Weekend in Port Stephens

 Simon and I had a lovely weekend away in Port Stephens. We had booked this trip earlier in the year when we saw a great deal  at Bannisters. It was a great break from the busyness of the last few months. 

We were blessed with fab weather, you could feel spring in the air!

 The sun was shining and it was so relaxing to just explore new beaches, enjoy the blue skies and catch up, just the two of us...

We stayed at Bannisters Port Stephens

We ate at -

Julio's

The Cheeky Dog

Shoal Bay Country Club

Murray's Brewery

We drove around and explored - 

Soldiers Point

Anna Bay

Fingal Bay

Shoal Bay

Birubi Beach

We came across the camels on the beach at Birubi Beach. If you drive to the surf club you have a view of the beach and where the camels come out from.

The weekend felt like an old school coastal town holiday and as the warmer weather hasn't started the towns felt very quiet. It was really lovely and relaxing x

A weekend in Melbourne

I'm just back from a weekend in Melbourne with my friend Cill. It was only a quick trip but we managed to pack a lot in! I received some great suggestions on where to go, eat and shop from everyone on Instagram before I went so I thought I would share them all on a post here in case you were interested....

We caught an early morning flight from Sydney on Saturday morning and landed in a windy Melbourne. That plane landing is one I will remember, it felt like a rollercoaster and was a bit scary!

Everyone warned us to dress warmly and we were glad we had our coats on as it was pretty chilly.

We hit the ground running! After catching the Skybus from the airport to Southern Cross Station we had a quick browse around the outlet shops located above the station then caught a tram to our hotel on Flinders St. We stayed at the Double Tree Hilton which was in a great central location.

We walked along the Yarra and had lunch and then jumped on a tram and got lost as we headed out of the city. Those trams are tricky to work out! We found our way back to the CBD and Bourke St where we wandered the shops, checked out the graffiti laneways and marvelled at all of the cute little coffee shops and boutiques in other laneways.

Our hotel lobby - (photo by @cillandruby)

After our early start we were feeling a little bit weary from all of our walking and decided to head back to the hotel for a rest before changing and heading out to dinner.  We found a lovely restaurant on the water "Waterfront" and enjoyed a cocktail and dinner. I can recommend the Lycheetini!

The Melbourne lights were sparkling and the city was looking very pretty :)

The next morning we had a sleep in due to the room's black out curtains and enjoyed a delicious buffet breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Check out was 12pm so it was great to be able to have a leisurely start to the morning. We left our bags at the hotel and caught a tram out to St Kilda for a look around. We finally worked the trams out and it was so much easier than the day before! ;)

We browsed the markets, walked along the water and wandered down Acland Street. There were so many amazing cake shops all in a row making it a perfect spot to stop for morning or afternoon tea.

We then caught a tram back into the city and headed for the outlet stores at South Wharf. Lot of bargains to be had there. I stocked up for a teens birthday next week at the Calvin Klein store.

We had a quick bite to eat then it was time to head back to the hotel to pick up our bags and catch the bus to the airport.

(photo by @cillandruby)

It was a whirlwind trip and we didn't get around to doing all that we wanted but I know I'll be back in the future to use some of the wonderful suggestions below....

Restaurants/Cafes

Kettle Black - breakfast

Grain Store

Lucy Liu - modern Asian/great cocktails

Ginger Boy - dinner

Union Electric Bar- drinks

Supernormal - dinner - CBD

Cumulus Inc- brunch or dinner

Chin Chin - lunch or dinner ( go early as it gets super busy)

Hardware Société

Donut and coffee shop - Fitzroy Street

Tonka - CBD

Brunswick Mess Hall

Ichy Ni - Brunswick St

Mr Miyagi - Chapel St

Hawker Hall - Chapel St

Gazi - Greek food

Naked for Satan - drinks - rooftop view + cocktails

Longrain

Cicciolinas- pasta - Acland St

Movida

Magic Mountain

Brunettis - coffee and sweet treats

Humble Rays - Carlton

Higher Ground

Tinker - Northcote- breakfast/lunch

Lygon St - Carlton - pizza, Italian food

Crown Casino

Gradi- pizza

Stokehouse - St Kilda

Mr Wolf -pizza- St Kilda

Top Paddock - Richmond - breakfast

Arbory

Hardware Lane

Beatrix - morning tea

Shops

Emporium - CBD

Chadstone

Chapel St

Gertrude St - Fitzroy

How was your weekend? What's your favourite thing to do / place in Melbourne?

Our Bowral stay - January 2017

Simon and I decided to head down to the Southern Highlands the other day for a quick night away.

We escaped the scorching Sydney temperatures for a day and enjoyed the cooler breezes in Bowral.

After dropping the boys off at the grandparents we enjoyed the leisurely drive and made sure we got out and checked out any shops or stops that caught our eye.

Our first stop was the Robertson Cheese Factory for a browse through their antiques and we bought some old fashioned lollies (cobbers, chalks, bullets etc) We didn't get any cheese ;) 

We also found some great old records to play on the record player that Simon got for his birthday last year. Lots of fun going through all of the old records looking for some nostalgic tunes.

We then headed into Bowral for a bit of lunch and a browse around the shops before they closed.

The Press Shop is the newest face in town and it was bustling. The menu is quite limited but there is a display cabinet full of delicious muffins, pastries + quiches to go with your coffee. 

We managed to grab a table outside and enjoyed a jaffle for lunch. Very simple but yum. 

We couldn't resist having a scone after lunch after seeing another table order them.

It felt like a very Bowral thing to do - scones, jam + cream.

After lunch we wandered down to the other end of the cafe where Bespoke Press is set up.

It's a lovely stationery store with the most beautiful wrapping paper and ribbon, gorgeous pens and notebooks and they also have a printing press set up where you can watch them make invitations etc.

We continued down the street to Dirty Jane's antique store and wandered around it, popping into The Orangery, The Potting Shed and Suzie Anderson Home. I loved this little space and all of the shops together. It is really beautiful and so many treasures in the one spot.

We came home with a couple of new plants and a large jelly mold. Random I know!

It was really starting to get cool and mist over so we headed back to relax fro the rest of the afternoon at our hotel The Gibraltar.  The remainder of the afternoon was spent reading the papers and enjoying the breeze and the moody view from the balcony with a couple of gin + tonics. Perfect.

We had dinner at the hotel and enjoyed a sleep in before heading home the next morning.

It was only a quick break but left us feeling rested and refreshed. 

Simon and I are really making the time to get away for a day away here and there this year  as last year we felt we got too caught up in the day to day routine and not enough spontaneous moments and time for just us. It's only early days of 2017 but we are off to a good start :)

Have you been to Bowral lately?

Have you made any resolutions to get away a bit more this year?

All photos are my own except the exterior + interior shot of The Press Shop.

They were taken from @the_press_shop Instagram.

Photo of cards via @bespokepress Instagram.

A weekend in the Blue Mountains.

On the weekend we drove up to the Blue Mountains to catch up with some family and check out a few of the local sites. To go from the beach to the mountains in a couple of hours is amazing. 

I love that we have all of these beautiful spots so close to Sydney. 

We arrived at Leura around lunchtime and popped into Leura Garage for a quick bite. The floral wall was stunning and the food was pretty good too ;)

We then drove to Echo Point and had a look at the Three Sisters. 

The view is breath taking. All that green!

Of course I had to take a photo of the 3 brothers and the 3 sisters!

 The streets of Leura are lovely and green with lots of interesting shops to browse and cute restaurants to pop into.

We had a browse in all of the shops in the main street of Leura and finished up in the lolly shop

Lots of lollies from our childhoods here!

It was a hot day in the mountains so we decided to head to The Fairmont Resort where we were staying for a swim to cool off. The resort is reminiscent of a country lodge and is really set up for families. They had an indoor and outdoor pool, 2 games rooms, tennis courts, a mini outdoor maze, train rides and movie nights.

Every Saturday afternoon they have a train ride that does a couple of laps of the carpark. 

The boys were happy with that although it would have been nice if they did a tour of the grounds as they are gorgeous and so big.

We decided for dinner in the buffet restaurant as it was quick with the kids. The food was really fresh and lovely and lots of local produce was used. The pumpkin soup was delish!

The dessert buffet was the perfect finishing touch.

After an after dinner run around in the games room we got the kids settled for bed. 

We were all in the same family room which had 2 double beds for us to share. They were so comfortable we all slept in until 9am the next morning. Thank you black out curtains!

After a leisurely breakfast (another fab buffet spread) we headed off for a bit more sight seeing and drove to Medlow Bath to the Hydro Majestic which has recently undergone a huge refurbishment.

We were having lunch in the Boiler House Cafe but as we were a little early it gave us a chance to have a look inside the main restaurant and Pavilion and a wander around the grounds. It was all stunning!

The fresh white really pops against the blue sky and green of the trees.

(Boiler House Cafe)

They also do an amazing High Tea in the most beautiful room overlooking the Megalong Valley. 

I will definitely be coming back to do this!

(Wintergarden - High Tea)

We had a great weekend in the Blue Mountains but of course there is so much more to see and do.

You tend to forget these amazing places so close to home. 

We will be back to do more soon!

Have you been up to the Blue Mountains recently?

Where do you stay? What are your favourite places to visit?