Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Drossie, I will be checking for your Prince concert review here. Can't wait to hear how totally fab he was! And can't wait til next Friday when I see him!

Aha! You crossed my mind after the concert, too! I can see how close you'll be if you went for the purple tickets. I was in the very back row, but it hardly mattered to me; it was great just to be there, and the atmosphere was so amazing I was feeling it even that far back.

I don't want to give away any spoilers. In vague terms: as someone who knows most of the singles but owns no albums, there were maybe three songs I didn't recognise. It was a loooong concert: three hours all up! Great use of the in-the-round stage, good lighting, sound mix was great etc. There were a couple of lovely surprises in the set and unexpected moments. The man himself was kind of a revelation to me, having never seen him live. Playing, singing, dancing — he's (still) got it all. In short, money very well spent, and though I went along in the spirit of "Hey, it's Prince — I'd love to go and see all those great songs played live" I left feeling more like "Wow... WOW. That Prince guy, eh?"

... How'd I do? :-)

Wow, fantastic, Drossie! I have heard that he is incredible to see live - even people who aren't true Prince fans rave about the show he puts on. I am so excited to be going! How many performers do a three hour show? His energy is amazing. Apparently every show is different and the set list is never the same.

Thanks for the review. I came looking for it and you didn't disappoint. Maybe you should consider it as a job? :)

Hey Drossie! Prince was amazing! I agree with you - he's got it all - fabulous musician, great voice that never falters, and those moves! I just booked tickets for next Saturday night! I'm still on a high!

mattomic - thanks for the info about brisbane etc, appreciate it.

Hey Melbourne people I need your help. I'm moving down in a couple of weeks (haven't quite set a date yet) and i'm wondering what the best way is to find a room in a flat? There doesn't seem to be one specific site for it like in NZ and I was hoping you could point me in the right direction. Do people post a lot of adverts in coffee shops etc? What sites should I be checking? Anywhere I should not be living? Thanks!

www.realestate.com.au has pretty much a monopoly on the market, so try there. then to a lesser extent, www.domain.com.au. www.gumtree.com.au is the Craigslist equivalent, and you can sometimes get lucky there

though if you want something vegan specific, there are often ads in vege restaurants and such. though, a friend just moved there in March and her experience was that most of those ads were people looking for houses, not houses available. you might get lucky though..

thanks joshua, much appreciated. I already knew about realestate but just wanted to make sure i wasnt missing somewhere lots of people used!

Re: finding a room. I've only had luck with that on facebook, through friends' house ads etc. There have been some nice ones on gumtree, though. Everyone I know here is queer, though, and their ads have been circulated through a small, specific community/scene. So I'm probably not much help (assuming you're not queer. If you are, well, that's a different story!) I can PM you if I hear of anything that looks good, if you like.

If you were looking to rent a house/flat from scratch.... well, I went through a huge saga with that over the summer, and it was pretty painful. The sites that joshua listed were definitely the best for finding rentals that way though.

I think realestate & domain charge though so aren't so great for sharehouses. Gumtree is probably your best bet unless you have a particular area you're looking for. Eg Readings bookshop in Carlton has a whole window devoted to housing ads. You could also hit up the unis if you can deal with living with student types.

Apart from realestate.com.au I'd give the unis a go as suggested. I remember the Melb Uni and RMIT boards being full of ads for hosuemates.

thanks for all the advice! I've been checking gumtree and it's definitely the best site. Once I get there i'll check that book shop and maybe the unis - but i'm not keen on living in a typical student flat (hopefully you know what i mean), it's been a long time since i've done that.

gunk - nah, not queer but i'd appreciate a pm if you do see anything pop up on fb.

Hey I haven't posted in almost two months! Glad it was all you hoped for, and I trust the other concert was just as great.

Hello - long time no PPK! How's everyone doing? Went to Green Edge tonight and bought a bejeeesus load of vegan cheese - can't wait to try Vegusto!

I really want Vegusto but the postage here is so expensive, since it has to be refrigerated. I'm going to Adelaide in a few weeks so I guess I'll get some delivered to my parents' place from Vegan Online (for cheaps!). But I don't want to wait that loooong.

OMG Vegusto is AWESOME! I had it with slices of granny smith apple (like I did when I was a kid). WOW. Just wow.

Oooh, and I need everyone's tips on where to go on the US west coast/Hawaii (we're running away to get married in October)!!!

yep, my flatmate got me some vegusto the other day and im so happy to be reunited with it!

Brisbane kids:

There is a vegan bakesale being held tomorrow!

11am - 2pm
Shop 2-3, 8 Dallas Parade, Keperra

Goodies include cookies, cupcakes, brownies, tarts, trifles to name some!

Money raised goes to Charlie's Angels Horse Rescue.

I'm going to Byron Bay on Thursday, has anyone been? HappyCow is giving me some good options for foods, one of which seems to be next door to our hostel. Anything else worth checking out (food-wise or otherwise)?

the supermarket there (Fundamental? I guess?) was forking rad. lots of random vegan products that are tricky to find in cities seemed to be available there - even falafel from a girl in Melbourne that I used to see at the farmer's markets ("Larder Fresh").. best falafel ever <3

only other place I've been to was Cardamom Pod, which is..okay. not shityourself good, but not too shabs

Definitely go to the markets - there is a ton of vegan options. There's also the other health food store (Santos) directly across from Woolworths on the main(ish) street.

Damnit - just realised you were going today. D'oh.

Fundies is the best ever! I went before our flight this afternoon and it was probably the best health food store I've been in anywhere in Australia. I had to restrain myself (a lot), but I got a few things I've been looking for at home (coconut vinegar, vegan custard powder) and some local goodies (chocolate, mint hot chocolate powder, awesome hot sauces). We went to Heart and Halo for dinner, which was okay, and a couple of other places we stumbled across while looking for breakfast that weren't listed on Happy Cow.

Also Splendour had a ton of food stalls with (labelled!) vegan options, it was awesome. I kind of wish we'd gone for the full three days just so I could have tried everything.

Anyone else tried the fairy floss at Green Edge? We tried Maple and it was awesome. How is everyone?

Hi guys! I'm planning a loooong vacation (5 weeks) in January and I was thinking of visiting Australia, as I've never been there.
I started looking at the map and at the various tourism websites but there is just SO MUCH to see and do that I am lost.
Can anyone give me some recommendations? I like hiking and climbing, am scared of whales, care ok-ish for museums and cities. I was thinking of renting a car and drive around between certain places and fly between other places. I'd really like to do something like Sydney-Melbourne-Adelaide-Perth, but of course that's a lot of road and I wonder if there is enough in between to justify the travelling? I'd do some kind of backpacking trip, so hostels and campsites would be best.

Thank you!!!!

it's probably selling them short, but I wouldn't bother too much with Adelaide/Perth given your timeframe (unless you specifically want to see them.. they've each got their charm for sure). I'd focus on spending the time on the east coast (north coast NSW is wonderful), and maybe head down to Tasmania. Tassie has some great hiking and camping, and will probably be a more mild temperature come January compared to the mainland.

north of Sydney are plenty of great beaches/camping (my favourite beach in the world is at Crescent Head). you've got the blue mountains to the east. plenty to see and do between those two right there :) around Melbourne is the great ocean road (sorta touristy, but one of the nicer touristy things you can do) and Melbourne is still my favourite city in the world..tonnnnns of great vegan food there

you'll find a lot of other backpackers on the east coast, too, so you'll have a pretty good chance of finding someone else to team up/tag along with on hiring vans or whatever to go camping somewhere. better chance of adventure, y'know?

I don't think you'll be bored no matter where you end up though :)