One thing I’ve discovered this time is the Australian breakfast cult. I can’t remember when I lived here before (I left in 1975) that people went out for breakfast. I only remember morning and afternoon tea.The day of the Big Family Reunion was also my sister-in-law’s birthday so my brother thought breakfast would be a good idea. I looked up the Internet and found the Goldfish Bowl in Armidale which seemed to have a lot of good comments. Despite its popularity, we managed to seat 10 people.

Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise sauce and pancakes seemed to be the most popular choices at our table. The coffee and cappuccino were good and they even gave us plates for the birthday cake my brother had brought along, something totally unheard of in France. Another time in a café, a woman came in and said she had “a gluten issue” and asked if they could make toasted sandwiches with the bread she had brought with her. Not only did they do so, but they charged less!

The decor was very unusual at the Goldfish Bowl, with upturned packing cases providing extra seating. It was a very relaxed atmosphere and the service and food were good. A great way to start the day and celebrate a birthday.  I also loved the sign they put outside when it’s closed.

But our best experience so far is GGs at Coolangatta on the Gold Coast. The day my brother and family left to go back to Sydney after spending three lovely days with us, Leonardo suggested we join  him there after his workout. They had an even better choice of dishes including a “veggie” breakfast with poached eggs, spinach, feta cheese, avocado, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, mushrooms and toast which we both took.

Relationnel chose the traditional Big Brekkie (Australians love to shorten words), with poached eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, vegetable fritter and mushrooms. He also had the best coffee he’s had yet in Australia. I had a good cappuccino too. Australians will go a long way to get a good coffee. It’s something of a cult here and many people will stop off on their way to work to get a take-away coffee. That’s also something that has happened in recent time.

The Goldfish Bowl, 3/160 Rusden Street  Armidale NSW 2350, Australia (02) 6771 5533

GGs Café, 48 Musgrave Street, Kirra, Queensland 4225, Australia