La Vida Dulce - The Sweet Life

The fact that we are truly blessed comes to me in odd, unexpected moments. Now that I'm up and about more, I get to see all the acquaintances that we've made in our neighbourhood and on our usual routes. It's nice to know that they noticed my absence and are glad to see me back up and around.

Then we go and do something crazy - like accept two invitations from hispañolhablantes (Spanish speakers) in one day. For us, this is stressful, despite our gains in the language. It hurts our brains to spend 3 hours trying to maintain a conversation with someone who has little or no English. (This isn't a complaint, we feel that learning Spanish is our most important task here - we just aren't fluent and it makes it challenging.)

We navigated some tricky political conversation with our neighbour Doña Bolivia, a very well meaning, kind woman who has adopted us in a small way. We find her worries and insights interesting and though we don't always agree with her point of view, it's an education to spend time with her in her tchotchke (chochki) filled house.

Ariel Dawi - Painter, Artist and Grill Master

Later we were invited for dinner at an expat Argentinian's house. Being Latino, dinner doesn't start until around 9:30 (blame the Ecuadorians, who seem to constantly run late - the invitation was for 8:30). If I know only one thing about Argentinians it's that they are passionate about barbecue.  

Argentinian Parrillada

On his deck, he has half an oil drum set up for grilling and if you aren't a carnivore, there's no point in coming for dinner. He served chorizo and blood sausage, chicken wings and parts, pork ribs, beef loin and steak. On the side we had beautifully breaded and fried eggplant, a salad of white beans, tomato and onion, fresh sliced avacado, bread and a selection of sauces to go with our meat. (This is something that the Ecuadorians generally lack - finishing touches like a selection of salsas, but the Argentinians have down pat.) It was then that I realized how incredibly lucky we are and how welcoming strangers from strange lands can we.

Over the Hills and Far Away

We were a bit fretful about coming back to Ecuador after our wide ranging adventure to Australia. Whatever would we do with ourselves? There are no extended holidays to plan, no SCUBA diving to train for, but there are major limitations on our funds after surviving a first world holiday on a pensioner's budget.

Church in Banos de Cuenca

Pastoral views

Little gold hummingbird

Our quandary was resolved by a weekend hiking group. We've been heading out, with some regularity, to the outskirts of Cuenca to enjoy unknown (to us) neighbourhoods, new restaurants and the camaraderie of like-minded individuals. We may not be the fastest hikers, but we do enjoy the journey.

One of the many rivers

The first surprising experience was having a woman demand that we give her $5. ("Soy pobrecita, deme cinco dolares!" - "I'm a poor woman, give me $5!") I, conveniently, never have cash if Ron is with me, so I apologised and kept going. ("Lo siento senora, no tengo ningun dinero" - I'm sorry Madam, I have no money".) It's unusual for beggars to be so bold, and to be honest, she came around from the side of a fairly nice house that she insisted wasn't hers - which is entirely possible.

The next surprise was finding a beautiful little French restaurant in the outskirts of town, called Le Petit Jardin. I had a gorgeous fried trout in lemon butter. The only thing missing was vegetables, but we are in Ecuador, so allowances must be made.

The third surprise is how far you can get on a quarter; choose the right bus and you can ride for an hour on a thin 25 cents. You wend through the city and into the suburbs (a rather loose description of the little towns that are slowly expanding to meet the city limits) and go all the way to the end of the line.

Then you disembark and hope like heck that someone in the group knows where we're trying to get to or has a smart phone to find our way. It's always fun to try and get directions from the locals, who seem astounded to see gringos, let alone one's that can speak at least some Spanish. (I call it the "talking monkey" phenomenon.) At the end of the hike, we usually try to grab a meal, or at the very least a beer. 

We also talk of many things, inane and profound and generally enjoy each others' company. It's a great mix of people from different backgrounds and places, but we manage to get along.

Some of the crew on the hike

Our last hike was more daring. We headed out into the Cajas (an hours drive from El Centro) and took on an 8.5km hike at a higher elevation. What you must understand is that hiking at elevation (for children of sea level) is much like climbing to the 40th floor of a building. (Forget how you feel for the first 5 flights, think about all the rest.) 

Steep!

This never changes, at least not much - you gasp for breath on inclines like "the Little Engine that Could". What does change, eventually, is your acceptance that there is less air and it won't kill you. It's especially hard for newbies to embrace this concept, but over time they realize it to be true.

Cajas colours

Fresh from the set of Vikings
one half of our guide team - Axel

Sample of some of the easier trail

The sacrifice is worth it. The views are stunning and we had such a gorgeous day that it was impossible not to enjoy the sweeping landscapes, bright blue sky and shimmering lakes.

Shahbaz coming up the hill

So, yes, we've found something to fill our time, at least for a day of the week, and for that we're grateful. It's a good gig, if you can get it.

Going Coastal!

Our little campervan adventure sent us running around a confessedly small part of southern and eastern Australia in a mad and relentless sort of way. We needed some R&R and found it in the sleepy city of Coffs Harbour. Perhaps, that's not a fair way to describe it, but we arrived on the last weekend of a school holiday and it seemed like many of the families had made scarce of the small city and we were, by and large, left with the retirees and those not able to afford a trip to other parts.

We took several days of much needed rest, worked on our tans and enjoyed a couple of restaurants, but mostly, we enjoyed the extra space and ability to really cook again.

Yup, us by the pool

After we tanned up and rested, we headed off to Brisbane by train and bus. 

Brisbane is a beautiful city on the river. It's much like Melbourne, but on a smaller scale, which makes it even more walkable.  It has lots of restaurants, beautiful paths through the Botanical Gardens and along the river and a decent autumn climate. (I don't know if I could survive their summers, but it hovered around the 30 degree Celsius mark, while we were there, with river breezes to offset the warmth.)

The free, man-made city beach in Brisbane

We came across a Hari Krishna parade on Sunday, which was pretty interesting. I hadn't realized that there was still such a large contingent of believers out there, but the proof is in the pictures.

Krishna parade

Guru in a toque (aka beanie)

Pretty heron

How apropos!
Robertson on Robertson

We only spent three days there, but enjoyed the food, sights and weather before heading off to Cairns to discover the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. (We're finally going to put the underwater camera to the test!) But I'll leave you with a few more images of Brisbane.

Is that really something you need to advertise?

Along the river

Pretty building at night in Fortitude Valley
(A Brisbane Neighbourhood)

 

Magnificent Melbourne

Hosier Lane street art

Despite a shaky start - in the form of a strained back - Melbourne has impressed us. Maybe it's the clear blue skies, plethora of dining choices or the similarity to our old home, but we like it here.

Sunrise hot air balloons over the city

Portrait Building - (William Barak)

Closer up. You don't notice it until
you've got some distance.

We haven't come across a meal that we didn't love, wine that didn't sit well on the palate or any surly locals wondering why we were wasting their time.

Sashimi!

And a little Maki

Duck soup

Steamed bun with duck and greens

Duck thigh in soy broth

The city seems to have a reliable transit system, they worship at the alter of good food and have a passion for the outdoors that rivals Vancouver. In a nutshell, we feel at home. That's not to say that there aren't issues. Melbourne is expensive. My lunch yesterday was $20 just for the chicken burger. Sure it had beetroot compote on it, but let's be honest...that's a wee bit pricey. We made up for it by ordering $10.80 worth of sushi for dinner, but we'd likely impoverish ourselves eating out here.

Sights along the South Bank

Web Bridge

Tallest building in Melbourne The Eureka Tower
A whopping 91 floors and almost 300 metres (1000 feet) high

The city is filled with green space,  over the top architecture and people. It's a busy young city with waves of pedestrians, cyclists, skate boarders and drivers. The flow of people is truly amazing, even coming from Vancouver. We don't know what they're all doing, where they're going or why they've conglomerated downtown, but there's no doubt that the city is full.

Wild Cockatoo

Weeping Pines

I have no idea who this is

Pond at the Botanic Gardens

Fall flowers

Egret, Ibis, White Crane???

The style here is casual chic, or chic casual. You'll see men in suits, but with runners on or women in jeans and a tee, but sporting heels. There's a noted lack of neck ties and an abundance of baggy shorts, flip flops and floppy "tourist" hats. There is not shortage of brilliantly coloured hair, either. Short of running up to people and snapping their photo, I'm lacking the evidence, but it seems that blue, purple, bright red, yellow, orange or green hair (or a combination thereof) is perfectly acceptable here. 

Fitzroy Garden district

St. Patrick's Catherdral

More iron work

Penguins at St. Kilda

They hide amongst the rocks

Melbourne skyline from St. Kilda

Luna Park

 It's hard to believe that our sojourn here is over and that we're heading off to the wilds of Tasmania next. Until next time, enjoy a selection of photos from Victoria Market.
 

I miss three for a dollar!

But you can't knock the cheese selection!