Land down under: Brisbane Part the Third

A few last little bits and pieces to wrap up my stay in Brisbane!

Along South Bank are community tea, herb and salad gardens. Such a charming idea! The lemon verbena and spearmint in this bed were particularly aromatic

Bettina made these delicious mandarin and ginger braised beef cheeks - she told me about this recipe ages ago but I have never got around to trying it. I'm glad I have now! I'll definitely make it when the casserole weather comes back.

Maggie Beer's burnt fig, honeycomb and caramel ice cream. Divine. Worth a visit to Australia really! But in case that isn't achievable, there are a few "inspired by" recipes on the internet that look worth a shot. I am going to try this one.

A friend of mine moved up to Noosa a couple of years ago and opened a cafe/wine bar, so we went up for lunch. And I would say this regardless of my relationship with Gareth - Shades makes a damn fine BLT and excellent chips.

After lunch we had a bit of a drive around Noosa. And saw a koala. I don't think I have ever seen a wild koala before so it was a real treat!