Vegan in a non-vegan world: A Review of The Pier (Port Macquarie)

The Pier is a modern pizza and tapas joint. Being a ‘Soul Session’ Thursday night, it had a better atmosphere than anywhere I’ve been since I lived in Sydney.

Rob settled in for a half litre of German beer, the waiter took his order, and then scampered off without even giving me a look. It was all downhill from there.

We ordered up big time, excited that there were potential options on the menu. After I chased the waiter down again, clarified that I was a vegan, and asked if the dishes I was ordering were suitable, I was told a ‘yes, definitely’. Cool! Except the chargrilled veggies had been removed from the menu due to lack of popularity. I upgraded to my back-up option of Hindu pizza, minus the two cheeses (obviously), and minus the onion (time to give my poor bod a break from the substance it doesn’t like).

Our ‘Bites’ were probably the best dishes of the evening. I had the simple tomato, basil and olive oil, the man ordered something with cheese. They came out on the same serving slab, but there was no contamination.

The marinated olives were quite nice. This was a dish Rob ordered, so I never asked about whether the bread was vegan, since he’s not.

Then my ‘Taste’ was a real disappointment. It came out with a white coloured sauce beside it. This is the dish I was told ‘yes, definitely’ to my question of being suitable for a vegan. Rob tasted it for me and clarified that it was actually a cheese sauce. I gave a corn and capsicum fitter a bite, declared it egg, and put it back down again. I won’t go into Rob’s disappointment at me refusing ‘good’ food. But then he tried a bite too, and even though he loves egg, he said these were not very good. He did eat two out of the four though. When the waiter reappeared, I asked him if they had egg in them, just to confirm my suspicions. He went away and confirmed that there was egg ‘just to combine the ingredients’. HELLO! NOT VEGAN! I just nodded my head but said no more; my consideration for the dining experience of my companion. I’d already over-stepped his preferred line by even questioning what was in my food.

And the pizza? Well, I generally find veganised pizzas quite nice. But with this gourmet variety, I found it only just doable. And given that they had no idea what vegan is, I actually have no idea whether it really was, as ‘milk solids’ can be hidden in both the base and the sauce. The flavours were okay, but overall it was quite dry, especially the mushrooms which were a dried variety to begin with.

I ate it. I needed to be fed, it was in front of me, we would be paying for it, and it really did save ruining the night by creating a scene and then tramping all over town to repeat the experience. But I know most other vegans would have demanded their money back. I wouldn’t be going back there, unless it was just to drink. Then I’d have to do a LOT of research to know what it was I was drinking! Bon Apetit hey?

Activities...

So what do you do when you’re on holiday? At the start of this blog, I said that what I like about holidays is the simplification of life – you can only do what you can carry and/or what is available in your location.

I didn’t come to Port to do any ‘activities’ as offered by the location though. Rob is at the airport, stuffed in a classroom, doing work. My being here is incidental to that, and I’m ‘on call’ to pick him up whenever his day there ends (always afternoon, but a bit random). Plus, I’ve been here before and done the ‘activities’:

Riding camels on Lighthouse beach with Michelle…

…and the fun and games at Fantasy Glades (now closed I believe).

Back to the present: the first day we were here we went for a long walk, from Shelly beach (well from our apartment actually) almost to the lighthouse, and back again. This is an amazing part of the coast, where the ‘rainforest’ (I do believe it’s regrowth) actually meets the beaches.

Lush and green, with interesting textures and shapes:

Despite how the much Bitou Bush has taken over:

Forest behind the coast is how it should be. I had never really thought about it until I was flying over Port, but our practice of building right on coastal locations, though convenient to our desires, does seem a bit wrong. Seeing all the swamp land behind the sand dunes, it seems to me that the swamp is there for a purpose. And from the air Port looks like it has been built on a swamp – all around the town that’s all there is! I had been told this before (I actually lived here once upon a time), but never really believed it. Nor did I go exploring.

I think this photo shows the water reservoir for Port, but all around it looks like swamp, like everywhere else that isn’t built up in this region. Even the airport was swampy in the grass areas! And it does seem that Port is suffering beach erosion, just like Old Bar. Here’s Town Beach, which looked smaller than I remembered it:

So, other than walking and beach viewing, what the hell am I doing with myself?

Well, I decided to tackle the cooking in a better way than ‘heat in pouch’ meals. Which meant shopping for resources, which took time, of course! A really cool blue scanpan knife from House. Cutting board and containers to contain leftovers for Rob’s lunch from Go-Lo. A large $2 bowl, salt, pepper and cumin from the Reject Shop (and yep, they had reject service to go with their reputation). Crap products, but the best option when you need cheap. We will actually have to leave the bowl and containers behind…

I also found a pair of thongs for myself:

Killed a bit of time reading on the beach:

Yep, there were showers out at sea on this day:

And showers on the land yesterday, so I finally got the washing done (took a good two hours!). There was a fantastic tiny secondhand bookshop combined with coffee shop nearby, which was a much more pleasant environment than the laundry, so I had a cup of green tea, and although I didn’t need a book to carry around, I picked one up anyway:

And food is an activity too, isn’t it?

Dinner at Sara’s Kitchen.

Tofu sushi for lunch, with a ginseng drink.

Yummo treats:

And tested out some recipes:

Cold Sesame Noodles

(served with Asian bean and kumera bites – remind me not to have these again, though I do know their veggie bites are yum).

Quinoa tebbouleh (with falafels purchased from Coles)

And cleaning up the mess of course. Here’s a photo of my work area:

(view from the toilet)

And cups of tea in between of course:

And until today, not much computer time:

Because of the dismal lighting, I’ve not been sewing or reading at night. We’ve actually been watching TV, exactly what this room was set up for:

(yup - that's the bench that is *meant* to be the kitchenette - microwave behind TV, bar fridge beside microwave. No more powerpoints available for the kettle or toaster)

To the extent that we even watched the footy last night (we NEVER watch foot ball!). I fell asleep when it was 10:0 in favour of the Maroons. Then Rob woke me when it was 12:10. And although there was a chance there for a moment, the Blues just couldn’t do it. I missed all the action hey?

Necessities

So, before we left Old Bar, I was already getting a list together of what we had forgotten, that we may need to buy. I forgot my thongs (flip flops to you Americans), Rob his hat. We’re going to need to do some washing soon, and a delicates bag would really help to care for my bras. And we’re missing having our own cracked salt and pepper.

We arrived at our apartment in Port Macquarie (alright, just outside of the town, Rob wanted to go a bit cheap on this trip). The first thing I copped was a wiff of mold, confirmed by a few black smudges on the sheer curtains. We entered, Rob had confirmed that the place had a kitchenette, but as we entered Rob warned it was a ‘basic’ kitchenette. I guess he could already predict that we had been ripped off in that department! Yep, no stove, no oven. Just a microwave, kettle, toaster, some plates and cutlery. Oh, and a tea towel and a sachet of washing up liquid after a bit of hunting around. Washing up needs to be done in the only hand-basin which thankfully is adjacent to, rather than in the bathroom.

“I’m sorry our apartment is a dive”, Rob has whined a few times. It’s actually not that bad, but it’s not that comfortable that you would want to ‘hang out’ in it, which was to be my preferred activity here. There’s a hook on the main wall space, but the picture has long since disappeared. In the living area the lighting is dismal, one over in the ‘kitchenette’, the other diagonally across the room, above a single bed. Both oyster lights, not the best for reading, writing or needlework.

“Rob, did you bring your cap lamp?”

“No, I didn’t actually”

It may have to be TV in the evenings here…

There is a massive widescreen TV (the owner has mentioned this a few times, come to think of it), smack bang on top of the only counter space available for food prep. Why didn’t he wall mount the thing in the space where a holiday print is meant to sit?

So my duty to play ‘housewife’ on this trip has been stripped away from me. There’s not going to be nice home cooked dinners here, although I am setting my mind to how I can be creative with the outside BBQ (surely I can do scrambled tofu on a massive frypan of a hotplate!), or ‘boil in pouch’ meals (we do have one camp stove with us, we cooked Mac & Cheese for lunch which was actually doable, if it wasn’t, I might be in a worse frame of mind regarding our accommodation!). Rob’s going to have wrinkled clothes for his aviation training this week, as there is no iron nor ironing board provided. And I’m going to have to search out a laundry mat and hang about while I washing washes, rather than slip back to our luxury digs which was my original preference (except the man thought he could get just as good, cheaper).

When food shopping is an adventure…

So on Saturday night, when options were open, we opted to buy groceries and cook our own dinner. This resulted in Asam Fish (pre-purchased from the Cruelty Free Shop for this trip) with a side of mashed potatoes and asparagus. Oreos were dessert.

We also bought some fancy supermarket bread and vegemite to do us for breakfast the next day, and of course FRUIT! Despite my cravings for pizza for lunch (pizza shops were the main option in Merimbula, and again here!), Rob was busy talking to other pilots over on the airstrip (an activity he tells me he doesn’t like to do, but here he voluntarily sought it out – was he bored, or does he secretly like it?). So vegemite on toast doubled as lunch too. His craving emerged as pizza for dinner, and he was certain he’d get it.

We wondered down to the shops, and all that was open was the Take Away and a Gelato Bar. The few ‘gourmet’ shops were closed, especially the one where we thought we’d get a nice, customised pizza. We back tracked to the Take Away, Rob having seen some mention of pizza on a sign there. We dubiously looked through the window to the menu. Yes, Pizza was available Thursday to Saturday. There was the menu on the main board with all the other burgers and fried goods. But it was a Take Away! Rob suggested they must be pre-packaged pizzas which would rule this little vegan out on the cheese front. Then the quality would be questionable for him.

So we opted for Bi-Lo again – straight to the freezer section. I knew I was defeated on the pizza front, so Rob studied the packets before him while I hunted around for any surprising new foods. Nope, Herbert Adams pasties have milk solids in them. Hmmm… spring rolls… but with what? And $5 for six? And then I remembered the main ingredient on pre-prepared pizzas is mushrooms (Rob hates mushrooms!), so I told him the bad news. “You can make your own though – buy a base…”. The costing was looking like coming closer to the $15 from the Take Away shop.

Yup, a pre-prepared, generic brand base with cheese was $8 for one (or $10 for three). It looked like Rob was trying out the Take Away, so I hunted for something for myself. Armed with a ‘boil in pouch’ Indian lentil dish, and a few green beans, Rob approached me with a package of herb breads “these don’t have butter!”. I verified this claim by reading the ingredient list (whoohooo – they used olive oil!). We made a selection of marinated antipasto goodies from the deli, Rob added a few other embellishments, and finally, we were done.

So an hour after we had set off, we had what we needed to cook dinner. The bill? $20 a head (this did include fortune cookies for dessert and another loaf of bread).

I pan fried the potatoes left over from the previous night, with a bit of chilli powder. We couldn’t get the grill working, so cooked our pizzettes in the oven. And they were yum!

We leave Old Bar tomorrow, so I’ll show you a little bit of it:

I guess there’s a festival here at some point in the year. Summer perhaps?

The beach has been subject to some serious erosion, and trees are falling from previously safe higher ground, down onto the beach:

Of course a group of locals is concerned about this, and there are signs in town calling for Council action to build a breakwall or something, along with the tally of donations to the cause so far.

The surf is good though, even on not so good days:

And at the Bar end of the beach, the erosion is less, but perfectly formed into beautiful miniature cliffs:

They also have a fenced off an area to be a sanctuary for nesting Turns too.

Yes, I’m ‘different’…

…and at no time is this more obvious than at breakfast time. It is rare that I find anything satisfactory. I’m learning to adjust and give up, finally! When we were in Thailand, all I wanted for breakfast was a banana. Well the bananas over there are actually plantains, a starchy banana that gets the barbeque treatment. But they don’t bring their barbeques out until the afternoon, because the Thais consider plantains to be an afternoon snack. So at first I took the man on wild banana chases…until it was finally afternoon and I could have my banana for breakfast! Poor man…

Today in Merimbula, I knew my choices were limited. I’ve already decided not to do a hotel breakfast again unless I’m desperate, or in a very high class establishment. Today I wasn’t and we weren’t. But there was a servo next door, so I held my breath that there might be a piece of fruit there for me. We went in…and walked back out pretty quickly. We decided not to bother walking into town, and therefore the man took to the hotel breakfast. I gave him the message to bring back a piece of fruit with him if there was any. When he came back, he carried nothing. By this time I was getting hungry, which also means I was at risk of getting grumpy too, so I purposely tempered my mood. It did take effort. The plane would have something for me… I just had to hold out until we got there.

“There was fruit…”

My brow furrowed.

“…but it was plastic.”

Life in rural Australia hey? Food must be animal, packaged, or plastic.

So we packed up, walked back to the plane (close to two kilometres), and FINALLY I could ease my growing hunger!

I had some of the awesome, home-made ‘tear and share’ basil and olive bread left over from yesterday’s lunch too:

All this while the man used the airport internet facilities:

Small airports seem to attract a lot of birds, which is quite enjoyable to hang out in:

We traveled up the coast. Wollongong was the first bit of major population on our trip, complete with heavy industry:

And the obligatory freight ships on the horizon:

On my to do list is to travel along the coastal road between Wollongong and Sydney, because this has to be so cool to travel over:

Flying along the cliffs, over the ocean is really cool though. It is actually the law that you have to fly over water, and reasonably low (depending on the restrictions on the day and at the time) along this section of coast! Closer inland is a restricted military zone. Not all pilots are happy to travel low, yet alone over water for any period of time. I guess they have to pass over on the other side of the military zone. But that would mean missing out on the most spectacular of scenery!

The pollution of Sydney makes it rather unappealing to visit though:

One sight that is pretty amazing from the plane is the ship wreck just north of Newcastle:

This beach is super long, and super wide. And there’s people living there! A bit like a mini Sahara desert!

Mid-afternoon we arrived at our destination: Old Bar. The man picked it for a few reasons: it is a very old airstrip, heritage listed even, because the local council wanted to close it, and the locals did the work to ensure it was kept. It’s also right by a surfing beach, and within very close reach of town (most airports in Australia require a taxi ride). So we’re staying at Lani’s on the Beach, which has the best location of accommodation in town – they’re right on the beach; no one else is! And if you really wanted, you can arrange to have the two gates opened between park and ’port, and park your plane next to your rented cabin! But we didn’t bother. Scout is over there waiting for another avian friend to join him.

We walked down the beach, which turns out to be quite pebbled:

Then we went into town, which didn’t have much. We contemplated eating out, but it looked pretty dismal, unless we wanted pizza, and so we opted for some groceries from Bi-Lo. I’m off to cook now.

Did I mention that I LOVE rocks?

~Katara Jade

Old Bar, 21/05/2011

A change is as good as a holiday…and so’s a holiday!

It is such a relief to go away, leaving certain things behind! A holiday really simplifies life: you only have a few clothes to choose from, you can only do whatever is available in your destination, which tends to depend on your knowledge of the place, and anything further to that is all just discovery. And what do you discover? Well, mostly it’s just seeking out the basic things that you’ve already worked out at home: where you’re going to sleep that night, and finding suitable food when you’re hungry, and doing all the usual stuff with a different scene about you.

This holiday is not an unusual one for me, just heading North with my man, part business (the man has training and a test in Port Macquarie) and then visiting our family and friends who are scattered between northern New South Wales and Brisbane. But it is close to a year since I have stepped off the little Island I live on (must be a record for me!), and so much has been going on, particularly ‘changes’ (some good, some not so good, and some mixed). I decided to use this impending holiday to as a clear cut change from one of the scenes I was in. They helped a lot in that decision though. Anyway, I quit it, I’m really happy that I did, and relieved! So it must be the right decision. Now back to enjoying life! And a holiday is such a good reminder of what there is to enjoy!

We left home at a leisurely hour, after filling the pet bowls full of biscuits to do them the day, until their ‘sitter’ arrives tomorrow. We drove the winding back roads through lush bush and green farmlands (not mentioning tree farms though!) to Sheffield, where we transferred to the Scout:

Then we enjoyed the aerial view over the same lands:

Marveled at the luxury of being ‘on top of the clouds’:

And ‘island-hopped’ across Bass Straight. Here is one patch of the wide expanse of freezing cold water:

Here’s Cape Barren Island looking very majestic in the cloud and mist:

And example of the fantastic cliffs and beaches in the Kent Group:

We traveled up the Victorian coastline, dipping our wing to the fishermen and children below on occasions. We reminisced about our short visit to the Lakes Entrance last year, when we sold the Cessna:

We had a short stop for tea/coffee and bread at Orbost. And then only an hour later we landed just before sunset in Merimbula to spend the night. We parked the plane (tied down of course!), walked to a motel nearby. Later we crossed the bridge into town and had a fantastic veggie (adapted to be vegan) dish at the Brasserie here, except that I could have eaten more! Wish I had brought the cherry-cacao raw balls with me from the plane. Well, that’s a lesson for tomorrow!

~Katara Jade

Merimbula, 20/05/2011