Out and About - Henri Marc

It is a widely-held view that the western suburbs are a cultural and culinary wasteland.
OK, we do have The Joan*...and when I say "we" I mean "they" as I do not, strictly speaking live in the western suburbs (I am beyond all that), but it is my closest shopping centre and all that stuff.

But The Riff ** has never had a lot going for it......until now!

Henri Marc is in town!

They have the . best . coffee by miles.

It is a bit tricky to find and doesn't really jump out at you.
Can you spot the cafe here?

But once you are inside you know that it is not just your normal-run-of-the-mill place.
It's a bit hipster - yes?

Last time I went I had a muffin that was as good as mine! Home-made and really, you know, muffiny.
Not cakey.

(yeah, it's blurry....no, it's not your eyes.....yes, it's a shocking photo)

 Today I had the french toast with poached peaches and salted caramel.

Oh, my word! It was to DIE for. Seriously.
I would be happy if I had to eat only this for the rest of my life.

I was severely temped by the "caramel on toast".
Also by the "avocado, tomato, ricotta, pesto on sourdough", sounds ordinary.....looks amazing and I bet it tastes amazing too!

So if you are a westie or a bluey*** or you are travelling west anytime between 8am and 3pm Monday to Saturday go check it out.

Don't be put off by this -

Pst, I'll give you a clue it's near the war memorial.

*The Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre.
** The Riff = Penrith to locals
***From the Blue Mountains

So much variety

The other day I was walking on the rim of a World Heritage Area and the next day I pedalled my bike around here -

This is the rowing course built for the Sydney Olympic games in 2000.
It's very cool!

It's also very flat!

There is some dry-land rowing in case you don't want to get wet!

And other play equipment for grown-ups.

Hey! What are you looking at?

Oh, yeah - ducks!

 And pelicans.

Sometimes you can get a cuppa over there - but not today.

Oh well, you can't have everything!

But seriously, it's a great facility for this part of Sydney. It used to be a wasteland, a sand mining area, a no-go zone. And now there picnic areas, there is hanggliding, canoe hire, a whitewater course and so many trees - they must have planted thousands of trees and now 12 years later they are well-grown up.
I love it!

Hey is this the Mississippi? Wordless Wednesday

No! It's the Nepean Belle at Penrith!

Today I joined in with Wordless Wednesday on My Little Drummer Boys blog.