Margaret River= caves, whales and lots of wines!

So the weekend after our trip to NZ we went on another quick trip.  This time it was still in Australia (although the actual flight time was even longer than our last international flight!)  Brian had some work to do in Perth and so I booked a flight to meet him on Friday evening so we could drive south to the beautiful wine region of Margaret River.  We actually stayed at a lodge in Yallingup (for anyone who is familiar with the area!)

The first morning we went to Lake Cave.  It was really amazing!!  To be honest, I cant remember any of the cool cave facts (which is why I should have written this blog 2 weeks ago...)  But I do know Brian would love to tell you all about stalagmites and stalactites... whether or not you were interested.  He is not really concerned with his audience (my) interest level while giving this information but that's one of the reasons I love him!  Anyways, here are some pictures of Lake Cave....

heading to the cave entrance....

Pretty amazing :)  Gotta love a little spelunking to start off the day.

Next up-- wineries!!  yahooooo!

There are so many wineries in this area so we just drove along with a map and stopped as we went.  We probably went to 5 or 6.  Lunch outside was great and the food was delicious.  The wine in that area is just so good, and we were not disappointed at any of them (and trust me we tried A LOT!)

That evening before dinner we decided to do a bit of whale watching!  We have been to many areas where they have a whale season, when they cruise by the shores, but we have never been at the right place at the right time.  Since, we discovered it was this areas "season", we both really wanted to spot one!

 well... unfortunately we did NOT see any whales... we did however, polish off a bottle of wine while watching a gorgeous sunset, so I would still call the evening a success!

Wave crashing/ sunset pictures courtesy of Brian :)  His favorite 2 types of pics in one!

The next morning we went out to a specialized "whale watching spot" and after only a minute out there we spotted one (or two or three, who's to say)!  HOORAY!

Here is the best picture of a whale tail but they were very far away so it was hard to snap pictures. Brian and I loved sitting out there seeing the whales spout out water and flap their tails in the air.  It was really the coolest.  We sat there for about an hour and a half just watching (didnt hurt that it was a gorgeous day)

Whale tail :)

what the picture looked like before i super zoomed in... they were pretty far away :)

The last stop of the trip was to gorgeous Bunker Bay.  It was still a bit too chilly to get in the water (not to mention the teensy shark problem they have there) but we still enjoyed walking along the beach and having a yummy lunch with the best view.  Here are the last few pictures from our trip south of Perth.  After the beach we went to the airport and went home...

I was worried there was an accident but they were just practicing :)  Good on em, Im sure they need to with all the SHAAKS

enjoying our lunch (we really were!  even if he does looks like a grump!)

pretty wild lilies

It was such a great weekend away in a beautiful part of Australia.

Right now Brian is in the US for a few weeks but before he left he planted lots of herbs, 4 tomato plants and 7+ pepper plants....  I foresee lots of homemade fresh salsa in our future.... YUMMY!

Happy Spring Time and Grand Final Day-- Go Swanies?

New Zealand

Last Thursday we went to Queenstown, NZ!  New Zealand is just perfect... our trip, however, was not!  Although, a few different things didnt go according to plan, we still had a great time!

A few things to remember when travelling abroad...

1.  Remember your passport
2.  You can't change the weather
3.  When all else fails, just go with it (preferably with a drink in hand!)

Yeah so we started off the trip forgetting the very important rule #1!!  AHHH  So we get all the way to the airport before Brian mentioned it (it NEVER even crossed my mind!) We didnt have time to go back and get them so had to reschedule our flights.  Queenstown is quite small and only a few flights come in each day so we got a flight into Christchurch (a mere 6 hours drive away which would have been lovely except we arrived in the evening so the whole drive was at night)  Why oh why did New Zealand have to be its own country!!!  JK Kiwis! :)  Luckily Brian is able to get us into the Qantas Lounge with all his flight miles and we sat and drank and ate and drank some more until our very late flight finally departed.  One very exciting part of our flight being delayed is that I got to see that my best friend had her baby girl!  And I even got to see a sweet picture of her before we had to get on the plane with our phones off for the next 4 days!  Hooray!  Auntie Erin loves baby Lexi! :)

We got into Christchurch around 8pm and got straight in our car and drove for the next 6 and a half hours to Queenstown.  We were completely wiped and when we got to our hotel at 1:30am I saw the most beautiful sight in NZ thus far: a big comfy bed!

Now when we woke up I saw a much more amazing sight, the view from our window!  It was absolutely gorgeous!!!

Unfortunately, soon after seeing this, we got a call informing us that the helicopter ride we had booked for Milford Sound and a glacier was cancelled due to high wind.  OH NO!  I was really excited about the trip so was a bit disappointed to hear that we also could not drive there because an avalanche had closed the road!  We will see you one day Milford Sound... we will see you....

We decided to instead take a drive to see some of the scenery!  It was spectacular!  Queenstown is the best little town with tons to do.  A 45 minute drive led us to another cute town named Glenorchy.  Here are a few pictures from our drive....

We then ate a delicious lunch of hearty soups/stews with quite the view :)

We then went back to Queenstown to catch a boat ride!  We were going to tour the lake which Queenstown is on, Lake Wakatipu.  The steam boat has been used on the lake for 100 years (same as Titanic) and Brian was excited to take the cruise :)  Here are some pictures....

Brians video of the steam engine in action!

Oh and the evening was not even finished!  We then had reservations at a restaurant wayyyyy up high over Queenstown.  We decided it was best to go early to be able to check out the view and hopefully the sunset!  To get the there we had to take a gondola ride!

Dinner was amazing!  So basically the day did not go as originally planned but it was so great and we had the best time.  New Zealand is so beautiful!  We only had one day left on our very short trip and we decided to ski!

In the morning we got up, found a ski rental shop, walked to the bus station where we bought lift tickets and up we went to the mountain!  The only slopes open that day were a range called The Remarkables!  We had a great first few hours of skiing!  After lunch it became a blizzard outside but we continued on for a few hours before it was getting a bit too dangerous for my taste... at one point Brian and I both accidentally got off the trail, looked around and all we could see was white, it was like blind skiing! YIKES!  That day/ night they got 18 cms of snow (the best of the season... too bad we didnt get to stay and ski the next few days, it would have been perfect!)

our view on the way up

brian trying to recover his dropped pole from under the lifts

After the day of skiing we only had a night out on the town before we had to leave the next morning!  This trip was waaay too short!  There are so many things to do and we only brushed the surface... We have definitely made the decision-- we ARE going back! Hopefully this summer (Dec-Feb) when its all bright and sunny and gorgeous-(er)!  :)  Here are a few pictures I took of Queenstown....

All the the mountains around us were covered in snow the next morning!  So much for an early spring time!

Really, New Zealand is just as beautiful as I imagined it, or maybe even more!  I am so excited to make a trip back.


We are leaving for an area near Perth tomorrow called Margaret River.  They have lots of wineries and beautiful beaches!  We are really looking forward to it!  After hibernating all winter we are back in the travelling groove!

Be back soon with our Margaret River trip :)

happy birthday to me :)

Although it was nearly 2 weeks ago I wanted to thank everyone for all the sweet birthday wishes!  27 was an amazing year and I am anticipating 28 to be just as fabulous :) I am a very lucky girl!

I started off the bday celebrations making delicious raspberry cupcakes with my favorite three year old aussie girl!  Then later that night we ate them up along with my favorite 5 year old aussie mate :) Afterwards they treated me to a puppet show!  You know, the classic story of an "evil queen who was walking thru a deep dark forest and then got eaten by a monster.  He then vomited her up and recycled her.  The end."  I decided it was not the proper time to discuss what can and cannot be recycled given it was a birthday treat for me :)  haha  They make me laugh!

Later I met up with Brian and some friends for a little happy hour in the city..... then the next night on my actual birthday Brian took me to eat Teppanyaki in the city and afterwards we walked over to the casino to try a few rounds of roulette!  It was really fun even if we did lose a little bit!  The next day we did a little shopping in the city!  All in all a great birthday!

with Stefanie!

just a little fire at dinner :)

Anyways, again, thanks for all the birthday wishes, you all make me feel very loved and special.  Love you all!






Be back real soon to tell you about the many ups and downs of our trip to NEW ZEALAND!