Queenstown - April 2025

 We've just come back from 5 days in Queenstown. 

We had the best time exploring the town and surrounding areas and having fun with some thrill seeking adventures. We stayed in The Rees Hotel a few minutes out of town which had amazing views over the lake and mountains. It was stunning to wake up and see snow on the top of the mountains.

We enjoyed the crisp, chilly weather. It was a nice change from the endless Sydney heat and humidity.

One day we drove to Arrowtown and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery and quaint little town. 

The leaves and foliage everywhere were stunning! The autumn colours were so beautiful.

The boys loved the cutest sweet shop with delicious fudge.

We then continued on to Cardrona and had lunch in front of the fire at the pub. 

Another day we took the Queenstown gondola up to the top of the mountain so the boys could ride the luge. The views up the top were stunning! The boys loved the luge and had so much fun dodging everyone and seeing how fast they could go.

The Shotover Jet was another adventure on our list that we ticked off. High speeds and spins on the river really got our hearts pumping. Highly recommend!

On our last day we drove to Glenorchy which was another stunning drive. The little town was so pretty and was a perfect end to our trip and our appreciation of New Zealand and all it's amazing scenery.

It was so lovely to have this time together exploring a new place x

A recap of 2018

I love looking back over the year to reminisce on all the amazing things that happened. Birthdays, wonderful travel, family celebrations, new career opportunities and changes around the house.

This year flew by so fast but we managed to fit a lot in!

January

A holiday to the Gold Coast + Byron Bay

February

Noah started school.  For the first time in 15 years I didn't have a child at home!

March

We gave our pool area a revamp with artificial hedges.

Noah turned 6

April

Simon and I teamed up and added Property Styling to our repertoire.

May

Camping on the coast

Jasper turns 11

June

Our Hunter Valley weekend

August

Finn turned 16 and got his L plates!

September

Simon and I had a trip to Bali, just the two of us.

My cacti grew so much this year!

October

Finn and I went to New York. It was an amazing trip together!

I shared my favourite art around my home.

December

Our Christmas Home Tour

Catch up with our QLD/Gold Coast family

What a great year!  So many firsts + new experiences! 

Obviously this was just the highlights but overall it was a pretty easy year for us all.

 We made travel and time with each other a priority in 2018. I especially made a point in not getting caught up in being "busy" and really tried to be in the moment and slow down life as much as is possible with 3 kids + their full lives, a business and other commitments. It's the first time I have reached the end of the year without feeling exhausted and stretched in many directions.

Not every year will be like this but it was definitely what I needed this year.

How was your 2018? What was your highlight?

Gold Coast Holiday - December 2018

Last week we drove up to the Gold Coast for a few days in the sun and a catch up with family before Christmas. 2 of the boys are already on school holidays so the holiday season has started early for us!

We stayed at RACV Royal Pines in a family suite, this was perfect for us as a family of 5 and a great central location for all the places we wanted to visit.

As we have family on the Gold Coast we spent our week catching up with them for dinner and also enjoying time at Dreamworld + Whitewater World together. (we had leftover passes to use from last year)  We had some great weather and it was the best way to kick off the school holidays. 

We went to the beach, browsed the shops and saw a movie (The Grinch - we all loved it!) at Pacific Fair and even found Santa on our travels. We left feeling rested + relaxed and ready to jump into all the Christmas celebrations.

I've popped up a few photos from our trip below......

Have your holidays started yet? What are you up to over the Christmas break?

Camping on the coast

During the holidays we took the boys on a quick camping trip down the coast. We decided to try somewhere new and as it was a last minute decision and the school holidays most of the camping grounds close by were booked out. 

We wanted somewhere within 2 hours of home, lots of trees and space, somewhere the camp sites were not too close together and the beach nearby. I also needed an amenties block + hot showers. 

I'm more of a glamper than a camper! ;)

We found a great spot in the Killalea State Park that met all our needs. We set up camp, had lunch then headed to the beach for the afternoon. We headed to Mystics beach, it was a bit of a hike down the hill to the beach but worth it for the open space, great waves and a visit from some dolphins + a crab! There is also another beach nearby called The Farm if you want to try something different.

After the beach we all had hot showers to wash the sand off and chilled out for the rest of the afternoon. You could tell that Summer was over as it got dark quite early and you could feel the chill in the air. It was a bit of a shock to the system after our seemingly endless hot weather!

The sunset through the trees was amazing. Those colours....

As we were trying to keep things easy for ourselves we didn't pack a lot of food to make meals.

 Just mainly breakfast cereal, milk, drinks, bread, snacks/fruit and we decided to go into the nearest town Shellharbour to pick up some fish n chips for dinner. 

There is a cafe near the campsite called the Farm Cafe but they closed early afternoon. We did grab a coffee from here the next morning but the coffee was terrible! So couldn't really recommend it.

We stayed for 2 nights and the boys loved having the space to run around and "explore" 

I forgot how early you go to bed when you're camping, it must be that fresh air that gets you tired! As the boys and I got ready for bed and snuggled down for the night, Simon took a photo of the tent and night sky from outside with his GoPro. It looked beautiful and warm glowing in the night.

The glow was given by a few strings of lights hanging down from the tent pole.

They're battery run ones I got from Typo a few years ago.

The tent still fits us all as a family of 5 and even with the boys getting bigger. We have 1 x double inflatable mattress in there for Simon and I and 3 x single mattresses for the boys and there is still tons of space. We have the 4m bell tent from Wild Things.

I always take sheets and a doona for Simon and I but the boys are happy with sleeping bags on top of their mattresses. All our clothes and toiletries are kept in the car to free up space in the tent.

We also set up a portable 3m x 6m gazebo for shade + shelter, it has sides that can drop down to protect from the wind if needed

Have you been camping lately? Any favourite camping spots you'd like to share?