My First "Tea" − 10 June, 2000
I'll say one thing about taking a cold shower -- it certainly wakes-you-the-fuck up.
The proprietor stopped by this morning to bring us another loaf of fresh bread and ask if we would like to come by that afternoon for tea and to tour the farm. Sounded good to us, but tea? Did he mean we'd hang out on the porch and have an iced tea, or what?
He did turn on the water heater. Finally.
When it came time to head to the farm, we jumped in the car and set off. The farm was on the other side of the village, but really wasn't too far. It's actually called Benbellen Farm, and the owners -- in addition to the Penlan Cottage rental -- run a "farm-stay" at their house. It was a new concept to me, but seemed to be common.
Another, older, couple was there, too. They were in the business of farm-stays, so they talked a lot of shop with the owners. My wife and I sat and drank our coffee and ate cake; apparently tea includes coffee. In fact, that actually came up in our discussions. I learned that tea is sort of like a formal snack break: tea and/or coffee along with some sort of cake, cookie, or pastry. Conversation did turn a little more general, and we told them where we were from and where we were going. They seemed quite amused that we were going to live in Alice Springs for a few years. Didn't quite know what to make of that.
After tea, we went out to the farmyard and they showed us their alpacas. If you're into the farm-stay thing, then I'm sure it's pretty cool, but growing up in a rural farming community... this just seemed like a glorified petting zoo. Beautiful alpacas, though.
That night, back at the cottage, we were flipping through the Australian television channels when a thunderstorm rolled in. After a few minutes, we shut off the TV and went to the glass doors to watch the rain and lightning. When then next flash of lightning lit up the area, we saw something sitting on one of the patio posts. We flipped on the outside light to get a better look.
It was some sort of bird. Big. An owl? No, the beak was wrong. What the hell was that thing? It sat there, hunched against the rain, and watched us. Freaked me out a little bit. I had the urge to barricade the doors -- a TV news-flash kept running through my mind: "Stupid Americans Devoured by Demon Bird, Only Small Dog Survives."
It must have tired of have us gawk at it, because a few minutes later it was gone.
Probably went to get some steak sauce.
==========
Note: We later found out that the demon bird was a tawny frogmouth -- which came to be one of my favorite birds in Australia.
The proprietor stopped by this morning to bring us another loaf of fresh bread and ask if we would like to come by that afternoon for tea and to tour the farm. Sounded good to us, but tea? Did he mean we'd hang out on the porch and have an iced tea, or what?
He did turn on the water heater. Finally.
When it came time to head to the farm, we jumped in the car and set off. The farm was on the other side of the village, but really wasn't too far. It's actually called Benbellen Farm, and the owners -- in addition to the Penlan Cottage rental -- run a "farm-stay" at their house. It was a new concept to me, but seemed to be common.
Another, older, couple was there, too. They were in the business of farm-stays, so they talked a lot of shop with the owners. My wife and I sat and drank our coffee and ate cake; apparently tea includes coffee. In fact, that actually came up in our discussions. I learned that tea is sort of like a formal snack break: tea and/or coffee along with some sort of cake, cookie, or pastry. Conversation did turn a little more general, and we told them where we were from and where we were going. They seemed quite amused that we were going to live in Alice Springs for a few years. Didn't quite know what to make of that.
After tea, we went out to the farmyard and they showed us their alpacas. If you're into the farm-stay thing, then I'm sure it's pretty cool, but growing up in a rural farming community... this just seemed like a glorified petting zoo. Beautiful alpacas, though.
That night, back at the cottage, we were flipping through the Australian television channels when a thunderstorm rolled in. After a few minutes, we shut off the TV and went to the glass doors to watch the rain and lightning. When then next flash of lightning lit up the area, we saw something sitting on one of the patio posts. We flipped on the outside light to get a better look.
It was some sort of bird. Big. An owl? No, the beak was wrong. What the hell was that thing? It sat there, hunched against the rain, and watched us. Freaked me out a little bit. I had the urge to barricade the doors -- a TV news-flash kept running through my mind: "Stupid Americans Devoured by Demon Bird, Only Small Dog Survives."
It must have tired of have us gawk at it, because a few minutes later it was gone.
Probably went to get some steak sauce.
==========
Note: We later found out that the demon bird was a tawny frogmouth -- which came to be one of my favorite birds in Australia.
Comments:
edunn (June 3, 2008. 03:21am)
I just knew it was going to be the Tawny Frogmouth! Just kidding :0
intrepideddie (June 3, 2008. 05:47am)
About a year later, I was able to "pet" one at a wildlife park. Got a picture of that one! The Aussie birds most people like are the cockatoos, kookaburras, budgies, even wedge tail eagles and emus. Me, I like the tawny frogmouths -- they're like the pugs of the bird world.