An hour from Melbourne in the picturesque Dandenong Ranges we discovered just what half a million tulips look like. Spectacular. The Tesselaar Tulip Festival has a 60 year long history of turning a working tulip farm into a major tourist drawcard for the Dandenongs. We visited in children’s week which meant there were enchanting extras…
A bit of happy dancing is going on in our house this week and not only on the part of the kids. The reason – it is Melbourne Show Week. Visiting the Melbourne Show was one of my most beloved childhood traditions and whenever I get the chance I visit agricultural shows all around Australia.…
“Gardening is an act of faith in the future” the sign reads at the entrance to Veg Out, Saint Kilda’s organic community garden. Saint Kilda has long been famous for sex and drugs so a public demonstration of faith in the future by the individuals and community groups that tend more than 140 plots in…
I have a thing with hotels. Let’s call it a minor irritation. No, let’s call it a major irritation. It has to do with check-out times. Usually check-out is at 10am, if we are lucky it is 11 am. Once in a blue moon we may score a 12 noon check-out and usually we have to pay…
“I’m not a sport kid Mum, I’m a musical theatre kid.” It wasn’t something I expected to hear from my then four year old son. In a local pirate ship playground I would hear my son yelling out “I’m Peter Allen” – as in the late great Aussie entertainer Peter Allen. If the name isn’t ringing…
Once apon a time in a the distant past two young lovers posed for their engagement photos on Saint Kilda Pier. Okay, it was only eleven years ago but three rug-rats later it seems like eons ago. This past weekend the time had come for the now slightly older but hopefully not jaded couple to…
My son was crying the other morning. Crying about art. He just recently celebrated his hundredth day of Prep but he has already discovered that he is particularly good at reading and maths. It was a Wednesday and he has art on Wednesdays and he didn’t want to go to school because he “wasn’t…
There was something a little daunting about looking up into the tree tops and seeing my six year old enjoying himself above me. Was my baby really so grown up that he could be doing such a thing? The answer is a resounding yes. The Enchanted Adventure Garden on the Mornington Peninsula has a tree-surfing…
As a kid, on Sundays we would drive an hour and a half to Grandma’s house in Geelong. My parents dealt with a chorus of “Are we there yet” from four young munchkins in the back each time. The thing is, we knew that when we were finally there the food would be scrumptious. My Grandma…
There is something kind of cool about moving away from your home town, living thousands of kilometers away for 10 years, moving back to your home town, and then discovering awesomeness nearby. The awesomeness I recently discovered for the first time was Phillip Island. Situated in Western Port Bay and a favorite holiday destination for…