We flew home, full of bonhomie after our lovely trip – happy to have caught up with so many family and friends and with our cups full! We had 6 weeks to catch up with life in Oz before we packed up again to visit Canada – somewhere neither of us had been. The weeks filled up quickly with some lovely occasions. Our dear friends Dave and Anne threw a “long lunch” for about 100 of their closest friends at The Royal Sydney Golf Club in Rose Bay. It was a magnificent venue to celebrate their wedding on a fabulously sunny Autumn day with delicious food, fab wines and a great band! It was so wonderful to see them both SO happy at this age and stage of life – ain’t love grand!
We are officially in Bird Season. To be more accurate Cockatoo Season. First it was the Corellas – hundreds and hundreds of them. You could hear them from 2 kms away screeching their little hearts out as they flew together in formation looking for their next target! They decided they liked our lane and they descended on every conceivable fence, tree, telegraph pole or electricity wire in sight. They were full of the joys of Spring….in Winter, with 1 in 5 pairs mating at every given chance, rolling around in the middle of the road like a pack of teenagers completely disregarding their safety from oncoming cars and tractors. The result was the odd white body, left in situ in the hope they would learn their lesson………..Now the Sulphur crested Cockies have arrived – less of them but much bigger and noisier than the Corellas and with as much if not more mess from their ravaging of the trees. Our pecan and macadamia trees have been totally stripped – in eleven years we are yet to get one bowl of nuts before the birds arrive. We popped some nets over our mandarin, grapefruit and orange trees to sabotage any attempts they made on our citrus crop and have actually had quite a lot of fruit – a miracle!
There have been a few changes in our High Street in Berry. Some businesses that have been there for 20 years have shut down – people retiring and moving away and some just coming to the end of their popularity. A new ladies clothes shop is a welcome addition and a new small wine bar has become a very popular venue very quickly proving there was a niche in the market for those that don’t always want to go to a pub with their TVs, pokies and snooker tables! There is a venue for everyone and this has become our go to spot for both a larger group (there is a large indoor communal table) and for a cosy drink with the girls outside watching the world go by with braziers and optional blankets for your lap. Nick also owns the locals favourite coffee shop and has an innate knack for knowing what people like. In this instance, choosing the best wines at a reasonable price and providing not meals but frenchified bar snacks, cheese and charcuterie, olives , almonds and soft pretzels – a popular move, My local girls and I made the best of both the newcomers in one evening when the dress shop had its official launch and we followed up with a bottle of red at Le Bar – perfect!
One of my loveliest Sydney friends had a “special” birthday to celebrate and we made it the perfect excuse to get together down in this neck of the woods. My friend Leigh has finally finished her beautiful new house in Kangaroo Valley and was excited to share it with the Sydney gals for an evening of eating, drinking, chatting and giggling! We attempted the worst board game ever and tried silicon face masks that slithered all over the place making us look like melted academy awards! Leigh managed to anchor hers with her specs at least! It was lovely to wake up the next morning with the mist curling around the house, the kangaroos jumping past and the kookaburras singing their hearts out – so very Australian. We drove to Bowral for a spot of shopping and some lunch before bidding the city girls farewell and heading back down the mountain!
To round off our 6 weeks we finally caught up with our little boys who seem to have shot up and got new teeth since we last saw them! They are growing up so fast and we had a lovely time together. We ventured out to watch The Swans play which was fun as we caught public transport – SO much more fun than driving a car! They are finally old enough to sit and actually watch a game (or most of it – lets face it, an AFL game is super long even for an adult!) and we also had a great time at the bowling alley and Timezone. Cooking with Dad at home is always fun – he makes a mean banana cake and licking the beaters is as much fun in 2026 as it was in 1966! They loved their new question and answer book and we had a lovely snuggly start reading it in bed while their Dad made us all pancakes for brekky – heaven!
So here we are 2 sleeps away from getting back on a plane and I am getting quite excited. Our last trip was to places I knew and loved well but this trip is to somewhere NEW, as my sister says – I am going somewhere my feet have never been! It will be an adventure and we’re going to make the most of it. Speak to you soon from The land of maple syrup, grizzly bears, ice hockey and the beautiful Rocky Mountains!
How good is train travel? For the last few trips to Europe the MOTH and I have prioritised train travel over flying as it is so user friendly, especially over relatively short distances. No long expensive taxi rides to airports and hours of checking in, security queues and potential luggage loss and delays! The European trains are very frequent, often fast and in places like Switzerland ON TIME! They are clean, comfortable and offer food and drinks. You can get up and walk around and see the countryside as it passes. What’s not to like? We left our house in L’Isle sur la Sorgue and within 4 hours we were in Switzerland enjoying a sundowner on Sue-Ellen’s terrace! Avignon to Lyon to Geneva on the TGV and then a local train to her village and once we got the hang of the train stations systems with platform announcements etc we were fine…
We always love coming to Sue-ellen and Michel’s house. They are consummate hosts and some of the best food we had on the entire trip was at their place! As a proud Swiss Man, Michel loves cooking some of the Swiss traditional dishes when we visit. Fondue, raclette, roti de porc – each accompanied with delicious wines from his cellar. A simple roast chook is elevated to a divine level somehow with a rub of this and a smear of that all creating heaven in the oven! We also ventured out into the nearby hills to a wonderful traditional restaurant that specialises in the “filet de perche” which is so well loved in the area. Perch is a freshwater fish commonly found in the lakes of Switzerland. It’s much appreciated for its delicate flavor and tender flesh and when paired with a delicious butter sauce made with wine and parsley, it transforms into something heavenly. A visit to a local winemaker, a shopping trip to a famous chocolatier, who just happens to have his shop nearby, and a wonderful walk home through the countryside listening to the blackbirds singing and I was as happy as a kid at Christmas! Everywhere you look in Switzerland there is beauty. At this time of year the wild poppies and cornflowers inhabited every empty field and the wisteria was in full bloom around verandas overlooking the lake.
Our dear friend Duncan met the MOTH 50 years ago when they both lived and worked in Villars, an alpine ski resort in the Swiss mountains above Lausanne. Duncan was a teacher at the elite private school – Aiglon College – and as a typical sociable American he quickly made friends with all the foreign workers in town, a friendship that has survived decades despite living thousands of miles from each other. Duncan is an adventurer. He flies small planes, paraglides, keeps poisonous snakes and has a garden of beehives. He skis, has canoed down the Amazon, helps out with various worldwide charities – in person – at orphanages in Romania and would never dismiss doing ANYTHING without thoroughly thinking of the positives versus the negatives. He will not die wondering about life that is for sure! We managed to sneak in a lunch at an old favourite pub from back in the 70s which is still going to this day and it was lovely to see him and his lovely friend Beri for a quick catchup. The weather was perfect for Spring and later we enjoyed an Aperol down at the lake alongside the marina where Sue and Mich keep their boat. On previous visits we have pottered around the lake and over to France for lunch in it before returning back to St Prex in time for dinner – what a life eh? A trip into Geneva and the old town was a nice day out and before we knew it our time was up and we were saying goodbye and back on the train – this time to Paris!
Before we knew it we were pulling up at the Gare de Lyon and we were back in a part of Paris we are very familiar with as we stayed here a few years ago when we were in town for the Rugby World Cup and found it to be a very easy part of Paris from which to see the sights. The hotel is literally a few minutes walk from the station and was just a hop, skip and a jump from the River Seine which we could walk along to Notre Dame, Musée d’Orsay, St Germain etc – even me , who has a notoriously dreadful sense of direction, can’t get lost following a river! We settled in and went for a neighbourhood walk to check out a dinner spot and it was so lovely to be back amongst all the glorious Haussmann buildings and we were soon just one of the many locals sipping on our aperitif watching the world go by!
The next day was a red letter day for us as we were finally going to eat at Le Train Bleu, the famous restaurant in the Gare de Lyon. Three years ago we were also booked in for lunch here on our last day in Paris and we arrived at the restaurant to be greeted by several policemen. A bag had been left there unattended and was being treated as a potential bomb threat, therefore closing the restaurant. We were so disappointed and as soon as we knew we would be back in Paris on this trip I booked lunch in advance! It was as magnificent as I had imagined and we loved the entire wonderful experience. The grandeur, the service, the food, the history all around us and I could completely imagine what it would have been like back in the day with people in suits and long dresses eating there ahead of their train trip to their holiday destinations. Listening to the hum of chatter, the tinkle of cutlery and watching the delightful staff look after everyone tableside was truly one of my favourite moments ever in a restaurant and was well worth the wait! The food was delicious, the lamb carved at a trolley at our table and my crêpes Suzette flambéed in front of me to great applause from all the surrounding tables!!
One of the things we really wanted to see while we were here was the completed restoration of Notre Dame. It was still under construction on our last visit and we are still in awe that such a huge project has been finished on time and in such a beautiful way. People from all over the world came together to give money, volunteer time and craftmanship creating an enduring and beautiful finished article. The beating heart of Paris is back, bigger and better than ever. The fact that so many people value this building so much is really heartwarming and gives me some comfort that the whole world hasn’t gone totally mad after all. I guess some people would say that the money could have been better spent but some things are WORTH spending a fortune on and this beautiful building will now hopefully live on for many, many generations to come. We continued to walk along the river until we came to the Musée d’Orsay. The MOTH had never been there and I felt that had to be rectified asap. The building itself is magnificent. Originally a train station built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair) it became obsolete in 1939 when trains became too long for the platforms and by the 1970s it was largely vacant, prompting talks of repurposing the building. Plans were finalised to convert the station into a museum and in 1986 The Musée d’Orsay was officially opened, becoming one of Europe’s largest art museums and a major cultural institution in Paris. The museum focuses on French art from 1848 to 1914. It houses the largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world featuring artists such as Monet, Renoir, Manet, Degas, Van Gogh, Cezanne and Gaugin and we loved wandering through the huge rooms spending as much time as we wanted examining these famous paintings which truly deserve this wonderful space to showcase them.
The other important and wonderful thing to do in Paris is ……EAT!! As we walked though St Germain, looking at all the amazing food shops and markets we swerved off to Entrecote as it was lunchtime and memories of their special steak frites were foremost in our minds! It’s always a lovely little bit of theatre there and we were soon tucking into our lovely green salad with roasted walnuts followed by the mandatory TWO servings of steak in their special sauce and fries. A bottle of red and a very full tummy later we waddled back outside to wander the streets and bridges, soaking up the very essence of all that Paris offers and grateful we got to visit once again. On our last night a local brasserie offered the asparagus I had been seeing all day at the markets and the duck I can never say no to! I love France and the different feelings I get from Paris, Bordeaux and the South – all great in different ways. Next visit I think we are going to try and visit Brittany and Normandy for yet another “flavour” of France and it is perfect as it’s just a stone’s throw from my beloved England. Close enough to be easy and far enough away to feel foreign! Tres bien indeed…..
Our two week immersion in a Provencal village was finally going to come to fruition after talking about it for a few years. We hoped to use some of our French, feel part of the rhythm of a village and see if all the hype about the French way of life was true. Our first port of call on French soil however was Marseille. We decided to stay there for a night as we had previously driven straight through the city to the stadium in the Rugby World Cup in 2023 and had always regretted not spending some time seeing the Old Port. Arriving from cold London to the sunshine of the South of France was delicious and we soon found ourselves in a bustling square at lunchtime – perfect timing! A warm goats cheese salad and a glass of rosé whilst people watching is my idea of heaven and we soon found ourselves feeling very holidayish! An afternoon walk around the marina before the aperitif and we had forgotten all about London and its wonderful history, more than happy to indulge in sitting around eating and drinking instead! As we were in Marseille we sought out a traditional restaurant famous for its bouillabaisse and ordered it despite a humungous price tag. We were intrigued to find out that it is served in 2 courses, first the broth – really delicious and served with little toasts, rouille and cheese – added into the soup for interest and crunch. The 2nd course was the fish that had been cooked in the soup, served simply with potatoes (and the ever-present baguette) All in all quite a bit of theatre but nothing I would necessarily order again!
We had rented a 3 bedroom house in L’isle sur la Sorgue on the edge of the town, literally 200m from the first restaurants and a stones throw from the railway station and the bus stop – we couldn’t have asked for a more convenient location! It was big enough to invite my Mum and Sister to stay for a few days and it had a quirky personality which we loved immediately. Positioned next to one of the towns canals boasting the clearest water you’ve ever seen and with several of the local antique shops within a 2-5 minute walk we were spoilt for places to explore! There were two outdoor seating areas, one on wicker chairs underneath a verdant wisteria and the other out the front boasting a big dining table which was a perfect spot after visiting the markets and coming home laden with paella or rotisserie chicken and vegetables, ready to eat in our own garden together with some chilled wine – heaven! The kitchen was definitely my favourite room though and we started and finished the day there – with cups of tea in the morning and games of cards at night, around a big old wooden table that has probably hosted hundreds of families over the years.
L’isle sur la Sorgue is most famous for its brocante on a Sunday – the biggest outside of Paris apparently and it makes for a very atmospheric Market Day. The whole town is filled with stalls, vibrant with colour of either beautiful summer fruit and vegetables or of the local napery – beautiful tablecloths, napkins and tea towels in the gorgeous colours of Provence – blue, yellow, red and green and if I’d had a bigger suitcase I would have gone a little bit crazy buying them all as they look beautiful in our Australian light as well as in the famous light of Provence that the impressionist painters loved so much!
It is also a treasure trove for antiques enthusiasts with over 300 fascinating vintage, second-hand shops and markets to browse year-round. The lovely old antiques (or bric-a-brac to us) were all beautifully laid out ready to tempt you into parting with your Euros if you were lucky enough to have room in your suitcase! I particularly loved the old china, the Anduze pots and the eclectic paintings and lighting you could sometimes pick up for a bargain price.
Almost a week into our stay the MOTH celebrated his birthday! From an espresso at his favourite morning café to lunch at the very cute Olive and Raisin to dinner at Monsieur Tu he had a fabulous day! Olive and Raisin focuses on soups, tasting boards, tapenades and regional recipes. It’s part delicatessen, part restaurant with a laid-back atmosphere and appealing artisanal vibe. The shop is lined with jars and bottles of freshly made jam, oils, pasta, wines and confectionery. It was a great spot to sit in the sunshine and eat delicious cheese and pâté and enjoy some local wines. We tried sitting outside on the canal but had visions of one or both of us falling in! That night we dined at Monsieur Tu (or Mr T as we liked to call it!) and had the most delicious rabbit dish – we were very happy chappies!
Then it was time for the girls to join us from the UK. As Heathrow is ginormous Mum was whisked to the gate on an assistance vehicle and then again to the front of the queue in Marseille on arrival (Sandy tagging along for the ride!) so they arrived feeling relatively good despite a 4.30am start! So many major airports now demand you walk kilometres to get from A to B so this was a win win – never be afraid to utilise it folks! It was so good to see them and there was plenty of room for us all in the house so it was perfect. We spent the next few days exploring the town, the markets and sitting around outside chatting – LOTS of chatting! With wines and cheeses from the local shops on hand it was lovely to be able to come home and relax in between outings and the days passed in a blur of loveliness! We didn’t feel too sad when we said goodbye as they are coming out to Australia in October to celebrate mum’s 90th so we have plenty to look forward to….
A trip to L’isle-sur-la-Sorgue isn’t complete without a visit to the stunning Notre-Dame-des-Anges Church (Our Lady of the Angels). The Baroque architecture and huge wooden doors of this historic church hide a rich interior filled with magnificent paintings, statues, over 200 angel sculptures and a 15th-century organ, which has been listed as a historic monument. The church was originally built in the 13th century, then, following a collapse, rebuilt during the 1600s and from the outside I had no inkling of what I was to find inside – quite a surprise to say the least! It was situated in our favourite square just opposite The Cafe de France which became our “go to” cafe!
The town is also renowned for its canals and waterways which give it the nickname “Venice of Provence,” as the Sorgue River flows through the town, creating scenic riverfront streets and charming bridges. Along the river, you can see the remaining wooden waterwheels that were once used to power the town’s textile factories. By the 19th century, there were over 60 waterwheels in operation and they were used for the town’s flourishing paper, silk, wool and dyeing industries. Today, only 17 remain – some of which still squeak and turn with the natural flow of the river. Other waterwheels are completely abandoned, frozen in time, clustered with green moss – but it’s still possible to imagine their role during the buzzing industrial era. Being surrounded by water was really very relaxing and calming and in Provence where things can get very hot and dry these canals give a sense of coolness and a real point of difference to other nearby towns.
We decided not to hire a car while we were here, preferring to be like the locals and use the buses and the trains to get ourselves around. It worked fine for close towns like Avignon and Carpentras but when we researched how to reach some of the hilltop towns it was another story. Trips that would take 30 minutes by car would take 3 hours on the bus as they wind in and out of all the towns and villages en route, making it untenable. We found a one day tour that went to 7 different locations , covering most of the places we had fancied visiting and decided to go for it! Our first stop was Fontaine de Vaucluse, not too far from us which was the source of the river Sorgue. Its fast flowing waters came from a spring very deep in ground (it has been tested down to 1010 feet but its source is still deeper -a bit of a mystery but it is one of the biggest springs in the world with 52000 gallons a second gushing out in Springtime) and became the power source for a paper mill which still exists in a limited form today. The town was also famous for hiding the French Resistance in the war, using the surrounding hilltop caves to their advantage for both shelter and spotting the enemy from afar. It’s hard now trying to imagine those days as it is a very serene and tranquil village.
Our next stop was one of the famous “perched” villages of Provence – Gordes.The medieval village stands resplendent in stone atop a clifftop with unbeatable views across the Luberon. This enchanting village has a long history spanning the Romans to the Middle Ages, and in recent years has become a retreat for artists and writers. Located dramatically on the edge of the Vaucluse plateau in the heart of Provence, Gordes is a medieval hilltop village that looks almost too beautiful to be real — a cascade of honey-coloured limestone tumbling down a rocky hillside, crowned by a Renaissance château and overlooking the vast, lavender-threaded expanse of the Luberon valley below. Sadly we were just a little early for the lavender although the fields we passed were splashed red with wild poppies which were beautiful.
Our next port of call was Rousillon. Ranked among the most beautiful villages in France, this colorful village owes everything to ochre, this natural pigment that tints every facade, every wall, and every alleyway with a palette of colors ranging from pale yellow to the deepest red. Many artists are drawn to the town for it’s unique colour palette and we enjoyed wandering through the winding cobbled streets up to the castle to see the amazing views of the surrounding countryside. Back into the van and we were off to St Remy de Provence. I had been there 30 years ago with my Mum and had very fond memories of our time there, although nothing looked overly familiar this time around! It is a beautiful town known for its rich history. It was founded over 2500 years ago and has connections to both the Greeks and Romans. The town is famous for its charming winding stone streets, vibrant markets, and as the place where Vincent Van Gogh spent time in an asylum, drawing inspiration from its stunning landscapes to produce some of his most famous paintings. We visited a truffle shop while we were here, sampling delicious morsels drizzled with honey and a jar of truffle salt made its way home with me to be enjoyed with scrambled eggs in The Meadow….yum!
Our last village was Les Baux de Provence which is a picturesque hilltop village renowned for its medieval castle, dramatic limestone cliffs and a rich cultural heritage. The stone streets are narrow and winding, the buildings impossibly cute, and the views in every direction are jaw-dropping. And looming above it all is a sprawling, ruined medieval castle that seems to grow straight out of the rock. Each of the villages we visited today had its own unique charm and each of them were carved out of the stone of the local rock, perched on top of a hill – a LOT of hard work back in the pre industrial days to create a town and testament to the perseverance of the local people.
Our final stop wasn’t a village – it was a bridge! Not any old bridge though, it was the magnificent Pont du Gard. Just a few kilometres from Nîmes and Uzès, the Pont du Gard stands as the most impressive testament to Roman engineering in France. This monumental aqueduct, built in the 1st century AD, holds the record for the highest Roman aqueduct bridge in the world at 49 metres high. It was granted UNESCO status in 1985 because of its exceptional preservation and since then the whole area has been made into a park so that no cars have used it since 2000. People now come to witness this HUGE structure up close and personal and be amazed by the fact it was constructed in the FIRST century! Those Romans were sure good at building stuff! Nowadays families come and bring picnics and people canoe down the river under its arches. A school of kids were kayaking there when we visited and it was just wonderful to hear them laughing and enjoying themselves as they passed through history!
So after a full day of exploring we headed home to our lovely little town. After all the wonderfulness we had witnessed today, we were still super happy that it was Isle sur la Sorgue that we were returning to with its friendly residents and easy to love atmosphere. In summary, our French experiment was deemed a success, we had seen firsthand that the French way of life definitely has something special to recommend it. People here make sure they take time out to spend time with friends and family; they eat together, locally and seasonally and they celebrate many public holidays, feast days and religious and agricultural festivals as they have for hundreds of years. Work, although important, is not the Be-all-and-End-all of life here although I can’t imagine a 2 hour lunch break taking off in Australia anytime soon! Thus, our stay in Provence came to an end and we bid farewell to our lovely house and caught a train to Switzerland….
It’s been three months since I last posted and some of you may have wondered where I had gone!! This year has really flown and our 5 week trip to Europe took up a big chunk of it. Prior to leaving we had a lovely week in Hobart with Loz and the girls where we loved walking them to school every day as they skipped and chatted and sang songs! Myla would throw in a cartwheel or two (backpack and all) just to keep us on our toes and 99% of the time we were given little sprays of flowers that they picked en route – so sweet and gloriously old fashioned! Pick up time meant a treat at the bakery as we were regaled with tales of their day, it only seems like a blink of an eye since it was MY kids doing the same thing!
Our week was a pleasant blur of cuddles, reading stories, colouring in and feeding ducks! Loz and I treated the girls to a high tea in Hobart for which they were very excited and Loz had also bought tickets to a festival in The Huon where Mental as Anything were performing and the girls got to enjoy holiday food whilst the adults sipped on gin spritzes! Berry had an overnight fishing trip with a mate and came home bearing a couple of beautiful crayfish which we thoroughly enjoyed!
We had a wonderful day out with our friends Paul and Sharon on their boat which is moored not far from Lauren’s place. We pottered over to north Bruny Island and put down anchor in a delightful bay where the trees and clouds were perfectly mirrored on the glass like water. Sharon whipped up a delicious salad which we enjoyed with bbqd delights courtesy of Paul and we felt like the luckiest of intrepid explorers!! It was great to catch up with them and experience their new life in Tassie.
Once we returned home it was a full on preparation of our house and garden before leaving for Europe. Our wonderful friend Smutzer had graciously agreed to house sit for us which was a huge relief as that meant Bailey and the chooks would be in good hands. Easter weekend meant a last hurrah with Sam and Stacy with some nice food and wine before we were packing and leaving for the airport! We were finally off on our European adventure!
First stop was Hong Kong which we hadn’t visited for 10 years! We decided to have an overnight stopover to break the trip and reacquaint ourselves with the Island. It was as vibrant as ever and as we were staying in Central it was easy to get around. A trip on the Star Ferry was quite nostalgic – it has been a mainstay of life in HK for decades and I love that nothing much has changed. We decided to hop on the HOHO bus which is always good value in a big city. It takes you to places that a) you might never have heard of and b) is way too far to walk to and c) there is a commentary telling you all about the various locations that you would never know otherwise! It’s a great way to get a bit of an overview of a place and of course you can always hop on and off when you want to explore somewhere in more depth. This together with a bit of shopping and some eating filled in our day beautifully and tired us out for our overnight flight to London….
We arrived feeling relatively refreshed and went straight to Tom’s house in Notting Hill. It was SO good to see him, his new house and neighbourhood and we dropped everything to go in search of coffee and a walk in the Spring sunshine to Portobello Road. The blossoms were in full throttle and together with the pastel painted houses it all looked like a movie set! We had a fabulous Japanese lunch before checking into our studio apartment – home for the next 5 nights. After a couple of welcome drinks at the local pub we had a lovely dinner with Tom’s flat mate Conor and tumbled into bed feeling sleepy but happy. It was so nice to have Tommy just around the corner from us and get to experience life as a local for a little while! One thing that wasn’t so good was the COST of everything. London is through the roof price wise, we were paying 5 pounds for a coffee and 11 for a glass of wine, which in Aussie dollars is okay but in pounds it’s DOUBLE. Crazy and on average if we were having a nice meal whether it was lunch or dinner it came in at $400 including wine so on a good day it was $800 without factoring in accommodation! I’m never going to say Australia is expensive ever again!
With Kensington Gardens basically at the end of Tommy’s street it was just a walk to some of London’s attractions. Daunts bookstore in Marylebone had been on my list for a while and it didn’t disappoint, making me feel warm and fuzzy that these kind of places still exist and gave me hope there is still a screen free future if you want one! We visited The Royal Albert Hall (where my Grandad used to play with the LSO) and then popped into The Victoria and Albert Museum for a couple of hours – so much to see in there that you could literally spend hours and hours there (good for a rainy day perhaps?) before walking back through the park watching the squirrels dashing everywhere and back to Notting Hill to meet Toms friends at The Cock and Bottle – a great bunch of people and a fun night.
Our final day of sightseeing and we played tourists big time! We caught a ferry down The Thames getting out at The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben and going to Churchills War Rooms, all set up just as it was back in the day and a bit of a glimpse into the hardships they all endured underground with no natural light for days and weeks at a time in a very small space. Then we went back a few hundred years with a visit to The Tower of London which was really very interesting with a palpable sense of its history. The ravens are still very much part of the place and it is rumoured that if they ever leave, London will fall!!
Our last night was spent (in what is becoming a tradition) at Canteen enjoying some delicious Italian food cooked over fire and in a cosy yet vibrant atmosphere. The worst part is there are no bookings and it was FREEZING waiting outside – I’ve never been happier to get inside a place and even the $88 lamb loin chops didn’t put us off (needless to say we didn’t order them) It was a perfect last night with Tommy and I tried not to get sad when we said goodbye but it’s always hard. I fully realise now what it must have been like for my Mum when I moved to Australia 43 years ago when there were no smartphones or WhatsApp – just the old blue aerogram letters keeping us in touch!! Luckily I had the rest of my trip to look forward to which helped me feel better….next stop France!
What a couple of months we’ve had! It’s been a hugely busy time full of family, friends and fun and lots of comings and goings and making up of beds and it’s been wonderful. We are so grateful that they all still want to come and stay with us and enjoy our Crazy Cameron Christmas!
Tom arrived from London on the evening of 12th December and went straight to Bondi Beach where he had previously lived for many years, to stay with his friend. He woke up to a beautiful sunny weekend and enjoyed breakfast overlooking the beach at North Bondi before having a swim in the ocean (which was the thing he has missed the most living in London) and all seemed well with the world. All that changed 24 hours later on December 14th when a deranged Father and Son opened fire on a family friendly Jewish gathering killing 15 people in the very same spot that he had enjoyed a swim. It all seemed so unreal, so un-Australian and so very sad and was a sharp reminder that anything can happen anywhere in these times of distorted religious doctrines and unstemmed hatred. It all unfolded a mere 10 days before Christmas and suddenly all the gifts and decorations and merriment seemed so very shallow and meaningless. Over the next week we saw a huge outpouring of support for the Jewish community who lost so much and an equal outpouring of love for Bondi Beach, a place where so many come to relax and enjoy our Australian way of life. In the only way we knew how, various communities came to express their sorrow and to refuse to be scared by terrorists. Running clubs came and ran the beach, surfers gathered and paddled out in their hundreds to honour the dead and our surf lifesavers who were so very present and involved during the attack that took place right outside their surf club, linked arms and silently looked out to sea remembering the people that had lost their lives in a 3 minute silent chain that stretched the entire beach. Simple heartfelt gestures of grief and resilience as the community unites after an attack on our way of life. Australia’s most iconic stretch of sand refused to surrender its spirit to tragedy and you can almost hear it saying “you can’t stop us, you can’t beat us”. Life has to continue though and having the children around us would make sure we kept things fun and magical for them…
Loz and the girls arrived from Tassie on the 17th which was lovely as we could enjoy the build up to the big day with them, decorating the tree, wrapping gifts and baking Xmas cookies. The nice weather meant the pool was getting a big workout and the choice of which ice-cream to eat was the biggest decision of the day! Home Alone and Die Hard were compulsory viewing for the adults and The Christmas Postman and The Night Before Christmas compulsory reading for the kids. Tom arrived to be reunited with Bailey and the family (in that order) followed by Berry from Hobart and on Christmas Eve Sam and the boys arrived to fill the last bedroom! Carols and Christmas songs around the tree, carrots on the lawn for the reindeer, a cookie and some milk for Santa followed by the putting out of their stockings and trying to sleep despite the excitement of the man in red’s imminent arrival and finally the adults could enjoy our Big Xmas Dinner in the dining room – decorated and with candles glowing it is always a lovely pre cursor to the BIG DAY which basically belongs to the kids!
Christmas day dawned amid much excitement at the full stockings at the end of their beds and lots of squealing as packages were opened. A champagne breakfast for the adults and then the annual ritual of glazing the ham (thanks Tommy) and prepping the lunch. Berry rounded us all up for our two yearly photo shoot with all the cousins – thank goodness he organises this as we would have NO pics of all of us together otherwise!
The MOTH prepared the cricket pitch, the stumps were in place and the cooler weather was perfect for some rather competitive play, It’s a miracle there were no injuries to be honest as Bailey is by far the best fielder and the others were performing way above their ability with some rather gymnastic attempts at catches and overly showy bowling! Lots of fun though and after lunch the kids set up their disco inside for an impromptu dance off (Loz and Tom couldn’t resist joining in of course!) A relaxing afternoon around the firepit with music and drinks rounded out the day
As part of their Christmas presents I had arranged for them to have a pony ride at a local riding school. None of them had ever even sat on a horse so it was with a mix of trepidation and excitement that we set off for what I was hoping would be a positive experience. I couldn’t have been any happier as the riding school was terrific with the kids and encouraged them to try different things as they walked them around the menage. They taught them how to move the horses with their legs and reins and they wove in and out of witches hats, had a go at jogging and the litle girls got to groom the horses at the end. No meltdowns by any of them and hopefully a good memory for them….
Our last night together as a family for another two years was for me The Meadow at it’s best. A simple bbq under the trees around the fire pit with the kids playing on the swing and some good tunes ringing out. Chatting around the fire as the stars came out, family together, a brilliant memory to see us through to the next time…..
Let’s hope this perfect rainbow is signalling an end to the past few months of health worries for the MOTH. His new knee is fabulous, you can hardly even see the scar and it is doing everything it is supposed to do. The infection he picked up in hospital however has NOT gone away and has really become a huge nuisance. He has lost 15 kgs as nothing is being absorbed properly and he was getting to the stage that he felt he couldn’t go anywhere or do anything and he lost his joie de vivre for the first time since I’ve known him. Luckily one of the local pharmacists recommended a Naturopath in Wollongong who could look a bit more holistically at his situation and hopefully come up with an alternative to regular medicine, which could only seem to prescribe antibiotics which is how the whole thing started! To say the visit was enlightening was an understatement, and he immediately began on some targeted supplements to calm his gut. Together with a stringent diet that restricted all fermented foods and histamine rich foods he feels he is starting to turn a corner but a follow up test in about a week will determine whether or not the CDiff has actually left the building or not. If not, there is a plan B lurking in the shadows so we have everything crossed that one or other of the ‘plans’ will get rid of it once and for all and normal life can resume!
At the very same time that we started our very restricted diet our son started a pie business! We managed to get three of his pies into us before we started the new regime and they were delicious! He has always loved cooking (we all do in this family with the possible exception of Cammo who only does bbq’s!) and in a break in between jobs he has started cooking them to stay busy and make some money. 15 years ago we had a Harry’s Cafe de Wheels pie van in Newcastle and this family are all great lovers of a good pie so we were excited to try his beef ragout, chicken leek bacon and mushroom pie as well as the butter chicken pie – all seriously good! Our Pie Man can be found on instagram as @thepiman1 and on his website the-pie-man.square.site/ if anyone fancies all the enjoyment of a delicious pie with none of the work!
My best friend has had a weekender in Kangaroo Valley for over a decade but with retirement imminent she and her hubby have pressed the button on a big renovation to make it the perfect place to live all year round. Somehow despite being here a lot more than normal to oversee the build we have hardly been able to organise any catchups, but everything came together a couple of weeks ago when we met up at Silos Estate near Berry for a girl’s lunch with our mutual friend Kirsten. It was good to remind ourselves of the reasons we moved down to this beautiful part of the world, to forget about the weeding and the to do list for a couple of hours and just enjoy ourselves! A new chef has made it a great place to visit once more and we had a perfect winters day to sit out overlooking the beautiful view…..
The following day the little boys arrived for the weekend and somehow we got lucky with the weather (which had been very wet) and scored a dry, non windy warmish weekend! We had fun at the skate park and with a stone painting kit before dusk fell and we could light our bonfire! The boys were super excited to sit around the fire and once it had died down enough to find the perfect stick to roast their marshmallows! Some stories around the fire before bed made for a perfect end to the day.
The next day was deemed suitable for fishing! Uncle Tom had bought the kids fishing rods for Xmas so off we drove to Shoalhaven Heads and the pier to drop a line or two and try our luck. They enjoyed it despite no fish being caught and it was lovely to see the three generations of Cameron men together in such a wholesome pursuit!! Patience isn’t their strong suit but they gave it a red hot go!
Our 4 chickens are apparently on strike. They too are opposed to the constant rain and corresponding wetness underfoot. Mud is the name of the game on any well frequented path, doggy footprints (and the odd rabbit ones too) make patterns on our back deck, towels are in high rotation for drying off Bailey when she finally begrudgingly has to go outside for a wee. She sticks her nose tentatively outside and then looks back at me as if to say “you’ve got to be kidding Mum!!” We take turns in squelching across the lawn to let the chooks out and then shut them back up again at night. They are often looking rather bedraggled as they are happy to peck about outside as the upside of the rain is that they have a plethora of worms to feast on, but still there are no eggs! Our gardeners who have lots of chooks saved the day by gifting us a dozen last week and they looked so pretty in the carton with all the different coloured shells – I love how different breeds produce different coloured eggs and I look forward to when eggs on toast are back on the menu for us so we can use them – thank you Ethan and Sage.
For those of you that live overseas you probably don’t ever think about Australia being anything other than warm and sunny, but let me assure you we DEFINITELY get a winter here! Not the kind of really low temperatures that the Northern hemisphere gets but it’s all proportionate to what you’re used to right? Also, our houses are not made for the cold weather – they are more about keeping us cool in the long summers – so unless you have reverse cycle air conditioning or preferably a wood burning stove, you are going to feel the chill. I remember when our kids were little and we had a rather cavernous lounge with one tiny gas heater that we would all huddle around, how cold I always felt. We did have a wood fire but it took ages to get going and wood was expensive so it was always more of a treat when we used that. So mostly we tend to heat just one main room and then pop our electric blankets on about half an hour before bedtime so that we can slip into a warm cocoon and fall promptly asleep! The further south people live the harsher the winter and the desire to escape it becomes stronger! Increasingly people in Australia are travelling to escape the cold and whether that is to the northern hemisphere with its promise of European summers languishing on the terraces of Italy amongst potted lemon trees, Aperol spritz in hand, sailing the azure waters of Croatia or heading to Queensland, the perpetually sunny state, to feel the sun on your skin and enjoy an ice cream on the beach, people are attempting to break up the cold weather with a Winter Escape. Nobody feels this more than Tasmanians who endure a decidedly much colder winter than the rest of us (they are the last stop before Antarctica after all) so rather than visiting our Tassie Crew in Hobart we all decided to have a week on the Gold Coast instead!
Its an 11 hour drive from our place to the Gold Coast so we are very lucky that our good friends Wayne and Kathy live in Forster exactly half way up and they very kindly offered to mind Bailey for us while we were up north. They are dog people and miss their lovely old dog Gus, so they were happy to have her and as they live on the beach and walk every day Bailey was also in for a treat – her own little beachside holiday! She was very cosy tucked into her bed on the back seat on the drive up and for once when I waved her off I didn’t feel guilty leaving her behind! We arrived in Coolangatta in time for a beautiful sunset, a glass of wine at the surf club just opposite our apartment and got everything set up for the family just in time for their late evening arrival. There was much excitement when they arrived, exploring all the rooms and checking out our holiday food in the pantry! By the time we woke in the morning watching the little dots of surfers bobbing in the water on the beach opposite we were already feeling relaxed.
Papa is always very sought after when we get together, they just love being with him with his off beat sense of humour (and his many little packets of jelly snakes and smarties!) and it warms my heart when I see them snuggled up with him in bed or on the lounge or hand in hand as they walk along chatting gaily, seemingly without a care in the world. I love seeing the world through the kid’s eyes, their excitement for the simple things and with no idea what sort of world exists outside of their beautiful little bubble. It’s very soothing and we absolutely love being part of their childhood holiday memories.
Loz and Berry have some friends that lived about 15 minutes away rfom our apartment and their little girl was 3 so they quickly became a little girl gang and as her Dad was an avid surfer he lent Loz a surfboard to enjoy for a morning. It was great to see her introducing the girls to the surf and seeing them all hand in hand jumping over the waves. Myla was determined to ride a wave into shore and she gave it a good go! Loz managed to show them how it was done standing up on the waves long enough for the girls to be impressed!!
It wasn’t all about the beach though, we enjoyed some long walks, an afternoon of barefoot bowling and a visit from our Nephew and family who live further up the coast. It was great to see them and for them to reconnect with Loz and the girls and for us to see our great Nephew growing up into such a nice young man. The girls were mesmerised by a bag of Polly Pockets that I had saved of Laurens from when she was a little girl and happily played for ages with them, buying us some nice adult time – win win!!
Part of the fun of holidays is eating out and obviously the surf clubs are the easiest option around here but we did get a bit over their rather humdrum menus and found family friendly restaurants a bit slim on the ground too. The girls however just thought dinner time was the best thing – getting dressed up and walking to dinner, having different food from normal and if they were lucky an icecream to enjoy on the walk home. Once they were in bed, drinks and card games were the order of the day for the adults and of course our favourite – the quiz from The Australian newspaper which we always do when we get together! The boys had their sport to watch, the girls had their books to read and it was a lovely restful week. Nothing beats reconnecting in a neutral place where no one feels they have to be on duty, worrying about menus or laundry or entertaining people – a break is ALWAYS a good idea!
So our last day came around rather too quickly for our liking, we were just getting into the groove when it was time to pack up and go. They had time before their plane to visit the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary which finished off their little holiday perfectly and they took off back to Hobart, reality and WINTER! A few more memories in the bank though and we loved it. Apparently the strongest memories of childhood come from the odd week of holidays taken between the ages of 5 and 12 so I’m hoping we will live on in their memories long after we are gone….
Cam and I were lucky though as we got to prolong our holiday feeling by driving back to Forster for a few nights. Baz swims in the ocean every morning with a group of people and it was so lovely to walk Bailey along the beach watching the pods of dolphins swimming oh so close to them and then enjoying a coffee and bacon and egg roll on the beach once they finished. The beach life is certainly appealing. Daily walks, lovely dinners , a couple of catch ups with local friends at the One Mile Surf Club and reading our books in the afternoon sun made for a relaxing few days before we could no longer delay our return to The Meadow. To be honest I wasn’t sure about returning to reality after such a wonderful 6 weeks of various holidays – what a lucky girl am!
After my lovely two weeks with the girls I bid them a fond farewell and headed into West London and Notting Hill to meet up with Tom. He moved to London last September and I was itching to see him and where he lived and to spend a few days with him showing me HIS places and me showing him where I lived and worked over 40 years ago! It was perfect as we both knew a few places that the other would enjoy so our road trip came together easily. Firstly though – Notting Hill! I LOVED it right from the first moment. It was a beautiful sunny day and the famous coloured houses just popped against a bright blue sky. Portobello Road was setting up its stalls for the coming weekend and there was a pleasant buzz of people enjoying the summer weather and eating alfresco in the many eateries that lined the local streets. The rows of high end white elegant Victorian townhouses were pleasing to the eye (many with their EV vehicles charging in the street or front garden – they were literally everywhere!) and the whole suburb was thriving. It became famous after the 1999 film but even when I was a teenager I remember catching a coach up to London to go to the Portobello Road markets to buy a leather coat which was a big fashion statement in 1976 and thinking how cosmopolitan it was even back then. Fast forward 50 years and you can imagine how the mix of cultures, music and food has made it one of the most enjoyable places to live. Needless to say it comes with a price tag but you can live the dream in an (expensive) rental at least! Tom loves it – with its proximity to Kensington Gardens for a bit of green space and a direct tube ride into the City of London where he works. I stayed at The Premier Inn, about a ten minute walk from Tom and I spent the afternoon wandering around exploring, I felt at home there within hours and when we met up at 5pm he took me on a mini pub crawl of all his favourite places. Of course they all knew him by name which I hope is due as much to his friendly nature as his drinking habits! The weather was gorgeous and as it is so temperamental in the UK most of the time, when it IS nice everyone really makes the most of it and we were all vying for a coveted outdoor table! To top off our night we ate at a superb Japanese restaurant and caught up on the last 10 months since he left Sydney. One happy Mummy.
After a rather fraught start to the day when the car rental place didn’t accept Tom’s digital license and I had to do it all instead, we finally set off for our first destination – Bath. I have spent quite a bit of time here over the years and have always loved it. What’s not to love? The Georgian architecture and the town built around the River Avon is very picturesque and on a 32 degree day we were happy to arrive at 3pm and enjoy Aperol’s on the banks of the river in the shade of Pulteney Bridge after a 3 hour drive. Our little hotel room was 300 years old and on the top floor of a pub with the NARROWEST set of stairs I’ve ever seen, we could barely fit on them and had to carry our cases ahead or behind! No lifts of course!
It was in a great position though with a short walk to just about everything and we enjoyed exploring the town before dinner in a bustling square full of happy weekend people! Bath Rugby had won the Premiership just two weeks before our visit and Tom is thinking of coming again next year with some mates on the train to enjoy the footy as well as the town. It is famous of course for its Roman Baths which are a disturbing shade of green but nowadays you can also enjoy the same warm mineral rich waters up on the roof overlooking the city. It wasn’t what we fancied doing on such a hot day but my sister did it in winter overlooking a city laden with snow and said it was quite magical.
After a morning coffee in the Square we set off for our second night’s destination – Bourton on the Water. We have been watching Jeremy Clarkson’s Farm on TV and as his new pub was en route we thought we’d play tourist and stop off for a look. Apparently several hundred other people had had the same idea (it was a Saturday) so we felt more like we were attending a festival than a country pub as we were directed into an adjoining field with parking attendants complete with orange batons overseeing our parking to squeeze in as many people as possible. I felt like a lemming about to follow the others off a cliff as we wound our way through the field and across the road to the Farmer’s Dog where there were several more queues of various lengths depending on if you had a reservation or not. Blow-ins like Tom and I had no chance of getting into the pub so we made do with the adjoining paddock surrounding the Farm Shop. The queue for the shop itself was insane but the bar serving beer and cider was ok so we enjoyed a couple of those whilst people watching. They had it very well set up with tables, chairs and brollies as well as country games like toss the horseshoe etc and some piped music giving it a nice ambience. Again we were lucky with the weather as if it had been bad we would have had no chance getting into the pub. Nice work Jeremy….
Tom knew about Daylesford Organic because he had visited with his friends when he spent Christmas in The Cotswolds. It was like a beacon of loveliness in the middle of nowhere and well worth the stop. We had a delicious lunch, lusted after homewares and gorgeous food products – tomatoes from the Isle of Wight, local asparagus and flowers, small goods from local providores, amazing cheeses, wines and more to choose from if you had the money and the ability to store it all! Locals must be thankful to have something like this nearby and it was worth negotiating the odd tractor in the narrow roads to visit!
Nothing really prepared us for our arrival in Bourton though. The entire place was teeming with people and our overnight lodgings was bang smack in the middle of it all! Tom dropped me and went off to discover a park on the outskirts of town (thank goodness for overnight parking rates!) and I discovered that the hotel had allocated us a double room instead of a twin! The poor girl on duty nearly had a heart attack when I told her but she was brilliant and unzipped the adjoining beds and remade them in a jiffy despite the heat and the huge queue of people downstairs wanting to eat in their restaurant. The overtourism was so apparent and quite overwhelming for all concerned. It wasn’t until after 8pm that the hordes departed and the little town became what I remembered from the early 80s! Obviously we are tourists too but I am concerned about the huge families that visited but brought their own food and drinks and did little to contribute to the town’s income – just literally swamped it until it was time to take the kids home…very sad ….
Luckily once everyone went home we had a delightful walk around the town and equally the next day really enjoyed it’s true colours until the coaches started to arrive circa 10am….then it was time to move on! En route we swung by what used to be Barnsley House when I lived there, a National Trust House and Garden which I drove past daily but never went in to. Tom had heard it was now owned by the Pig Hotel Group and came highly recommended. As it was Sunday lunchtime we weren’t hopeful of lunch without a reservation but we got lucky! A table for two outside overlooking those beautiful gardens and we timed it perfectly as a light shower started just as we finished our meal. Armed with the hotel’s brollies we explored the gardens and the humungous veggie patch, gleaning ideas for The Meadow as we went! A wonderful few hours indeed….
Today’s destination was Bibury – a very small village that has become incredibly popular with visitors. However our reason for visiting was that I had lived and worked there in 1978 as a receptionist at The Swan Hotel. I absolutely loved both the place and the job and back then it was a popular destination but pre social media it was just literally a word of mouth thing and apart from having a booked out restaurant for Sunday Lunch each week it had a laid back feel and a gentility that I felt was lacking this time around. Our beautiful restaurant that used to be full of well dressed people laughing and the tinkling of glasses and cutlery on beautiful crockery is now only used for coach tours which made me really sad. The hotel restaurant is now more of a bistro and although we enjoyed a well cooked meal there it wasn’t what I had wanted to show Tom. Times move on unfortunately. Our room was gorgeous and comfortable with a huge bathroom with wall panels and beautiful toiletries, a piece of the past that they have kept thankfully. I’m glad I got to share it with him but I think that maybe that was the last time I will visit. I enjoyed an early morning walk before the tourists arrived and saw Arlington Row, a tiny higgly piggly line of houses built in the 14th century and renovated in the 17th century and still lived in today. Tom was flabbergasted at the amount of people taking photos of what he deemed to be nothing special! Apparently William Morris declared it the most beautiful village in England back in the day and people still come in droves to see it. Again we were lucky to see it outside of the regular coach/tourist hours. I do feel really sorry for those people that live there all year round, parking is a nightmare in such a tiny town and people are very intrusive taking photos of literally everything!
So back to London we went, stopping off in Oxford for a couple of hours to look around. Tom’s flatmate studied at Oxford Uni and Tom was keen to see where Connor had spent his time. It is the oldest university in the English speaking world and the sense of history and knowledge just emanates from these gorgeous buildings as you would imagine. They are beautiful golden stone, built around a quadrangle 9 times out of ten and the town is built around the different colleges with loads of pubs and cafes, and people riding bicycles everywhere – students of all ages enjoying all that this beautiful city has to offer.
Back in London we dropped the car off and separated to pack/organise ourselves after our week away. I finally got to see Tom’s flat and meet Connor and now I can fully imagine him in his everyday life which is comforting. Our last evening was terrific with a pre dinner drink (prink!) at The Pelican before joining the queue at Canteen – a no bookings, flavour driven Italian restaurant run by two ex River Cafe chefs on Portobello Road. The menu changes daily and is full of delicious, well executed dishes. We snagged some stools at the kitchen bar and it was great to see the chefs in action. The hype of this place means queues are often down the road but it’s definitely worth it – one of the nicest Italian meals in recent history for me!
We had a last walk back to my hotel together before we said goodbye and Tom hopped onto a lime bike to get home. Six months before we are reunited at Christmas in The Meadow but a week of memories we wont forget….
My last day in London was a long one as I didn’t fly until 9pm so I literally walked EVERYWHERE! 27000 steps as it turned out! First was Kensington Gardens for a coffee and croissant before exploring the park, then a long walk to Holland Park and millionaires’ row to check out where David and Victoria Beckham live (very nice indeed) and a trip to the ‘supermarket of dreams’ (real name) in the main strip of Holland Park – you can just imagine the delicious produce they sell and the calibre of the locals that buy them! Back to Notting Hill for a lunch on the pavement watching the world go by before winding my way back to the hotel to change for the long journey home. Thankfully Tom had given me a lounge pass so the last few hours were spent in relative comfort with free food and wine at Heathrow which meant I pretty much could go straight to sleep once the plane took off. No horrible delays on the way home and before I knew it I was freezing on a train platform at 6am in Wolli Creek!!!! Back to reality I go folks…..
It is hard to fathom that it has been 10 years since we packed up our little house in Rozelle and headed 2 hours down the coast to our white house in The Meadow. That first day will forever be etched in my mind as I sat on the front steps looking out at my new garden while I waited for the removal truck to arrive. I had no idea what the next decade would bring but it has felt like home ever since that very first day and I have never regretted the move. Sure, there have been times when the wind or the flies or the interminable rain or the constant Kikuyu runners that invade every flower bed have sent us crazy and also the moments when it would have been nice to be a bit closer to our family but all in all we have been SO lucky to call this place home. Our kids and grandkids all feel its special magic too and nothing makes me happier than those times we all get together here for what is generally a noisy and energetic time together and special memories are made for us all including the little cousins who only get to see each other very occasionally due to living in different states. Fate bought us here but love keeps us here….
Before Christmas I had the best Mother/Daughter weekend in Melbourne. Lauren had bought us tickets to see Richard Marx and we got some cheap flights so we thought why not? In my 40 plus years in Australia I’ve only been to Melbourne a few times so we stayed right in the centre so we could walk to everything. We had a perfect weekend of music, wine and food, shopping and even snuck in a bit of culture seeing an interactive immersive showcase of the art of Leonardo da Vinci at The Lume before we parted ways to return to our respective states. I have a feeling this may be the beginning of an annual “thing” as we usually always have the kids around when we catch up and it was so nice to be grown up for a change!
It was our ‘quiet’ Xmas this year when the kids all spend the festivities at their other families place so it was that just Sam, the MOTH and I spent a very grown up day together eating and drinking and chatting with the weather perfect for dining outdoors and just enjoying a quiet day together instead of our usual mayhem running around after the kids! Bailey as always was lured by the smell of the glazed ham and was constantly found within ‘hopeful distance’ of it! Tom spent Xmas with Aussie friends in The Cotswolds in the freezing English conditions, eating and drinking their way through gorgeous little pubs – even carolling together on Xmas Eve and getting into the spirit of it all.
The 28th December was our 40th wedding anniversary and in view of our quiet Christmas we decided to celebrate it for once and fly to New Zealand for 10 days. We had the best time, staying in Queenstown for a couple of days before heading to Cardrona and the beautiful property of our friends Nicki and Dean which they share with their 3 Welsh Springer spaniels. They are about 10kms from Wanaka with it’s gorgeous lake and we also ventured to Cromwell and had a fabulous lunch at the Bannockburn Pub. It doesn’t matter where you go on the South Island there is a picture postcard around every turn and that amazing shade of blue that the water is here thanks to the glacial silt is just magic!
We revisited charming Arrowtown and discovered the nearby Ayreburn. I heartily recommend you visit here if you find yourself near Queenstown as it was a luxury hospitality venue encompassing some beautiful 160 year old stone buildings which have been beautifully restored and crammed with so much character yet with every possible design detail thought out. I was like a kid in a candy store as I went from the Woolshed to the Manure Room, the Barrel Room to the Dairy, the Burr Bar to Billys to the Dell. The gardens alone are worth the visit and you can easily spend a day here wandering around and eating your heart out! Located next to Millbrook Resort this little corner of the South Island is certainly visitor worthy.
A day back in Queenstown was spent with some of our oldest friends, one originally at school with the MOTH and then his kids and their kids who we love to bits! They put on a great spread and we chatted long into the night about the pros and cons of life in beautiful QT – tourists and the LONG cold winter are cons and the beautiful pristine environment and the chance for the kids to lead an outside simple life are definite pros. There are so many lives that we can choose to live aren’t there?
Then it was farewell to the South Island and off we went to Lake Taupo in the North Island where my sister-in-law and her partner have a beautiful house right on the lake. We were excited to visit them especially as our nephew and his family were also visiting and we had visions of us getting out onto the lake in their boat and on the jet skis etc as well as enjoy the walking and cycling path into town that runs around the lake. The weather Gods had other ideas however and it blew a gale for the whole 4 days creating monster white caps on the lake and ruining our plans. We were lucky however when the clouds cleared and the sun shone right on cue for a little neighbourhood get together which was fun, live music and lovely food and wine works every time! In the meantime on the gloomy days I was very happy to snuggle up in their glorious lounge room reading and watching the white caps dance outside!
Jo and Ivan took us to the Huka Falls which were spectacular. The Waikato River, New Zealand’s longest river, narrows dramatically at Huka Falls, generating enough power to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in just 11 seconds. Of course there were people queuing up to do the white water jet boating but we were happy just to watch them from the bridge above!! We also went to some thermal pools which were deliciously warm and you could feel the silica and minerals doing lovely things for your skin. A couple of hours here was VERY relaxing and we were all knackered that afternoon which we think was a direct result of absorbing all the good stuff! A great few days catching up with friends old and new and enjoying another beautiful part of New Zealand. How lucky are we to have friends and family in such gorgeous locations!
We are back in The Meadow now, getting everything spruced up after lots of sun and rain which means everything’s growing like wildfire, our veggies have finally taken off and the MOTH is mowing every few days. We are back to enjoying the sublime taste of home grown tomatoes and after my NZ trip where I fell in love yet again with the multi coloured lupins that cover the hillsides, riverbanks and fields I have bought loads of lupin seeds which I hope are going to fill in my extra beds in the veggie patch that we don’t use as they just give us too much produce that we cant possibly eat! Fingers crossed that I can transpose my vision from the South Island to The Meadow successfully! Watch this space…..
A quick flight back to Athens and then out to Kythira saw us in an entirely different environment from the past 10 days as here we were to stay in a friends house in a tiny village with no shops or restaurants. We did however have a rental car and a lovely couple George and Stella to show us around. A long time acquaintance of the MOTH had always said if you go to Greece make sure you come to Kythira and when we told him we were coming he pulled out all the stops to show us a good time in his place of birth. We were treated like royalty and George and Stella came every morning and showed us a different part of the island and then took us to lunch. We met the chefs, had tours of their kitchens and were treated to food that they love to eat themselves. We met so many people and they were all so generous – one guy paid for all the wine we had ordered at lunch just because we had come from Australia! George and Stella had lived in Sydney for 10 years in the 90s and spoke good English and were the best tour guides, taking us anywhere they thought was worthy of interest. They owned and ran a beautiful bakery in a nearby village and seemed to know EVERYONE on the island. The amount of times George would stop in the middle of the road, roll down the window of the car and shout out to someone in the garden or toot the horn to get them to come outside for a chat! Parking was pretty much wherever you wanted to stop and no one seemed to care in the slightest.
We visited two different monasteries that were really beautiful. A remote and peaceful location for both and the amazing interiors you expect from the Greek Orthodox Church. There are simple rooms available for rent where people come to retreat and meditate on life for a week or two – even up to a month. The church here still seems to play a big part in people’s lives and the priest is very much a part of the community. One offered us a Greek coffee, Turkish delight and vodka when we visited his church – a common occurrence apparently. He later joined us for lunch and was a really interesting guy who had spent 14 years in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands doing ministry work.
We had trips to beautiful Kapsali and Avlemenos as well as the main town of Chora which is on a hill dominated by the old Venetian castle built in 1503 offering us a panoramic view of Kapsali down below. A delicious lunch was had there in a taverna adjoining the most azure ocean and the MOTH said he would happily come back and rent a house there for a week or two one day! We saw fishermen patiently mending their nets, goats ran wild – their bells alerting us to their presence, the sun shone and the water lapped. Heaven indeed.
Our friends house had a beautiful view over the countryside and we would start and end the day admiring it from their veranda. A walk from the house takes you through the prickly pears, the wild horta and thyme bushes and through citrus and olive groves. It is much more green and lush than the other islands we had visited and less windy. The beaches were lovely and mostly empty in October. Cam had the entire Melidoni beach to himself as he did his morning laps whereas in summer it is packed with families from morning to night and the winding road full of traffic. We found the whole place very peaceful and meditative and as we had a big lunch every day we didn’t need any dinner – we had some nuts and fruit if we were peckish and used our time there to get organised for our trip to France (where we were staying in hotels with limited laundry facilities) and without TV we read our books and really relaxed.
As we packed our bags to return to Athens we were so grateful to have had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in an authentically Greek island and to have had the company of George and Stella to show us around and of course our friend Peter who made it all possible. Kythira has a special magic that has nothing to do with beach bars and cruise ships and I’m so happy we finally made it there after listening to so many stories about it over the years – it didn’t disappoint!
My Move To The Meadow 