From Green Bean to Cup

During our visit to Bathurst we were treated to fresh coffee. This was the first time I had seen green coffee beans roasted and transformed into a cup of coffee.

Our kind hosts put up with my enthusiasm to see, and photograph, their coffee making process in full. The entire roasting process took about fifteen minutes and required surprisingly simple house hold tools to complete.

The green beans are placed in a container ready to be roasted with a hot air gun.

Green coffee beans

Green coffee beans

These beans took about twelve to fifteen minutes to cook with constant stirring. As they roasted the coffee beans’ husks came off and drifted out of the bowl.

The beans were roasted outside as the husks can settle in the garden without harm and the smoke created does not trigger fire alarms.

Roasting the green beans

Roasting the green beans

The beans are stirred as they roast

The beans are stirred as they roast

Once the beans are roasted, they are cooled. In this case the beans were tumbled from one metal bowl to another.

Cooling the roasted coffee beans

Cooling the roasted coffee beans

Tumbling the coffee beans to speed up the cooling

Tumbling the coffee beans to speed up the cooling

The once green coffee beans have now turned brown.

Roasted coffee beans

Roasted coffee beans

The cooled roasted beans are ground to a powder using an electric grinder. Previously the grinding had been done with a hand grinder, but unsurprisingly the process was not endearing and an electric replacement was brought in.

The traditional espresso coffee machine

The traditional espresso coffee machine

Coffee ready for the espresso machine

Coffee ready for the espresso machine

After being ground the coffee is put through a coffee machine and into the waiting the cups. The end result tasted fantastic.

The final beautiful cups of coffee

The final beautiful cups of coffee

Surviving Long Haul Flights

Long haul flights are never enjoyable. The term long haul is apt and descriptive. I have travelled back and forth from Australia to Europe enough times to know that every extra comfort is worthwhile.

Thanks to extensive searching for specific routes and a healthy block of Frequent Flyer points we were able to secure our latest flights on the new Airbus A380 plane along with Qantas Skybed seats.

Qantas A380

Qantas A380

This was the first flight I have been able to recline fully on. The seats certainly helped. It will be difficult to return to traditional airline seats.

Qantas Skybeds inside the A380

Qantas Skybeds inside the A380

Inside Business Class of the A380

Inside Business Class of the A380

View across the A380 inside

View across the A380 inside

Qantas Skybed seat controls

Qantas Skybed seat controls

Tail mounted camera on the A380

Tail mounted camera on the A380

Au Revoir Australia

Our final weeks in Australia were a whirlwind of packing and catching up with family and friends. Thank you to everyone who hosted events for us and had us as guests. We had a wonderful time.

View from the plane

View from the plane

After a 38 hour journey, we find ourselves on the other side of the world and at the start of a great adventure.

Visiting Friends in Bathurst

Bathurst is an Australian town in New South Wales. Getting to Bathurst by train and bus takes about four hours. The scenery on the way is beautiful and rural.

We were in Bathurst to visit friends. The town has an attractive and family friendly feel. We happily strolled around with our friends’ two little boys running and playing ahead.

Park and two foozles

Park and two foozles

It was wonderful to catch up in person with old friends.

View of Bathurst and surrounding countryside

View of Bathurst and surrounding countryside

Bathurst courthouse

Bathurst courthouse

Bathurst war memorial in the town centre

Bathurst war memorial in the town centre

Bathurst war memorial

Bathurst war memorial

A visit to Bathurst would not be complete without a circuit of the race track.

View from Bathurst race track

View from Bathurst race track

Native Australian Flowers

Megan had a surprise farewell lunch at work and brought home a beautiful native Australian flower arrangement. Having grown up on the other side of the planet, this arrangement was a delight to see and touch. Plants in Australia tend to be much more hardy; they have thicker and broader leaves to cope with the harsh sun and dry regions.

Radiant native Australian flower

Radiant native Australian flower

Native Australian flowers

Native Australian flowers

Detail of a native Australian flower

Detail of a native Australian flower

An amazing clustered flower native to Australia

An amazing clustered flower native to Australia

A white flowering plant native to Australia

A white flowering plant native to Australia