woodwork. Who would have thought that, one hundred years on my great, great uncle's death could bring the family's branches all together? It's been particularly overwhelming for my cousin, who now lives in Switzerland, as she has recorded  so much of our family history & genealogy. 

This photo surfaced in an old album and the people have been identified as the grandparents of Cyril at the Napperby Store. My cousin flicked this photo to me so that I might be able to visit the town. As it happened Napperby was a short detour for us - not far inland from Port Pirie. 

It only took a few minutes to drive through the streets of small town of Napperby. We found a playground and set about getting lunch together when a local, Bob, pulled up asking if we needed help. 

I showed Bob the photo and, intrigued as he was, he stayed a while and we discussed the history of Napperby and its townsfolk. Obviously we didn't expect the Napperby Store to exist nowadays but Bob suggested some of the older folk in town might recognise others in the photographs - and may well have photos of my family too. 

Bob is now on a mission! And it's pretty exciting for us!! 

tasmania: hobart

Hobart showed us that any kind of weather in Tassie is possible. Within the space of thirty minutes. Everyone we queried about the conditions insisted it wasn't usually this cold but changeable, yes. So we just packed for every kind of weather when we went out - hot, cool, windy, rainy. 

The changeable weather is not surprising given the mountain behind this beautiful city. I fell in love with Hobart. Again. I was here a few years ago for a cooking day at the Agrarian Kitchen (the first time I'd visited the city) and I was blown away, then, by the way the city seems to worship the Derwent, simply by hugging its edges. 

This time we made the obligatory trip to the Salamanca markets which I wouldn't recommend if you're travelling in a caravan, conscious of weight restrictions. I do love the Salamca Square though with its coffee, book shop & small stores for food and handmade goodness. We came home with six fillets of salmon for $20 too which have been cryovacced & frozen - ready for dinners. 

Dear friends took us to dinner at Smolt (famous for being Katie Perry's choice for dinner during her tour) but a great place for food too! I enjoyed my prawns & the wine was good. They, like so many Tassie restaurants, source bags of local produce. 

My daughter and I really enjoyed our morning walk along the beach near Bellerive. The mountain was shrouded in cloud but soon cleared. 

Hobart's Farm Gate Market is held on a Sunday and you can buy anything from wallaby fillets to mushrooms, bagels to blackberries, pies to cheese. We took home a beautiful Turkish loaf with black sesame seeds, fruit & bagels for lunch. 

We may have picked a day from kunanyi (Mount Wellington's) windiest week to ascend the peak. It was blowing a gale of close to 90km/hr but the view was simply spectacular. 

It seems that many Hobartians have a shack by the beach. We were lucky enough to stay in a friends place at Dodges Ferry which has a beautiful beach. It was busy over the long weekend but I wouldn't call it crowded by Sydney standards!

One morning we tired the kids out at the Hobart Aquatic Centre ($25 for a family). I lost count of the times the kids went on the water slide. They had a ball. 

Another day J took the big kids to the Rock It Climbing Centre. After four hours of continuous climbing and tunnelling they were exhausted! Apparently, because of his height, J had to remove his shoes to get around some parts of the tunnel. (That's my idea of hell!) 

What's a trip to Hobart without a visit to MONA? I won't say much more about this place other than you'll either love it or hate it. Just don't try going on a Tuesday. We had babysitters and arrived to find it closed. We had to go out to lunch instead. How awful! ;)

tasmania: woodbridge

We're staying in a friends house (with walls and a door and real rooms!!!) for the next few days and as a thank you we're planning a dinner with local ingredients from the farms throughout the Huon Valley. These native pepper berries & bush tomato are from Chris at Diemen Pepper. The processing unit smelled incredible as they've just finished drying the berries! 

The food story behind Tasmanian Fruit Leathers is that Jen decided her kids needed a healthy alternative to the processed version you'd find in a supermarket. She sources all her fruit locally from the Huon Valley and they are available at the various farmers markets and online. Thanks for the visit Jen and the new favourite road trip snack!