Apparently, things don’t always go to plan.

Which is a shame really, considering how much I love to plan. When I first became a chef, nearly 35 years ago, it was the thing that totally made sense to me and drew me to the commercial kitchen.

The basics I learned as an apprentice was all about ‘Mis-en-place’ translated as ‘everything in its place’. The French have such great words for foodie things and as an apprentice I soon learned that everything being in its place before you started service was the key to a successful restaurant and honestly, it’s also very much the key to a good home-cooked meal as well.

You may have heard me mention before Dave and my approach to holiday planning. Dave starts by preparing a simple word document (not excel, much to Victoria’s disgust!) that usually starts with the flights and basic ideas of when we are going and where. Gradually over time we build up the plan, book things that need booking like accommodation, car hire and special restaurants and then as we approach departure, we finalise the finer details.

Sometimes we take a ‘day about’ approach or more often we take a location-based approach where one of us does all the research and then puts forward suggestions to the other, then we make the decisions together. I know it seems strange to some but to be honest, for both Dave and I the planning of a holiday is pretty much just as much fun as the actual trip. Research these days of course includes YouTube Instagram and even TikTok and by the time we get to a destination we are pumped full of information, expectations, bookings, and of course lots and lots of excitement.

This trip came about when we found out about Will and Emma‘s plans for a trip back to the UK with a stopover in Africa. Dave lived in Africa for a few years in the late 70s/early 80’s and has been back a number of times but I have never been to Africa, despite hearing many many fabulous stories.

I couldn’t possibly have Will travelling to Africa before me, so we aligned our dates and managed to find flights using points (that’s a story for another day) and started the meticulous planning process.

Will and Emma are currently in Hong Kong and arrive in Johannesburg on Tuesday morning. The flights we booked had us arriving in Johannesburg on May the 2nd so we had a few days of spare time before meeting up with them.

IMO it’s always a good idea to start a holiday with a little R&R, so we scoured the map and a flight booking website to identify somewhere close by that we could visit quickly before Will and Emma arrived. Of course, we are both still on the ‘number of countries’ hunt, especially Dave, so we also had the prerequisite of needing a country that neither of us had visited before, and so Mauritius became the selected destination (and his 111th!).

Our flight from Sydney to Johannesburg was scheduled at 9:30am meaning we needed to stay in Sydney overnight. Early dinner and early to bed before an early rise was the plan and was all going swimmingly until I woke up around midnight feeling unwell. I’m sure you’ll know that sensation where you just feel like you’re coming down with something but can’t pinpoint it! By the time the alarm sounded at 5am on Thursday morning, my throat was pretty sore, the aches had started and the headache was intense. Suffice to say the next 48 or so hours will not be recounted as part of this blog, for two reasons… one is that I’m confident you don’t want to hear of my ills, but secondly, it’s all a bit of a delirious blur.

Cutting to the quick, it’s now Sunday and I am definitely on the mend. Nurofen, Panadol and a great little throat spray bought at Johannesburg airport (that is both antiseptic and anaesthetic) are definitely my friends!

We did consider staying in Johannesburg and cancelling this little side trip to Mauritius, but I’m so glad we didn’t.

Apart from the fact that sunshine, saltwater and fresh air definitely speed up recovery, it is the most amazing and beautiful little place! It’s not the most common of destinations for Australians, and the only people I really know who have been here are my sister Katrina and her husband Simon. It’s off the beaten track, but is a reasonably popular place for the English and the French to holiday, and apparently a very popular spot for honeymooners from Europe too! It used to be popular for South Africans, but it’s actually become a more expensive place to visit, so less popular than it used to be, even though it’s only a four-hour flight from Joeys.

The tiny country of Mauritius has a population of about 1.3 million across its 2000 sq km, its main industries being textiles, sugarcane and of course tourism.

Dave and I have tried to compare it to somewhere else in the world, but actually there’s nothing that quite matches it. It’s slightly bigger in population and more affluent than Fiji, but very similar in terms of its reliance on tourism, cane and clothing production and its weather. It’s also like some islands in the Caribbean but more multicultural, diverse and again, more prosperous.

Mauritius does not have any indigenous population. Give it a hit on Google if you’re interested, but it’s truly multicultural. The official Language is English, the most spoken language and the names of all the streets and places is French, and the smells and sights of all the spices is definitely influenced by India.

Mauritian food reflects this incredible diversity and is literally a melting pot with strong influences from India, France, China and Africa.

If I had not been so obsessed with food, we probably would have cancelled yesterday’s food walking tour of Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. But as you know the obsession is very real and no throat infection was gonna get in my way! We drove to Port Louis around 20 minutes north, easily finding the meet-up location at the port. Two other couples joined our walking tour with the lovely Christopher which led us to eight food stops across a little city centre. Christopher was probably a similar age to me and interestingly each of the couples on the tour (and also Christopher) all had two children each and all of similar ages. One couple also came from Australia, the other Dubai (originally New Zealand), with Christopher obviously being a homegrown local. I can’t recount every detail of what we saw throughout the three-hour tour but I was pretty proud of myself that I did manage to taste everything and keep up reasonable conversation.

The highlight was definitely the food markets which are located very centrally and displayed the most beautiful and diverse array of fruit and vegetables. The market was extremely clean by market standards, with two floors of stalls manned by happy and smiling Mauritians. The influence from such diversity across the world was very evident here with food ingredients ranging from Asian herbs and leaves to leeks, local wild strawberries, raspberries, taro, tropical fruit, pumpkin, lots of chillis, watercress and a very interesting large and crispy white cucumber which we saw served alongside many typical Mauritian dishes.

On the mezzanine level up on the western end of the market there were a number of stalls selling tasty treats to eat. The group grabbed a table and here we tasted the delicious Dohll Puri, the most famous dish of Mauritian cuisine. It is a type of rolled soft flat bread/pancake made with ground chickpeas and stuffed with a bean curry and tomato relish. I can see why this is a local favourite! We also tried a Dahl and chicken curry soup which was heady with spice and so great on the tastebuds, but not so great on the sore throat!

After a icy milk vanilla and chia drink, we then walked to the local natural museum, but unfortunately it was closed so we didn’t get to see the skeleton of the extinct flightless Dodo bird as the guide had planned. Apparently, there are plans to somehow clone a Dodo so that will be interesting if possible!

A quick wedge of fresh pineapple was enjoyed on our walk to our next stop, a Biryani Restaurant famous for its Beef and Chicken Biryani. At less than $5 a serve and super delicious, I can see why this place pumps out over 1000 serves a day. The little dollop of hot chilli on the side was definitely well avoided, the others in our group mixed it in and had tears running down their faces. Can’t imagine that would’ve been much good on my throat!

Our final stop was a short walk away – this time with a Chinese style and here we tried both fried noodles with chicken and ‘Bol Renverse’ – a favourite dish in Mauritius. It literally means “upside-down bowl”. The dish is layered in a bowl with rice, stir-fried vegetables, meat, and a fried egg. The bowl is then flipped over onto a plate before serving. This was probably my favourite dish of the day and here we also learned about the clear sauce in the bottles on each table of every place we had been to. The liquid is simply used as seasoning and is a mixture of water, vinegar, salt, sugar and garlic powder. All the seasonings in one mix – fabulous! No need for saltshakers to clog up in the humidity!

We ended the tour back near the waterfront, tasting some locally produced vanilla and then saying fond farewells to Christoper and the rest of the group. We spotted a couple of interesting Coast Guard vessels so took the obligatory snap with Dave in the foreground and then headed back to our guest house for a swim, some fresh sea air, the sunshine and some rest. Although not feeling great, I am so glad we did this tour – as always a great way to understand a culture better, to meet lovely people and to eat great food.

Today’s ‘trip plan’ had us visiting a well-reviewed restaurant for dinner quite a drive from the hotel – but the ‘best laid plans of mice and men often go awry’ as they say, so we finished the day back at the local restaurant we ate at last night – and had an early night.

Lesson so far on this trip –

1. No amount of carefully planning prevents unexpected changes 😉
2. When Dad regularly quoted Robert Burns, the 18th Century Scottish Poet during my childhood, I should have better considered its meaning!