Amy and Sue Head to Melbourne

 Amy and I were supposed to go down to Melbourne for Mars and Aiden's wedding in December, but due to Amy's illness we had to cancel, we headed down in March to do some of the things we were planning to do.

First stop was our most favourite Bed and Breakfast - Amberesque in Rutherglen.

Amber had asked if we would mind being guinea pigs for a cooking workshop as she was hoping to start some up- she had to twist our arm ( not!) so helped her out.

We had a great time learning how to make Turkish Pide in Amber's kitchen,

The finished product

We then sat out in the garden with our pides, pomegranate tea and our cheese and olive platter

The breakfast theme was Turkish, we had our Turkish Pides yesterday so went for the cinnamon pancake option, with peaches, pistachio, rose gelato and little pieces of blackberry Turkish delight- it was so yummy.

Before heading to Melbourne we went across to the garden shop we discovered the previous day as we wanted to make a terrarium at the Terrarium Bar. It was an amazing set up.

Good to see Amy working with plants again, we both had a great time, making a terrarium for ourselves each and a gift for some friends,

Then we headed to Melbourne, having a chocolate lunch at the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie.

We stayed 2 nights with my friends Louise and Ron in Boronia, they looked after us so well and made us feel so welcome. I forgot to take photos.

One night we caught up with  Mars and Aiden at the Vanilla Lounge in Oakleigh, They had their wedding reception in the Function Room there. It turns out Oakleigh is a Greek Precicnt, we had some great food there, and a nice time catching up with them,

Louise took us up to the Dandenongs - it was a 10 minute drive to Sassafras, where we found this lovely sculpture garden at the Tanglewood Gallery, then onto Olinda for lunch, I love the Dandenongs.

Louise and Rob had a dog called Lucky, Amy and he were good friends, it made Amy happy to have a dog to pat and brush.

On Saturday we picked Amy's friend Steph up from the train station, took her to Collectors Corner, a massive indoor plant store in Keysborough. Again I forgot to take photos, so this was one of the information signs I had taken a picture of so I could remember how to take care of those plants,

Amy and Steph

We stayed the night in Melbourne, going to the Victoria Market and the girls just catching up and hanging out. I also got to catch up with my brother Gary, his wife Arlene and Matthew.

It was a great trip, we headed home stopping overnight at Albury before arriving home in Canberra.

Tuesday Girls Head Home

 It was time to head home after a great time away exploring the area, Deb and I headed out for our last morning walk along the beach, this time on the other side of the peninsular, parking at the Surf Club where we walked along the beach down past Lake Wollumboola- which had a sea berm separating it from the ocean.

As we walked towards the lake we could see this large black blob, we were trying to figure out what it was. As we got closer we realised it was black swans, there were hundreds of them, probably a thousand or so.

They scattered and swam out into the lake as we came closer so we stayed away as we returned as they were all back in place. Turns out the lake is an important east coast drought refuge for them and they graze on the algae and sea grasses. It was quite the sight, made our morning.

Back to our villa for breakfast, pack up, visit our favourite Culburra Café and head home the back way on the Nerriga Road.

We stopped off at Tiajara Falls

With lovely views through the valley,

We had a lunch stop at Tarago

I good adult size swing that needed testing out!

Past the wind turbines on Lake George before arriving back in Canberra- another great Tuesday Girls adventure.

Culburra Beach and Surrounds

 Today we stayed close to Culburra Beach and explored the local area.

 This is the view from Penguin Head Lookout at the end of our street, about a 15 minute walk.

                                        

Deb and I started off the morning by walking the length of Culburra Beach with Kerrie picking it up at the northern end.

We then headed off to Crookhaven Heads which was just down the end of the road where Kerrie picked us up.

It was a short walk out to the headland but quite up and down and steep in parts

At one point you could look one side out to the ocean and the other side to the inlet. There were lots of tepees that had been made from all the driftwood.

Unfortunately this was all that remained of the lighthouse, looking a little sad!

It was worth the walk, lots of lovely views

We headed back to our villa for brunch, calling in to Orient Point on the way, just to see what was there!

Then we headed of to explore some of the local beaches. First stop was Currarong Beach, where I went for a walk and Deb and Kerrie went for a swim.

This was one of the little bays I came across- Wilsons Beach

Kerrie's picture of me walking back to meet them on their beach

                                        

Then we headed  to Calalla Bay

In the afternoon we headed to Jindyandy which was an old mill that had various shops. Most of them were shut, a bit disappointing but lovely and green and nice gardens.

Berry, Kiama, and Minnamurra Rainforest

 Today the Tuesday Girls headed north. First stop was the The Treat Factory in Berry. Jams, chutney, chocolates, sauces, spices- all sorts of treats!

Deb and I had a yummy hot chocolate from the Dairy Bar and Kerrie had a turmeric latte. We then headed into the centre of Berry to check out the shops.

At the top of the street was a lovely park with a pretty gazebo.

Berry was beautifully kept with many lovely old buildings and plenty of shops to explore.

We then headed further north to Kiama, the countryside was just so green.  Kiama was 1 hour from Culburra Beach, we were in a good central spot to explore parts of the south coast. 

We made it to the Blow Hole at Kiama, as you can see the Blowhole was not blowing, but it was still such a good view of the coastline.

Next we headed inland about 20 minutes to the Minnamurra Rainforest Centre. Deb and I headed off on the Waterfall Walk up to the falls, while Kerrie headed out on the Lyrebird Walk. The walk to the falls was uphill most of the way and rather steep. We set off at 3pm just as it started to rain, at least it was warm and the rain not to heavy. We passed people coming down, but we pretty much had the walk to ourselves. It was such a pretty walk through the rainforest- we decided we were "forest bathing" definitely good for the soul.

 One of the two suspension bridges, however one had been partially swept away from heavy rain last year so was closed.

Deb and I made it to the falls- definitely worth the walk.

We were a little damp!

On the way back down we spotted 5 lyrebird hens out scratching on the forest floor. Later as we left the car park we spotted a male lyrebird with his fancy tail.

We then headed to Bombo on the coast to see Cathedral Rocks before heading back to Culburra Beach. We were pretty tired, it had been a long day, but well worth it.