lanacoora-chillies.com.au

Whilst in Byron for the Taste of Byron Chilli Festival, we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in the Byron Bay Hinterland. Billy and Ouida – our hosts, can only be described as some of the Universe’s most beautiful people. We say this having known them for some years now, although this is the way they are described by everyone they meet. They have 68 acres of green space tucked away behind Byron Bay with a gorgeous “hut” which is clean comfortable and luxurious (white linen sheets, Swiss chocolate and plenty of fantastic Australian sunshine. Breakfast was amazing, ranging from the simple to the exotic, and nothing is too hard.

They share this wonderul part of the world with their two sons, partners and four fantastic grandchildren, not to mention the wildlife, the python and their coffee trees bursting at the seams with coffee beans. If I have to leave my little bit of paradise, it is made all the more worthwhile to visit their little bit of paradise. Check out their website at http://www.stayz.com.au/25317, and please consider their accommodation should you ever be in the area. We also had a fantastic time visiting the Bangalow Markets, and will be heading off down there next month to pick up some more native plants, more of the most amazing Peanut and lime sauce I have ever tried and for some lunch – oh the choices…….

On my last post, I expressed my gratitude to Keiran for his invaluable help. I rudely neglected to mention the assistance and company of his mother and father, and his son Will. I have met these people twice now yet they were willing to step into the breech and give me some assistance.

I also met some of the people who are regular visitors to the chillies galore forum (see links). It was fantastic to put faces to names and I am sure it is not the last time we are to meet. Cheers people!

Whew! I am shattered! Byron Bay is gorgeous. It is also vibrant, alive, busy, bursting with rainbows, and full of people who love to eat chilli infused food. Hello and thanks to all of you who visited the stall, tasted the chillies, and walked away hot but happy.

Saturday’s Chilli Festival was huge. People from all over the world came to the event to sample chillies, sauces, jams, chocolate, food and margaritas. There was a chilli eating contest, which I judged. Had to award the prize to the chick who suffered every step of the way, but sampled all the chillies I could offer. Congratulations! And I hope the sour cream helped.

Keiran too, was a star performer, being my helper for the day. Couldn’t have done it without him! Fantastic, and more than happy to be there. Coped well with the drenching too. Tamborine’s first major storm in about six months, and I wasn’t here to see it. The ground has been so dry that it is hard to tell that it happened at all. But in Byron, it rained, and rained and rained. Most visitors hung around to see if it would stop, but it didn’t and the crowds dwindled away. Despite that, it was a fantastic day and we now have another couple of thousand people continuing their “great chilli adventure.”

Hi all. It has been an age since I posted anything. I apologise for being out of the loop for a time.

But here it is, merely five more sleeps until the inaugural Byron Bay Chilli Festival. And what an event it promises to be! Loads of exhibitors from all over Australia converging on the beautiful township of Byron Bay on the Eastern Seaboard to allow you to sample their wares. The Ready Steady Cook! roadshow is coming to town, and there is a whisper of the presence of a fairly important guy in the hot pepper world coming to see what we can do. We are a little bit excited…..

However, there is a downside to chilli festivals in September. And that would be a lack of fresh chilli product. I have had a winter of drama here at Lanacoora Chillies, with pest and disease (namely rats, mice and bacterial wilt) invading the polytunnel, so yield is down. Fortunately, we were not affected by the frosts that managed to make a mess of many gardens and farms in south east Queensland. We are into our third season here, and I have to say that every season is very, very different from the others. This year, we were slow to head into winter, but when it got here, it was very cold (for us, that is.) We started our spring early, in August, and had some beautiful days.

We had some rain, after two months of dry, and it was a wonderful soaking rain, but it brought with it a cold snap. The chillies didn’t like that. Then loads of sun… and a bit more rain… with another cold snap. Then today, just for a change, we had 30 degrees Celcius in my back yard, with gusty winds and no rain. What little seedlings had poked their heads up, turned over with the heat. I am not complaining (well, maybe a little), but we are hoping for a little consistency, some nice rain, and a lovely flush of new growth on everything so the wallabies will leave my tender plants alone.

Oh, and can the spring storms stop turning left before they get here please?

Hope to see many of you at Byron to try the chillies, products and dishes on offer.

Speaking of wallabies, looking good on the World Cup front……