Perth Royal Show 2015

What better way to drown our post Fremantle vs. Hawthorn preliminary final loss sorrows than going to the happiest place in Perth, the Perth Royal show!

This year we went with first timers Alvin and Rain, and we really enjoyed showing them around the sights, sounds, and smells of the Royal Show.

I donned my rainbow eye shadow, as is the yearly tradition.


We saw the diving pigs (exactly what it sounds like), the sheep dog trials (our favourite show at the show), Bizurcus (which was actually for kids, whoops!), some monster trucks (pretty cool, I think I get it) and my personal favourite, the pidgeons that look like balls.


This year the diffraction glasses were functional as well as entertaining, because we totally copped the firework shrapnel where we were sitting! There were bits of fireworks falling all around us, and the usual oohs and ahhs were intertwined with coughs and wheezes. One big disappointment was that the twisted fries (the ones served in a pile on a plate, not the spirals on the stick) where gone! That sucks.


We came home with our usual stash of Butch's Smallgoods sausages, Morish nuts, Latasha's Kitchen sauces, and also found some jalapeno Pringles (I got them once on the Gold Coast and have never found them again until now), and a pack of turban chopsticks fritter mix. We did have a wine, the wine that was served at princess Mary's wedding or something... but we drank it over the fireworks.


Yay for Nat Fyfe's Brownlow win!

Pure Glow Cleanse

Don't Judge Me

While I am well aware that juice cleanses have dubious beginnings and minimal (to disproved) benefits, I think that there are definitely mental benefits for doing this sort of thing. Just like changing up your exercise routine, I think that breaking up your normal diet with something different (like a vegetarian week) can help get you out of a rut and get you thinking healthier. I've been sick, and just got back from holiday, and have noticed the scales creeping up slowly ever since I stopped working at Pole Fever so I thought I'd finally give Pure Glow a go after having some good recommendations from friends. I'm not deluded into expecting any drastic changes in 3 days, but what I am expecting is a change in mindset and a break in habits!

Delivery

I got a message from Jacqui at 8:30pm saying she was going to be around soon, followed by a message saying that she'd popped the delivery on the recycling bin. Excited to see what was in the delivery, I went outside in my pj's only to find nothing on either of my bins. We live in a set of villas with a long driveway, so I checked all the neighbours (still in my pjs, creeping around with my phone flashlight on), and nothing! I messaged Jacqui and we sussed out that she had delivered it to the neighbouring set of villas. I went and checked number 4 (still in my pjs), nothing on the bin, and no answer to a knock on the door. The plot began to thicken like a kale smoothie left out of the fridge.

After her next delivery, Jacqui came back and managed to find the rogue juice delivery, which was at the place I had knocked on, but the neighbour mustn'tve heard it. Luckily he heard Jacqui's knock. I love to imagine what the neighbour must have been thinking! Jacqui finally got to juice her wrong-house-delivery cherry.

The juices (18 bottles, 6 per day, the Radiance Reset pack, $195) were packaged in a black cardboard box that also contained a little inspirational pamphlet, some cute paper straws and some herbal teas which was a lovely touch. The juices definitely look beautiful! My mum has already claimed the bottles once I've finished.

 

 



I filled in the inspirational pamphlet and put it on the fridge much to Andrew's delight/horror. It probably wouldn't have gone up there if he hadn'tve teased me about it!

Juices

Juice #1: Sunrise Elixir (lemon, cucumber, aloe vera, filtered water), 133kJ
A pale yellow, very refreshing, very lemony, maybe even a bit too lemony (it made my tongue hurt a little bit) juice.

Juice #2: Glowing Greens (cos, cucumber, kale, pear, green apple, avocado, celery, parsley, lemon), 631.7 kJ
A thick green, delicious, heavy and filling, you sort of have to chew it a bit (but not in a gross way). This was my favourite one.

Juice #3: Green Guru (kale, cos, cucumber, celery, green apple, mint, lemon), 456kJ
A green, light, fruity, easy to drink juice. You can't taste the kale at all, it's very fruity.

Juice #4: Good Karma (carrot, grapefruit, green apple, ginger, tumeric, lemon), 802.7kJ
A beautiful orange, very sweet and zesty juice.

Juice #5: Buddha Juice (cucumber, fennel, green apple, lemon, mint), 498.7kJ
Another green, light, fruity, easy to drink juice.

Juice #6: Chai Vanilla Dream (almond, cashew, brazil nut, chai rooibos tea, medjool date, vanilla, filtered water), 878.7kJ
A white, nutty, filling juice that felt like having dessert for dinner. It wasn't to sweet at all, but it still felt indulgent.



Total energy intake: 3400 kJ, 813 calories.

Day 1

As recommended, I had a hot water with lemon to start off the morning. I usually always eat breakfast but I wasn't hungry at all until it was time for my first juice.

9am: Juice #1. Since this juice is very lemony I would have preferred to choose a different drink than hot lemon water to start the morning with so that it's not so samey. It's a lovely juice, very fresh and light, but this (along with the lemon juice I had first thing) has left my tongue feeling a bit citrused out. This one took me 45mins to drink, and I quickly realised that I'm going to be extra freezing at work while drinking all these cold juices since I normally chain drink tea to keep me warm.



11:15am: Juice #2. This is a juice that I would choose to order on it's own. Still feeling fine! I'm working on something quite brain intensive and haven't had any issues yet. Towards the end of this one I had to top it up with some water and give it a shake as I was getting self concious about making too many straw slurping noises in the office.



1pm: Juice #3. I had this one while enjoying the sun outside on the lawn outside my office, but then it got a bit windy so I enjoyed the sun some more on a couch by the window in the kitchen. Still not hungry, but I've started feeling like I want to have something salty.



3pm: Juice #4. I've started getting the hang of this now! I split this juice up so that I had half before my 4:30 run, and half after, which was hard to do because this is the easiest juice to drink so far. I felt fine on my (3.6km) run, although I'm still getting over a cough so I wasn't 100%.



6pm: Juice #5. This one kept me going while getting organised for the Karrinyup swap meet this Sunday.



7:30pm: Juice #6. This one is amazing, and so filling that I actually didn't think I could finish it. I sipped it slowly and felt like I was having dessert. I enjoyed it so much that the smell of Andrew's pasta dinner didn't bother me one bit!



Despite the low energy intake I found day 1 quite easy, no hunger, a little bit of a salt craving, and a general feeling of wanting something else other than juice, but nothing major. I usually take magnesium for cramps every day but skipped it yesterday because I didn't want to take it on an empty stomach, and ended up with a toe and calf cramp that night, so that sucked!

Day 2

I woke up feeling great, but a bit dehydrated, so I guess I wasn't drinking enough water. Started the day off with lots of water and a peppermint tea.

I kept the same juice schedule as yesterday, and again felt fine! I crashed a little bit early (at around 9:30pm) and had an early one, but other than that still feeling OK.

Day 3

By this time I'd really gotten the hang of it, and I started to really enjoy the juices! My favourite was the second juice - without this one I think that I would have been missing food.

This day I had circus training, and I found that while I had the energy, my stamina was lower than usual and my muscles gave up earlier that they usually would. I guess we've also had a week break, but I think this one was definitely due to diet.

I took Juice #5 to my parents house on the way to circus and Mina and my dad thought it was really nice (Mina wants to try make it), but my mum HATED it and actually spat it out and was dry heaving! Turns out she hates mint with a vomity passion, I had no idea and felt really bad I put her through it. I had no idea someone could react that way to something so delicious!

I was actually really sad to have my last juice of the night, I appreciated it very slowly.

The verdict

On Day 4 I woke up looking forward to the first juice of the day, and realised that it was already over. I had an apple, yogurt, and Pura Veda (a mix of seeds) for breakfast, and it was nice but I honestly missed the juices. Eating actual food wasn't a relief or anything, and to be honest the whole 3 days was so easy that it felt a bit like a non event. I lost 2kg, but I'm sure that's all water/food weight.

I think I got out of it what I wanted - I don't think I'll be reaching for snacks, coffee, or overeating any time soon, hopefully this feeling will last! I would definitely recommend the experience, but would be hesitant to recommend it too easily because of the price point. It's expensive, and although the cost is justified based on the product, I think it's a lot to spend especially if you're expecting something you might not get from the experience.

If you're not too scared off by the price I think it's definitely worth while giving this a shot! And if you're in Perth I definitely recommend Pure Glow (although I don't think there are any other options anyway). I think something like this would be perfect to do sometime in February after Christmas, New Years, and Australia Day.

Thank you Pure Glow!

A short visit to Adelaide

Andrew and I just got back from a short extended weekend away in South Australia.

Thursday - Hahndorf, Wineries, Adelaide Central Market, Temple Day Spa

We left frosty Perth on Thursday morning only to arrive to an even chillier Adelaide. We got our cute little rental car with a sunroof and drove straight to Hahndorf, a small town that was German settled and has kept it's German charm. We walked down the main street from end to end and grabbed a goat's cheese brie from Udder Delights, then stopped in for a sausagey lunch at the German Arms pub. We were ready to leave, but promptly changed our mind when we drove past the German Cake Shop, which lured us in for a bee sting (bienenstich) slice.

The next two stops were a couple of wineries, K1 by Geoff Hardy (Kuitpo Vineyard) in the Adelaide Hills, and d'Arenberg in McClaren Vale. 

After almost getting bogged on a waterlogged road after some poor advice by the navman man (we decided the woman was way more reliable) we finally made it to the picturesque K1, our first wine tasting of the trip. Driving over the hill and seeing the entrance was so unexpected, I'm glad we finally made it! We talked footy over some tastings, and bought a pinot noir, and a shiraz. 

d'Arenberg was another pretty winery, where we were served by the winemakers daughter, who bless her young heart, was clearly still learning the trade. We really enjoyed tasting some of their wines, and we ended up getting a crazy blend of a million things, The Galvo Garage (Cab Sauvignon Merlot Petit Verdot Cabernet Franc).

Heading back into the city, we passed by Adelaide Central Markets, but since we got there 15 minutes before closing we didn't get to enjoy it too much, and made a beeline straight for some local lamb backstrap and veggies for dinner.

Our next stop was going to be the Andina hotel, but a call from Temple Day Spa turned us around to head straight there instead. Andrew bought me a voucher to Temple Day Spa for my birthday, and it was a fantastic experience, but I have to say that the booking process and organisation was a bit of a disaster! They had called me on Wednesday to change my booking from 5:45pm to 6pm, at which point they told me they actually had me booked in for 5:30pm originally. Then, when I got the call on Thursday afternoon, they were actually calling to see where I was because they were expecting me at 5:15pm! 

Oh well, I finally got there, and they upgraded me to a thing called the Vichyshower to appologise for the inconvenience which was very nice of them. The hot stone massage was incredible and vigorous, the infra red sauna was bikram-yoga-like and very refreshing, and the Vichyshower was relaxing but…. very strange. It was a big machine, much like the thing the lady gets into to cut the alien out of her in Prometheus, that sort of heated up and sprayed water jets randomly at me in different sequences and locations while one of the staff gave me a head and neck massage. The lady said it was meant to replicate the climate and rain in a rain forest, and while it was very relaxing at times, I couldn't stop giggling as I wondered what strange thing would happen next especially after a misguided jet that was meant to hit my feet got me smack bang in the vagina. The only conclusion I can make is that when you next visit a rain forest, you’d better protect your crotch. I actually started giggling the hardest (I appologised again to the nice lady) when the whole thing finished with the water turning off suddenly and the machine beeping once to indicate that relaxation time is over. 

Giggles aside, Temple Day Spa was such a stylish place to relax, I absolutely loved it and would definitely recommend it.

I loved the Andina hotel, which has been converted from the old treasury building, complete with a creepy basement of winding tunnels. Our room had an amazing balcony which we insisted on using for breakfast each day, despite the freezing weather!

Friday - Taste of the Barossa Tour, Adelaide Central Market and Arcade

I can't recommend the Taste of the Barossa tour enough, it was fantastic! Guided by our knowledgeable and witty tour guide Ashely, Trip Advisor definitely got it right when they rated this as the number 1 thing to do in Adelaide. 

We were second on the pick up list, and we had a bit of a giggle when we wandered up to the bus and noticed that the one other couple already on were in their 50s. It ended up being a full bus, and that first couple ended up being the second youngest after us! Ashely mentioned that he gets all sorts and it just depends on the day, but we were certainly the youngest grapes on the vine. 

After picking everyone up, and seeing Ross Lyon walking down the street, our first stop was the Whispering Wall, a parabolic dam that accidentally had the acoustic property of being able to propagate sound very far distances. Ashely told the bus that the rules are that someone on the bus has to tell him a joke once they get to the end of the wall, and unfortunately all he got was "Why did the chicken cross the road? To get the the other side!" which must have been the joke in fashion in the olden days.

Our first winery stop was Chateau Yaldara 1847, the most photographed cellar door in South Australia, and I think it's obvious why. We did a structured wine tasted in the boys room, where the very knowledgeable guide told us about the history of the estate and took us through a variety of different wines, some great, some OK. I decided to get the Moscato for my parents, it was a really interesting one that wasn't too sweet. 

Our second stop was Peter Lehmann Wines, where we got to try some wines touched by the man who saved the Barossa by convincing everyone not to take the government’s grant to pull up all their vines and start producing something else. I have to say, I didn't like a lot of the wines here, but the Future Shiraz was our favourite, so we bought two bottles. We had a very quick lunch, then walked over to Langmeil to taste some wines from the oldest Shiraz vines in the world.

The oldest living Shiraz vines in the WORLD, 172 years old, can be found at Langmeil, rows 15 to 24. Amazing! Like little Shiraz trees, gnarly and thick. This is where we tasted an $125 bottle of wine called Freedom Shiraz, made from fruit from these vines. It was amazing, we felt lucky. 

We stopped at a lookout over the Barossa where we enjoyed the 8 shades of green that can be seen, then headed off to the last stop of Murray Street Vineyards, where we enjoyed a tasting in a room where Master Chef did a Masterclass. The most memorable tasting here was an aged Riesling that smelt like kerosene but tasted sweet and delicious. This stop saw us one bottle of shiraz heavier. 

5 bottles of wine later (in our bag, not in our tummies!) we enjoyed the sites back to our hotel in Adelaide, and I may have caught some old and had a quick nanna nap too. We headed back to the Adelaide Central Markets with lots of time to look around, and we ended up getting a laksa and a Cooper's Sparkling Ale for dinner at the Laksa House, yum! We checked out the Adelaide Arcade on the way back to the hotel, very cute and similar to the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney. 

Saturday- Zoo, Adelaide food icons and the footy

We loved Adelaide Zoo! It's the first time we'd seen a hippo, the first time we'd seen a panda, and a deer ate our map (we tried very hard, there was no getting it back). I like zoos that are similar to Perth zoo, where you have to explore nooks and crannies rather than having giant roads that take you between exhibits.

Lunch was at O'Connell Street Bakery where I got a delicious cauliflower soup, which I enjoyed very much but it left me jealous of Andrew's iconic Adelaide lunch which consisted of the best pie floater in town, and a kitchener bun. Stupid gluten. 

We stopped at The Oxford for a drink on our walk to Adelaide Oval, which is such a beautiful ground, and has amazing sound. It was soooo loud! Too bad about the game. Although Ethan (Krystal's cousin's boyfriend) played really well, and cheering Butcher as he missed the easy ones was a lot of fun. I wore my teal Mimco bag and accidentally supported Port Adelaide while also wearing my Freo scarf, whoops!

Dinner was salmon, heirloom carrots and veggies from Adelaide Central Market, wine, and Haiges chocolate for dessert back at the hotel.

Sunday - Maggie Beer, More Wine, Glenelg

After a run (Andrew ran in the real world but it was too cold for me, so I ran on a treadmill in Andina's gym) we decided we wanted some more amazing wine. 

Firstly, we stopped at Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop for a picnic lunch and a million tastings. I bought Mina some apricot jam which I’m hoping she’ll use to make my favourite cake for Christmas. The “picnic lunch” is a few things in a basket, all made at the farm, based around your choice of pate. I chose the mushroom and verjuice pate which came with a gluten free bread roll, Andrew chose the chicken pate, both very delicious. We had a bitter orange almond cake for dessert that we sneakily spruced up with some salted caramel and chocolate sauce “tastings” from the display next to us.

We visited Yalumba, which are famous to me for their Y-series wines, particularly the cab sauv scarecrow bottle which was my favourite when I first started drinking wine. It was a beautiful ground, and we got to try a few of their more interesting wines. One thing we noticed is that cabernet sauvignon from the region is a bit chalky, which while I find interesting, makes the wine hard to drink. We decided on a grenache, which was the first of this style that we’d enjoyed.

Next we went to Rockford, which is a small family winery that only sells wine from it’s cellar door. We had the privilege of trying a few of their amazing wines, and yet again came away one Shiraz heavier.

Back towards Adelaide, and after a quick visit to the Penfolds winery (where we looked around the massive grounds but didn’t invest in a tasting), we headed to Glenelg, the beach town.

I think I actually almost died as we walked towards the jetty. If it wasn’t for Andrew encouraging me every step of the way to live, I would have happily sat down and surrendered to the cold wind right there. I’ve realised that my will to live is directly proportional to how cold I am. The jetty was a fine jetty, but I couldn’t have cared less if it was made of diamonds at that point in time. We rushed back to the main strip, wandered around and watched the trams go by while Andrew put up with me complaining about my cold ears. The airport was only 15 minutes drive away, just enough time for me to change into my fluffy jumper and ugg boots and try warm my ears up.

In Conclusion

Adelaide is the closest city to Perth I’ve ever been to. Even though sometimes it didn’t even look like Australia with it’s hills and greenery, the pace of life and feel of the city was just like home.