week thirty three | woodend, macedon ranges, victoria

Lush Sundays spent with friends are beyond wonderful. Seriously, you should try it! A couple of Sundays ago Clare and I had a house guest (hey Hil!) so the three of us decided we should spend Sunday treating ourselves and we went for a drive. We were hunting wine and cheese and cute towns with little shops – and boy did we find them!

Our first stop with in the small town of Woodend, a gorgeous little gold-mining town near the Macedon Ranges north of Melbourne. It is just a gorgeous little place and as we strolled along looking into shops (and drooling over homes in the windows of the local real estate agents) we could not have been calmer. It was also pretty cool weather- wise so it was nice to rug up for the first time and it felt cozy and relaxing to be walking around.

By the way if you’re ever in Woodend, you should make a point at stopping into the brilliant second hand book shop there – we each bought a couple of books and it has a really wonderful collection of books of all genres.  Plus, we got to support a local business in a small country town, which is always good karma!

From Woodend the hunt for lunch started and we headed to a small winery nearby called Kyneton Ridge Estate. Like many small family-run wineries in Australia it was down a dirt road and the path was also redirected because of bushfire damage. Once we got there however, it was picture perfect. A small number of vines rolling down the hill and a large sun-soaked deck. We got a table – ordered a bottle of sparkling and some baked bri and prawns and spent the good part of the next two hours there enjoying it all.

It was a lovely day out, nothing too big but a great reminder that often relaxing holiday-type things are completely doable when you have a lazy Sunday and some amazing friends.

5/5 bottles of bubbles

week thirty two | headed west, melbourne, victoria

Like for most people doing the 9-5ish, lazy Saturdays are fast becoming my favorite thing in the world. The other week was no exception. After a lovely sleep in, M and I pumped our bike tires and off we went (after coffee and banana bread of course). We were heading across to Newmarket, to the famous laksa place Laksa King. I had been craving laksa for a few days and while there may be a day when I eat something other than the soup based noodle dishes (Pho, Raman, Laksa etc.) I'm not quite there there yet. 

The ride from North Fitzroy to Newmarket takes you past ovals, cute houses,  and lovely cafes but ultimately it’s a game of “Where’s the bike path gone?” or “Oh god please wait till I pass you before you open your car door onto me!!” Melbourne drivers, am I right?

After our terrifying but exhilarating ride I ate more than my weight in laksa goodness and rolled out happy and full. I'd highly recommend the duck laksa if you're there, it's pretty delaksa. 

Heading home we took some obscure turns and rode along the Flemington drain. I felt a little like an eco friendly pink lady (50 points if you get the reference) passing some street artists and other happy cyclists along the way. We popped out near Brunswick West and did some more exploring - riding past hidden cafes and bike shops scattered along the bike paths of Melbourne’s inner suburbs.

Melbourne is a delightful place to cycle around and I’m looking forward to many more relaxed laksa and bike ride filled Saturdays.

5/5 jars of cold pressed juice.

week thirty one | sandringham, victoria

Summer really seems to have passed us by, and considering it’s now autumn I’m back to dreaming about summer things like mango ice-cream and lazy beach days.

Another thing about being back into the uni year is missing my family back home even more than usual. So a couple of weeks ago I killed two birds with one stone and spent a lovely summer Sunday with Max’s family by the beach.

Being welcomed into someone’s family is actually the loveliest thing in the world and the occasional Sunday family lunch is something I’m enjoying having back in my life.

For lunch, we made the long drive to Sandringham (it gets me every time), a beachside suburb in Melbourne’s south full of gorgeous homes with big gardens. It definitely has the beachside feel to it and for the most part I think it would be hard to feel unhappy there.

Sandringham also has a cute shopping village with all the classic seaside businesses - fish and chip shops, a few cute bars and restaurants, some little shops selling bits and bobs and one of the world’s best ice-cream shops. It was here we ordered matching mango and dark chocolate ice creams before hitting the beach. Trust me on this one, you really do want to try the dark chocolate even though it is almost black and looks more like soft liquorish then rich chocolate. It’s absolutely delish!

Just a bit further south from Sandringham is Black Rock Beach – not your typical white tropical style beach of Thailand, but still lovely. Slightly more rocky and with coarse sand, the water was cool and still - a welcome relief from the scorching 38 degree day we were experiencing. 

Over all a pretty ace summer Sunday. And oh my god that dark chocolate icecream! Heaven.

TRIP RATING: 5/5 MANGO ICECREAMS