We only took off from the city for a couple of nights but we felt the recharge from the sea. Just having time to wander the beach aimlessly and not watching the time, away from our computers and our day-to-day! This was our time at Phillip Island. We stayed with our friends at their holiday accommodation at Cape Woolamai. This was the summer and we are in beanies and scarves on the beach. Back at the pool, we went for a swim, just because it was sunny, and to try out the lovely pool.

The beach was pristine with just one piece of rubbish that I picked up and took away. Spending an afternoon wandering the rock pools looking at sea anemones and wonderful-looking seaweed jewels was all I needed while we were there. When we were on our walk back to the house, we admired the gorgeous holiday houses people have built and imagined buying a property there. We did see some land which was $1.1M and then there is the house to build overlooking the Pacific. We can only dream!!

While we were there we organised meals together for the 7 of us with a Mexican feast one night where I made a lovely slaw with coriander and ordered some corn tacos from El Cielo with refried beans (tinned), pulled pork, BBQ chicken, and a guac made by H. She makes the best guacamole as she got plenty of practice in California. We all had an incredible feast together and relaxed in the evening squished together on the couch.

For our barbeque night, we had the tastiest barbequed corn with miso. I enjoyed researching that recipe as it was a riff on Mexican street corn which we saw at a restaurant the week before. I had some miso made by Cooking with Koji from the farmer’s market given to me for Chrissy and H finely grated the smoked cheddar from King Island, Tassie, and we topped it off with smoked paprika, fresh lime, and basil – it was so delicious! The picture is above – that was my attempt at barbequing on a big American BBQ – it was so fun to hear the corn kernels popping.

Look closely at the red rocks and you will see a little mountain goat – that is @fimbus_ AKA my son climbing up the rocks as he enjoys heights. I told him I would take him to North Walls to go vertical climbing – but he said no! He got to the top disappeared for a while and came down shortly after he traveled a path inland. He likes to draw Hilda fanart so check out his sand art at the beach. Later on, I did show him the sign that said unstable cliffs and we had a talk about erosion, so he understood his actions. It was the best time and I was sad to come back home but we were happy to have a lovely experience of just chilling with our friends from NZ.

Looking forward to the year ahead so I can plan more adventures and time for relaxation.