THE STORY OF US…part four ( scroll down for parts one-three)

SRI LANKA

We arrived  in Colombo in the early hours of the morning and were driven through the dark streets of the city, the neon signs lighting up the quiet, empty storefronts and pavements. We were to spend the first part of our stay with Channa’s aunt and uncle in a big sprawling house in the city. There was a high wall around the compound that encircled a  lush tropical garden filled with bright flowers and fruit trees. The house was filled with antique furniture, brass vases and lamps and framed black and white photos of family members. The rooms were laid out in a square around a tiled courtyard that cooled the whole house. There were two kitchens, a ‘modern’ one that was mostly for show and another one at the back of the house where most of the actual cooking took place.It had simple tiled benches, gas stoves and giant stone mortar and pestles. Behind the kitchen was the servants quarters, where the cook, driver and house boy lived. Each morning we’d be awakened to the bells of the church, call of the mosque and chanting from the temple all competing with each other for dominance. There was a spice store next door and the smell of roasting spices would waft through the air, stimulating the tastebuds.

We spend the first month of our stay based in Colombo, going to meet Channa’s relatives and old friends, me being introduced as “the new bride”.  We ate probably the most amount of food I’ve ever eaten in my life. Everywhere we went we had a feast prepared for us with at least 8-10 dishes on table, curries of all description, sambals, vegetable cooked in coconut milk, vegetables fried with dried fish and greens, chillies to make your nose run and sweets after every meal. Specialties like hoppers and string hoppers, kottu roti and biryani. We visited the old family favourite cafes and take away shops, places that had been cooking the same food for generations, perfecting their recipes over the years. Every day there was morning tea and afternoon tea, fried treats like samosas or fish cutlets, cakes and of course the ever present strong rich tea sweetened with condensed milk. 

We based ourselves in Colombo and did short trips out to discover the rest of the country. Channa’s mother was visiting from Australia so she joined us. We headed up to the hill country of Kandy and Nuwaraelliya, where the weather is cool, the lush green tea plantations shrouded in mist, vegetables and flowers being farmed on every spare piece of land. This area had been the holiday destination for the British and the stately colonial homes of many tea planters are still well maintained, many of them now small boutique guesthouses.  We stayed in one of these, each bedroom had a fireplace and a there was formal dining room where we ate our meals. Another trip was to the ruins of Anuradhapura, Pollunaruwa and Sigiriya, ancient citadels and monasteries of the Sri Lankan kings. Many of them world heritage listed. It was so incredible to be walking around thousands of years of history and civilisation.  We stayed in a wildlife reserve sleeping on camp cots in a open walled bungalow and explored the park by jeep, spotting wild elephant, deer, mongoose, peacocks, buffalo and trying to find the elusive leopard ( we never did).

After a month of so in the city, eating too much every day and taking trips  “outstation” with family we decided we needed some quiet time on our own. We heading south to the beach town of Hikkaduwa and somehow ended up renting the servant’s quarters of a beautiful old house that was surrounded by gardens, fruit trees and coconut palms, every afternoon a crowd of raucous black monkeys would tear through tree tops looking for fruit.   The little kitchen had wood fires and old clay pots for cooking. There was an moss covered stone well in garden for washing and bathing. It was about 20 minutes bicycle ride through the rice paddies and village to the beach. We spent our days riding down to the market by the sea where the boats would bring in their daily catch and buy fresh fish and vegetables to cook over the fire. We spent a lot of time surfing and hanging in the beach bars with a bunch of new found friends from all of the world, including a large gregarious bunch of Italian surfers. The war was still going on at this time and while we were there, the post office in Colombo was bombed as well as the train we’d caught to Hikkadua. There weren’t many of the five star travellers or tour groups around, the only foreigners were backpackers and surfers taking advantage of the uncrowded waves and cheap prices. We’d been in Sri Lanka for about 3 months when we received a letter from Bob on the Old Salt in Indonesia asking if we’d come back to Thailand and then take over the running of the surf charters in Nias while he took a break.... what a dream job! We jumped at the chance, said our goodbyes to Channa’s family and headed back to Phuket in Thailand. 

LOVE STORY … GEORGIA AND BEN’S INTIMATE BACKYARD WEDDING.

Tell me a little about your lives before you met.

We actually grew up 10 minutes away from each other but didn’t meet until I was 20 and Ben was 23. Ben was an electrician and photographed surfing and fashion whilst I had just moved back home from Sydney studying fashion & styling to care for my mum going through terminal cancer.

It was quite a difficult time in my life and not when I thought I would be meeting my future husband. But we faced the toughest moments at the early points of our relationship which really solidified our relentless love and care for one another.

How did you meet?

We actually met through my younger sister. She was getting into modelling and had a photo shoot planned for underwater portraits with Ben and I tagged along to style her for the shoot. We worked together a few more times and created a solid friendship before we had a romantic one which I think has made our relationship even more special.

How did he propose or what made you decide to get married?

In the early stages we were both certain we would spend our lives together, it was just a matter of when we would start the whole marriage process haha. Ben actually ordered my ring from this sweet designer in Hawaii and he planned to propose on our upcoming trip to America but couldn’t wait so the day my ring arrived he drove me out to our favourite spot to take photos and proposed to me on sunset. It was perfect.

Tell me a bit about your wedding planning process, who was involved?

We had a long engagement as we wanted to buy our home first and have a cute backyard shindig for the nuptials which is what we did!

I planned everything quite far in advance and took my time. I would just kind of pick up things as I went. My vision never changed too much. I did have a lot of help from my beautiful florist Clare at Fleur & Threads and my friend Joe who owned The Vintage Stockroom and our super talented caterers Ruby & Channa at Journey Street Food that helped us bring it all to life!

Where was it?

It was in the backyard of our first home in the Noosa Hinterland which made it all the more special.

What was unique about your wedding?

We did only have 30 guests and wanted it to just be with the people closest to us. We went with two big tables under fairy lights and share plates of our favourite foods that made the whole night feel like a big feast with our favourite people which is what we always imagined our wedding night to be.

Why did you choose Journey Street Food as your caterer?

We first tasted Ruby and Channa’s food at this sweet little brewery and were hooked! They were the first vendor we booked and we didn’t want to look anywhere else. Their food makes you feel warm and fuzzy and you can feel their love and travels through their cooking. We quickly became great friends with them and their sweet family and are so thankful they were a part of our day.

What are your favourite memories of the day?

From Bens dad walking me down the aisle to saying our vows that we wrote to one another, our first dance to Love me tender, oh and the grazing table was phenomenal Ruby absolutely outdid herself! The whole day was honestly so special and memorable. We both made sure we stopped and appreciated everything happening around us and we feel so grateful to have had such a dreamy wedding day.

THE STORY OF US ….part three ( scroll down for parts one and two)

THAILAND

  The “Old Salt” was a 70 ft steel Ketch owned by an American skipper named Bob. Bob was running surf charters out of Lagundri Bay, on the mainland of Nias.  We said goodbye to our little island home and joined the boat for the end of the season. Our first charter was with a bunch of professional surfers from Hawaii. The infamous Johnny Boy Gomes, Buttons Kaluhiokalani and Eddie Rothman were part of “Da Hui” crew. It was a pretty crazy trip with lots of big personalities, some incredible surfing and a baptism by fire for me in the kitchen...Channa acting as both first mate and chef with me as kitchen hand, learning on the go.Once the season was over we stayed on the board for the delivery trip to Phuket in Thailand where the boat was to undergo a refit during the off season. We sailed north along the Sumatran coastline to Aceh  where we spent a couple of days surfing and snorkeling in the coral gardens on Pulau Weh before crossing the Malacca Straights to Phuket in Thailand.

 Here we left the boat and headed north by public transport ...(the craziest train trip we’ve ever been on!) to Bangkok and further north Chang Mai. We hired a motorbike and headed north to Chang Rai, somewhere along the road we decided to take a detour, hoping to find a place to spend the night, and managed to get extremely lost in the hill county. After riding along the rain rutted dirt roads, through tiny villages where no one spoke a word of English we eventually made it to a larger town where we spent the night in a Buddist temple, the happy monk chattering away to us in Thai while nodded and smiled back while we drank sweet tea he served us. The next morning the young novice monks who lived at the temple waved us off in the right direction. We continued our journey north through the breathtaking countryside, past the hill tribe women in their silver adorned headdresses and brightly embroidered clothing heading to the fields for the day’s work. We eventually made it to Chang Rai and spent the next week holed up in a backpacker’s hostel with the worst Asian flu ever, sustained by tom kha gai, a chicken and coconut milk soup with lots of fresh aromatics.  We spent the a month in Thailand in total before heading to Sri Lanka for me to meet Channa’s extended family and discover the land of his youth....

LOVE STORY…CAITLIN AND JESSIE’S BOHO TIPI WEDDING

Caitlin and Jesse’s wedding was our first big wedding, we were confident in our food and staff but we’d never done a wedding this size with so many food items. Channa set up for me but wasn’t onsite for the actual service so it just me and the girls….to say I was nervous was a massive understatement…but we pulled it off and everyone had a great night. My team of girls were amazing and the feeling afterwards of kicking such a big goal for us was euphoric. It galvanised my love of weddings and convinced us that this was the direction we wanted to head with Journey Street Food.

Caitlin tells us a little about her story and what it was like from their perspective:

How did he propose?

He proposed on the gondola in Queenstown NZ. It was a stunning backdrop and a very memorable holiday. 

Tell me a bit about your wedding planning process, who was involved?

We had a very specific vision of what we wanted for our wedding. We wanted a laid back boho style wedding with great food and drinks. We knew we wanted tipis from Tipi Luxe that was a must. Then we chose the venue based on being allowed to have the tipis and we wanted natural surroundings and that’s how we found the Hidden Valley Farm. We are huge foodies, so we then picked our caterer, we wanted Asian fusion canapés. And then the bar was also important because we knew we wanted craft beers and cocktails. We then choose a date to suit all of those important vendors. 

What was unique about your wedding?

At the time we had the wedding, not many of our friends had been to a boho style cocktail wedding. It was laid back, and exactly how we’d envisioned. 

Why did you choose Journey Street Food as your caterer?

We knew we wanted Asian fusion, and canapés. A friend told us about a great market stall that did Sri Lankan, Journey Street Food. I contacted Ruby who was so helpful with information and pricing. She then had Channa whip up a tasting plate and even brought it to our house to try. My now husband and I loved every single bite! 

What are your favourite memories of the day?

We loved sharing the music, food and cocktails with all of our favourite people. It’s what makes us happiest. 

What has changed for you since you got married?

We now have a little boy and life has just gotten better by the day. 

photo by Brian Geritz

THE STORY OF US ….part two ( scroll down for part one)

NIAS

We landed in KL, spent a night in a seedy backpackers in China Town then caught a train to Penang, where we crossed over to Indonesia by ferry to Medan, followed by a 12 hour bus trip across Sumatra to Sibolga on the west coast from where we caught another overnight ferry out to Nias. We did a quick shop in Guningstioli and then caught the local bus to Sirombu (a five hour drive) on the other side of Nias, where we hired a fishing boat to take us out to our final destination, the tiny island of Asu in the Hinako group. It was a crazy trip, a non stop assault on the senses, from the heat and smells of the city, the 4am cry of the mosque that had me sitting bolt upright in bed fearing for my life (where we stayed in Medan was right across the road from the biggest mosque in the city!) to the surreal experience of riding along the  potholed road on a becak (rickshaw)  in Guningsitoli as dawn broke through the coconut palms. 

I will never forget the feeling or the sound as I dove under the clear blue water of Asu and heard the tinkle of coral as the waves gently lapped at the shore, washing away the grime and  chaos of the trip and coming up to the most exquisite little piece of paradise I had ever seen. We found some accommodation in a homestay and quickly settled in to where would be our home for the next two months. 

Asu is a tiny island, there were about 15 families living there at that time, about 70 people in total. There was one tiny shop where you could buy a few very basic dried goods, a little bamboo church and lots and lots of coconut trees. Copra ( smoked coconut flesh for oil) and fishing were the only industry as well a little bit of homestay tourism. There were a couple of Belgian guys who had built some bungalows and sold ice cold beer and soft drinks ( and nothing else). You could walk around the island in two hours, if you took your time, and across the middle in half an hour. There were no cars or motorbikes, the only transport was a hand made wheel barrow. The major attraction, was the incredible reef break off the point of the island that was the draw card for the surfers and the reason we had ventured to such a remote location. 

During our two months on Asu we lived with a local family, learned to speak basic Indonesian, swam, snorkeled and Channa surfed almost every day. I hung out with the local women, learned to cook their dishes, and was fascinated by their culture. At night we’d wander up to the Belgians and drink Bintangs with other surfers, telling tales of chasing waves around the world, laughing and joking and dancing into the early hours of the morning. We had found paradise!

After two months our visa was about to expire so we repeated the journey in reverse, all the way back to Penang. We spent a few days here, eating our selves silly, with some of the best street food in the world. Georgetown in Penang has a rich cultural mix of Malays, Indians and Chinese. Their food cultures are all so strong and vibrant. Yum cha, roti chanai, curries served on banana leaves in packed little eating houses, fried noodles of every description, tandoori cooked in drums on the sidewalk and tropical fruit I had never seen in my life. After a diet of rice, fish and a few green vegetable on the island we were in foodie heaven!

After a few days we renewed our visa we headed back on the long journey to Asu. We could have happily stayed there forever but we knew we had to find some way to keep traveling, so one day when a big steel yacht the “Old Salt” pulled up to the surf break, Channa paddled over and asked the American skipper, Bob if he needed any crew, he said he did and the fact that Channa had just completed his skipper’s ticket and was a chef as well got him the job instantly...but there was one condition on which he could take the job....he had to take his wife!  “Can she cook?” asked Bob

“Of course!” Channa  lied and so began the next chapter in our adventure....

LOVE STORY…. MICHELLE AND ISAAC’S COUNTRY BARN WEDDING

Let me introduce you to some of the awesome couples we have the pleasure of getting to know and catering for on their wedding day..... Michelle and Isaac Retchless were married at ‘The Barn’ in Cooroibah in April this year. As soon we visited the property I could see why they fell in love with the place.   The sprawling property holds surprises around every corner, a rustic horse drawn wagon, a little wooden footbridge spanning a lily pond, the dramatic pine forest where the ceremony was held and the most impressive feature .... the American style wooden barn. With it’s exposed wooden beams, rough sawn timber and vintage casement windows, it truly is  a labour of love that creates the perfect atmosphere in which to celebrate.  

There is the cutest little purpose built kitchen beside from where we served up Mexican canapes of jalepeno poppers, southern fried chicken with home made barbecue sauce  and grilled corn on the cob followed by pulled pork, chipotle chicken and black bean and vegetable fajita tacos in little individual boxes. The food was served festival style, where guests come and help themselves, creating a relaxed vibe and saving a heap of money! 

 Here is a little bit from Michelle about their special day. 

How did you meet?

Isaac and I met through mutual friends at church. I still remember saying "Isaac is the FUNNIEST guy I have ever met" (and I still think it is true to this day!) 

How did he propose?

I don't think you will get a more unique proposal haha Isaac proposed with ... a sweet potato! The words "Will you marry me?" were inscribed in the potato. It was based off a company we saw on Shark Tank called Potato Parcel, who make a living sending people messages on potatoes. It was perfect, unique, something we had personally shared together years prior and it still makes me laugh to this day! (As a joke we gave everyone a sweet potato inscribed with a pun as our Wedding Favour) 

Tell me a bit about your wedding planning process, who was involved?

This was probably my favourite part, we shook up the norms and didn't have ANY bridesmaids or groomsmen. While we had lots of support from family & friends (which we couldn't of done it without them), it meant everything was exactly how Isaac and I wanted. It also made the whole journey extremely fun, as we both involved in every part - including shopping for my dress (Isaac chose it) and his suit. 

What was unique about your wedding?

We really tried to make it exactly how we wanted, we didn't stick to meaningless traditions and we stayed true to what we wanted from the start. We got married in a pine forest, we didn't have bridesmaids or groomsmen, we had the BEST tacos ever, the coolest Kombi photobooth and most of all we had fun. 

Why did you choose Journey Street Food as your caterer?

We knew we wanted tacos, so when I stumbled across Journey Street Food's Instagram and saw the most delicious street food, I had to enquire and we are so glad we did! Journey Street Food completely fulfilled our desires and they were able to cater for Isaac's love of fried chicken, along with providing the greatest entrees and tacos! Our guests still mentioned how much they enjoyed the food! 

What are your favourite memories of the day?

There was so many, but we were in awe by the speeches! Words can't explain, how genuine and loving our friends and family were in this moment. We were both humbled, grateful and so appreciative. Best. Day. Ever. 

( Photos: Samuel Lowther )

THE STORY OF US…. Part one

OUR SRI LANKAN INSPIRED HIPPY WEDDING

I love a good story. I love hearing about how people met, where they grew up, how they came to be where they are today. Maybe I’m a little overly curious...I consider myself interested. So I thought I’d use this platform to do a little story telling…. our story…. the stories of some of the people we cater for....maybe your story...who knows?...

Let’s start with our story, Channa’s and mine (Ruby) how we met, our lives previously and the crazy journey we’ve been on to get where we are now. Then come with us as we discover what’s in store for the future. 

Channa and I met through mutual friends in Coolum Beach, on the Sunshine Coast. I was 19, studying childcare and living by the beach in Yaroomba. He was working out at sea on fishing boats and living just up the road with a bunch of crazy artists and fishermen. We were both partying pretty hard and on quite self destructive paths and knew that something had to change. On a camping trip down the south coast of NSW I took Channa to visit the commune, Tuntable Falls, just out of Nimbin, where I had spent my early childhood years. It is situated in a long valley that stretches from a lush rainforest encircling a towering waterfall at one end to open rolling farm land at the other. He fell in love with the place and decided then and there that this was the place he was looking for. We decided to move down there together as soon as possible. We came back to Coolum, packed our few belongings and moved down to a little wooden shack “The Star House” in Pixie’s valley. It had no bathroom or kitchen ( in fact no running water at all) and no electricity. Our rent was to keep the lantana from overtaking the place. We spent the next two years here learning about ourselves and each other, detoxing from our previous lives and rebuilding a new one together. I worked at the preschool on the commune and Channa went to marine college in Ballina and completed his skipper’s ticket. We built a little lean to kitchen off the side of the shack and ran a pipe for water down from a spring on the hillside to a tank. From this tiny kitchen we’d hand roll and fill hundreds of samosas to sell in the local store and in town. Once a month we’d cook up a big curry feast at the local store and the community would gather to eat, play music and tell stories.

Whenever we could we’d do trips to the coast in our  VW kombi and camp in the sand dunes, surfing and exploring and dreaming of adventures to come. 

 We loved our life in hills and were almost about to settle down there but the wider world was calling...In June 1995 we were married in a beautiful ceremony beside the creek, by my Dad, surrounded by the Tuntable Community. Our ceremony was a mixture of Sri Lankan and Christian traditions. I wore a sari as did my 12 bridesmaids, we walked into the ceremony space with our families to the beat of the tabla. We had written our own vows. Channa’s included the lighting of a big brass lamp together, feeding each other coconut rice and him presenting me with a necklace of his Mother’s. We also had a reading from the Bible and exchanged rings. After the ceremony we headed to the community hall for the reception. Channa and his mother had made rice packets of Sri Lankan curry, wrapped in banana leaf and newspaper as you would find in small roadside stalls all over Sri Lanka. Many of our friends brought delicious meals to share. Another friend made beautiful bouquets of local wild flowers to decorate the hall. We ate, sat around an enormous bon fire and danced the night away. It was the wedding of my dreams, made so special by the contributions of so many members of the community, our friends and family.  Just two weeks later, after packing up, selling and giving away pretty much everything we owned we hopped on a plane for Kuala Lumpur, bound for Indonesia and the next chapter of our life together.....