February 18 - Shopping with the Chef, Opals and a protest march

It was just 15 days ago that I set foot for the first time on Australia, I saw my first kangaroos in the wild and had a cockatoo land on my arm.  Here I am again in Melbourne to try something different.  I had asked for and received an invitation to go shopping with the chef, always a fun and interesting activity, so this morning I met my fellow shoppers at the main restaurant and in minutes we were off to the Queen Victoria Market in downtown Melbourne.

Chef Bjorn ready to go shopping

When you go shopping  with the chef you go with an entourage.  This time he brought along a sous chef, two galley assistants, some carts, ten of us passengers and we traveled in a bus. On the way to the market we passed one of my favorite places in the whole world Costco!  Were it up to me we would have made a stop there. Once at the market which is very large, clean and organized in sections based on food types sold, we unloaded and proceeded to the seafood and meat halls. Chef Bjorn was looking for some seafood first and eventually he found some kind of local fish which he liked (sorry I can’t remember the name I just know it has firm white flesh) and he bought about 100 kilos.  He wanted it cleaned and fileted and he wanted everything cut away given back to use for stocks. We proceeded to look around for other things on his list while the fish was being cleaned.  He was in the market for fresh oysters, but unfortunately all the vendors had shucked oysters which can’t be brought on the ship. He passed on kangaroo meat (he bought that on the last visit here) and instead we went on to the cheese hall. We sampled several really good cheeses and he settled on five wheels of an Australian camembert. Then we proceeded onward to the produce section to buy melons and berries and assorted beans and greens.  

We made this fishmonger very happy

These aren't meats we see often(ever) in supermarkets in Williamsburg

I think our Chesapeake Bay blue crabs look better

I know I'm posting too many photos of food in the market but I can't help it; I love markets.

A little cheese

Some sausages

Some veggies and we're all set

Vendors are quite happy to see the chef arrive because he buys large quantities and he pays for everything in cash, no cards. After a while we went back by the fish place to pick up our fish and trimmings and then we loaded back on the bus and returned home.  It doesn’t sound very exciting but markets thrill me so I had a lovely time looking at the variety of things available. I forgot, while I was wandering I came upon a place selling Tasmanian scallop pies (individual size) so I bought one because I’d heard they are good.  It was too hot to eat so I put it in my bag and took it back on the ship with me. I ate it up at the Patio Grill for lunch and thought it was tasty but maybe a little overrated.

One of the things I have been determined to try to find here in Australia is an opal. After all, this is the land of opals. I had googled two reputable opal stores in Melbourne and I had the people in the Square call to find out if they were open since it was Sunday.  They were so I set out on my quest to find an opal pendant.  I was told I could take a tram to where I wanted to go downtown but I saw the tram leaving before I got to the station so I took a cab instead.  The first place I went was a total loss.  The Sunday help knew less about opals than I do and that’s not much.  The stones they had were unimpressive.  I left there and walked to the next place which was supposedly nearby.

Apparently here they don’t necessarily number places sequentially because I got to the street I needed to be on but the numbers of the places were mixed up.  There were lots of people on the sidewalks and in the streets and it was very noisy.  I saw six very tall, very nice-looking policemen standing in front of a Starbucks so I went and asked one where the place I wanted was.  I think he thought I was a mixed-up old lady (I guess I was) because he pointed me to a sign a couple of doors away.  Oops.  Anyway, I had to go downstairs and there was the second opal store.  The people there were very knowledgeable but the nice man there told me that most of their good opals had been sent to some international gem show in Tucson. What they had left was less than memorable.  I chatted with him for a few moments and told him his place was hard to find and that if it hadn’t been for the nice policeman I might not have. He then said something to the effect of “do you see what they are guarding. Starbucks.”  I asked why they would be guarding Starbucks and he said from the protestors to which I stupidly asked why they would be protesting a coffee shop.  Then things began to make sense about what was going on in the street above. It was a protest about – you guessed it – Pro-Palestine. When I went back upstairs and out on the sidewalk I found myself in the midst of the protest.  There were people in t-shirts saying “Cease Fire” and From the River to the Sea.”  There were men in black and white keffiyehs; there were people waving Palestinian flags.  They all seemed peaceful enough except for one very angry man who was yelling at everybody about everything and shoving people.  I steered well clear of him and hustled to the tram stop.  Thankfully, some of my cruise mates were waiting there and they shepherded me along. 

So while I didn’t find an opal I guess I did do a couple of firsts today.  I had a Tasmanian pie and I walked in my first ever protest. Now that I’ve done them, I don’t plan to do either again.  I did have a beautiful day.  The weather was great. My cold seems to be largely gone.  I had a nice dinner and went to the club for a little while.  I didn’t dance much though because it was British pub night so the dance floor was crowded and some dancers pay no attention to the space around them.  I don’t like getting bumped or stomped on.  And that was Melbourne for the second time.