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.

roadtrippin...

Nothing says fun filled weekend like a road trip. It was my fiance and I's anniversary this weekend so we decided to hire a car and hit the road. I get super excited about the tiniest of things so this had me buzzing before hand. Plans galore.

I'm not a massive route planner when I'm driving as I believe you find the best places when you are "lost" not that I ever get lost! I generally just find more exciting ways of getting to my destination then the original advised route. One time Claire and I talked so much on a journey to Bantry that we ended up in Kerry. It was pretty hilarious although Claire was not too impressed with our detour, even less so when I decided the fastest way back would be over the hills. It wasn't but we did laugh quite a lot on our adventure and we did get there in the end although we were about three hours late.

Billy is definitely not someone who enjoys my little driving adventures but he tries to stay calm and not frown too much in my direction. He has been told on more than one occasion that if he doesn't like how we get there just go to sleep and he'll be woken once we land. Luckily enough this weekend was just perfect and if he had slept he would have missed some of the most amazing sights in the world. With only one route to take there wasn't much chance of us getting lost either.

For those that do not know, The Great Ocean Road is the largest war memorial in the world. It was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932 and is dedicated to soldiers killed during World War I. The road stretches from Torquay to Allansford and is 243 kilometres (151 miles long). Most people travel just a small section of the road but nothing would do me but to travel the whole road, both ways.

Here is the Great Ocean Road Memorial Archway. It was built as a tribute to the soldiers from the First World War who were involved in the construction of the Great Ocean Road.

We stopped at Torquay for lunch and couldn't help but have a little run around on the beach in the sunshine. The weather was perfect for a road trip. We were so lucky.

This is the Grotto. It was so breathtaking. Just beyond the arch there is a pool of still water, it looks so calm and then right behind that you see the sea crashing against the rocks. It was such a contrast and just really beautiful to see.

This is the arch. It was so amazing to watch the waves crashing through here.

This is London bridge. There used to be another arch connecting this rock formation to the mainland however it collapsed in 1990. Fortunately nobody was injured however there were two tourists stranded on the remaining piece that had to be rescued by helicopter.

I have loads more pictures of the twelves apostles but unfortunately they don't want to be uploaded at the moment so I will have to pop them up later. For anyone travelling in Australia please do not miss out on this amazing trip. You can book a day tour really easily or do what we did and hire a car and book somewhere nice to stay and make a weekend of it.