Rocklyn Ashram, Victoria

Chant the pain away?

Glimpse of hostel life again

A much better cure

A Haiku

Wurundjeri, Taungurung and Dja Dja Wurrung people are the Traditional Custodians of the land where this photo was taken, on the site of the Rocklyn Ashram.

Bright, Victoria

A solstice rose, and
river to float away on
Through Christmas hail stone

The traditional custodians of the land surrounding the Bogong High Plains are the indigenous Australian Bidawal, Dhudhuroa, Gunai–Kurnai and Nindi–Ngudjam Ngarigu Monero peoples.

Where we stayed: site 278, Bright NRMA

A Victoria to South Australia Roadtrip

Here are five things I’ve learnt as a family of four on a 14 night roadtrip from Victoria to South Australia.

1. My last roadtrip was over 11 years ago across the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. I remember reading, wandering, laughing with friends, day drinking, tuning out to watch the incredible passing landscape. This weeks’ trip played out to the soundtrack of Trolls 2, near constant drizzle, and the sound of my 5 year old and 7 year old punctuating every sentence with ‘I’m hungry.’ Let me be upfront here, roadtrips with children are more like endurance tests than holidays. There’s very little downtime!
   
2. When I asked said little people to sum up their highlights, they named playing on Wye River beach in a hailstorm, the waterslide in Glenelg, rainbow flavoured icecream in Port Fairy, a game of air-hocky in the daggy campsite games room in Robe, some rusty go-carts in Port Campbell and making friends in a rainy playground in Meningie. No mention of the Naracoorte Caves, Mount Gambier or the Twelve Apostles. Sorry UNESCO.
   
3. After seven campervan set up and packs ups we came closer to being a well-choreographed team with our snack boxes, charged phones, dirty laundry contained to one giant Ikea bag, and everything generally in its place, in under 20 minutes. For the record, our longest attempt took 3 hours one year at Walkerville. So, progress.
   
4. The Australian spring weather was NOT on our side. We slept in sleeping bags, under two woolen fire blankets, in four layers of jumpers and a beenie, nightly from 8pm. When the sun finally emerged (day 13 of 14!) we all became our best selves. We hiked to Venus Baths and The Pinnacle in Halls Gap all in one day. We finally had the moment; sat around a campfire, playing cards, toasting marshmallows, telling bedtime stories under the stars. It felt like we’d eared it!
   
5. In all honesty, it took us until day 10 to hit our stride. This trip was meant to be a teaser for a bigger round Australia trip one day. It confirmed one thing; that a big round Australia trip is really not high up on our bucket list anymore, and that our love and longing for South East Asia still burns strong.

Where we stayed

Wye River Caravan Park, NRMA Port Campbell Holiday Park, Narrawong Island Holiday Park, Discovery Park Robe, Lake Albert Caravan Park Meningie, Oaks Adelaide Horizons Suites, The Little Miss House Boat Murray Bridge Marina, Big4 Naracoorte Holiday Park, Breeze Holiday Park Halls Gap.

Best eats

Lavender fudge at Adelaide Farmers Market, Toasted Sourdough bread from Adelaide Central Market, Let Them Eat at Adelaide Central Market, the Bloody Mary at Wye General Store, Blueberry Poko Sticks from Warrnambool Coles.

This post was written on the traditional Country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains. I pay my respect to Aboriginal Elders past and present.

Pic of the week: Bush camping

I’m using one photo to encapsulate three recent trips to Sunny Acre Farm, a vineyard in Yarra Glen, and a bush-block in Dunach. We welcome in a new era: bush camping. No facilities and no neighbours. Just a full moon, open fires and acres of space. It’s the way forwards!

Balnarring, Victoria…

I came here with a stash of craft supplies. In the 3 days prior to Christmas I had imagined painting shells and foreging for twigs and twineing them into star decorations to hang on a Eucalyptus tree. None of this happened, but at least the embroidery did.

Here’s some things that ‘kept me growing’ this year:

Going to bed sober, surrounded by fresh air and the sound of the sea.

Eating only what we want for Christmas day lunch. The adults had mango and prawn salad, the kids had sushi and eggs sunny side up. Zero excess fills my bucket.

The moment when you paddle a SUP out just far enough off the shore and the cold surf doesn’t spray you, and you can’t hear the kids anymore. That’s a peaceful place.

Here’s to making your own traditions.

The town now known as Balnarring is the ancestral land of the Boon Wurrung peoples. I pay my respect to aborigional elders past, present and emerging.