Fueled with enthusiasm?!

I used just about all my heat beads yesterday, baking hot cross buns on the Cobb Cookers. I was a bit miffed that the remaining three beads were too few for further cooking!

Louie had left us instructions for using the outside fuel stove.  I hadn't felt all that brave - even though I've used a fuel stove in the past.  I was keen for more hot cross buns though, so had Nick fit the flue in place and light the fire.  He has also cut some gidgee for me to use as firewood.

As impressed as I'd been with my Cobb Cooker buns, the batches cooked in the fuel stove were even better!


I made a batch of spiced dough in the breadmaker, then kneaded in two cups of sultanas.  The unglazed and glazed result is at the left of this pic. That batch has been sampled and declared very good. They are definitely not dry or burnt on the bottom and I am very pleased with them. Nick suggested they may be a bit doughy but I'm sure they are no worse than any we have bought.

I also tried a no-knead recipe, intended for use in a camp oven.  (I used generic brand plain flour and 2 tablespoons of no-name quick oats, which seems to have worked well).  The dough and the risen buns are the photos on the right of the collage.

If we hadn't had the bread-maker variety first (cooked on the Cobb or in the fuel stove), we may have been perfectly satisfied with the no-knead buns.  As it was, we far preferred the (machine) kneaded batch(es).  I gave some away and they were reviewed very highly too! I'm still waiting to see how they look when cooked - and do a taste-test!

Easter eggs!

When we returned home from the dawn service, Vaughan spotted this crested pigeon sitting on a new nest.

Later in the morning he/she (both sexes share the incubation of eggs) left the nest unattended for a short while and we were able to see two (Easter) eggs!

Crested pigeons can breed at any time, which fits with our observations here. (During our visit to Yowah in July 2010 we saw another nest). The incubation period is 21 days, so we'll miss seeing these chicks hatch but it's still nice to see the nesting period.

Happy Easter!

We attended the Easter dawn service on the Bluff this morning, sitting around a large fire and listening to a non-denominational sermon while watching the sun rise. It was a very peaceful start to the morning.

The service ended just before sunrise - a few moments after Vaughan excitedly caught a fat toad-hopper!

Breakfast of eggs, bacon and pikelets was served - all cooked on wood-fired 44-gallon drum BBQs (the same style as those used last night).

Vaughan was too busy playing fetch with Missy to eat anything but was happy to participate in the post-breakfast Easter egg hunt with Erin. They filled Erin's "deceptively large" pockets and shared their stash once home again.

YOMSCI Win-ski!

We were still discussing whether or not to attend the YOMSCI BBQ thirty minutes before it was due to start. As you can see, we went!

We'd had some experience of how things worked as we'd attended the community BBQ during our July 2010 visit.

Experienced BBQ goers know to take their plates upside-down to meat table, so as to keep the right sides clean for cooked steaks etc.

We'd chosen one of the "slower" BBQs but even so it benefited hugely when one of the blazing logs fell out!


Bread and salad was available - and there was desert also.  We quite enjoyed the evening and paid $5 for three raffle tickets, which was drawn at the end of the night.  One of our tickets was called, so I won a meat tray - that is, we scored 58 sausages for $5!  How good is that?!

Hot Cobb buns ...

I made two batches of hot cross buns today (one spiced fruit and the other choc-chip). Louie's bread-maker was used to mix the dough but I kneaded the chocolate chips and sultanas in by hand.

I cooked both batches on the Cobb cookers (using six beads). One cooker had an extension ring and the other didn't, so I gave both tins equal time - about 40 minutes - in each cooker.

I'm fairly pleased with the results. There were a bit too brown on the bottom but I'll try a slightly different method next time - when I get a new bag of heat beads!

Good Friday goanna!

I really wish I had thought to film these antics!  They would have made excellent "footage"!

Erin, Nick and Vaughan attempted to surround this goanna as they had done with the one at Yowah, about a week ago.

This guy/gal was much trickier and made for the long grass, then very quickly disappeared!

The grass isn't particularly dense, so our would-be goanna catchers were a bit surprised to have been given the slip so easily! 

I expect the goanna was grinning, not too far away!

Sneaky catch!

Vaughan used a sneaky manoeuvre to catch this dragon. It's one that he wants to try on a goanna, so he was pleased it worked as a practice run!

Erin was not involved in the capture but was given the honour of holding and then releasing the catch.