Summer Mini Break Part I.

We have just returned from a very short break.
Husband E arrived home one week early from China, and it was so good to have him home again!
As it is our long Summer holiday and I was mindful that I had promised to take the children to the lake, I set about researching a mini holiday that I could manage alone.....
Husband E was able to join us in the end....


First, a lovely day/night at the groovy Aunt's house. We all went to the beach on one of the hottest days in Sydney this Summer. As people were released from work, they came running on to the beach and diving into the waves. Everyone was smiling and happy to have access to such a wonderful, cooling resource.


The next day we headed South, to the Highlands. I was wondering what it would be like to be there in the heat, however, lovely, cool weather and mist that surrounded the area.


We stayed in an old guesthouse, built in the 1920's. I went to this guesthouse as a schoolgirl for a Geography assignment to study the region. This house had peacocks that would cry out eerily, with no warning. The grounds were huge, we did not get to explore due to the weather, but the weather did exaggerate the effect of these spiderwebs or "fairy baskets" as the girls and I preferred to call them.


The dark wood inside the house, with the warm lighting was lovely. The bathrooms are still as they were in the 1920's. Black and white tiles, with external plumbing and a particularly characteristic smell...... We had a whole wing to ourselves.

Part of this holiday package was to go to the Illawarra Fly; a treetop walk with a tower that had 106 steps and was 45 metres above the ground. The weather was perfect to visit this forest. We saw a wombat hole, but he/she must have been fast asleep!

The guesthouse provided us with a simple but perfect picnic hamper for our family. Egg and lettuce/ vegemite and cheese/ ham and lettuce sandwiches.....chips, drinks, chocolate and choc/caramel slice.

I indulged and visited my favourite cafe in Bowral, "The Elephant Boy". I sat in my favourite spot by the window and watched the people go by. I also drank coffee and read a lovely magazine. Bliss.