Food - Travels with Verne and Roy

Two days in Toodyay WA, 13-15 October

Two days in Toodyay WA is enough to get a feel for this historic WA town – but I could have stayed longer. Here’s what to do in Toodyay, where to stay in Toodyay and where to have a drink or a meal in Toodyay… plus the connection between Toodyay town and Moondyne Joe

What’s in a name?

Surely not, responded my sister in England when I texted her that I was walking around a town called Toodyay. Toodyay may be a funny name, sure. But what about Bishop’s Ichington in Warwickshire, Great Snoring in Fakenham, Norfolk, Wetwang near Uncleby in Yorkshire, or Nether Wallop in Hampshire?

In fact, it is derived from the Noongar Aboriginal word Duidgee, meaning “place of plenty”, referring in part to the reliability of the Avon River on whose banks it sits.

Springtime in the Perth Hills, 6-7 September 2021

Seconds out; flashback to spring in Amsterdam; even more tulips; Araluen fast facts; a bit of history; review: Chalet Healy Café; Airbnb review: the Folly, and what I loved most; why Plantsnap is useless; general cussedness in Kalamunda; unidentified blossoms in cider country; beach bunny Roy, back in Burns Beach

Araluen Botanic Park is in Roleystone, in the Darling Ranges – only half an hour from Perth CBD, but around an hour’s drive from our home in Iluka.

First came a preliminary spousal skirmish concerning whether or not we should go to Araluen Botanic Park at all.

Roy’s Swan Valley WA Birthday Treat, 5-7 August

Guildford and the various attractions of James Street; The Tale of the Stubborn Donkey; Colonial Building, three cafés and Terrace Street; Pinelli’s Wine Estate for tasting and beatific beef cheeks; historic Rose & Crown and its 1840 restaurant; brunch at Padbury’s; Mandoon Wine Estate tour and wine-tasting; dégustation at Wild Swan; B&B at The Colony; summing up and stocking up

After a month of record rainfall, howling gales and unusually low temperatures for Perth, I’d been resigned to our Swan Valley getaway being soggy, cold and blustery. But we needed to use Roy’s Ultimate Mandoon Experience* – a birthday gift from the kids – before the voucher expired. I booked it for a Friday night.

QLD Odyssey Part 8: Trinity Beach, Cairns and the train back to Brisbane, 23-27 June

Spa pool at Caldwell; Mt Bartle Frere – what’s in a name?; quick side-track to Melbourne; Trinity Beach – two nights, two Italians; Port Douglas – oversold?; one night in Cairns; back to Bris on the splendid Spirit of Queensland; Monday, Monday

Townsville to Trinity Beach – via Cairns

Do stop at the spa pool at Cardwell, north of Townsville, said Tracy at our Airlie accommodation. It’s located just two miles from the main highway, it’s a site of spiritual significance for the indigenous community, it’s eerily blue, and it’s well worth the short detour.

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Townsville to Cairns

QLD Odyssey Part Seven: Townsville & Magnetic Island, 20-22 June

The not-so-sweet colonial history of sugar; The Strand, Townsville; topped-up long macs; ferry to Magnetic Island; Scallywags, pirates and other islanders; A Touch of Salt review; underbelly musings

QLD Odyssey – Part Six: The Whitsundays, 17-19 June

Bundaberg – arguably missable; rum from a dark Satanic mill; cane for the pain: spook and diesel; 1770 and Agnes Waters; 8 hours to Airlie Beach; Flaggy Rock – best pies on the planet; Tracy saves the day; ZigZag Whitsundays Day Tour – best beach in the world; Sorrento sundowners and dinner at The Rocks

The main reason to stay at Seventeen Seventy / 1770 or its immediate neighbour Agnes Waters – another memorable name, if not place – is that it’s a three-hour drive from Hervey Bay when heading north to Cairns. And a three-hour stint is, in my opinion, the perfect amount of driving time; four hours is OK, too. Anything longer becomes tiresome.

Goodbye to the Whitsundays – one to tick off the bucket list

QLD Odyssey – Part Five: Fraser Island, Hervey Bay & Maryborough 15-17 June

Cold comfort in Hervey Bay; grilled fish and no chips; Fraser Island Day Tour: the wonderful Wayne and his whopping 4X4, horrible history, Central Station, Eli Creek, 75 Mile Beach drive and the Maheno shipwreck; a tale of two Marys – Maryborough and Mary Poppins

I’m being consciously strategic with this order of events. Maryborough came first; then Hervey Bay, the launchpad for Fraser Island. But an island is always going to be sexier than Mary Poppins – and Fraser Island was what we’d come here for.

QLD Odyssey – Part Four: Noosa

From Craftsville to Glossville; coffee and a rare gelato; not-so-rare bush turkey sighting; a peach of a beach; kraken good salad at Peregian Beach; Bistro C review

With the prospect of sunshine and a predicted midday high of 22 degrees Centigrade – in the middle of one of the coldest spells seen in these parts for a very long time – we headed for the famous seaside town of Noosa*.

Beach bunny Verne in her element – and Roy? Not so much

(* Properly pronounced by locals in a faux-posh accent as Nyooosa, with a pinched nose – or so I am reliably informed.)

Noosa is less than half an hour northeast by car from Eumundi, the crafty hinterland haunt where we were spending three nights. But these two towns could not be more different.

QLD Odyssey – Part Two: Beenleigh Rum & Gold Coast

Yo, ho ho! – and a bottle of rum; Gold Coast in mid-winter – not too shabby; seagulls at Surfers Paradise; terrific lunch at Tropic; Tommy Bahama, sashimi and sushi; new jacket – spoiler alert!

QLD Odyssey – Part One: Brisbane, 7-11 June

Queensland’s coolest couple; on the road again: back in the travel saddle; pre-Plague pics; Are You Sleeping, Big Brother?; Like a Virgin; sightseeing synopsis; next-level street food – Luke Nguyen at Treasury Casino; trivia and pulled lamb at the Powerhouse; George’s ginormous soles

Maxine and Trevor are two of our Singapore expat friends. Culture vultures, foodies, and probably the coolest couple we know, they’ve also lived in Saudi, in Dubai, and in China for many years.

Max and Trevor – two decades on, they still like a G&T or two, but now they’re based in QLD, it could just as well be rum

We met them nearly 20 years ago, not long after we arrived to live in the city state. The circumstances were unforgettable: on the initial night of our first Star Cruise, we bonded with Max, Trevor and their friend Susan Beard over copious G&Ts in a private karaoke room. I seem to remember the staff evicting us at 3am.

What’s in a name?

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