#74 - Getting back into it...

I forgot I had gone on a tour of a cocoa plantation (a very small one) as part of a chocolate festival.  Apologies in advance regarding the formatting - it tends to look different on my screen than it does when it posts and I don't know how to fix it.

But first - breakfast by the water...
They were doing yoga and big surfboards (left).  Kite surfing on the right.  Unfortunately I didn't get a shot of the guy who went airborne with a big gust of wind...

   

I had the small omelette.  A friend had the poached eggs (the sauce was a bit split - rats, I see my sister's point about how it could spoil their fun a little when I apply school's criteria to food when we eat out.)

The Chocolate Festival was a bit disappointing.  I suppose given the name, I thought there would be more booths or something.  They were at the end of the Haleiwa Farmers' Market (pronounced Ha-lay-ee-va for those of you not from the Islands).  It seemed like there were only two producers, although I may be mistaken.  I remember the Wailua Estate and one from Manoa - ok, but not something I would go out of my way to buy, unless as a way to supporting the local economy.  It may be that my palate is not sufficiently developed to appreciate all the bits and pieces that our guide (yes, we did a tour) said had won rave reviews in London for a Chocolate Festival (or something like that) from critics.  So that was that for the chocolate tour, tasting and education.

Am now  back in Sydney, once again unpacking only to start packing again.  Have received exam dates for my finals - and a date for the Mock exam, which happens to be quite a bit before the exam.  Great, except I had already booked my plane tickets before I knew about the mock exam date.  Whoops, once again a little bit of procrastination might have helped.  Have started reviewing recipes again and found out to my horror that I have forgotten quite a bit - especially in relation to the main plate (pigeon - haven't seen it anywhere, must ask the butcher), so study will once again commence.  Commence panicking now.

So until next time, may your organization be less stressful and more enjoyable than mine is.

#71 - Stand up paddling and getting in touch with my inner Hobbit...

Making up for lost time...
Stand up Paddling?  Yes, I hear you wondering what that is.  I forget the name of the surfer, but I think he's married to Gabrielle Reese (? - used to be a pro volleyball player, I think) and he wanted to try something new.  So you get up on this long and wide board and stand with your feet facing front.  I found it's a lot easier to balance when you keep your knees slightly bent.  Apparently that's called an athletic position.  You know you are not an athlete when you have lived your entire life and not known there was even such a thing as an "athletic position", much less what it is...


Anyway - took a while to stand up.  First, I had to learn how to paddle.  Sounds simple, no?  You stick in the paddle in the water and you pull.  Well - kind of.  It felt like I'd been paddling for hours, even though I knew that meant it was more like 10 minutes.  Or so one hopes - looking back at the shore, I hadn't made it very far at all - slower than a slow walk, possibly around the same speed as a Galapagos tortoise.


Eventually got the hang of it - it helps if the whole paddle-y part of the paddle makes it into the water, apparently - then tried to stand up.  Actually, there was a lot of sitting and kneeling while paddling, then the standing up.  It's actually a lot harder than it looks and there were a couple of...hmmm, how to say this without sounding all girly and silly?  Nope, no way to do it.  They were actually little screams of dismay when a wave came under the board and I ended up running back and forth on the part where you're supposed to stand.  Fell in a couple of times, but then...there's no way to describe what it feels like to see the water looking all silky and cleary as it rushes unter the board once you have a rythm going.  It's even better than watching the bow of a boat cleaving through the waves because this is under your own power.  Of course it hurts your arms like nothing else the next day - I spent the entire week after that recovering so didn't make it to any of my ballet classes.

It has also been a time of continuous birthday do-s. There was a dinner with friends, then a lunch, then various other things. What can I say - birthdays aren't good things when the numbers start to creep upwards but at least there's the consolation of lots of good food! Some people might say that's not sufficient consolation, but I just attribute that to them not being sufficiently food motivated. If I were a dog, my appetite would be Labrador - although the breed would be something else (since I am picky about what I put in my mouth). As for any of you who are mentally making bitchy jokes, I can hear you!

Eating, sleeping, eating, sleeping, cooking...did I mention eating?  It has been a sun drenched and fun-filled holiday so far.  I also finally got cooking, but that is a subject for another post - since I don't have photos of the food yet.
So until next time, happy (belated / early) birthdays to all!