Erin and Jessica's Down Under Adventures in Oz: Potato scallops and zucchini balls...

Canberra: Day 2

We slept in on the second morning of our time in Canberra and Sarah had taken the day off of work to hang out with us. She started the day by making us pancakes...yum! Then, to work off the pancakes, she took us over to Mt. Taylor, a small mountain in Canberra so we could hike to the top with the hopes of seeing some kangaroos.

She swore up and down that the big field that we passed by on the way up was always full with a herd of kangaroos that lived there, but when we passed by it, much to Sarah's surprise, it was empty!

(Field where there should have been lots of kangaroos)

We decided to head up to the top of the mountain and finish our hike first before coming back in search of the kangaroos. Sarah forgot to mention that there would be stairs involved in this hike as well...

(Stupid stairs)

It was actually a short walk to the top and once we got up there, we had a 360 degree view of Canberra...it really was beautiful!

(Great views of Canberra in all different directions)

Then we headed back down to the field in search of the sly kangaroos. There was a tree at the top of the hill in the field that we headed toward with Sarah swearing that she was sure the herd must just be on the other side of the hill. Imagine her surprise as we neared the tree and suddenly 30+ kangaroos stood up from lying in the shade because they'd heard us coming! We hadn't been able to see them because of the tall grass, but now they were off and running through the field. We took the opportunity to take a bunch of pictures of and with them as best we could.

(The tree in the distance on the left is the one they were sleeping under)

(There were lots of them!)

(I was trying to get one to smuggle home)

After we'd had our kangaroo fill, we headed back to the car and home for quick showers. Then we were off to get some lunch and see where Sarah worked. First, we headed into the suburb of Fyshwick, the red light district of Canberra and near where Sarah worked at one of her many previous jobs. Here, Sarah said they made the best potato scallops that we needed to eat for the first part of our lunch. Basically they were a thick potato slice coated in batter and fried...and they were delicious! Andrew told us later that this was a very common Australian thing to find at a take-away shop. Then we went off search of zucchini balls, the second part of our Canberra lunch excursion. The first place we tried was closing and totally sold out of all of their food (it must be popular!), but the second was open for business! Zucchini balls are a Turkish food...they're sorta like a moist hush puppy stuffed with zucchini and covered in a garlic aoli...again, they were delicious!

With full tummies, we headed in to the heart of Canberra and Sarah took us by Australia National University so we could see her campus and where she works. It's a huge beautiful green campus right in the middle of the city, so we walked around a little bit and then headed over to the pub where Andrew was have a drink with some mates from work. We joined him for a glass and then headed home.

The plan for the evening was to just relax at home, so Sarah broke out her meat pie maker to make us some homemade meat pies while Andrew made up an appetizer of franks and tomato sauce. Sarah also mixed up some Pims drinks...a popular drink in the UK that she used to serve at her pub there all the time. Both Sarah and Andrew were also really keen to have us try a Bundy rum...it's sorta like a pre-mixed Aussie rum and cola drink that they sell in the stores here and that they love.