Make a Wish...

Today, the beau and I decided to make the most of a decent winter day in Melbourne and go for a walk along Merri Creek to Dight's falls near Collingwood. You could have been fooled into believing it was a summer day, except for the nine degree breeze that was gently moving the fog across the bright rays of sunshine. The walk was peaceful and quiet, a few children on bicycles rode by while their dogs excitedly ran in and out of the cool creek. While the walk was beautiful, it was what we discovered about halfway along our journey that really made the day. Just off the Merri Creek Trail, near Clifton Hill, there is a partially overgrown labyrinth made up of pieces of bluestone, based on an ancient Cretan design. According to a nearby plaque, walking the labyrinth is an excellent form of "active meditation".





We didn't get a chance to walk the labyrinth because something in the background caught my eye...



A wishing tree covered in wishes from all kinds of people. Some of the wishes were serious, some funny, and many sad. But they were all beautiful. I photographed some of my favourites..












This was such a magical thing to discover so close to the city yet so far removed. The wishes were beautiful to read and I was glad so many people had decided to share their hopes. I wanted to write my own wish and to my absolute surprise (and luck) we found a pen and one last piece of dry paper in a plastic bag under the wishing tree. I wrote my wish on one side and my beau wrote his on the other. We attached a string and tied it next to a few new leaves emerging on a low branch...

If you're ever walking the Merri Creek Trail near Clifton Hill, keep your eye out for an overgrown labyrinth and a magical wishing tree...

Salted dreams..

Today was filled with sunshine and salt water, bubbles and baked goods as my sister and I decided to introduce ourselves to Victoria's very own Great Ocean Road. We listened to the radio with the windows down, the salty sea breeze blowing my hair like a cotton candy cyclone. We stopped in Lorne and played in the rock pools, collected sea shells and blew bubbles at tourists. We continued onwards, music pounding and hearts racing, to Apollo Bay where we ate felafel wraps, sipped apple juice and blew hundreds of tiny bubbles for the children. Hot crossed buns smeared with creamy butter were consumed as the sun began to set. It was an awesome day of adventure, bonding and exploration. I hope to spend many more days in Lorne, rummaging amongst the rock pools, blowing bubbles and singing loudly.

Around we go..

One day we were bored. We went walking. These are some of the treasures in our beautiful suburb in Melbourne.

المملكة المغربية

My mother just returned from a month long stay in Morocco. After fifty-five years of Australian living, my mother flew on her own, to a country she has dreamt of visiting her entire life.



My mother has always been an inspiration to me - A strong, fiercely independent and overwhelmingly strange woman suffering from perpetual wanderlust - She has always taught me to embrace my flaws and follow my heart. Her soujourn in Morocco has shown me that I can do anything I want, at any age if I set my mind to it.



My mother came bearing gifts of course. Hand-beaten silver bracelets from Agadir, one of the largest cities in Morocco were her gift to me.





My mother's soujourn in Morocco has ignited the hereditary wanderlast within me. I can't wait to get out and see this world.

To Live...

On the 2nd of July, my fiancé and I are celebrating our anniversary. We’ve been “together” for six years and engaged for one. On our anniversary we usually celebrate by eating decadent French food by candlelight or sipping cocktails by the ocean. Last year, Karl whisked me away to Olinda, a small town nestled amongst the Dandenong ranges far from the drone of Melbourne life. There we stayed in a fairy tale cottage (no, really, it was even called ‘Gretel’) and we strolled through the mist at Cloud Hill. Then he proposed, in front of the fire place, after a beautiful dinner. He slipped the ring on my finger and we toasted with champagne before cuddling on the couch with ice-cream sundaes and watching the remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It really was a beautiful and memorable way to spend our fifth anniversary together. But it makes celebrating subsequent anniversaries difficult. How do we top our fifth anniversary? I mean, we got engaged. That’s kind of a big deal and is incredibly hard to top.



So we’re not going to bother topping it. We’re just going to have an awesome time. And we plan on doing that by having a holiday…in Melbourne. Melbourne? Yes, Melbourne. And, yes, I realise that we do in fact already live in Melbourne. But between work and university commitments we actually do very little “living” in this city.



We spend the majority of our time cooped up in a small, artificially lit office or library reading, and writing and revising. We’re lucky to see the outside world for longer than ten minutes a day and even then we keep our heads down and hurry to where we have to be. We rarely look around, inhale, and absorb this amazing city that we live in. And we should. When we live somewhere as awesome and surprising as Melbourne, we really should. When we know where we’ve come from and don’t know where we’ll eventually end up we really should suck the life out of this city like marrow from the bone.



So, Karl has taken a week off work, beginning with our sixth anniversary weekend, and we are going to take back Melbourne. We’re going to shop and eat and explore until we just can’t shop or eat or explore anymore. Just like you do when you live in any great city, we’re going to sip coffee in damp lane ways; wander through gardens and parks and museums; talk until dawn and sleep until dusk.
It’s going to be the most wondrous holiday we’ve ever had. And we don’t even have to go anywhere.