We're all going on a summer holiday...

Last winter...

My last holiday was in winter in the Alpine region of NSW. Snowboarding very badly and spending more time lying on my back then traveling down a mountain. It is amazing how the landscape can change in just a few months.

This summer...


After an exiting but exhausting first year of teaching art to high school boys, I so needed to get away. I LOVE my new job and am so grateful I spent so many studying years being in a high state of stress and anxiety to be able to do what I am doing now. By the end I actually found I loved being at uni, but this year it was time to get a 'real job'. By Christmas however, I realised I hadn't really breathed much in a year. Time to flee...

My first ever proper road trip, where the car is packed and a vague route is marked on the map, was amazing. Probably because there were no expectations of where we were headed and when we would get there. Avoiding the cities and traveling through the countryside gave me just the break I needed. And while the man drove, I typed my honours thesis. Go the multi-tasker!!!

Here are some pics of some of the pretty things we saw...

This is the same Alpine area as the photos above, this time with no snow. Beautiful snow gums, pretty wild flowers and rare alpine orchids - orchids that people from Europe come to see. What you can't see in the photos is the giant blow flies the size of 5 cent pieces. Arrrggghhhh.

So many rivers to swim in and to fish in. The fish were way too clever for us though, so more time was spent swimming than fishing.

This is a photo and little movie of the beautiful little bird I painted (see my last post). So friendly and pretty.

I couldn't believe these shiny little bugs. They were tiny so this shot was captured on a zoom lense.


Christmas dinner. Rainbow trout stuffed with herbs and looked with local olive oil and lemon. Yes, we finally caught one fish (the small one in the middle) and went to a trout farm to get the two big ones. To be honest, the wild trout in the middle caught by the man was more delicious than the farmed ones.

Many llamas or alpacas (I am not sure of the difference, please educate me if you can).

Many birds.

Storms over fields.

I am loathe to think I have only two weeks left of holidays although I can't complain - yes, teachers get the best holidays.