Bunya Nut Harvest

It's that wonderful time of year when the Bunya pines produce their huge nuts. They seem like food from ancient times, even before human times--which they are. They are survivors from very, very long ago, when the dinosaurs roamed.
 
The trees are tall and from a distance look like pine trees. Up close the needles turn out to be prickly short leaves. In the pictures below you can see some of the litter from under Bunya trees, with the distinctive spiky leaves. 

And then there are the 'pine cones'.

These are large. Really large...

You really would not want to be under a Bunya pine tree when these fall.
They gradually soften over a week or two, and begin to open.

You only have to put your foot on one and step down, and they splay open all the way.

We found a ring of mature trees growing on a property nearby, an old homestead that is for sale, no one living there now. The Bunyas littered the ground, and several huge mango trees had dropped hundreds of pounds of mangos. We could not let them go to waste, could we?

So we collected a few shopping bags full and took them home. (We also gathered mangos, peeled them and froze them for smoothies in the year ahead)

Now begins the arduous task of shucking them, boiling them, and peeling the tough 'shell' off the actual nut.

Amanda had just the day before gone to an old friend for lessons in how to make Haloumi, and while there had lunch that her friend prepared. Among the dishes were garlic-friend Bunya nuts. She asked how to prepare them, since they are daunting to anyone who finds them without local knowledge of how to prepare them.

She learned that the cones need to be old enough (we found some!), the cones will fall apart by  themselves (yup), and the nuts can be stripped of their covering pretty easily if they are wet (right, ours were quite damp).





























Once 'shucked' the nuts have to be boiled for a few minutes to soften the very tough 'shell'. It is like leather, a rugged fibrous covering that will split after boiling. Then one has to remove the shell, which requires squeezing with pliers, opening a split, then grabbing the sides of the split with pliers and pulling apart. Not easy or for weak hands, but after a while a skill develops and it seems to go rather quickly.
Here are some the nuts prior to shelling. We had a bumper harvest!

Here are a few we peeled and froze.

 

The taste? Imagine big pine nuts. Like that. Rather bland and not so oily. They are often compared to chestnuts, with a bit of potato flavour added.
We have been told they make an excellent pesto, and we have heard of Bunya Curry, pancakes and lots more. We tried some of this batch chopped and garlic fried...they were great!

Bunya nuts were the basis of Aboriginal subsistence locally. The trees grow in a very limited part of Australia, from around South East Queensland, where we are, south to around Byron Bay. They are most abundant here in SE QLD. Revered by Aboriginal people, and with their knowledge that they produce large 'crops' about every three years, large celebrations were held to feast and have social interactions between tribes during the harvest time.
Since tribes had totem animals and were prevented from eating their totems, it was complicated to host other tribes on one's land. So when the Bunyas were producing, everyone could be assured of lots of highly nutritious food without  tampering with totems or over-hunting the local game animals.

Bunya harvest time, a time of abundance.

Ryan and Dad: Kayak afternoon

Ryan's visit was wonderful. All too short, for sure, but we managed to have lots of small adventures, fulfilling many of my dreams of things to show, things to do, places to visit.
 

Ryan and I managed to get in a sweet little kayak adventure late Saturday afternoon, before he left on that Sunday morning. We went to a favorite place, a rarely visited section of the North Maroochy River, outside the town of Yandina. We put in where Ninderry Road crosses the river, and headed upstream.

Ryan, ready to head out

Leading the way

The afternoon sun was bright at first, showing the mirror stillness of the dark, tea-coloured water.

With so little time to fit this little journey in, planning was not exactly what it should have been, but it worked out anyway: it was almost low tide when we set out, and while we were paddling, the river went down over a foot. Since it is an estuarine river, it rises and falls twice a day with the tides. We were heading upstream, past where the local Maroochy River Trail ends, into the shallow upper reaches. At several points we had to step out of the kayaks into the water and walk, pulling the kayaks along behind us to where the water returned to a passable depth.

A 'portage': Uff would have been proud, he did this hundreds of times canoing in Canada.

Happy Kayaker, in Australia!

We saw a few Water Dragons, a lizard that is similar to an iguana. We saw a large snake, its body floating in the river, its head and tail missing. The remains were about seven feet long and six inches thick, a 'Carpet snake', a local kind of benevolent boa constrictor. We heard fish jumping, and maybe frogs leaping into the water. Birds overhead sang and sang.

We find Brown's Creek, to the left and impassable shallows ahead.

Up Brown's Creek we go

Ryan in the lead

The setting sun makes for magical lighting

It is darkening now, down on the creek

In some places, the Golden light shines through

Even an old guy with frizzy gray hair looks good in this light!

Heading down the creek, golden light so fine

Paddling in synch, we head down stream, back to our lives. Ryan heads home to Oregon in 12 hours...

It was so good to have an adventure, to work out the challenges together, to share the precious moments of discovery and beauty.

The quiet of evening was coming, the light grew soft and golden, and we pulled the kayaks out just as dark arrived. A perfect evening paddle, with Ryan.

Grand Children

We love having four grandchildren. They are in our thoughts each day.  Their antics, challenges, triumphs, and delights fascinate us as we witness their progress.

The hardest part for both of us is the distance from our US family. Dreams have been dreamt, schemes have been hatched...but patient waiting has had to be the way, waiting for that day when we are on a beach as one family. When will we be able to see our grandchildren together, in one group, playing together?

Looking, as we do often, at recent pictures, we saw something wonderful. Nora and Enea, both at their respective local beaches, running. See for yourself what we see, the sameness, the wonderful parallels in our dear Grand Daughters ---

Enea at Cottontree Beach, Queensland, September 2011

Nora at Oceanside Beach, Oregon July 2011

Looking more, we found these two pictures, Owen and Alvaro, doing their thing on the beach on those same days. Industrious, focused, deeply into the process....

Owen at Oceanside Beach, Oregon July 2011

Alvaro at Cottontree Beach, Queensland September 2011 (with Uncle Adam)

One day we will all share a day, a week, or more at a beach, playing, running, digging, enjoying being a family. One day...right folks?

Amanda's magic touch

Amanda decided to see if it was possible to plant the top of a pineapple and grow our own. She chose two different kinds of pineapple, local varieties. One has very prickly leaves, but grows a very sweet pineapple, the other has no prickles on its leaves, but does not taste as sweet.

She asked around to see how to do this, got some advice ("Pineapples love water, but don't like to have their feet wet all the time"...said the farmer at the Saturday Market)

So she planted two, and we watched for about 18 months as they turned into actual, edible pineapples. 

The young plants

First signs of fruit

Starting to look like pineapples

Who knew that pineapples have tiny purple flowers at one point in their lives?

The one day, a pineapple fell off into Amanda's hand. It was, by far, the most delicious, sweet, incredible pineapple ever.

More Kayak Adventures

We have been enjoying the kayaks a lot. The inspire us to get out, do something together, do something very different from the routines, and to take us into places that would be otherwise completely unknown.

We love that we can go to places that are very, very near the well-worn spaces of the multitudes, yet are just out of sight, just beyond a fringe of trees, or out of sight, around a bend, to places where it is still, quiet, peaceful.

On Maroochy River, east of Chambers Crossing

The kayaks have taken us out on days we would not otherwise have ventured outside on, into delightful, if kind of uncomfortable adventures. Here we were caught in the rain, pelting down, out on an expanse of river near the ocean.

Rainy day at the river mouth

Some days have been magical, as we find creeks that run into local rivers. The creeks are often partly blocked by fallen trees that we navigate around, into darker, narrower sections.

Brown's Creek

 As the creek grows narrower, the feeling of adventure gets stronger, as if we are entering into less known territory.

Brown's Creek, past the tidal flow

This is an illusion, since on both sides are open fields, just past the fringe of trees. At the place where we could go no farther, we were under the freeway, the main road up the coast of Australia.

Amanda finds herself in a tiny whirlpool, staying still in the fast running creek

We see local wildlife, such as this monitor lizard, over a metre in length....

Monitor Lizard

We love the quiet, slow, gentle adventure, usually in late afternoon sun, the golden time of day.


We have found we cooperate well, loading and unloading the kayaks from our car, hauling them to the water, exploring together. There are quite a few rivers and creeks around, we have discovered, so we have many adventures ahead. Kayaks...wonderful.

Kayaks

After years of thinking about it, we have decided to join the worldwide community of paddlers. This is not something kinky, but a fine way to enjoy the outdoors, explore little known parts of the local geography, spend time together, get great exercise, live longer, and just enjoy life.

So, for Christmas this year, we decided to forego the normal presents and buy each other a kayak. For safety, for the local conditions we will be using them for, and for the cost, we have chosen to get sit-on-top kayaks. They are very stable, easy to paddle, lightweight, and affordable. We shopped around and found a local company that designs and makes them right here on the Sunshine Coast (www.vikingkayak.com.au), with a very friendly and helpful staff. We bought our kayaks three days ago, and yesterday, after weeks of rain, had a perfect day to try them out.

The State Government recently completed a 'canoe trail' on a river nearby, so we went to the pontoon/wharf they just opened and put our kayaks in the murky brown water. Lake Dunethin, really not a lake at all, but a small cove off the side of the Maroochy River was where we tried them out.

Here is the setting, taken from atop Mt Ninderry. The Maroochy River flows from the right down to the Pacific Ocean, on the upper left. Just above the centre of the screen you can make out Lake Dunethin.

You can see the Pontoon/Wharf in the lake, centre. Also, note the line of trees on the right sided of the image, heading off the side. We explored this small creek...

Amanda, new Paddler. You will have to ask her why she decided to wear her life jacket under her top.

 The three hours we spent in the sun, on the water, relaxing and getting exercise, exploring and being together was so much fun. And no, there are no Crocodiles in our local waters. At least that is what we have been told...

Here I am, up a creek...this time with a paddle!

Look forward to many more posts about our new adventures on the water. The Solstice was a great day for us, Down Under.

A Recent Visitor

Cleo loves to hunt. Mostly leaves and flowers, but this time she came home with something a bit bigger. 
Believe it or not, this is a small version of a Water Dragon, a local lizard that can be 30 inches long, tail included. We even sat in an outdoor restaurant one time and watched the resident Water Dragons climb up trees, out onto overhanging branches, and leap off into the water.

This one was about 18 inches long, including that long skinny tail. We let it go, quite unharmed.

Alvaro and Enea's little family

Alvaro, Louise and Stephan. 
It's hard to get all four of them together, but Alvi is often in Mummy's arms.

Enea says "Hi"

Alvaro 10 months

Yes, he has been eating the grass.

Standing with something to hold on to. 
He's preparing for walking. Life will look quite different then.

Enea Rose the Pirate at her Pink & Purple 4th Birthday Party