Tête en bas

One of the things I love in Australia, is that most ingredients are of great quality. The first time I taste the double fresh cream from Gippsland, I was just amazed by such a soft taste and texture. So when I saw that Megan had bought some Gippsland cream, I was really exited. And when she asked me if I could cook diner, I already knew what I was going to cook. Temperature is dropping here. Winter is coming. There’s nothing better than a good old Gratin Dauphinois (sliced potatoes slowly cooked in cream) to help feel better when it has been raining all day. Yes, sometime it’s nice to be able to share an old traditional receipt… well… maybe not really traditional anymore, as I love cooking sausages on top (so the fat melting from the sausages just add some extra flavor to the potates), and adding some cheese to. Well… just because I love cheese?

One of the things I love in Australia, is that most ingredients are of great quality. The first time I taste the double fresh cream from Gippsland, I was just amazed by such a soft taste and texture. So when I saw that Megan had bought some Gippsland cream, I was really exited. And when she asked me if I could cook diner, I already knew what I was going to cook. Temperature is dropping here. Winter is coming. There’s nothing better than a good old Gratin Dauphinois (sliced potatoes slowly cooked in cream) to help feel better when it has been raining all day. Yes, sometime it’s nice to be able to share an old traditional receipt… well… maybe not really traditional anymore, as I love cooking sausages on top (so the fat melting from the sausages just add some extra flavor to the potates), and adding some cheese to. Well… just because I love cheese?

“Confest is a life changing event”. I heard that a few time already. Well.. I heard a lot of things about Confest, and I was really interest to participate in one of the “hippiest festival in Australia”. I’m not really a hippie myself, but there usually a lot of interesting thing to discover and to learn in these kind of festival. Meeting new people, sharing new way of life, new philosophy, new idea, all that are definitely part of the reasons I love traveling. My first and only experience for those kind of event was Burning Man. It definitely changed my life. In a way I won’t even try to describe.

Confest happen twice a year. For Easter long week end and for New Year Eve. In the middle of nowhere (which can be almost everywhere when traveling in Australia). I went there with a lot of expectation. And came back with some sadness and disappointment.

Sadness? Why? Hard to explain… I found in Burning Man a temple for creativity, originality and imagination. A place where idea were blooming. At Confest, most of the workshop were about the same themes. Open your heart, be in harmony with yourself, yoga, healthy food… I have no problem with all that. I like hippies, I like there way of life. But I find sad that they always want to be in the same box. As if there was only one alternative life style. As if there was only one way to be in peace and in harmony with yourself. Do half an hour a day of yoga, eat balanced food, forget meet, meditate, connect with your inside you. I find all that so complicate! Can’t we be in peace without doing all that? Am I so much unbalanced? I was feeling the total opposite…

I like smiling to stranger. I like being happy with me, et I do find really sad to see that other person need someone to tell them “smile to other, be happy, love your fellows”. Maybe because it seems so natural for me… I don’t need someone to repeat for one hour that I’m awesome. I already know that. Presumptuous? Maybe a little…

It reminds me an experience I had, not so long ago. Someone who told me “you should says nice thing to people, they will stop to talk to you, and then it will be easier for you to sell your produce”. I feel exactly the same way… “You are at Confest, you have to love everybody, and you have to tell them”. No. I’m sorry. I won’t. And want to tell others how I feel when I want to. Not because I’m at Confest. For the same reason, telling a compliment to someone suddenly lose all its natural aspect. “He’s so good. He likes me. He’s so much into Confest spirit”. Non. I’m not into Confest spirit. I’m me. And only me. But it seems that you don’t want to see that. You just want to see me in a box.

All those cliches annoyed me a lot. Because altogether, their were way to much. I finally understand what annoyed me the most on sunday evening. There was those two young girls, doing light poise. They were not specially good, but they were having so much fun and pleasure! It was simple, fun, funny. And it made me realize that it was the first time I was seeing people playful. Having fun. Until now, I had just seen people being so serious trying to be perfect hippies! They had to be in contact with there inner themselves, they had to smile to everyone, they had to cuddle with stranger… so much complicate constraints, when I was just looking for simple exchange… I was just looking for fun… to enjoy my self a simple way… all that was way to serious for me. As if everybody has its own todo list to experience a perfect Confest. Everybody in the same box…

Don’t make me say what I did not say. I liked my Confest, and I took it as an opportunity to do a couple of experience. I went to a spontaneous quire (which was at a specific time, strange concept) who showed me how a crowd can be a great musical instrument. I participate to a “corridor of love”. I don’t remember the exact name… people form two raws, making a tunnel, that other people cross, closing there eyes. While you’re walking, strangers keep telling you that they love you. Really interesting and strange experience, as so many voice seems to be so true… perfect tons, beautiful voice… we just want to open our eyes, to stop, and meet this stranger. Until we realize that all that is only artificial. For be, it’s just a way to banalize love, to remove all its meaning, “I love you” becoming just a few word that anyone can tell to anyone else. I don’t want a stranger to love me. I want a stranger to be interest by me, to want to learn and exchange with me. To want to know who I am… I won’t say anything about parents who bring there child to those kind of experiences… I just saw kids who were looking bad, unhappy and oppressed…

I think one of my mane disappointment came from the complete lack of didgeridoo. The only one I heard during the 4 days of Confest… was mine. No, in Australia like everywhere else, hippies play djembe. I don’t have anything about the drum. After all, I love playing djembe to. But I was feeling that, in Australia, in the middle of people who want to be in touch with earth, with there roots, there was nothing more natural than a didgeridoo… ironically, while I was doing my best to have my didge heard in a drum circle, someone come to tell me “sorry, we would like to have to other drums where you’re sitting”. I almost told him that I was playing music to, explaining him that the instrument I was playing was a better one than an african drums to be played here… I didn’t see any reason to say that, and preferred to leave, disillusioned. Drumer were taking themselves to seriously too.

Conclusion came to me on the last day, while I was attending a workshop just before leaving. “Fairy tales and how to use them to heal personal wounds”. The workshop, really interesting by the way, finished with a visualization exercise, in order to see our inner monster, and talk to him. It works pretty well. Definitely better than I was expecting. I was really surprise to discover that my inner monster was an picture from my childhood, picture that I had forgotten a long time ago. But its message was quite simple “I left quite a while ago, you’re in peace with yourself”.

Maybe all the problem lays in this only sentence. I’m in peace and in harmony with myself. I found a balance that needs no yoga, no meditation, no forcing smiles. My smiles are natural, because I’m naturally in peace. I’m free. I’m traveling following the wind, the opportunity, going at my own pace. I’m a hippie with no material bounds, who likes others. My inner smile is auto fueled. I’m me. I’m happy. And I love sharing my happiness.

The cooker has been watching me for to long. It was time for me to finally try it. Megan just came back this afternoon with some fresh vegetables. That was exactly what I needed.

Galettes are really easy to make, with only quinoa, onions, yogurt and eggs. Just added some spice to that, hided some fresh biologic vegetables under. Really interesting result!

I’ll be away for a couple of day. In Australia, eastern is the occasion to go to Confest. An alternative festival, that some would compare to a Rainbow Gathering, other to Burning Man (on a very smaller scale). Will be able to told you more about that on my way back, next monday.

Wish lots of chocolate to all of you!

The very first time I heard Yann Tiersen, it was when I was staying with friends, in Paris. I was discovering the city as a tourist for the first time. A few years later, Amelie Poulin was in every theater, and everybody was in love with its music by Yann Tiersen. A few years later, again, I was listening, fascinated and touched, my friend Danielle playing “Comptine d’un autre été” on her piano, in her Portland’ shed. And finally, I was lucky enough to see him live, at “Festival de l’îlophone on Ouessant Island” last automn. His style has changed, evolved a lot, becoming more and more electronic. I loved it. So two days ago, while I was visiting Drew and Tammy, when I heard that Drew was not able anymore to go to the show Yann Tiersen was giving tonight in Melbourne Recital Center, I was more than happy to take its ticket. That’s one of the reason I love traveling. Because souvenirs mix with other souvenirs, bringing me from one place to another around the world. Remembering and living again… While Yann Tiersen was playing, I was at the same time in a music temple and in an old village hall, on a lost island, somewhere in Brittany.

Music temple? Really?

Not only the place just look gorgeous, with this very neat wood finish, but the sound quality is just awesome. A few time, I was just totally and completely immersed into the music. Surprising myself once, trying to “see” the sound around me.

Yann Tiersen’s music has evolved, with more synthetic sounds than before. But I have to confess that I like it even more!

And I even decide to be a real fan!

I’m definitely in love with eucalyptus wood. The vein is just amazing, with this dark elegant feeling. As eucalyptus is quite common in Australia, so is its use. The first thing I saw when I first arrived in Megan and Tao’s house was this beautiful eucalyptus floor, covering half of the house, including the kitchen. So warm and so elegant at the same time!

The other floors are made in plain concrete, only oiled. A dark grey, used also for the kitchen counter, that fits perfectly with the wood. Raw solid and cold concrete contrasting with the warm softness of wood. Even if most of the materials used are quite dark, the white shiny walls give lots of light to the place. I haven’t tried the oven yet, but I won’t be able to wait much longer!

For the first 30 years of my life, I’ve been staying in the north hemisphere. Traveling a lot, but always on the same side of the world. And then, I’ve decided to try being upside down. Everybody knows that downunder, the water turns anti clockwise when you’re emptying your sink. So many people says that, that I haven’t even watch the water leaving my sink yet… I take that for true, I suppose. Or maybe I’m not passionate by sink holes.

I’ve kept saying that the hardest things when traveling/moving to a foreign country are not the big cultural clash. No, the hardest things are all those little details you’re so much use to. I was quite surprisee in Sydney, when I saw that apartment owners were advertising places with windows facing north, which was, for me, a nonsense. Until I realize that yes, in the south hemisphere, the sun still goes from west to east, but heading north instead of south. I knew that when a few weeks later I made my first time lapse of a sunset. I was watching it, feeling that something was wrong. One more time, it took me a while before I understand what was going on. I mean… when you watch a sunset, you’re expecting the sun to move slowly to its right. I checked the video again. The sun was obviously moving to the left. There was no mirror, no reflexion. I didn’t flip my video. That’s the way the sun goes here. Well… it makes sense. If you want to go from west to east via north, you have to go left. I suppose my brain might understand that one day…

Same for the seasons. When it’s winter in the north, it’s summer in the south. I didn’t have a winter this year. Interesting experience. But then, last night, it was the night when we change time by one hour. I knew the date since a few weeks now. I noticed that there was not 10 hours time difference between France and Australia anymore, but only 9 remaining. I lived the same experience when I was in Montreal. For a few weeks, there was one more/less hour difference. Knowing that we were changing time last night, I was expecting that everything was going back to normal. I wake up at 9:30 this morning. So it was 10:30. But when I opened my computer, it told me it was 8:30. My computer having a bug? Making a mistake? I checked quickly online. No, my computer was right. The hour change didn’t go the way I was expecting it. Something was wrong. I checked the time in France. Only 8 hours difference remaining. The south hemisphere didn’t move. Neither did the north one. But now, they suddenly seems to be two hours closer.

Where have those two hours gone? Did they just disappear? That sounds really strange, I know. And then, I though about this  imaginary line, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. A line where you don’t lose one hour, but a whole day. If you fly from Melbourne to Vancouver, you’re going to live your day twice. If you fly the opposite way, you lose a day.

2012 is supposed to be a 366 days. Could be nice to fly to Vancouver in a few weeks, to try to understand where that extra day come from. And then having a 367 days in 2012!

In Montreal, when you have friends who help you when you’re moving, you usually thank them by offering pizza and beer… A few days ago, I offered my help to Jesse and Riz, when I learnt that they were moving. I like helping people moving; don’t really know why. But even if I hadn’t liked it, I would have helped them any way. After all, Jesse hosted us for 5 days in december, kept some of our bags for one month and a half, and invited us to his wedding. So giving him a few hours of my time was the least I could do. It was really nice to see them again, after the wedding. And it was even nicer when Riz told me that she had cooked a fish curry, and that I was definitely more than welcome to have some. I mean. I like beer and pizza. But… how to say that… when you have a friend from Bengladesh, who is definitely a good cook, you definitely forget about the pizza !

As the fish was really bony, I decided to follow them in the bengladeshi tradition of eating with your hand (only the right one; Bengladesh is a muslim country). And it definitely makes sense. It is more easier to remove the bone from the fish with fingers that with a fork and a spoon. Or a knife. Seems that fish curry is a very traditional meal from Bengladesh. It was definitely a really good one, with this perfect balance of ingredients and tastes that is so common in indian food, upgraded by a slight spicing. Just something that I forgot: usually, you don’t have french beans in this kind of food. I realized a little bit too late that the long green vegetable was not bean, but green chili.

I would have been really happy with only one amazing curry… but Iris was in Melbourne for the week-end, and staying with Ned and Rosie. And planning to cook diner for them. I was, of course, invited. Iris loves indian food. She’s been experimenting with curry for a little while now, and her prawn curry was really good to.

Served with an interesting New Zealander white wine, we discovered in january. I haven’t find any really interesting australian wine yet. They are a little bit to strong. Not that they are bad. Just they are missing something, trying to impose themself, instead of waiting for you to discover all the subtlety of their aroma. The “counting sheep”, from  Hawkes Bay area in New Zealand, is a soft white wine with a light sweet taste that just fits perfectly with the prawns.

Sydney little hidden treasure is its botanical garden. In Melbourne, the not hidden treasure is definitely the Victoria’s Market. Of course, the botanical garden here is amazing to. And we can’t really compare a market and a botanical garden (even if there is a few links between both, that’s true). But having a market like that, not to far, is always a real pleasure.

Why? Imagine Jean Talon’s market, in Montreal. With more people, more choice, but same low price. Add to it an inside market, like Atwater, with lots of meat, fish, cheese… add some french market feeling, a somewhat from Chinatown, and lots of touristic stuff. The result is just perfect. One of those places where you want to go just for the pleasure of walking, looking, smelling, touching, checking… discovering fruits you didn’t even know they could exist. And just because of those fruits, you think that it could be a good reason to stay in Melbourne for a while…

When you’re discovering a new place, you grab information slowly. Picking up a word somewhere, a name somewhere else. They all stay quietly hidden in your brain, until something happen. It might be an other word, it might be something you see, or something you read… and then, you hear this little “click” that means that everything has finally find its place.

The very first building I spot in Melbourne was the Eureka tower. By far the highest building in the Skyline, but also -according to me- the most interesting… and the most beautiful of all them. I’ve pictured it from every angle, just to enjoy the way it interacts with other building, continuously changing its appearance.

Then, you have Southern Cross Station. An other interesting building, specially for the shape of its undulating roof. At the end of the train lines from Adelaide and Sydney, it’s one of the major station in Melbourne transport network.

You can complete all that with Ballarat, the 3rd inner city by size in Australia (after Canberra and Toowoomba).

I got the missing link when Ned ask me if I’ve ever heard about “James Scobie”. The answer was, obviously, “no”.

The Eureka Stockade, or Eureka Rebellion, was organized in 1854, by gold miners in Eureka Lead, a suburb of Ballarat. The first sparkle was the murder of James Scobie… The Rebellion grew quickly as miners get organized. It ended in a fight with the victoria’s army and police on the 3rd of december, resulting in the deaths of more than 30 peoples (which, by the way, is the most significant conflict in Victoria’s history; Australian colonization was really quiet… as long as you were not aboriginal). Miner were protesting against the expense of the Miner’s Licence and government taxation. Public offered mass support to the “rebels” who were captured and placed on trial in Melbourne, resulting in the very first while mall suffrage for elections for the lower house in the Victorian parliament. Some says that the Eureka Rebellion is the birth of democracy in Australia, while other says it was just a political revolt.

While resentment was rising amongst the miner, they elected a leader, burned there miner’s Licence, and adopt a new flag. The Eureka flag; A blue flag, bearing the Southern Cross. Very similar to the Australian one, but protestor removed the british union jack. In 1893, Banjo Paterson (an australian poet) wrote:

“The English flag may flutter and wave,
where the world wide oceans toss,
but the flag the Australian dies to save,
is the flag of the Southern Cross.”

Banjo Paterson also wrote “Waltzing Matilda”, a widely known bush ballad, often referred as “the unofficial national anthem of Australia”.

A few days ago, I red about this poem, and learnt that “Matilda” was the name of the blanket used by swagman (australian hobo). And that was the reason I decided to taste the Alpha Ale, from the Matilda Brewery, at the Lui Bar, on the 55th floor. Facing… the Eureka tower!

A few days ago, again, I was looking at the clouds reflexion, in a tower. Its name? The Souther Cross tower, of course.