It makes you think when your dad messages to say you know more people in Australia than you do in Harrogate, a slight exaggeration but he does have a point. Today I was going to catch up with Ash, a very good friend from school days. Her dad was also over and coincidentally he used to work at St. Aidans and was the teacher who ran the Australian exchange so really I have him to thank for looking at my resume and matching it up with Dom ✅✅.
The day started off with a home cooked brunch courtesy of Chef Stricko and a coffee, I think by now you are getting the idea of my morning routine 😂. I then headed into the city to meet Ash at a cafe in the Royal Botanic Gardens. I was early so decided to get off at Flinders Street and walk back towards the meeting point at the Terrace cafe on the Richmond side of the gardens. It was another sunny morning in Melbourne so made it more picturesque.
After a catch up over a flat white we explored the cacti gardens before heading towards Richmond. Ash, Jon and Mia live there and I was grabbing a lift from stricko from there too so made perfect sense. Whilst catching up on several years of gossip, and reminiscing on hockey nights/ hockey tours and how we survived, the gals aka Ash and I headed for a cheeky wine. It’s always so great catching up with Ash and it never feels like we’ve not seen each other for so long 😍.
From here I headed towards my meeting point with Stricko and he was running a bit behind schedule so classic wood headed for a bar with a view. The Mt. View hotel, with scenic views over the city 😍.
Once back home, I was treated to a feast, I had forgotten to have lunch so was looking forward to slow cooked lamb shanks with sweet potato mash and a serving of red wine, must be winter – I do love a wholesome meal on a sunny Sunday. After a few episodes of Ted Lasso and some apple pie and ice cream it was time to hit the hay ready for my final few days in Melbourne 💔💔.
An early start this morning to get to the Lilydale Lake park run. They start at 8am over here rather than 9, to do with the heat. Not sure what heatwave they were expecting as I was in my hat and big coat 😂😂. As my knee still isn’t ready for a 5k (I mean it probably could’ve been ok but I’m not a fan of plodding in public) I offered to go for a walk with Noah. We did one lap around the lake and passed mum and dad, they both smashed it. Dom smashing a sub 30 mins 5k, 3 months post giving birth – big kudos.
Once the run was complete we went for a glorious brunch in Lilydale, spicy chorizo eggs with a hash brown, these brunches could be the end of me over here 😂😂.
From brunch we stopped off at the shopping centre to pick up some bits and headed to a liquor store. Now this concept still continues to baffle me, to get your supplies you either have to the store or you can go to a drive through bottle store, but that would mean you needed to know what exactly you wanted. I bought a three bottles of red and was so overwhelmed by the choice I ended up choosing pretty bottles, one being the king of prohibition, a bottle of wine essentially in a gin bottle, I can confirm it tasted just as good as it looked and I’m going to try and transport the bottle back home 🙏🏼.
In the afternoon, we had homemade pizzas and watched Melbourne get trashed in the footie 🙈🙈.
I mentioned the other day I bought cheese. One was a hard cheese with grains of wheat soaked in whiskey surrounding it 🤤🤤 and a soft cows cheese. Cheese and wine for dinner – perfection, I should’ve done an extra lap this morning 😂😂.
We knew that the forecast for the weekend wasn’t going to be great. I can’t really complain, out of the 4 weeks I’ve been away I’ve had a grand total of 1.5 days of rain. Considering it’s the Southern Hemisphere I can’t really complain. Another leisurely morning and a brunch – seems like a common theme.
Today we went back to Blackwork in Croydon, where I had my standard flat white and then chilli prawn scramble. Not going to lie it was delightful, basically a prawn and spinach omelette with chillis, crispy panko prawns ans a roti 🤤🤤.
Once finished we headed back home, I let my food digest and watched a couple of episodes Ted Lasso season 1 whilst Dom fed Noah. I had in my head decided I was going to do a couch to 5k on the treadmill whilst it rained so off I trotted, week 4 day 3 ✅.
That evening once Noah had settled we got Indian takeout, and watched Essendon V St. Kilda with some red wine. For me a perfect lazy winters day in Melbourne, and for the record it did rain and it rained hard 😂😂.
Another beautiful morning in the Melbourne suburbs and today we were heading into the Yarra Valley and a town called Healesville, a former starting point for Woods Point goldfield.
The Yarra Valley is home to many wineries but that is a blog for another day. Healesville is home of the Four Pillars gin distillery. Before heading to the distillery we went for a little walk and grabbed a coffee. Once in the distillery I did a gin flight, a taste of 4 of their different gins. The four pillars gin, the navy strength, the negroni and the bloody shiraz. The navy strength was probably my favourite but not sure drinking a 58.8% gin on a Friday evening would do anything for me the following day 😂. Whilst trying the gin we had a snack of some feta stuffed olives in breadcrumbs. I feel I could easily pull those off in the air fryer 🤤🤤.
As you can see Betty also made it to the distillery and was observing the bottle process. From here we went to Monroes for a burger, I went for an Ay Carumba which had jalapeños, hot sauce and cheese. It was delightful, nothing beats a decent burger, as long as you don’t eat them everyday 😂.
I had noticed next door that there was a cheese shop, so I bought some cheese for another day along with a local bottle of Pinot Noir. I will let you know about the cheese at a later point but one had been soaked in whiskey, I will need to do more research about this one when I try it. From Healesville we headed home as Noah managed to get himself to sleep in the car ✅. The weather was still lush, so we had a little seat out on the terrace and then walked Harvey whilst Noah had another nap. In the midst of all that it was A-Level results day, so logging on at 5pm Australian time rather than 8am England time was a novelty. I was happy with the results so celebrated with a glass of red before bed.
Another great day, and it’s crazy that I’ve only got a week left in Aus, I could happily stay here that’s for sure.
A leisurely start ready for the day of exploring. Having been dropped off at Croydon station by my personal Uber driver Dom and her assistant Baby Noah, I was heading into the city. It’s about a 40 minute journey to Melbourne Central my destination. When I left it was drizzling so there was me with my umbrella, I actually needed my sunnies 🙈
The first stop of the afternoon was Old Melbourne Gaol. When the Old Melbourne Gaol was built in the mid-1800s, it dominated the Melbourne skyline as a symbol of authority. Inside the Gaol, dangerous criminals were held alongside petty offenders, the homeless and the mentally ill.
Between 1842 and its closure in 1929 the gaol was the scene of 133 hangings including Australia’s most infamous citizen, the bushranger Ned Kelly.
Ned Kelly was born in December 1854, near the town of Beveridge in Victoria. When Ned was 12, his Irish father John ‘Red’ Kelly, an ex-convict, died of ‘dropsy’ (Edema), forcing Kelly to leave school and become the family breadwinner. Soon after, his mother Ellen moved the family to a slab hut in the tiny Victorian community of Greta to be near her own family, the Quinns, who were squatters (sheep farmers). Greta was something of a lawless outpost, and the young Kelly soon grew into a troublemaker and progressed to acts of crime.
Having served a brief apprenticeship with the infamous bushranger Harry Power, Kelly formed his own gang (along with brother Dan Kelly and mates Joe Byrne and Steve Hart) in 1878 and fled to the bush. They became feared outlaws as they perpetrated brazen robberies and assaults, took hostages and stole horses. When the Kelly Gang shot dead three policemen sent to capture them, a 500 pound reward for the capture of each gang member – dead or alive – sparked the biggest manhunt in Australia’s history.
More bank robberies and skirmishes with police followed. Eventually their luck ran out in the town of Glenrowan in north-east Victoria. After holing up the railway station, the Kelly Gang herded the town’s citizens into the local inn to prepare for their last stand. It was here that Kelly and other gang members donned homemade iron armour, Ned’s weighing around 44 kilograms (97 pounds).
Police surrounded the inn and at 3am they opened fire. When the smoke had cleared, Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart lay dead. Ned Kelly escaped to the bush, reappearing at sunrise to try to rescue his brother. This time, police shot Kelly where he was most vulnerable, taking out his legs in a volley of bullets that finally brought the dramatic siege to an end.
Kelly’s preliminary hearing was held in the Beechworth Courthouse in August 1880. On 11 November, Kelly, aged 25, mounted the gallows inside the Old Melbourne Gaol. Moments before he was executed, Kelly reportedly uttered his famous last words: “Such is life”.
After my little audio tour around the gaol I headed to Chinatown. Chinatown in Melbourne is reportedly the oldest continuous Chinese settlement in the Western world and the oldest Chinatown in the Southern Hemisphere. Chinese immigrants settled here during the Victorian Gold Rush in the 1850s. The plan here was to have some lunch now when a tourist and with over a million places to go into you get overwhelmed. I ended up in Robo Mao, it was busy which surely is a good sign, I ended up again being overwhelmed by choice so ended up with honey chicken and bbq chicken bao buns. At this point I was stuffed, thank god I didn’t eat all of it. and trying to plan my route to the next location, fine line tattoos.
So a few weeks ago I had zero tattoos, a few glasses of wine and me thinking it was a face painter at Huddys 50th I ended up with 3 little stars and a heart to remind me of my queen, Granny Wood. As mentioned this trip is mainly thanks to my queen so whilst in New Zealand I ended up with a silver fern. Today I’ve got a eucalyptus .I can confirm I won’t be getting anymore, I won’t put money on it though…
Post tattoo Dom had recommended that I try a Mont Blanc at Good Measure, an absolute game changer, coffee with cream and then orange zest! Who knew that combo would work. From there I walked through Melbourne museum gardens past the Royal Exhibition Centre, where the University of Melbourne was holding its graduation ceremony, past St. Patrick’s Cathedral, through Fitzroy Gardens to the MCG, getting the train from Richmond back to Croydon. In Fitzroy gardens is Cooks cottage, which was sent over from Yorkshire in 1934. The cottage, originally built by Captain Cook’s father in Yorkshire, was given as a gift to mark the centenary of Melbourne.
Once back in Croydon I met Dom at Coles to do a bit of grocery shopping ready for a relaxing evening. Dom cooked risotto and I opened the bottle of Pinot Noir that I bought the other day. Then watched the highlights of South Africa kicking Australias butts in the T20 😂🤪.
Today we had decided was going to be a very chilled “rest” day. I think it was needed by everyone. I wouldn’t be able to tell you the last time I sat on the sofa in my PJs until midday but that is exactly what I did. Reading my book, having a coffee and just relaxing. Dom did a bit of work, Noah played a bit, napped a bit and fed a bit.
We had decided yesterday that we would have a homemade brunch. Dom kindly delivered the goods, bacon, eggs, avocado, and feta on toast 🤤🤤.
I had by this point changed into some more “normal” clothes my gym gear. I wasn’t going to spend the whole day sitting on my bum. It wouldn’t do anything for my move goal. So whilst Dom and Baby Noah headed to their new baby and parent group I headed onto the treadmill. Couch to 5k and myself have been in a love hate relationship for several years and after I did a steady 20minute plod the other day I figured I could go back to where I left off week 4, day 2. Whilst on the treadmill I watched Nonnas on Netflix. The film is based on the life of Joe, the owner of a restaurant on Staten Island called Enoteca Maria, herisks everything to honor his recently deceased, beloved mother by opening an Italian restaurant with actual grandmothers as chefs. It’s based on a true story – not too bad as a film.
Once my plod was complete I did a bit of upper body and squats, hoping that I don’t lose all my strength whilst I’m away! But hopefully if I maintain a little routine for the next 3 weeks all should be good 🙏🏼. Whilst exercising I noticed some kookaburra’s having a feed, picture below.
Once showered I went back to my relax. A chilled night in and an early night ready for my solo adventure to the city in the morning💃🏻💃🏻.
It was another glorious morning in Melbourne and we were all ready for today’s adventures down the Mornington Peninsula to try out some of the local wineries. Baby Noah was on good form so off we trotted, until we got 20 minutes into the journey and had to pull into the BP service station to help him get some much needed shuteye, it must be so difficult when you want to sleep but can’t sleep/ don’t know how to get to sleep. I know I’ve had a couple of 3am wake ups and not been able to get back to sleep, no matter how tired I am 😢.
Our first stop was Montalto winery, a lovely little winery with a small sculpture walk. Here we had lunch, a white based pizza for me, with caramelised onions, goats cheese and potatoes, and a glass of their Pinot Gris, delightful if I don’t say so myself.
The next stop was sadly closed for a private event, however, the area was not short of options so Dom took me to the Ten Minutes by Tractor Winery, well of course I had to do a wine tasting. Instead of writing about each wine you can just read the menu below. My favourite white was probably the 10X Chardonnay it was quite dry which is how I like my whites. The 10X Pinot Noir was my favourite red, so I had to purchase a bottle just to make sure. I’ve become a bit of a fan of a Pinot Noir whilst being away and have been introduced to some excellent wines. I’ve made a list and you can buy them from a website, will probably pass the list to Papa Wood as they are a bit spenny for me 😂😂, plus he will want to know about my adventures over a glass of wine, and I will try and persuade him to take me back to New Zealand as his tour guide.
We returned from the Peninsula via Arthur’s Seat – no I’m not in Scotland. The name was first used for the area by Lieutenant John Murray in 1802 as it reminded him of the mountain range near his home in Edinburgh. .During a voyage by Captain Matthew Flinders Flinders was involved in several voyages of discovery between 1791 and 1803, the most famous of which was his circumnavigation of Australia, when in Port Philip Bay he climbed Arthur’s Seat and recorded in his journal, ‘The view from the mount presented a large expanse of water, the boundary to which was scarcely visible.’ I could see what he meant, you can only just see the skyline of the CBD.
We took the scenic route back home and Baby Noah was doing so so well, he had had a feed with a view and was calmly sat chilling in the back, until Dom said “we are going on the freeway now Noah, so don’t lose it now” well what happened within 30 seconds, poor Noah was so sad 🥹, either that or he knew the same BP garage was coming up! A nappy change, and we continued this time with me sat in the back trying to make sure he could do the last 20 minutes of the journey. Praise the lord for nursery rhymes, my Spotify daily will be very random when I return home 😂😂. To be fair to him, he’d done so well, he even put up with 4 hyenas I mean middle aged women at the winery.
The evening ended with a bite to eat at Grill’d with Strickos friend and an early night for everyone. Another lovely day out 😍😍.
It’s been 3 weeks now since I left the UK and it seems to have flown by! Crazy to think I’m half way through my adventure. So today was a quiet day, we started off with a trusty egg and bacon sandwich and checking out from the air b’n’b, it was another glorious day down at Sandy Point which lead to a scenic drive back to Melbourne.
We stopped off at Inverloch once again for coffee and a little walk by the sea front. The sea looked bluer today than the other day, and we stopped off at eagle point to absorb some more lush views.
From Eagle point we headed back to Croydon with a little stop to feed Noah. It’s Noah’s 3 month birthday today 😍. Not going to lie he’s pretty cute and very chilled that was until we got home and he refused to go to sleep, so I offered to take him for a walk. Well if you want to improve your fitness come and stay around here, the hills with the added 20kg pram push are good going 😂😂. Aunty Charlotte to the rescue and the little prince was asleep, and I was over heating.
In the evening Strickos mum, dad and family friends came round for a BBQ. Yes it is winter but these Aussies love a good bbq, not going to like steak, grilled chicken and a good Greek salad with red wine is always a win in my eyes .
So I said today was quiet in actual fact it was pretty busy. All in all it has been a fab weekend full of love and laughter. My ideal weekend really 🥰.
An early start this morning to head to Korumburra for the park run, they start at 8am over here. I wasn’t participating, I decided since today was a walking day to go for a stroll with Noah. The weather was beautiful though, blue skies and a big yellow sun ☀️☀️.
Once the gang had finished the run we grabbed a coffee, headed back for a quick freshen up and down to Wilson’s Prom. Now for the geography lesson.
Wilson’s Prom is a national park on the southernmost point of mainland Australia. It is the largest coastal wilderness in Victoria, and it has been more or less left alone for tens of thousands of years, full of bush with wombats, kangaroos, koalas and other Australian wildlife ie snakes 😳. We saw 2 live wombats and one dead kangaroo so you can’t be too bad.
The first stop was Whisky Bay, a small bay with lots of smooth boulders, from here we walked to Picnic Bay, up and other the rocky headland to Squeaky Beach. Squeaky Beach is famous for its white quartz sand that makes a squeaky sound when you step on it. Pretty cool. Here we had a quick snack break and headed up to Pillar Point lookout where you could see Skull Rock, a granite island which over years has been weathered to make it look like a skull, sailors used it to navigate the Bass Strait. All in all we did approx 10km of steady walking. A good day all round.
We got back to the car around 2.45 and annoyingly the cafe at Tidal River closed at 3 so we headed to Wilson’s Prom Pizzeria for a quick snackett.
A few hours later we headed to Fish Creek Hotel for dinner, and some red wine. It was such a great day and the weather was beautiful! 😍
The day started off with a steady 20min jog on the treadmill. My knee has been in polite terms Fcuk’d for years and the 10k in June 2024 well and truly destroyed it. I’m pretty sure I’ve got a problem with my IT band but I’ve not been to a physio and the ideal solution would be to lose weight, but as previously mentioned there’s a caveat in that so we go forward. I digress, back to the treadmill I got to the 20 minute mark and my knee started to ache so moved onto the functional strength 💪🏼💪🏼. I was tempted to dip my toes into the pool but at 12 degrees I thought I would save myself for another day.
The main aim for today was to get to Sandy Point, South East of Melbourne, a swift 11am departure, and a 1.5 ish hour drive we made it to our lunch stop Inverloch (thanks Stricko), a nice little beach town which would be thriving in summer but quiet on a fresh winters day like today. And flat white, some fish tacos and a food shop later we were back on the road.
Upon arrival to our Air BnB in Sandy Point you’ve got to check out the cupboards – well who would’ve thought a box of Yorkshire tea. Now I’m not a massive tea drinker, more a coffee gal, but Yorkshire tea is literally made at the bottom of my street 10,590 miles approx away from my current location, so it was crazy to see this here.
Joining us on our little road trip was Pam and PJ, Dom’s mum and dad/ my Aussie mum and dad 😍. I’d seen Pam on Tuesday so was good to see PJ after so long. Once unpacked we trotted on down to Sandy point beach, there was some good sky scenes this evening, I’m a sucker for a sky/ sunset vibe 🤣.
An evening of home cooked pasta bolognaise, red wine, football (Aussie rules) and I even managed to introduce the snowman to the party they have a DVD player – when was the last time you used a DVD player I hear you ask yourselves 🤣🤣. The outcome of the movie – I need to make sure Noah has a copy of the book 🥰. It’s so strange having winter vibes in August – I feel like I should be browsing the Next website for my seasonal candles – oh wait that’s exactly what I did 🤣.
Flying Solo 