MARCH 2023 : CANBERRA : Enlighten festival

Canberra Festival 2023

Enlighten festivities in the Parliamentary triangle

Exotic creatures

A beautiful summer evening with our grandchildren

Early morning out to see the balloon festival - sadly no take-offs today due to unfavourable conditions but still a spectacular sight.

Day 2 - success!

M&M

MARCH 2023 : SNOWY MOUNTAINS, NSW : a weekend hiking

Another walking weekend staying at our brother and sister-in-law’s lodge in Jindabyne.

Pasta for dinner

Quite a culinary crew



Dead Horse Gap Walk

10 decided to go up the chairlift and walk down the mountain track -13kms - 5 hours

4 walked the whole round trip in excellent time - 4 hours

24o - slight breeze - dry track

Beautiful conditions

Wildflowers

Welcome drinks at the Alpine pub to celebrate and recuperate afterwards

Asian feast and entertainment for our final meal

Music, games, poetry and stories

Good company

M&M

FEBRUARY 2023 : YASS VALLEY : Mystery Picnic

A wonderful gift from Nigel and Tracy for our 70th birthdays.

A mystery picnic.

We chose the Yass Valley package.

First stop an arts cafe, Tootsie, in Yass.

Next, we unlocked the clue to the Thyme to Taste delicatessen in Yass.

Collecting drinks, humus, olives etc

Clue two led us to Clementine Bakery across the road

Sourdough loaf for our picnic

Next clue led us to Poacher’s Pantry in Murrumbateman.

Meats, cheese and crackers for our hamper

Clue four took us to  Murrumbateman Chocolates

A selection of homemade chocolates each..

Our tour over we decided to visit Hall Village rather than the suggested Lake Ginninderra Park due to the cooler weather. We found a perfect spot to set up our picnic in the quiet main street.

Absolutely delicious.

Can’t wait to pass one of these mystery feasts to other friends and family!

M&M

FEBRUARY 2023 : CANBERRA : Koby’s 9th birthday

Koby’s 9th birthday 

My virtual cake to celebrate our talented grandson.

Surfer extraordinaire 

Swimming star

1sts and 2nds in the 50m freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke and 2 relays at his school swimming carnival this week.

A celebration lunch and a slow boat trip on the Lake.

A very happy birthday!

M&M

JANUARY 2023 : CENTRAL COAST, NSW : Yoga retreat

A three day yoga retreat at Noonaweena, a beautiful resort in the hinterland near Gosford, led by one of our Canberra teachers, Radhika.

Rodney, the ever-present peacock

Lovely rooms and decor.

A vegetarian (no eggs), no coffee or alcohol menu

Absolutely delicious!!

Silent meditation walk at sunrise

Regular (and rigorous!) yoga sessions and two zoom sessions with a monk from an ashram near Mumbai. The topic was the state of happiness.

A lesson in Jal Neti - nasal cleansing!

Evening candle meditation

Dinner on the terrace

Jay and Radhika

An enlightening few days!

M&M

PS My favourite dish