i went on a spontaneous trip to the northern rivers for a week, to hang out with some amazing people and do nothing much but sit and melt in the heat, and cook and eat. and maybe paddle in a creek a bit every now and then, and boogie on the dance floor when the lights came on. oh and catch a train home overnight IN A SLEEPER! one of my favourite past times indulged.

meals were done on a voluntary roster system… with 60 or so people there were many opportunities for food preparation, in a great industrial-style kitchen. making a dish for 30 is a challenge but oh so satisfying.

we took on salads a couple of times, and one night i made the vegan chocolate cake, tripling the recipe and adding pear slices. the salads-for-30 included

• a potato salad (quarter and boil 2kg white potatoes (don’t bother peeling them), cool in ice from the esky, and pour a jar of pesto over top, stirring through gently
• rocket and parmesan in a bowl with a diameter of about half a metre (think bulk greens!)
• a coleslaw with rice noodles – grate (in the food processor!) half a kilo of carrots, half a cabbage, a couple of capsicums, a few celery stalks. add in a couple of bags of bean sprouts, and a packet of vermicelli noodles that have been cooked, cooled and chopped. dress with sweet chilli and a lime/oil/garlic dressing.

there was too much fun being had to capture any of these dishes, and most times my shit was somewhere else (the side effect of camping on a huge piece of land) so instead i present a photo of my favourite fruit – the dragonfruit. introduced to me in beijing, and consumed by me in all corners of the world, including berlin, sydney, and uki.