Yowah Magic Amidst the Howling Dark Wind

My good friend Gwen and I awoke to a blustery cold black predawn morning. We shuffled our groceries and hot water urn out to the truck or "ute" as the Aussies say. We had loaded the portable grill and propane bottle on board the night before along with a long table and many folding chairs. The tourism group of filmakers both crew and stars were expecting to shoot on top of The Bluff here in Yowah, Queensland, Australia. We had offered to fix them a bush breakfast Yowah style. Gwen used to have her own catering company in Melbourne area before the opal mining addiction had hit her and I am a good cook used to cooking for fourteen when I did my Outback Opal Field Tours. About four kilometers away on a dusty bush corrugated dirt track with a steady climb upward, was the top of the bluff where if the sun had been up yet you good see far to the horizon in any direction without any sign of civilization. With our flashlights we hunted up wood kindling, sticks, and logs to start a blazing red orange fire for our guests to huddle by when they arrived and for us to see by as we unloaded our cooking gear and food. As the horizon began to glow and the fire roared we had already set up and fired up the grill. We had the crepe suzette batter made, bacon sizzling, coffee, tea, and juice bar laid out and were ready to pour the crepes onto the griddle when the sleepyeyed camera crew and actors arrived shivering in the cold and bee-lined for the campfire. Our scrambled eggs bowl was brimming over and the crepes were stacked. We set out bowls of fine grained sugar, and halves of fresh lemons, along with many sticks of real butter. We directed all to smear their crepes with butter, sprinkle lightly with the sugar, and then to squeeze the lemon juice over them. This was outback cooking sorcery at its best...this fresh and flavorful and light crepe! They then added their scrambled egg portions and snatched up the bacon slices and chowed down in great wonderment that our opal field food (tucker) could be so, soo... cosmopolitan. The contrast was part of the pleasure. The sun began its wondrous display of "Sunrise on The Bluff" and the bush magic show was complete. Yup, aside from being women opal miners, Gwen and I are Wizards of the Outback, too. To see what I do and why I do it, go to www.ParchedEarthOpals.com and www.outbackgems.com