Cottage in Angelsea - Part 2

So Saturday, we had breakfast and then headed for Otway National Park for their rainforest treetop walk. I had no idea what to expect, but they had told me it would take about two hours to drive there. I was unfortunately in the back seat crammed in between two car seats. Although the Great Ocean Road is absolutely beautiful and has some of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen in my life, that trip is also the most carsick i have ever been. Google the Great Ocean Road and you will get an idea of what I mean, the windiest of roads. But again, SO breathtaking. We stopped a few times to get some fresh air and at times the views are how I imagine New Zealand to look. So lush and green, with sheep and cows on these majestic hillsides. Wow.

So we made it to the Treetop Adventure and had a quick lunch and then began our walk through the rainforest. I’m fairly certain this was my first rainforest experience. They’ve built these crazy steel walkways at treetop level, so you can walk through and experience the rainforest in a totally different way. At one part of the walk there was a spiral staircase built that you can climb even higher up, very cool. The lighting was a little tricky for photos, but i think these turned out alright.

Then we headed back another two hours, again the most carsick I’ve ever been. Couldn’t figure out if it was better to have my eyes closed or open...the worst. But again, saw some incredible views, so it ended up being worth it. That night and the rest of the weekend I just relaxed at the cottage and read. I’m almost finished “Captivating” by John and Stasi Eldredge for the second time. Honestly, it gets better each time I read it. It’s one of those books that I want to read like every couple years.

crazy architecture

pit stop

another pit stop

me & Bianca

pulled over the car for this view.

Cottage in Anglesea

Before I arrived here, Bianca mentioned to me that we would spend a weekend in Anglesea, near the Great Ocean Road. Sounded good to me! Since the kids are now on a two week break from school (they have this between each term, and only 6 weeks off for christmas) we left Friday afternoon with the plan to stay until Monday sometime. I drove with Bianca and the dog. And Volker drove with the kids. It was nice to have some adult conversation for a while ;)

Arrived around 8pm after stopping to pick up some fresh fish and chips and fish souvlaki. The kids were already in bed, so us adults had champagne to celebrate Bianca’s birthday and a super delicious fish dinner. Went to bed early because I’m still adjusting to waking up at 7am every day haha...that’s just when I hear the kids...Bianca said they’re usually up at 5:30! And that it doesn’t matter how late they go to bed, they wake up early no matter what. UGH.

Here's some pictures of the "cottage" although you can barely call it that... super gorgeous.

Flower Arranging - Part 1

Last week I was expressing to Bianca how I want to make the most of my time here, and how I’ve feeling a bit bored between 9am and 3pm while the kids are at school. She was immediately full of ideas, and sent me to redballoon.com. This site is full of “experiences” that you can buy. Right away the Flower Arranging and Design class caught my eye. There was an option for 1, 5, or 10 classes. So I went with 5, and it happened to be offered super close by in Cheltenham! So last Monday I had my first class :)

One of the coolest parts of the class was that the girl who was doing the same design as me happened to be Canadian. We had lots in common and talked through most of the time we were working on the arrangement. Too bad she only had one class as a gift! I honestly don’t remember most of the flower names, mainly because I had never heard of any before..most of them were Australian. But the lady who was instructing us passed around a bunch of handouts at the end that explained everything we did in further detail and the items we used. So every week I’ll work on a different design and I get to keep everything I make! It’s really fun so far, and it’s always kind of interested me. It’s nice to be able to have the time to do things like this that I’ve been curious about. Since then I’ve booked an indoor snowboard lesson and I’m probably gonna go for a half-day rock climbing experience as well...I’ll probably schedule it once it warms up a bit more. It’s such a cool way to try new things!