I was invited to visit a “micro bar” called Daintree Sydney last night. It spotlights native Australian ingredients, supports local producers and is on a mission to save Australian rainforests.
It’s just a block from where I work so I decided my attendance at the soirée was meant to be.
I sipped two delicious cocktails while I was there: a Gumnut Negroni with Gum Leaf Gin, house-made vermouth and Davidson plum apertivo; and a Quandong Daiquiri with Quandong macerate, Husk Tumblegum Argricole and lime.
Daintree Sydney has partnered with HalfCut – an environmental movement that engages people to raise funds to protect rainforests and wildlife. HalfCut, with Daintree Sydney’s fundraising support, is currently focused on preserving the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, working closely with the Traditional Owners of the low land Daintree.
The bar is donating half its profits to the cause.
The founder of HalfCut, Jimmy, has also set up a charity initiative where people shave off half their beards for a day to raise awareness for the fact half of the world’s forests are gone.
It wasn’t your usual bar opening crowd. The ABC’s Gardening Australia host Costa Georgiadis was there – he’s so sweet and cute – and I also met Aunty Lyn Johnson, who gave the Welcome to Country. She’s the former Chair of Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation and has been working with HalfCut on returning properties to the Daintree National Park estate.
She was on her way to Melbourne for a few years to teach her nine-year-old grandson about his heritage. Lovely woman.
The bar was very cool too, with an original fireplace that has bullet holes in it from colonial times.
It was one of those tricky functions where I turned up and didn’t know a soul, but I made friends with a videographer from Pedestrian TV who has 14,000 followers on TikTok (@KairaviToks). She does funny videos about being an Indian Australian. I haven’t had a chance to check them out yet but we’ve followed each other.
Aunty Lyn is the woman speaking in the pic above, while the videographer is the one in the brown dress.
It was a fascinating evening, but making friends is a bit exhausting so I lit out after 90 minutes and walked to the bus stop for my one-stop, less-than-10-minute ride home to my new apartment.
How freaking awesome is that? I am so in love with the new location. Absolutely life changing.
I will love it even more when I have a pantry. Currently all my tins of baked beans and packets of rice are sitting in four cardboard moving boxes because the kitchen is seriously lacking cupboard space.
I booked a virtual IKEA kitchen planning session last night for Sunday. I hope they don’t mind that it’s just to order a pantry and a row of cupboards for the dining room …
I am keen to get something like this row of glass-doored cupboards for the dining room, with a desk in the alcove part:
Very exciting.
In my dream scenario I would get a whole new kitchen to match the one above, but the current one is quite serviceable and I think the cash would better spent on having a holiday once I make it through my second HSC as a parent.
Have a great weekend. I’m off to a dance party tonight. Pity Friday morning is bin morning around here … the sound of smashing bottles woke me at 5am … I might be a bit weary on the dance floor …
Song of the day: Duran Duran “Planet Earth”
housegoeshome 
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