Winter getaway

I’m typing this week’s diary post from Brisbane. I’m here spending some time with my parents.

While I’m here to help them out it’s also a good way of thawing out from the cold of Canberra. On the Friday before I left, it was a –5.2 °C/22.6 °F morning. I felt validated for making plans for a Winter getaway from Canberra, albeit it’s only for a few days.

 

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On Sunday morning I saw it was –4.5 °C/23.9 °F in Canberra while I was sitting outside in the warm sunshine at +11 °C/51.8 °F enjoying poached eggs on sourdough toast with seeded avocado, hash browns, and sautéed mushrooms.

There’s not really much to write about or share. When I woke up on Saturday morning, I thought about a walk but the fog was very heavy which meant little to photograph and it felt so cold outside I thought my time would be better spent packing my bag for my trip.

I did spend one day during the week in Melbourne for a meeting. It was a pretty good experience. Melbourne isn’t my favourite place, it’s pretty dark a lot of the time (in my experience) and many Melbourne residents seem fond of gothic attire. Well, that’s at least how I see them. Dark coats, dark suits, dark dresses, and very few smiles. This meeting was good because it was at a co-located airport hotel so I didn’t need to travel in to the Melbourne CBD at all.

State of origin with a twist

On Friday evening, after a day in the hospital, I sat down and enjoyed a great game of rugby league between the Queensland Maroons and the New South Wales Blues. It was the Women’s State of Origin game. The game was played in North Sydney and televised live. Unfortunately, the Mighty Maroons were not successful but the team acquitted themselves very well and the rugby league was fabulous. My only quip would be that they played 30-minute halves. I hope next season they play 40-minute halves so we get more entertaining football.

As I mentioned in last week’s post, the soccer world cup holds no interest for me and I’d watch the Women’s State of Origin over any soccer match any day of the week.

You’re dreaming haha

— Jedi Master Brendan (@BaconSupanova) June 22, 2018

I guess each to their own haha

— Jedi Master Brendan (@BaconSupanova) June 22, 2018

I reckon next season the women’s and men’s State of Origin games should be played on the same night. The first game should start at 6.30 rather than all the crapola that is served up by the Nine Network. Apart from the national anthem which should always be sung by a state school school choir we don’t need the celebrity entertainment which just puts the price of tickets up. I’d make an effort to attend a game if it was a men’s and women’s double bunger. The organisers could alternate which game starts over the series. For example, game one starts with the men, game two with the women, and then game three with the men. The following season, game on with the women, game two with the men, and then game three with the women. In a perfect world, Channel Nine would ditch Phil Gould and Paul Gallen from the commentary team and replace them with Ben Ikin and Cam Smith.

If the NRL is going to persist with one game being in Melbourne, or Adelaide, or Perth, then the men and women should play in those venues too. I don’t know why the NRL bothers with Adelaide. I’d take the games to Darwin. Heaven on Earth my friends, Heaven on Earth. Bloody Darwin would be a gazillion times better than Adelaide for two spectacular games of rugby league. The only reason for heading to Adelaide would be to buy some Maggie Beer verjuice. Not that I’ve ever cooked with verjuice.

Dad asked if I felt conflicted with Origin and Master Chef being on TV at the same time. No, Origin is way more important. Besides, if I was home with Wi-Fi I’d have Master Chef on my iPad via the TenPlay app.

While I don’t expect this will be a Queensland year, I hope the game tonight is exciting and an excellent display of rugby league. I’ll be cooking Mum and Dad a dinner of roast chicken and fennel salad.

What’s on Yummy Lummy this week?

Because I’m away, I probably won’t have anything fresh on Yummy Lummy (the food blog) this week. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t visit the site and look around for a recipe you might like. Since I’m with Mum at the moment, I mentioned the recipe for leftover KFC casserole and she thought it was hilarious.

What I ate this week

This is a gallery of photographs in no particular order. Click on one and scroll through the rest.

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Final thoughts

Are you enjoying the weather where you are?

Would you like to see men’s and women’s football being played on the same day together?

Footy food round up for the 2017 State of Origin series