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My family and me

Parents go north

My parents chose an “interesting” time to move to Cairns. It was the weekend of January 10-11, and Far North Queensland had been absolutely drenched by the storm systems accompanying Cyclone Charlotte. Cairns was isolated due to flooding, and parts of Cairns itself were underwater. The city, along with many other councils across the Far North region, was declared a disaster area. They set out in their car on the morning of the 11th, and arrived at their new house in Clifton Beach a day later than they were expecting on the 14th. The delay was caused by the flooding of the Seymour River north of Ingham, partly due to the storms and partly due to the massive king tides at the time. Anyway, after spending the night in Ingham, and then waiting for another seven hours the next day in a long convoy of cars on the Bruce Highway for the waters to subside to a safe level, they were finally on their way again. In the end, their removal truck beat them to their house, because trucks were allowed to cross the river many hours before cars were given the go-ahead. Even then, cars were towed through the water three at a time by a tow truck: one on top, one underneath, and one dragged along behind. My parents scored the top deck of the truck, and they remained in the car for the haul across the river. Quite exciting, apparently. When they eventually reached their house, they were happy to find everything in one piece, and not so much as a branch out of place.

We’re going to get the chance to see their new house for ourselves when we visit them in the near future. It will be Xander’s first flight. If it’s anything like his first train trip, he’ll have a ball. Just hope we can avoid the Dengue fever epidemic when we get there.

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Devonshire tea review

The Elm Haus Cafe

In my last article, I mentioned a little cafe in Mount Glorious called the Elm Haus. Well yesterday Karen and I made a special trip up the mountain to try their Devonshire tea, having left Xander with his grandparents. We’re delighted to say that it was well worth it.

It’s easy getting to the Elm Haus (or Elm House, depending upon which sign you read). If you’re driving from Brisbane, make your way to Mount Glorious via Samford Road, or for a more scenic drive, wind your way up Mount Nebo Road, which eventually joins Mount Glorious Road. Either way, drive through Mount Glorious Village until you see the Elm Haus Cafe on the right side of the road. (Click here to see the Elm Haus in Google Street View.)

The cafe is nestled in a grove of tree ferns by the Maiala rainforest. This setting immediately conveys a sense of calm, a feeling enhanced by its cozy interior. Although it was a perfect day to sit on the deck outside among the tree ferns, Karen and I found a comfy couch inside to lounge on.

It’s counter service at the Elm Haus. We wasted no time in ordering two Devonshire teas – after all, that’s what we came for.

This armour is just one of the many curiosities on display at the Elm Haus
This armour is just one of the many curiosities on display at the Elm Haus

While waiting for our tea and scones, we wandered around looking at the various curios on display: an old typewriter, this knight in shining armour, an array of preserved snakes and insects (in the nook off to one side, so they’re not in your face while you eat), and a host of other knick knacks. If you want, you can also play a game of chess, draughts or backgammon. In many respects, the Elm Haus shares a similar ambience with Three Monkeys in West End, despite the more open layout.

The Elm Haus resembles a church in its construction, with high ceilings and arch windows. Of course, it’s possible the Elm Haus was a church at some point in its life. The Putumayo CD playing in the background certainly benefited from the acoustics of the place.

The whole Devonshire tea
The Devonshire tea

With a Devonshire tea, presentation plays a big part, so I was encouraged when I saw the two scones neatly arranged on a plate with a little twin pot for the jam and cream. As usual, we ordered English breakfast tea. It was real leaf tea served in a small tea pot.

The Elm Haus Devonshire tea comes with two scones: one plain scone and one sultana scone. Both delicious. All the more so because they served us real cream, not that whipped stuff from a can, which some other establishments that shall not be named have deigned to serve us in the past.

There's nothing like a good Devonshire tea
There's nothing like a good Devonshire tea

We were so comfortable at the Elm Haus that after our Devonshire tea we ordered some home made potato wedges to share, and I had a latte. I wouldn’t normally spoil a perfectly good Devonshire tea by having a latte straight after, but since we were hanging around, we needed to order something. Anyway, the latte was good, and you’ll be hard pressed to find better wedges anywhere!

Karen and I rate the Elm Haus’s Devonshire tea highly. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that it’s the best we’ve had in south-east Queensland so far, all things considered. Having eaten lunch at the Elm Haus previously, we can also vouch for the quality of the chicken pie and the house special burger. The friendly staff prepare your food quickly and with an eye for presentation (even the wedges looked a treat), and serve you with a smile.

So next time you’re in the D’aguilar Range, I heartily recommend that you stop off at the Elm Haus for good food and a relaxing time.

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My family and me

The ones Karen rejected

Karen has a very critical eye when it comes to photos, especially her own photos. In order to let a few more of her snaps see the light of day, I’ve created an album in my gallery called Karen’s Rejects. This also saves me from having to take my own pictures. It contains a small selection of those photos that don’t make it onto her photo blog. Here are some that she took today at Mount Glorious.

It was a wet, overcast day. But it made for a great drive up to Mount Glorious, which was shrouded in clouds. The atmosphere created by the fog as we drove through the rainforest was worth the trip alone. The Elm Haus Cafe was very inviting to the sodden traveller, and provided us with a homely lunchtime meal. We plan to revisit for Devonshire Tea sometime.

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Random observations

ReCaptcha asking a bit much?

captcha

The ReCaptcha guys need to invent an algorithm that gives an estimate of the likelihood that a human could actually decipher a word, and then only present those above a certain threshold. That’s a different problem to the one of having a machine actually decipher the text, and I reckon it’s probably an easier one. The ReCaptcha above is just plain silly.