fresh country air...

Last weekend we decided to take a long weekend and go and visit our friends in the countryside. We have been to visit them before and absolutely loved our time there so could not wait to go back this time. We packed our bags and got a very early 7.10am train from Melbourne to Wangaratta. It really is amazing what a few days in the countryside can do for you.

We were extremely lucky to go to help Trav pick up some sheep and got to meet this beautiful elephant called Saigon. She lives with a wonderful family and has done so her whole life. She is a retired circus elephant and now gets to live out her days in the company of sheep, ponies, cats, dogs and a variety of other animals that pop by to say hello to her on a daily basis.

As it was Bridget's birthday on Saturday we had a big BBQ that evening. We got to meet friends and family of both Bridget and Trav and had a wonderful time. Lots of food, cider and beer was enjoyed by all.

I claimed this pink superwoman stubbie holder for the duration of our visit. Yes, most of the visit was with stubbie in hand. Hey, we were on our holidays.

We got to roll around with two new additions to the family, Sammy and Connie, who were so cute and cuddly and the best of buddies too.

Billy got stuck into life as a roustabout. We'll be cleaning wool from our clothes for the next month.

This is a very blurry photo of Gerty the baby orphan goat we picked up while we were there. She was adoreable and I almost ended up bringing her back to the city with me. I spent a lot of time with her under my arm.

We got to see some sheep being turned pink.

We went for the most beautiful lunch before going on a little tour of some local wineries.

We made the most of the tasting. Yum, we tried everything from Moscato to Shiraz to Muscat and a few in between too. Have you ever tried a Sparkling Shiraz. Me neither until this weekend. Delicious.

Trav tried to teach us how to use whips. Billy ended up whipping himself in the face a number of times. Pretty amusing to be honest.

and we also tried our hand at shooting cans in the paddock. I almost knocked myself out when the gun kicked back and luckily avoided a black eye but we did both manage to hit the cans. It was pretty exciting and very very loud.

We also went to the Wangaratta races on Tuesday to celebrate Melbourne cup day and had a fab time there. All finished off with some fish and chips in the park and we were back on the train before we knew it.

Already looking forward to our next visit.