Apples, apples, apple galoreeeeee!
No, I actually despise apples, they’re the one fruit I’ve always refused to eat. However, this ONE, mind you, ONE visit was the first and LAST time I would enjoy apples.
Or maybe I’d return for a teensy bit more…
(Zooms through plans to sneak out of the house and drive 2 hours away without a license and concludes the plans are never going to be executed…)
You read it right though! 2 hours away to visit an apple orchard! Though, this was no ORDINARY apple orchard…
That doesn’t mean it was magical, just saying.
So, last Saturday, me and my family made plans to visit Southern Sydney, which we’d never been to. Southern Sydney boasts large stretches of farmland, highlands and yes, you guessed it, orchards of every kind. And this orchard, situated a whopping 90 kilometers away, close to the beautiful Blue Mountains, allowed us to pick apples, zucchini, tomatoes, sunflowers and more. But it was best known for its apples, for the various different types of apples it offered for us to try(We were allowed to eat the produce we picked on the spot or carry it back home).
Upon reaching, I eagerly jumped out to be assaulted by a temperature of 11 degrees.
Apparently, the past few weeks, the whole universe wanted to catch me unprepared for the cold and freeze me into a popsicle…
However, my excitement overrode my freezing fingers as I gazed at the rows and rows of tall apple trees, tomatoes, glistening zucchini, the sunflowers tilting their bright, radiant yellow heads towards the shadowed sun, creeping strawberries, and other fruits, I raced inside, forgetting the cold. We were touring with a few friends, and as my parents chattered on, I raced towards the apples.
The first apple, Gala apples, were absolutely delicious. Not caring about the fact that I was eating unwashed apples from trees(after all, that was what you were SUPPOSED to do)I bit into the juicy goodness. The apple was a perfect ruby red, with the baby apples colored hues of royal red to deep, rich maroon. IT WAS SWEETER THAN ANYTHING I’D EVER TASTED IN AN APPLE BEFORE.
Pulling apples off different trees, I tried Fuji, Kanzi, and Pink Lady apples, but the taste of Gala apples lingered in my senses all day long, even after we left. All the apples were just INCREDIBLE. I think I ate 5…
And that’s coming from a person who never consumes apples if she can avoid it.
We then visited the farm animals section, where I fed an overfed goat, who had already eaten a million handfuls of grass from Em’s loving(threatening) hands, and Goat the Great was the plumpest goat I’d ever seen…I think it was the only goat that just kept eating. And eating. And pausing, then eating.
YOU GET THE POINT.
Besides, Em kept yelling at the goat…I’m certain it was intimidated by the 3.5-foot figure of devilishness it could not comprehend.
Poor goat.
AND THEN THERE WAS A VERY RUDE ALPACA. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF TAKING A PICTURE WITH IT AND IT TURNED ITS BACK TO ME AND THE CAMERA, DISMISSING US.
The disrespect and attitude astounded me.
Animals…
I KNEW THAT WAS INTENTIONAL. AND IT HAD THE AUDACITY TO CONTINUE CHEWING ON GRASS, UNBOTHERED.
ANYWAYS.
We stopped in a park to boil Maggi, and hunkering down in my thin hoodie for warmth, I gratefully consumed the heated soup and stayed near the flame for the entire duration my parents continued chattering, ignoring my plight.
I would’ve turned into an ice statue if we hadn’t returned to the car, and I REFUSED TO LEAVE THE CAR AFTER THAT.
Except when we stopped near a plain, and we saw wild kangaroos. ISN’T IT JUST ADORABLE WHEN THEY HOP ABOUT? And there were little baby joeys too…the huge family had claimed this land for their own and we silently observed the playfulness and freedom of the kangaroos.
As we returned(after I managed to tear my eyes away from the heartwarming sight), I collapsed onto my bed and dropped like a sack, for the outing was tiring but another memorable experience to add to my thoughts that night, and for days to come.
Signing off…