Hugo's brush with quiche!

Our resident Chef, Hugo took a nose dive into a spinach and fetta quiche last Sunday. Fortunately Di witnessed the event and came to the rescue. Thanks to her prompt attention he was able to return to work a short time later with crumbs removed from his face and a fresh uniform on.

Barn Swallows return to Cocos

Happily flying around the Q station but too fast to photograph well!

Another Dory's romance

Jo and Ray met at Dory's Cafe, at this very table, several months ago over a latte. Unlike other couples in the early stages of a relationship they return to their own Islands for a breather rather than to their own houses! When they are both on Cocos they return to Dory's each Sunday morning to celebrate their meeting!

Common Sandpipers

Ok, I know we were supposed to be down at the Club supporting the Mantas against the Morays but actually I went bird watching with Karen at the north end of the runway and enjoyed seeing these little fellows.

This little Sandpiper was having a rest at the elephants graveyard, south end of the runway. 

Dory sandwich on South Island

Tom,  the weatherman and I kayaked over to South Island yesterday while Claire and Di were hard at work in the cafe.  It was Tom's last full day on Island so it seemed right ot spend it at the south end of the lagoon. Some of the migrating birds are back in small numbers. We saw Greenshank, Plovers (pictured above, although I'm not sure exactly which ones ), Ruddy Turnstones and quite a few White Terns.

A few weeks ago Geof and I took Sally's Mum and Step Dad to Horsburgh Island (where we also had a Dory sandwich!). There were lots of baby Terns sitting together on branches like the two above.  The mothers and fathers circled over our heads telling us not to go too near their off spring! It was an amazing day. We were also lucky enough to see some of the little White Eyes, pictured below. 
  

What is going on!!

Jose popped in for a coffee the other day before going out with Geof. We all thought he had gone on holiday so what's he doing here on Cocos  surrounded by ladies on the Glass bottom boat?

No milk on Cocos!

The shops on Island have run out of milk and the ship isn't due in until the end of the month. In an effort to make our last couple of cartons of UHT last the distance we are selling cups of coffee only (no mugs). We normally sell a lot more mugs than cups so I hunted through the cupboards in an attempt to find some extra receptacles. Don't be surprised if on your next visit you are welcomed with a smiley face from the cups as well as the staff!

Good news! A babe is born...

The little white tern in the tree by the tennis court is a proud Mum. The picture is a little blurred because she is quite high up but hopefully you can see the little fluffy babe just under her right wing.

Flirting

While we are on the subject of flirting, what do you think is going on here?

We had a lovely evening on our verrandah with Di and Ian, Brenda, Ian and Robbie (up here on a junket, investigating people who come up here on junkets) Jeff and Jill. Robbie was very impressed with my picture of Doris on the notice board and as a result we have decided to start a section on the blog about Doris. More of this to come....

Looking down at you looking up at me!

These White Terns in the tall trees at Trannies were flying around, flirting with one another until they spotted me down below with my camera. I took loads of photos of them but liked this one the best as I think he is playing with me and she is getting a little bored with his antics! The terns are here in large numbers at present and look amazingly like angels flying in the sky.

Evening meal at Dory's Cafe

Dinner at Dory's on18th May was a bon voyage meal for Tiina and Finn who are off Island for 7 weeks. Jack and Lyn joined them, along with Sue, Maddy and Sue's Mum and Dad. We are plan to offering dinner once per week on a regular basis in the near future.

Cafe reopened after asbestos removal and facelift!

A huge thank you to Paul for the wonderful paint job both inside and out; Jason for organizing and coordinating everything; Jocka and Chubbz for all the structural work and Dave for moving us out and back in with his wonderful, cheerful disposition! Pictured here are Paul the painter and Jocka the joker.

 


I keep meaning to take some pictures of the finished cafe but would like to have some with the customers sitting outside. Unfortunately I only remember to bring out my camera when they have all gone home!

We have a fantastic team working at Dory’s now and I can look to the future without fear of having to close due to lack of staff! Claire works from Monday to Thursday, Di from Sunday to Friday, Brenda on Wednesday and Sunday and now Kerenda has joined us on Friday and Sundays. Yahoo! What a pleasure it is to be surrounded by such a lovely and enthusiastic bunch of people. Geof is of course always present behind the scenes making sure that we all remember what we are supposed to be doing!

We have started making  takeaway frozen meals for those who would like an alternative to cooking for themselves in the evening.  We welcome feedback and suggestions for future menus. There is more to food photography than I thought......  the food is much nicer than it looks!!

After hours,  I slip off for a spot of bird watching and am very excited about the imminent birth of Wilhelmina White Tern’s babies.  I’ll keep you posted on their progress (still eggs at the moment).

Jose, concerned about my lack of appropriate twitching gear bought me back a wonderful present on his recent trip to Perth. I shall of course wear my new hat while lurking in Oceana House gardens each time I go over,  with binoculars and camera in hand.  Thank you so much for your thoughtful gift Jose!

Finally, a huge thank you to all our regular customers who survived the caffine drought and returned to the cafe as soon as we opened the doors again.  Pictured here are Kim and Trish, two of our Sunday morning regulars. Kim has a very important secondary job... he maintains and fixes our coffee machine and is around at the drop of a hat when we need his help.  An extra big thank you for all your recent help Kim. 

Sorry, we are closed temporarily for asbestos removal!

Unfortunately the cafe has been closed since 29th March for  asbestos revoval both inside and out. The work is expected to take approximately 3 weeks and we hope to be open again by mid April in time for Easter. I'm so sorry for the inconvienience but the situation is beyond our control. 

Di took advantage of the break to go back to the mainland and see her family; Brenda remained here and continues to feather her new nest.  Claire got a flight out with the RFDS and has spent her break in hospital in Fremantle.  Thankfully she is recovering well from her operation and due out of hospital soon. It may be a while before she is back at work but we wish her all the best for a speedy recovery.

I must admit I have thoroughly enjoyed having some time off on Island.  I usually go to the mainland for my holidays so it has been great having some time to do all the things I never usually have time for including learning how to use my new camera for my latest passion, bird watching! I take photos of the birds and then go home and look them up in my bird books so initially I used the pictures to help me with identification.  Now that Iam getting better at knowing what I am looking at, I've spent more time trying to get some good shots.  



I wonder what these two White Terns are saying to each other. Any suggestions?



White Tern in a tree at Trannies Beach

Exciting news this week is the Common Noddy birds are back and nesting down at the south end of the island.  The White Terns are here in large numbers too, particularly in the tall trees around Trannies Beach. 

Common Noddy flying around the South End of Cocos Island

Common Noddy

When the café reopens I will have information about the local birds available to browse through for those that are interested in finding out more about our feathered friends along with me.

I’ve decided to put some of my bird pictures on the blog to keep interested people up to date on the comings and goings of our Cocos avian residents and visitors.

Designer Aprons from Dory’s Café modeled here by Deidre and Amber, two recent visitors to Cocos who frequented our Cafe

Polish Cake Connoisseurs’ leave Island for Adelaide!

Barbara and Jerry Lazarski came in every day of their stay to sample our cakes. Jerry's favourate was the Orange and Almond slice.  We hope they come back one day.

Bird spotting on Horsburgh Island during Dory's Staff day out

We had a Staff day out on the Lagoon on Saturday.  Wendy (our local Florence Nightingale) and Ian (Di's husband) came along too.  Geof (who is my partner) our pie maker, bread slicer, gardener and general help around the placer, took us out on his Glass Bottom Boat.  We went to Horsburgh and Prison Island and spent most of the day wallowing around in the water which was crystal clear and warm. I took some bird photos with my new flash camera. They are slightly out of focus but I am delighted with them as birds are few and far between around here.  This dear little fellow is a Christmas Island White Eye.

Customer seen running from Cafe!

One of our regular customers was telling amusing stories at other peoples expense last week when they observed Tina, their fitness instructor/personal trainer through the window heading towards the café.  We quickly disposed of the crumbed plate in front of our customer, at the guilty customer’s request.

‘Good mornings’ and ‘how are you are goings’ were taking place between the customer and Tina when Di  (our famous barista)popped out with a plate, laden with two pieces of cake and asked the customer if they would like extra cream!  The customer, horrified at the implications, leaped up and left the café hurriedly.  Di, with a big grin on her face says sorry but she couldn’t resist setting the customer up!

By the way, well done to Tina with the great work she is doing on the Island getting us up and moving (Di seems to be able to get people moving too!).

Claire on hols and freezers replaced by local muscle men!

Saturday 19^th February 2011

Claire left for Perth last Saturday. We hope she has a fantastic holiday and look forward to seeing here back at the café someday, hopefully.

Today was our first Saturday opening. How good to see Trish and Kim bang on the dot of 8.00am, the same time we used to see them on Sunday mornings. Thank you so much for your support guys! 

 Next customer through the door was Digger, dressed in work clothes but still making time to call in for breakfast clutching last Sundays newspaper for quiet entertainment.  Thanks also go to Ali, Levi, Jack and Megs, Brian and Joanie and all the other locals who took advantage of the Saturday morning opening (8am – 12mid day!).

Two of our freezers have broken down in recent weeks (the second one died on Tuesday). We needed help to move things around and I spied some excellent biceps on FOUR strapping young men (non residents) quietly having lunch inside the café.  We enlisted their help to lift the broken machines over the top of the glass display cabinet and out to the car. Later in the day we needed more help to bring fridges and freezers from home to the café.  This time Di enlisted the help of Ian and Chubbz, our TWO local heroes (photos to follow) who carried out double the work with half the manpower and a swig and a puff for sustenance along the way! Thank you so much for your help.  If we had any Melbourne, Victoria Bitter or Corona Beer on Island I'd buy you some to say thanks.  As the ship is still on Christmas Island where it has been waiting for weeks to unload and can't because of bad weather, and the last load of drinks for the club were dropped in the container, smashing many of the bottles and contaminating the rest of the stock, the chance of me being able to say thank you with a cold beer is pretty remote!

Local resident (friend of the stars and new owner of a Corvette Stingray – the ultimate American sports car!) returns to Island

I caught up with Graham Flynn in the cafe last week to ask him about his trip to America to collect his beloved sports car.  While he was in San Francisco he met up with his old friend Richard Hymes, George Lucas’s/Spielberg’s sound editor.  He ended up at George Lucas’s Ranch having been invited along with a number of Academy award winners for a viewing of the “Black Swan”. Wearing jeans and a jumper he felt he fitted in quite well.  It could have been a different story if he’d packed his faux leopard skin suit!

Staff goodbyes and welcomes all in one week!

Huge changes coming up in the cafe with our Sunday staff Bronnie, Candace and Maddie leaving the Island this week (Chynna has already gone off to Perth).  This means that for the time being, sadly we will be unable to operate on Sundays.
We have had such fun over the past couple of years, Chynna and Candace keeping Bronnie and I entertained with their music and antics.  Bronnie has been an amazingly reliable member of staff, she is always coming in with great ideas and she approaches each Sunday with renewed enthusiasm speeding through the morning at an amazing pace.  Candace and Chynna have gone from being ‘OK’ workers to being a dynamic pair who work confidently and accurately, always enthusiastic and great company. I shall miss them all very much.

I was concerned that I may have to operate the café by myself or close the doors with so many staff moving on so I was over the moon last week when Di walked through the doors of the cafe looking for work.  She worked at Dory's for a while last year and it was great to have her on the team. She was unsure of her future at that stage but is now back on Island full time and able to work with us from Monday to Friday. You will see her friendly face out front as she enjoys making coffee and talking to customers.

Brenda is another life saver.  She also came along last week looking for work and was welcomed with open arms. Claire has been teaching her about the goings on in the kitchen and we are going to put her previous experience in the food industry to good use in the coming months. If anyone would like their house cleaned please contact Brenda at the cafe as she is looking for

as much work as possible (my words, not hers!). 

With two new members of staff on board I feel better prepared for Claire going on holiday in February! The next few weeks will be spent re grouping and we will hopefully come up with some great new ideas for the future.

Michelle and Clint left for Perth on Friday. They will be back in 3 months for their on Island wedding. What a beautiful couple they are!