A drive from Melbourne: Mount Buffalo

Back in 2015, before our Big Trip, I remember feeling extremely burdened by the familiar. I drove down the same streets to the same office every day. I knew where all my usual groceries sat in the store and would traipse almost the exact same path, weaving through the aisles, to buy them as I did the time before and the time before that. I really longed for newness and to refresh my eyes with an unfamiliar scene, even something as mundane as a new place to buy bread.

Part of the problem was I lived somewhere pretty small and it was hard to drastically change things up. Now that I live in a big city, I can explore new neighbourhoods and shops, but it’s easy to fall back into a routine that eventually becomes stale.

I think it’s important to keep exploring the unfamiliar, even if it’s inconvenient. An easy way to do this is a weekend drive. Not long ago Andy and I spent a couple of hours exploring Mount Buffalo in Victoria, about 3.5 hours from Melbourne.

It was beautiful and cold and the mountain air felt so cleansing to breathe in.

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Friday Fun

TGIF my friends. SO glad it’s the weekend. Especially since I no longer work from 5:30am on Saturdays! Absolutely life changing. What do you have planned for the weekend? I’m going to prepare for our East Africa trip which is just two weeks away, go to a housewarming party and make dad breakfast for Father’s Day.

Here are some fun links for your Friday:

Someone has started a hilarious Tumblr called That Blue Off-The-Shoulder Dress from Zara (yes, that one I’m wearing in the photo above!). It documents the many, many times you see women getting around in the dress. The captions are on point.

Taylor Swift’s new tune has been out for a week now and I already know all the words. Have you seen the video? I’ve read so many articles on all the hidden meanings within it from the name written on the tombstone to the single dollar bill in the bathtub. Here are 13 things you might have missed

I am so intrigued and tempted by the simplicity of Tiny Houses. We drove right near this amazing one in California on our USA road trip.

I found a new blog through this post ‘Things That Helped‘ (when the writers’ father passed away) and I’m hooked, I plan to binge read it this weekend.

This list has me drooling.

Listening to this will instantly cheer you up (I was driving to work and suddenly burst into happy tears at THE moment).

Speaking of being cheered up, sometimes there’s just nothing you can physically do and that’s OK… Some VIPs in my life are going through a hard time right now and I want to let them know I’m thinking of them xx

Have a great weekend.

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What’s the best thing you’ve ever done?

Wistfully staring into a Greek Islands sunset, August 2016

I turned 29 a little over a week ago and already I feel like I’m hurtling at breakneck speed towards 30. So lately I’ve been thinking if I should do one of those ’30 before 30′ bucket lists. The only problem is I can’t think of 30 things I’d like to achieve or do and really, why should 30 be a cut off date?! I feel like we focus so much on the things we’d like to do and the places we want to go, we rarely pause to think about what we have achieved.

A few weeks ago I caught up with a wonderful friend from my exchange student days. As we reflected on our semester of exploring Viennese castles, scoring ridiculously good opera seats and partying far too much, we both agreed that doing a university semester abroad was one of the best things we’d ever done.

I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but there are things in my life that I just know were the right thing to do. That despite the risk, the financial or emotional cost, turned out to be some of the best things I’ve ever done.

Things like leaving Melbourne to move almost 3000 kilometres to Kalgoorlie; a small mining town on the edge of the West Australian desert. That place was my home for three and a half years, it gave me lifelong friends, valuable work experiences, bizarre and amazing life moments. Oh, and my relationship with Andy! This experience completely challenged and changed my perspective and I know I’m better for it.

Quitting my job and selling most of my possessions to travel the world for 16 months is an obvious best. When I sit at my desk at work, with photos from the trip plastered all over my cubicle, I still can’t quite believe Andy and I pulled it off. That we went so many places and had so many experiences.

Going back to uni after my poorly executed ‘gap year’ (read: year of boring office work and two internships) was one of the best things I’ve ever done.

I’ve picked fairly grandiose examples but the small or intangible things count. I love that I’ve maintained such amazing relationships with both my parents and my siblings. I’m proud that at one point in my life, I got really damn good at making cheesecakes.

While it might seem self indulgent to sit and think about all your wins, it sure is a nice break from constantly looking forward.

So what’s the best thing you’ve ever done?

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12 things you’ll know if you’ve done a USA road trip

‘Right on red’ is genius

In the States, if it’s safe to do so you can turn right if you’re stopped at a red light. It’s kind of the equivalent of having slip lanes to turn left in Australia but you can do it at every traffic light or intersection unless there’s a sign saying not to. It saves waiting for no reason when the way is clear to turn. Love it!

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Would you date someone shorter than you?

Taylor Swift presents a VMA to Bruno Mars onstage during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for MTV)

A couple of months ago, a friend of mine was showing me her Tinder matches. Hunched over her phone, we poured over the photos, attempting to gauge the height of her potential suitors by comparing them to nearby landmarks and other people in the photo. She didn’t want to agree to a date, only to show up and see someone shorter in stature. Not long after that, over drinks with a group of ladies the conversation turned to online dating and the height thing came up again “I would never date a guy shorter than me!” came the responses.

I understand where some women get their height obsession from. The heteronormative world view has long told us men should be tall and strong and women should be dainty and take up as little space as possible. As a tall woman, I’ve definitely had moments of feeling ungainly. But literally, only moments! I often forget I tower over some of my friends, realising only if we happen to be stood next to each other in front of a reflective surface. “Wow! You only come up to my shoulder!” style.

I’ve never minded being taller than a romantic partner. It’s just not really a thing for me. Andy and I are exactly the same height, so when I wear heels I’m always taller. It makes me feel statuesque.

When I was a teenager my dad’s girlfriend at the time made some random comment about supermodels always being taller than their boyfriends. “You think a man with Elle Macpherson on his arm would mind being shorter?!” she remarked. I have done zero research in the field of supermodels and their height relative to their romantic partner’s (female, male or otherwise). But this always stuck with me; that tallness in women is glamorous. Sure she meant in the context of being attractive to men which is fraught with other issues but I’m sticking to the take home message of not stressing over height. It’s impossible to make yourself shorter without some fairly hideous slouching, which is frankly unacceptable. Shoulders back, heads high ladies.

Would you date someone shorter than you?

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Winter Weekend: Mount Hotham

Winding our way up to Mt Hotham it quickly became clear we were in a very different snow situation compared with Falls Creek the previous day. Snow was falling, the wind was howling and visibility wasn’t great. I was excited!

Frosty!

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Winter Weekend: Bright and Falls Creek

A few weekends ago, Andy and I packed our winter woolies and headed to Bright, a small town at the base of some of Victoria’s most popular mountains. It was early in the Australian snow season (it’s a real thing, I promise!) so we didn’t have plans to ski but hoped we’d see a bit of the white stuff. We weren’t disappointed.

We stayed at this AirBnb which was really just a motel room but it did have a spa and a fireplace; both essential for a winter mini break. Bright is very picturesque, surrounded by pine covered mountains with low cloud drifting in and out all day. Not all the shops and restaurants were open yet but we still ate very well.

Bright

I highly recommend Ginger Baker for breakfast. They’ve managed to create the perfect cold weather al fresco dining scenario with wood fires to keep you nice and toasty.

I had the potato rosti with cured salmon, spinach, hollandaise sauce & poached eggs

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Four ways I’m embracing winter 

Dressing warmly has me hot under the collar 😉

I haven’t had a proper winter in a long time. I lived in the land of perpetual sunshine for three and a half years (Western Australia) and then chased summer around the world for a year and a half. As a result I am totally embracing the cooler weather this year. The foggy mornings, endless cups of tea, the chilly sunsets (why is it the clouds go the most insane colours in winter?!), snuggling up under 3 layers atop an electric blanket. It’s magic.

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Life lately

Well, well, well. I seems such a long time since I’ve blogged consistently. To think I managed to blog more often when lived in a remote mining town AND when I was on the road contending with abysmal wifi is somewhat shameful. Life hey? It’s either busier or I don’t have a handle on time management. A bit of both probably.

So what’s been happening? Well a couple of weekends ago I flew over to Perth to celebrate the engagement of these two:

Bec and Scottie, whom you may remember from Rome or from when we lived together in an adorable cottage with a white picket fence. Bec’s parents hosted the party at their house and absolutely no effort was spared in putting together this spectacular evening. Bec’s mum painstakingly put together all of the decorations; everything from the floral wreaths to the lighting configurations to the forest of white trees lining the pool. It looked wonderful.

Bec and I

It was a major Kalgoorlie catch up and so good to see everyone and get up to speed on two years of gossip.

As per usual we burnt up the dance floor into the miniscule hours and spent Sunday a little worse for wear. Totally worth it!

So many laughs

It’s amazing to think back to how young we were when we all met in Kalgoorlie in our first graduate journo jobs, figuring out life and love in the dusty Goldfields. Not these guys are gettin’ hitched!

I also saw my old community theatre friends and had an amazing evening with them over cheese platters, pizza and sparkling wine. Wish I’d remembered to bring my proper camera out!

What else? It’s getting very chilly here in Melbourne which I’m loving. I’ve been working a lot which I’m not loving. I have a few mini breaks coming up which will be wonderful. I’ve been binging hard on Orange is the New Black (so weird to think we watched the last season in London!) and Master of None, are you watching? And eating a lot of soup!

OH! And this biggest update is that I am now blonde.

What’s news with you?

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What’s your food philosophy?

Tucking into dinner in Naxos, Greek Islands

That was the first question on a list I was given by Liz from I Spy Plum Pie when asked to feature in the Foodie Files segment of her blog. I was kind of stumped. I’m not someone who only eats organic, locally sourced produce. I don’t kneel at the altar of paleo or gluten free living. Do I even have a food philosophy?! Turns out I do, and you can read my answer here.

What dictates what you eat? Time? Flavour? Where you live? Health benefits? Money? I remember hearing from a woman on a podcast who was amazed at the variety of foods the chefs at her college could make, even if it was just spaghetti or mince meat tacos. The reason? Her family had eaten chicken for dinner every single night of her childhood. She just thought that’s what everyone did!

When you’re fortunate enough that daily food is a given and not a luxury, it’s interesting to think about why you eat what you do.

Even if it’s a burger in a bikini in Bali.

Extravagant

Your thoughts?

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