Robot Claw – Page 80 – “Life In The So-Called Space Age”

Gap Creek

May 31, 2024

Yesterday Sue and I went to the Watagan Mountains to do the Gap Creek walk. This is a fairly short walk down into a gully to see a waterfall. While it’s only about a mile return, it’s a fairly strenuous walk due to the descent and return climb.

The above is a view on the way down. It’s a rainforest and Sue had warned me of leeches. Luckily we saw none! The day was overcast but the temperature pleasant, and it was an easy walk down.

The above shows the view down in the fully, with me scrambling along the rocks at the base of the waterfall. It’s rugged and uneven down there, and the rocks are very mossy. Were it damp, I think it would be a bit treacherous!

That’s the waterfall! It’s lovely, and we were there at the right moment since the water caught the morning light as it fell. We didn’t see any sign of animals or even birds during the all, although we heard scrabbling and birdsong (bell birds, whip birds and lyrebirds).

The climb back up was tiring. It’s about 160 meters, with a mix of winding path and maybe 100+ steps. If it had been a hot sunny day this would have been excruciating, so we benefited from the cooler weather. By the time we got back to the top I was starving!

Good thing a fish and chip shop wasn’t far away 😉

Pineapple Fritting

May 31, 2024

Pineapple fritters are battered and fried pineapple rings. I’ve had a few this trip, and here’s a comparison.

The first came from Red Rooster, a chicken chain that competes with KFC. I hadn’t eaten a pineapple fritter in decades and had a mental image of what they would be like: juicy sweet pineapple in a light batter. So when this one was breaded that was a surprise. It was $3.

The taste was an even bigger surprise: it didn’t taste like pineapple! The pineapple ring itself was weirdly tasteless, and the batter had a strange donut/sweet taste to it. It wasn’t entirely terrible, but it also wasn’t particularly good, and I’d say had I eaten it blindfolded I wouldn’t have even known it was pineapple. I’d never eat one like this again 🙂

The second came from a kebab shop on Maitland Road (Charcoal Chicken) and when we ordered and she asked if we wanted sugar I remembered these are supposed to be a dessert item. As you can see it doesn’t look much like a pineapple ring as much as a large potato scallop, and the sugar was fine like baking sugar. This one was also $3.

This one was absolutely heavenly. A juicy, sweet and delicious pair of thinly sliced pineapple rings covered by a light batter. Every bite was wonderful and the sugar only heightened the sweetness. I would have happily eaten more than one 🙂

The third and last one I ate this trip was from a fish and chip shop in Cooranbong. It resembles the previous but the sugar this time was cinnamon sugar. It was the cheapest at $2.50.

This one wasn’t quite as good as the previous, but still many times better than the first. The batter was nice and light and the cinnamon sugar sweet, but the pineapple itself – the very soul of the fritter – was lacking in taste. It was a thin slice compared to two in the previous and perhaps this was the problem? I’d eat this one again, but wish I was eating the precious example.

So the question arises. At about $3 a pop, with the taste on average being only ok, should a pineapple fritter be your first choice for a hot fruit dessert snack?

Do I even need to answer? 🙂

More Memories

May 31, 2024

Yesterday Sue and I went to more antique/op shops. A lot of you told me you enjoyed the post about op-shop triggered memories the other day, so here’s some more…

I went through a phase in primary school where I collected football cards. The above were from 1982 so may have even been from a set I collected. At the time I didn’t even watch football (and even now I don’t know what the RFL was/is) but – no doubt started by my mania for Star Wars cards – I was big on footy cards. I recall trying to trade with other kids so they must have been a popular schoolyard thing. The above set of nine cards is not arranged in number or team order, but they’re framed so must have been important to someone. I’m sure they’re not worth anything, so the shop owner is dreaming putting $75 on them.

These are money boxes featuring the mascot character of St George Bank. Bank money boxes were popular when we were kids, and the idea was you’d fill them and take them to the bank to have the contents deposited into an account. I don’t remember ever actually having a St George account (my first and only Australian bank account was at Newcastle Permanent) but I do remember using very similar money boxes as a kid, and cutting into them with scissors long before they were filled. The ones in this photo are quite new, since the logo at the bottom was only created in 2011.

We had a lot of Playmobil when we were kids, and while we didn’t own the above set ($350 at the antique shop) I believe we had some like it. We always used to call it ‘Pocket People’ which is surefire way to tell we had the Australia versions, since the local licensee (Toltoys) rebranded them here using that name. I still think Playmobil is a cool toy, and wish they’d one day get a Star Wars license!

Speaking of Star Wars, I saw the above cup last year when I was here, only now the store has a second copy in equally poor condition. It brings back many memories since we owned a few of these back in 1983 when the film came out. I believe these were obtained at cinemas if you bought a coke when you saw the film. If this had been in better condition I would have certainly purchased it, even at the $10 asking price.

I’ve mentioned Smurfs before on the blog, and the above box of them ($160 for the lot) is a window right back to 1980. They were sold in Australia at BP service stations, and I believe you could only buy them if you also bought petrol. They were a popular toy and BP stations were inundated with people when new waves were released, and I’m sure our ever-patient dad went out of his way to only buy BP petrol during those days. We had quite a few Smurfs and treasured them as everyone did during the fad, but I have absolutely no memory of what happened to them in the years afterwards.

Lest you think antique stores are magical places full of childhood memories for me, it’s worth mentioning that the vast majority of the contents are almost literally trash, and I ignored mountains of kitchenware, clothes, DVDs and children’s toys as I photographed the occasional curio. My foremost target is always a box like shown above, which are unfortunately very rare these days. Happily I found a few good examples yesterday, and maybe you may even receive one in the mail one day 🙂

Before I end, there’s one more op-shop related post coming. I actually purchased something from one of these shops that will receive a post of its own. Look for it before I leave Oz…