This has been a hard winter for the vulnerable, worrying about getting COVID or the flu, or even a harsh seasonal cold. Say what you like about risk taking, immunity or vaccines, if your immune system has taken a hammering in anyway, such as my father's cancer, you're going to be pretty cautious. The last thing he needs is to get seriously ill again when he's just received the all clear! Both mine and my sister's family have copped hammerings from both COVID and colds, so we haven't seen my parents for ages - in fact, I've only seen them twice in three months, which is crazy when I usually see them every week, sometimes more than once!
So before I got back to work and thus the likelihood of getting ill again, we decided to meet for breakfast - Mum's shout - at Ginger Monkey in Torquay, which they really like.
First of all, as I've said in the Cinnamon Cup Coffee community before, it's hard to get a bad coffee in Australia - I might be biased but I'm not the only one to say that Australia does coffee really well. What mortified me was Dad putting sugar in his coffee - just half a teaspoon, but I was raised to have no sugar in anything so it freaked me out. Apparently he always does it with coffee out 'to take the bitter edge off' - but doesn't coffee have a little bitter note to it? Needless to say I ribbed Dad mercilessly.
I was a bit busy talking to my parents to take too many photos of the interior, but I think this shot captures the natural coastal vibe pretty well. Behind Dad is the hatch for the kitchen and I love the wall made of recycled wood batons. It's a lovely warm environment and always busy. It was pretty cold today (hence Dad wearing a beanie inside which volunteers knitted for the cancer ward) so we chose to sit inside, but there is outdoor seating too, and often they do paella or tacos outdoors.
Now my father always orders scrambled eggs and mushrooms, even though he might risk something else. He just loves them. This time though, he ordered baked beans - house made, not tinned - with eggs, and Mum ordered the mushrooms and eggs (both on sourdough toast). Of course, they tricked me, because then they just swap half the beans and the mushrooms so they end up with a bit of both. Mum had poached eggs.
Me, I ended up with Huevos Rancheros, which was beans, toasted tortilla, jalapenos, coriander and cheesy eggs, and a tomato salsa and avocado. To be honest, whilst it looks good, it wasn't my favourite breakfast ever - the beans a little dry, and the eggs a little cheesy. I love Mexican flavoured food but I think this would have been better with a corn fritter instead of the eggs and tortillas. Still, it was tasty enough, and another example of an Aussie breakfast, 
I can't believe I've written about breakfasts twice this week, and assure you I don't live this utopian fantasy life in Australia where I go out for breakfast all the time. Just lucky this week I guess, and more so to catch up with my folks. We worked off our food with a long walk at the beach and chatted in the cold weather before saying farewell, hoping neither of us would get sick so we could catch up again sooner rather than later. I do love these guys - they are fun to hang out with and we always have a lot to talk about, including these puppies. Dad's a huge kelpie fan and swore he'd pay for it (they belonged to friends of mine) so I could bring it home. Honestly I was so tempted but if we're going to travel in the next few years it wouldn't be responsible to get her.
Goodness me though, look at that little face. I can't stop thinking about snuffling and snuggling her. My friend texted me loads of photos and Dad kept hassling me to buy her, though he knew he couldn't look after a puppy himself. Rather, Mum talked sense into him!
But if you've ever taken a puppy to breakfast, you know what a pain they can be. I'll stick to human company for now.
With Love,
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