Whale Watching in Eden.

Friends that are family...we are so lucky to have them in our lives. It's been a while since we'd been down to Eden and it was lovely to spend some time at the beach house with the Middletons. It made me so proud to watch my boys play with Pierre in such a gentle and nurturing way. He adores Harry and Jack and his laughter is contagious. It was lovely to hang out, eat good food and enjoy good conversation.

  

Sunday morning Paul took us through Ben Boyd National Park to Haycock Point for a bit of whale watching. The wind whipped up the waves but we still managed to spot quite a few whales playing in the bay. Jack kept back from the cliffs, no longer fond of heights since the fall that broke his arm, so Shannon and I took turns to sit with him and distract him by searching for the telltale signs of flippers and spray. We took the little track down to the beach and explored the rock pools for a bit, then headed back up just in time to see a mother and calf surfacing near the other side of the headland.
It was breathtaking to see.

It was such a lovely experience for the boys...I remember when I was their age and saw whales playing in Hervey Bay...you never forget that kind of natural wonder. On the way back to the car Shannon spotted wallabies and kangaroos who were surveying us with quiet indifference. The weather took an even wilder turn during the afternoon so we all decided to head home a little early. Thanks Claire, Paul, Holly and Alessandro for a beautiful weekend away.

Til next time...xx Em

Winter Long Weekend - Booroowa & Carcoar.

Are you the kind of person who hears about an event that you know you'd love to go to but you find yourself missing it each time it comes around? It happens to me quite regularly. I make a mental bucket list of places or events I'd love to see but the list seems to grow longer with very few getting crossed off!

Well...this weekend I broke that habit by organising a little family roadtrip through the Hilltops Region. Hurrah to me! 

Iandra Castle had one of their open days on Sunday so I figured it would be great stay in nearby Young Saturday night so that we could make the most of the weekend, tripping about the countryside exploring the region. Every foodie spot, every point of interest, every little town was selected based on Instagram accounts that I follow and the weekend turned out to be a truly lovely little adventure.

We set off early Saturday morning and made our first stop in Booroowa for coffee at the Pantry on Pudman and a wander around the town.

Then it was onwards north through Cowra to my favourite little village of Carcoar in the shire of Blayney. First things first...a wander up the street to stretch our legs and have a sticky beak at all the gorgeous heritage homes. It was here that we found ourselves a friend...or rather, Jack found himself a friend by the river whom we dubbed "Carcoar Cat".
Carcoar Cat followed us from the bridge all the way up the street and back again. It was adorable! 

 A pub lunch at the Royal Hotel was in order after our stroll.

 

Then I popped across the street for an entirely delightful catch up with the wonderful Belinda in her homewares store Tomolly. One of my instagram muses and a beautiful soul, it was so lovely to give her a hug hello and have a good chat in person. 

 

I could have whiled away the whole afternoon in conversation but the boys were keen to do more exploring, so, with a bag of Tomolly goodies in my hand we bid farewell and headed up the hill to the old train station to walk the disused line up to the abandoned tunnel. Thanks for the tip Belinda...it was brilliant fun! The boys were in heaven! The 281m tunnel built in the late 1880s was thrilling to walk through without a torch.We were able to see quite well until we hit the halfway mark. At that point we could see the faint light coming from each end of the tunnel but when we looked down we couldn't see a thing. We just kept our stride to the same spacing as the sleepers and hoped we wouldn't run into anything. It was peaceful and still and cool in the tunnel...until Harry got going with some very realistic train sounds that bounced off the curved walls and reverberated in my ears. Happiest kid on the planet! I hope the boys end up with fond memories of these little adventures. They'll be locked away in my memory as some of the loveliest times in my life.

I adore the view of the village from up on the hill, made extra special with winter woodsmoke wisping its way up into the air from chimneys.

When a biting chill hit the air we hopped back into the car and headed south to Young as the sun dipped down behind the hills, arriving at our motel just in time for dinner. 

More adventures in my next post.

xx Em

Tulip Top Treat

School hols have wrapped up and both boys are back in the classroom.

Today was the day to push aside my long list of errands and head up the highway to meet with one of my girlfriends for tea amongst the tulips.

The weather gods turned on THE perfect spring day for us and we spent a few hours in this heavenly little valley snapping away at the flowers, drinking in the view and enjoying kid free conversation with our tea.

Tulip Top is by far my favourite floral hot spot in the Canberra Region. There's something about it that makes Floriade pale in comparison. Its far more relaxed, no matter how busy it gets, there's no feeling like you're stuck in a cattle crush of tourists. The garden is filled with beautiful shade trees and curving flower beds with a myriad of spots to set down a picnic basket and pop open some champagne.

It's open from 9am to 5pm for the rest of this week. I think I'll be heading back again with my boys before it wraps up for another year. 

xx Em