As my time in Australia stretches on and I watch as more and more of my U.S. friends on Facebook post about going to pumpkin patches, picking apples, and doing fall things in general, I can’t help but feel like I’m missing out. I’m missing out because Australia, due to the fact that it’s in the Southern Hemisphere, is actually transitioning into springtime. So, all of those typically fall activities that everyone is doing, I’m not going to get to do until next year. Imagine my excitement when I was told that strawberry picking season has just started and that I was invited to go with some friends.
That’s how I ended up in a full car on a Sunday morning driving about an hour outside of the city to go pick these strawberries. Because it was such a nice, sunny day, there were a ton of farmers selling their own goods on the side of the road. We stopped at one point and collectively my friends bought apples, mangos, a 30-pack of eggs, and avocados.
As we drove up to the strawberry field, however, we were saddened to see that, even though the season has technically started, the strawberries were not ready to be picked yet. So, we decided on going to Lake Jubilee near Doylestown. On our way to Lake Jubilee, we stopped at a cute, little honey stall on the side of the road. They were selling three different types of honey (I have no idea what the actual difference in taste is between different types of honey so I just picked one and bought it). What was interesting to me was that there was no person manning the stall. Rather, the product was on the shelves and the counter, and there was a little box that we could put the money into.
At Lake Jubilee, we decided to have a picnic of the food that we had brought to eat on the trip. The lake itself wasn’t too big, but it had all kinds of colorful flowers growing around it that my friend, who knows a lot about flowers, would tell me about. She knew their names, where they normally grow, and what herbal benefit some of the flowers could provide. The lake had a trail that went around it so we strolled along, looking at the beauty, picking flowers, and making jokes. There were quite a few people there with their dogs so sometimes we’d be pleasantly surprised when turning a corner. We saw a lot of ducks, and even an acacia (which is like an Australian porcupine).
Overall, the day was well spent with good company.
xx
