Near Roaring Beach

 Visited the beautiful home and property of two visitors I met at the Hub Cafe last week. No words can describe the beauty of the place.

Roaring Beach in background

Burnt out base of Eucalypt

View back to White Beach

Stone wall under construction

Max in the Hub Cafe kitchen

All types of wonderful food is prepared by Max and Co in the kitchen....these are some pics taken by Max featuring some of the creations....food landscapes.

Arrangement of quiches

Sesame seed cookies and arranged herbs (below)

Broccoli, spinach  and cream cheese quiche

Wallaby burger with red onion marmalade, aoli, and salad
 

Thoughts from Max...."When I started at Parsons Bay Retreat I knew that it was going to be a bit of a personal challenge for myself, having never run my own kitchen before, before I always had someone to look up to and learn from. The Menu created is lets say the best bits from my experience as a chef some from my home country UK and some from my travels around Australia. 

 I had to make the meals easy enough to produce quickly on demand, but without skimping out on the quality, my main rule is to keep things simple. I find I get the best results that way, over complicating dishes is sometimes distracting.  

 It is important working with good, fresh, produce. Usually you can tell in the tasting whether the food is from a good source. The best thing about cheffing at Parsons Bay is that it has one of the best vegetable plots that I have worked with, It is such a luxury to be able to walk down to the garden and pick whatever you need, there are a variety of vegetables and herbs to choose from. Pumpkins, zucchinis, tomatoes a variety of different lettuces and a lot more...quoting from Deb our resident gardener "It doesn't get any fresher" she's right it really doesn't. 

 I have worked a lot in catering though I have a BA(hons) Degree in animation, originally I did not want to be a chef, so I pursued my creative ambitions, though after graduating I failed to find work in my desired field and went back to what I knew best. I am a little disappointed to be honest, though now I can find ways to express my creativity through cooking, It’s not the same I know but I still get satisfaction out of cooking and presenting something well.

 My time at Parsons Bay is unfortunately ending soon, it is a shame as the area is stunningly beautiful, I have had fun here and I think I have developed as a chef, you learn something new every kitchen you work in whether it be a different way of doing things, new recipies, new friends. I think I can take all of these things away from Parsons Bay, good luck to Ilan, the Café and all the future helpers. "

 

The Happy Wheelbarrow

 

Today in the rain.....building the pathway to the creek.

 The banks of the pathway have been planted out with a variety of indigenous species.

 When established the vegetation corrridor and track will enable access to Parsons Bay from the Eco Village.

Hazelnuts

 Last year the Hazelnut Bushes (Corylus avellana) produced four nuts!
This year there were many more.
Some became poker chips we believe, others were rounded up and placed in a bowl and a competition was held to guess the number.  All taken into account this years tally was around four hundred.......competition bowl contained three hundred and sixty six.......poker chip and eaten unknown!
PS Another 91 were collected after the competition closed!
PPS And another 74 were collected well after the competion closed. Found a seedling from last years dropped seed...have potted it up....do not know if it will be a fruiting specimen. I had never seen hazelnuts growing till my visiting here.