Australia Week!

This week I turned to Facebook to see where we should go next. I got some fantastic recommendations that we'll be implementing over the next few weeks. First up, Australia!

Crafts/Culture

You'll notice that I've combined crafts and culture in this update. Though I had fun plans for a craft (making a paper koala), we just didn't get to it this week. Spoiler alert: we didn't get to crafts in the following couple of weeks either. We did, however, explore some fun cultural aspects of Australia. 

One really fun thing we did was a gift from Dan's sister Amy--Highlights Top Secret Adventure Book Club. Each kit is set in a new country and centers around mystery that you have to solve: what was taken, who took it, and where did they hide it. Zahara spent hours on this activity book. I was really impressed with the quality of the puzzles and how much we learned. 

We also stretched the theme a little bit this week and went for a sail on a pirate ship! There's a company called Urban Pirates that hosts 90-minute cruises in Baltimore. I was impressed how the company has adapted to covid to make this adventure safe and fun. They limited the number of people on board and roped off sections for each family; we actually had half the ship to ourselves. It's cheesy and expensive, but the kids had a great time and it was a nice change of scenery. Tip: search for a Groupon before buying. We saved a ton of money that way!

My friend Kathleen is living in Australia right now and working at a tourism office. She had an adorable little co-worker for a while--a joey! She sent us some pictures of her time with Chestnut. How jealous are you that she got to hang out with this tiny baby kangaroo??

We also watched a few videos on YouTube. I just searched Australia for kids and found some fun clips on wild animals and the Great Barrier Reef. We paired that with pictures from Dan's and my trip to Australia in 2010. We had such an incredible time there. You can read more about it here. 

Food

Here's what was on our menu for the week: Almond-crusted barramundi, Tim Tams, Sausage Rolls (just BBQ sausage--no pictures), chicko rolls, meat pie, and Vegemite. We missed out on making fairy bread (white bread with sprinkles!), but will have to do that next time.

I'm not kidding when I say Tim Tams might be my favorite candy now. I've never had them before, but they're chocolate covered biscuits (the British kind, not the Southern U.S. kind). They're perfectly flaky, crunchy, sweet, chocolate-y. Loved them!

I'd never heard of chicko rolls before, but apparently these are a favorite late-night snack. It's so strange, but Dan and I agreed that these taste a lot like chicken pot pie. There aren't many overlapping ingredients between those two dishes, so I'm not sure why that's the flavor profile, but we loved these. I'll definitely have them again.

In Australia you'll often find hand-pies, but we made this one family-style. This meat pie was delicious. We thought we'd have leftovers, but everyone demanded seconds. 

Nope. I did NOT enjoy Vegemite. Yes, I only used a tiny amount on top of a large amount of butter. I still didn't like it. I get that it's an acquired taste, but it is one that I will not be acquiring.

This week reminded me how amazing Australia is. I hope we get to go back one day soon. Next week, Argentina!

See our other country weeks here.