What they didn’t tell me about Australia

I heard many things about this great land before I embarked from the plane. I heard tales of spiders the size of dinner plates, long car journeys, blisteringly harsh heat and smiling friendly faces in the grocery store. But I missed one vital story. The story about Sydney being full of fat juicy roaches who are immune to Mortein and nuclear disasters. On my very first day at work, whilst training with a work colleague, a giant bush cockroach darted across my feet. Let’s just say I revealed A LOT about myself that first day (starting with my sailor mouth). I relayed my horror to a friend over dinner and she sort of nodded and said, yep well that’s Sydney for you. Cockroachy. It went from bad to worse when we moved into our new apartment and discovered that they are fans of things like kettles, microwaves, kitchen sinks. I’ve become a pro at wrangling them (and by wrangling I mean ending their existence swiftly) – I even have a resident flip flop that lives in the kitchen ready to strike when one of them makes an appearance. Mornings will never be the same.

Totally off topic and only relevant because I am sure she doesn’t have to put up with cockroach shit, but have you heard of Donna Hay? She is a food stylist, author and editor-in-chief of her own magazine. An all round Australian institution and I am completely awestruck.

All images via Donna Hay