Camping (2): looking for mushrooms in Oberon

 Leaving Kanangra, we headed to Oberon for some mushroom picking. The nearby Vulcan state forest has several roads leading into the forest, where one can forage for mushrooms. We were so sad to see that blackberries were being sprayed in the area - they looked so plump and delicious!

 

Heading into the forest was like being in Hansel and Gretel. There was something magical about the slightly damp smell of the pine trees, the undergrowth crunching crisply, and the sunlight streaming through the trees. All the trees looked the same, and if not for the view of the road it could have been very disorienting. For the first few minutes, we saw no mushrooms at all. I started wondering if mushroom picking wasn't what I envisaged it to be.. like it was more like mushroom hunting.

Then we saw a saffron milkcap, surrounded by more.. and then in whichever direction we looked, we saw them everywhere! Many were hidden by the undergrowth, but the telltale bumps in the ground became more obvious to us as we picked more. Saffron milkcaps are easily identifiable by their distinct saffron colour, large round cap with an indentation on top, and clearly ridged gills on the underside.

At first we picked whatever we saw, but soon we realised there must have been thousands of mushrooms in the forest! We started picking only the "beautiful" ones, whatever that may be. We contemplated whether larger ones or smaller ones would be more tasty (well... we never found out), so took a selection of sizes.

We found only saffron milkcaps in the first part of the forest we went to, so we drove to a different part to see what we would find. What an interesting experience that was! As we wandered into the forest, I said wouldn't it be nice to see some poisonous mushrooms too?

And they were everywhere! I was fascinated by the magnificent poisonous mushrooms, which were the most vivid shades of orange and red. The toadstools looked impossibly like the ones on super mario.

In the second forest we picked lots of slippery jacks, which have a brown satiny cover (peeled before consumption) and a bright yellow smooth underside. Whoever sees these types of mushrooms in supermarkets?

The lady at the information centre told us that of the many varieties of mushrooms in the forest, these are the most easily identifiable non-toxic varieties and hence they are recommended. The field mushrooms which resemble mushrooms in supermarkets (white cap, white stem) can be confused with the toxic varieties, and so the rule is (somewhat surprisingly) don't pick anything that looks like a normal mushroom! Maybe this one was a poisonous slippery-jack lookalike? 

Where's the mushroom?

The roads around Oberon were completely different to the mountain landscape - all pastoral scenes with lush green fields and grazing livestock. It was a beautiful day too.

We had decided to camp in Oberon, but the campground in Black Springs near the mushroom picking forest was basically a park in the middle of town, all windy and exposed. We decided to go to the millionth acre campground near Hampton State Forest, but unfortunately that area has been heavily logged and the campground now sits amidst sad looking tree stumps much like a wasteland. We didn't find either of them palatable so headed back to Perrys Lookdown to camp for our last night.

Alas at dinner time we took out our mushrooms and found that the saffron milkcaps were bruised and looking very sad with a greenish fungal sheen. If we had known we should have taken more care with storing them! We ended up feeding most of the saffron milkcaps to the bush, but the slippery jacks were sturdier.

The next morning we packed up and headed to Anonymous cafe in Blackheath for breakfast. This was a pretty chic cafe that wouldn't look out of place in Surry Hills. Our breakfast burrito was very In-the-Annex-esque, and their date & walnut sodabread was pretty damn tasty.

We went for a walk from Govett's Leap to Evan's lookout. It was a beautifully clear day and the view from Govett's Leap was expansive and just spectacular.

We passed by Bridal Veil falls, and when the sun was just in the right direction, a hint of a rainbow could be seen.

Why walk on the path when you can climb a massive fallen tree?

It was lovely to get out into the wilderness again and enjoy the fresh air before another bout of sitting in a little room reading about medicine...

Panorama from Govett's leap

Camping: from Blackheath to Kanangra walls

Starting any road trip from Sydney involves copious amounts of driving through traffic-laden streets. Fortunately there was a stop for some Indian street food at Chatkazz before we got on the freeway.

A pretty good paper masala dosa with a fiery chilli chutney and smooth coconut chutney. After gobbling down some dahi vada and khaman dhakla, we even had the foresight to pick up a sev puri takeaway to snack on while setting up camp. 

Katoomba was slightly nightmarish - there was a terrible traffic jam on account of a country music festival in town... echo point had been turned into a giant feepaying carpark with loads of tourists and cameras everywhere you looked... the disinterested lady at the visitor centre had not even heard of Kanangra NP which made us want to shake & shout "it's the bloody next national park to the one you work in!!"

Anyway we got out of there and headed to the campsite at Perrys lookdown, a lovely secluded spot at the end of a gravel road 8km out of Blackheath. 

It started to sprinkle as we put up our tents. Then it started to rain and it was pretty cold standing in the rain trying to cook. 

We managed to make a vege stirfry with udon, which J&C ate with steak and I ate with vegetarian sausages. It was wonderful to momentarily have warm food in our tummies.

The next morning, I woke to the sun streaming into my tent.

At Perry's lookdown, the sun was just coming up over the valley, casting golden rays everywhere. A dense fog hung low amongst the trees, several hundred metres below where I stood.

We packed up and headed for Kanangra. Our route took us through Mt Victoria, several small towns and Jenolan caves, where the road goes through one of the large caves. The road wasn't bad, though the steep hairpins around Jenolan and the plentiful potholes on the last bit of the unsealed road made us highly thankful for C's new all-wheel drive.

The plateau walk takes one across the top of the Kanangra wall, where one can clamber right to the edge of the wall and gaze at the dizzifying drop into the abyss below.

 

The wind was most unusual here. Even one metre from the edge, there would be hardly any wind, but as you approach the edge it became so strong that one would fear falling over the edge. The views over the mountains were expansive, and we could see several mountains in the distance, one of which was amusingly named Mt Colong. 

The landscape changed as we got further along the plateau, and we walked through a heavily burnt area which looked almost alien. At the top of that hill we stopped to have lunch, then headed back. 

Along the walk there was an amazingly large cave, where the Indigenous people of the land had sought shelter over many thousands of years. In the late 19th century, a dance floor was put up in the cave and it served as the centre of socialisation for families in the area. It was mind-boggling considering how remote it is from everything!

It soon started to rain so we headed back to the Boyd campground, where we pitched our tents next to the Boyd river.. rather, the Boyd stream. The sun came out for a bit and we enjoyed a little stroll around the area, easily spotting wallabies foraging for food in the bushes.

This was the grand eucalyptus tree overhanging our campsite. Whilst it was awesome to look at, we did wonder if branches falling off the tree would kill us. It was pretty windy that night, and being inside a tent magnified the sound of the wind. 

 

Another yummy dinner! After dinner we decided to see if we could make a fire, even though it looked dubious as it had just rained a few hours before and everything was soggy. 

We made a pretty good fire given our lack of fire-starting-stuff! It was nice to have some warmth as we cleaned up and got ready for bed.

Mornings in the mountains are cold, and we were glad for the trusty little red stovetop espresso maker C brought. In this picture it looks like it's suspended above nothing. 

 

The next day we headed back to the wall to do the waterfall walk, a short steep walk to the bottom of the gully.

Coming back up the hill, we stopped for a cup of tea at the lookout, which was just spectacular. 

The sun came out and for a moment we were able to bask in the sunshine. 

I had read about Kanangra walls so many years ago while doing a high school geography assignment. After what must be at least 15 years, I finally got to go to this remote spectacular place!

Food: Feb

This year we harvested 12kg of little spotty peaches from the garden. 

Who knew vegetarian "pate" (made from yeast, vegetables and herbs) could be so tasty? I spotted this at Vina in Newtown and had to try. Delicious spread on toast and topped with an egg.

Kakiage udon from Sushi Suma downstairs. Crispy tempura shredded vegetable patty atop a bowl of fat udon noodles in a light broth with a tumble of seaweed.

Cold tofu ramen from Manmaruya. Ramen topped by lots of salad, seaweed, a huge chunk of tofu and a boiled egg. Not enough sauce to the noodles though, which can be a bit tasteless. Must try this again in summer when this sort of light dinner would be perfect.

 

 Home made apple crumble.

Omelette with avocado and chilli jam at home.

Food: Jan, re-beginning of vegetarianism

After being vegetarian for 5 years (2003 - 2008), I reverted to carnivorism for the past 5 years. At the beginning I ate mostly fish and seafood, but meat crept back in insidiously. I was avidly anti-chicken, until I discovered Korean Fried Chicken, which then became one of my favourite foods. Though I remained a vegetarian cook, I would accept whatever was cooked for me and keenly ate meat when out. I particularly loved all types of ramen, dumplings, ribs, and of course, sashimi.

I came out of my second Vipassana course with remarkably the same feelings as the first time. I'd eaten 10 days of simple, tasty vegetarian food - truly free from any pretentiousness, everyday you get pretty much the same - carb, stew, vegetables and salad. It was basic food but nourishing for the body, and over time you realise that your body and mind feel good. And so you leave the centre without any craving for flesh, and it's easy to continue a vegetarian diet.

A few things I ate in January...

 

Tempeh narnie at 3 Williams. This cafe has gone viral on the internet after seemingly every Sydney food blogger started raving about it. I had had my eye on the beef brisket / pulled pork narnies before the course, but this tempeh narnie was wonderful. Lightly fried and maintaining the earthiness of tempeh, it's paired with Asian pickled vegetables, sriracha and lime mayo. The sprigs of coriander provided a perfect freshness. I didn't love the actual narnie that much as I found it too oily, but the contents are sublimely married.

Nazimi is a frequent haunt, but I'd never looked at their vegetarian options. This was a seriously excellent bento, offering a wide variety of nibblies. Agedashi tofu is fried separately to the carnivorous offerings (I know because my friends ordered some which came out looking distinctly different), adorned with spring onions instead of bonito. There are 2 slices of salad sushi roll with pickled daikon, and 3 nigiri (inari, avocado and poached shiitake). The main is grilled eggplant "steak" with a sweet sticky soy sauce, like nasu dengaku but with less miso. Rice, green salad and miso soup aside, there was also a handful of edamame, a potato croquette and a cube of tofu with peanut dressing. There are even two desserts - black sesame flavoured mochi with red beans, and sticky rice cake dipped in honey. This photo does no justice to how beautiful the meal was - a lovely surprise especially since I was mentally prepared to have salad and rice!

Paramount Coffee Project was another place I'd had my eyes on something carnivorous (fried chicken with watermelon.. or crab po boy?) but found a delicious vegetarian alternative. These baked eggs came in a capsicum, tomato and black bean sauce, topped with shavings of manchego. I was surprised by the three little golden footballs (I did think for one second that they were glorious balls of fried cheese) - these were polenta balls which added a nice crunch dimension to the dish.

Images from Dhamma Bhumi

A path at Dhamma Bhumi

The first 5 days, the sky was an impeccable blue with not a trace of cloud. The heat was almost bothersome in the afternoon, though mornings and evenings remained crisp. Sunsets seemed to go on forever - even when returning to our rooms at 9pm, a trace of orange remained on the horizon, almost like the sunsets one sees on an aeroplane.

On the 6th day, clouds started moving in over the Megalong valley and by evening, the sky was filled with volcanic like clouds. At sunset, the sun was partially hidden by the clouds, showing just 3 distinct streaks of light through the grey.

On the 7th day, it began to rain. The whole centre was covered with sheets of mist drifting languidly. The rain was so soft that the droplets felt almost imperceptible. The smell of rain in the bush is pure and unadulterated, as if we were truly living in the wild.

After that, we woke everyday to heavy fog. One could only see as far as the first row of trees at breakfast time, and visibility stretched slowly until one could just make out the edge of the plateau by lunchtime. The valley seemed sleepy with rain then, as if pausing while the bush had a good drink. It continued to rain lightly for the rest of my time there, everything got soggy but it didn't seem to matter.

 

Morning fog across the valley, from outside A block

The walking tracks have been updated since I was last there - the surface stability has improved and there's now a solid little loop around which we walked endlessly during breaks. The main pond has been filled in and turned into a 40,000L capacity rainwater tank which is awesome, since the centre is now mostly self reliant for water and only occasionally goes onto Sydney Water. The side pond under the verandah is now the only pond, but this has been lovingly tended and was full of beautiful water lilies. Who knew that liles go to sleep at night as well, and open up during the day?

The pond.

A lot of work has gone into the landscaping around the centre. While at the centre, gardeners were planting flowers around the female entrance to the main hall and the pagoda. One day we came out of the hall to the sight of dozens of flower pots, which mysteriously got planted bit by bit while we were meditating.

Near the female entrance to the pagoda.

I particularly love these "rock roses" which seem so sturdy and all-weather.

Silence makes one appreciate so many things that one would normally. It makes one realise how much idle chatter there is in life, and how we miss so much because our minds are distracted. The beauty of birds gliding across the sky, of softly falling leaves, of the scent of fresh rain.. it's lovely that I had another opportunity to ponder all this.

Vipassana: food and dreams (part 2)

Day 5
Shepherd pie, greens with mushrooms, coleslaw. Quinoa biscuit (who knew quinoa could be used in biscuits!)

In this dream, I am at UNSW but it has turned into a giant Woolworths. I am strolling the aisles when there is an announcement being made that there is a closing special. I look up and there are fishnets of goodies suspended from the ceiling, and they are about to be released upon us.

The first special is - Brindabella cheese for $3.69! Random bits of stuff fall from the ceiling and I pick them up to examine them - but they are roast tofu, and tuna with beans. Then my dad comes towards me with a ginormous slab of violet crumble and he has taken a single bite out of the corner.

Too sweet! He says. Can I swap you for a savoury one?
You have diabetes! You can't eat that. I scream silently and wake up

Day 6
Leftover day, with vegetables + peanut sauce and the best dessert - sticky date pudding with proper caramel sauce, and home made kiwi mint gelato

In this dream I am standing in the dark facing a huge bridge, sort of like the Anzac bridge but not quite. I understand inherently that I need to visit two people - both Shirley and Elaine have moved into two buildings one on each side of the bridge. They look like super fancy mega apartment buildings, and I remember that Elaine was telling me about the apartment she lives in. She had said that they could see the Sharp building from their apartment, which is completely made of gold bricks and you could see every single one glimmering.

I start to walk across the bridge, thinking I'll visit whoever's on the other end of the bridge first and visit the one on this end when I come back. At the other end I briefly enter a pedestrian tunnel before coming out on the surface of the bridge again. There I see trails of fresh blood on the ground and I wonder what is happening. Then I see a flight of stairs and an old lady slowly climbing down the stairs. Blood is dripping down her leg.

Are you ok? I go up to her and ask.
She looks at me silently and I see her leg, grossly swollen and distorted. It looks like it's about to explode, and suddenly pus bursts forth from the surface.

The old lady's two sons come rushing to her and I say to them she has necrotising fasciitis and has to go to the hospital straight away! They nod solemnly and start helping her up the stairs.

Then Shelley comes out of nowhere and says, where are you! everyone has been waiting for you to come and make up the deficit in the bookstore. We need you to pay an extra $5 so that we can keep the bookstore open for another day. I am confused and wake up.

Day 7
Roast vegetable tofu stew. Orange yoghurt poppy seed cake. 
This dream is just a glimpse. I am standing in my Kingsford place and there are water tracks everywhere. Someone has managed to put foot tracks all over the walls and I wonder who managed to climb up to walk upside down on the ceiling. I can't close the door either and the wind is howling. Suddenly my dad appears in the doorway pushing a bicycle, and my grandma also appears but she is much younger with curled hair.


Day 8
Cheesy pasta bake. Sprout salad. Sago pudding with cardamom.
This was the most vivid fantastical dream I had the whole course.  

In this dream Grace and I are standing on Anzac Parade near the intersection of Middle St. It is bustling as usual and there seem to be a lot of cars around. She says that she has to go soon, but will go with me to pick up my takeaway dinner. We go into this restaurant I don't recognise and it is dark inside. All we can see is the single cash register, though people seemed to be seated and eating in the darkness.

That will be $23.20 please. The girl at the cash register says. I start giving her money but realise that all the denominations are Chinese money.

That's ok, you can pay with Chinese money. She says and takes the notes from my hand. Then she looks furtively around her, leans across the register and whispers. Please, can you help me? I am trapped here, they are keeping me as a slave.

Suddenly two men come out from the darkness and tell us to go, basically pushing us outside. Once outside I ask Grace what she should do, and she says she wants to go home. So we wait on the side of the road for a taxi, but the road seems to be now completely clogged with cars showing bright blue lights. There are no taxis and after what seems like a long time, she gives up and says that maybe we should just go have dinner.

We decide to go back to the restaurant where we were and this time I see the sign: Congolese cuisine. This is so exciting! She says, I've never tried Congolese food before!

We sit down in the darkness, and I start thinking about how we can help the girl. I lament not having discussed some sort of plan before we came into the restaurant, but now it's too late. As my eyes adjust to the darkness I see there are several tables of men eating silently around us.

Towards the back of the restaurant there are two chefs working in the open kitchen. Next to one of them is a stake, and two black calves are tied to the stake. They have a desperate look in their eyes like please don't eat me! I am about to be eaten!

I tell Grace that maybe we should go, because the restaurants kills such poor little baby animals. She tells me to relax, but then I notice that all around us, there are racks and racks of animal carcasses. The stench of old, foul blood hits me at once and then I realise, the blood is dripping onto us. Then I wake up.


Day 9
Fried rice noodles with tofu and vegetables. Watermelon salad with mint. 
I am driving along Woodville Rd with Cindy and Shelley in the car. They seem to have regressed in age and we are talking like we are teenagers, something like.
What do you want to eat?
What do YOU want to eat?
I want to eat whatever you want to eat.

As I drive along I realise we still have to pick someone else up, but I have no idea who and I have no idea where we are going. I try to get Cindy & Shelley to organise their thought towards where we are actually going to eat, but they start arguing about which flavour of lipsmackers is best and I can't interrupt them.

Then there is a sign. This is the last turnoff. And a very long right turn lane. I don't go into the lane but ask them again and again where we are going - then I realise the road is going to end and that is the end.

Day 10.
Lasagne. Peanut butter date balls.
Amazingly, I have no dreams on the last night.
 

Vipassana: food and dreams (part 1)

Day 0
Vegetable soup

Two brief dreams.   
In the first, Kai is holding a paper cutout (of the Chinese kind) of a complex diagram which I don't recognise. He's trying to explain all the components of the diagram but it seems to get more and more complicated. Then he starts unfolding the paper (which is black) and each segment becomes another paper cutout which is red in colour. When he finishes unfolding the whole thing is huge, about the size of a tablecloth. I realise with a start that it is the guide to how the body works.

In the second, I dream that my dad has a pleural effusion and he is seeing a terrible GP who is telling him that he must drink more water to get rid of the effusion. Possibilities run through my head - cancer? TB? I feel angry towards the GP like I want to punch him. The violence, and the potential devastation of the underlying diagnosis, wake me up.


Day 1
Vegetable lentil stew, sesame coated curry balls.

Again 2 dreams.

I'm standing on broadway near UTS and the sky is overcast (in reality that day it was sunny and blue during the day). The clouds are grey and looming, and I feel that it is going to rain. I'm not carrying a bag of any kind and I feel in my pockets for some change so I can catch the bus. I find only a single $10 note and remember anyway that you can't buy a ticket on the bus anymore. I decide to start walking home.

As I walk home it starts to sprinkle, but it's not particularly unpleasant so I keep walking. As I get to the corner of Cleveland St, a girl approaches me and asks me some questions which I can't remember. I go with her to her place, where there is an old man sitting in the dark, looking miserable. I start talking to him while the girl is making some hot drinks for us. He is depressed and desolate, and I'm trying to cheer him up by talking about when he was young. After a while he looks up and says, you think I want to be here? I'm not even this girl's father! But I must stay here and look after her. I am shocked and wake up

In the second dream, I am standing in the lobby of a tall apartment building which I don't recognise. The mailman comes out of the lift and asks me if I want to go get dinner. I say that I want to go by myself, so I set off alone and it is very dark outside. After walking for some time without any direction, I come to a street full of lights and I recognise that it is the main street in Shanghai, Nanjing Rd. I walk along this road looking for a restaurant but I can't find any - which frustrates me no end as I know there are heaps of places to eat along this road. Eventually I decide to go back to the mailman's place, but I can't find my way back to the apartment. I linger near the intersection where I think the road is, and eventually I find a small doorway with a glimmer of light amongst the darkness. Through the doorway I enter a little room, manned by two people, an old man and an old woman. They ask me how much I want to pay and I ask them why I have to pay. You have to pay to leave this place, don't you understand? So I take out my wallet and try to give them some money, but every note I take out is blue (there are no blue Chinese notes) and I can't pay them with any of them! So I wake up.


Day 2
Vegetable curry, plain dal and rice. Apple crumble.
I dream that I am inducing anaesthesia for a patient, who appears to be a fit young man. After the drugs, I intubate him and everything seems to be going well, yet the oxygen saturation alarm keeps going down and down. I turn around and see that the sats are 70%. I turn the flows up and bag him hard, but the Sats keep going down and they are now 50%. He starts going blue - I take out the tube, mask ventilate him hard, but the Sats keep dropping and they are now 30%. Then I realise that the oxygen connection has been disconnected at the wall, but it's too late and the patient dies.


Day 3
Kidney bean curry, roasted eggplant. Date slice.
I'm showing a couple around this apartment which I have apparently chosen for them. The apartment is bound on all sides by massive glass windows and it is night time outside. I recognise the skyline as being that of Auckland, and I wonder why I have chosen this place.

Going into each room, I feel so pleased with the setting of the place. Everything - the walls, the carpet, the decor - seems perfect, and I realise that this is my ideal place. I start looking around to try to remember what it is about the place that I like. And then I overhear the couple arguing about whether they should take the place or not, because it's too expensive at $450/week. At that moment I'm in the bedroom and there is a rustic bookshelf  over the top of the bed - what a great idea! I think, you can read whatever you want before bed. And the bookshelves are stacked full of cookbooks that I want to read too.

The couple come into the bedroom and say to me that they need some time to consider. In the mean time they said they wanted to meet up with their other friends for dessert at Mr Wong's, a new dessert bar that has opened up in the city. I go with them, and it is a dark smoky trendy bar serving all sorts of drinks. When our dessert is served, I realise with a start that it is stir fried celery with pieces of lung.


Day 4 
Tofu curry, bok choy, beetroot & carrot salad. 

On this day, I have two extremely vivid dreams.

I am walking along the corridor in some public building (looks like a government building) and suddenly someone ahead of me collapses. I run to him and it is a middle aged man. I start doing CPR on him and call for someone to get an ambulance. A woman walks past and introduces herself as a nurse. She starts doing CPR while I go to the head end and get ready to do ventilations. The next moment I realise that the compressions have stopped and the woman is answering her phone, honey sorry I can't talk right now, I'm really busy... and I want to shout at her, don't stop the compressions!

A man with an ipad walks past and says he can tell what the underlying rhythm is using a new app. The man appears to be in pulseless VT, but there's no way we can shock him! I tell the nurse to keep doing CPR while I start thinking about where an automated defibrillator might be kept. Then I hear gurgling noises and I realise that the middle aged man has turned into a really old lady, who is not dead at all, but she's too weak to protest the CPR.

In the other dream, I am a homeless person and I live in a derelict rubble-filled building along with some other homeless friends. One of them tells me that the building we are in is due to be taken down soon, so we have to move somewhere. Across the road there are two buildings under construction, and we decide to move there. Another man pipes up and says that he has met a woman who wants to look after him on the 20th floor of the building on the right. We look carefully at the buildings and agree that we will each make our way there in teams of two and meet up on the 20th floor with our friend and his girlfriend. As we run across the road, I am distinctly aware of how dirty my clothes are.

My partner and I approach the building on the right, but realise you need an access card to enter. I have one but my partner doesn't, so we decide to enter the building on the left. I look at my access card and I am a blonde woman (I've forgotten the name!) with the job title TV presenter. How ridiculous, I think in the dream. We get in the lift and press 20. As it goes up we discuss how we are going to jump from this building to the next building - then the door opens and it is like the apocalypse outside.

The wind is howling, the sun is bright red and the dust is gritty in our eyes. We shield our faces from the dust storm and try to see where we are going. This is not going to work! I shout to my partner but I can't even see one foot in front of me so I have no idea where he is. I try to grope along the wall to feel where the lift is, but I can't. Eventually I stumble into a wall and with much relief, feel the cool steel of the lift door under my fingers. My partner is standing right next to me at that moment and we wait for the lift to come again. When the door opens we rush in, and then we realise that it's too late to get out and the lift is completely broken. It starts sinking with a rush and I think this is it, I'm going to die. Then it slams to a stop and the floor starts to crumble. We scramble madly onto a corner and hold onto the metal ropes holding the remnants of the lift together. It falls further and I scream. Sparks start to fizzle everywhere now, and I don't know where to put my hands or feet. Then I wake up.