Melbourne, Nov 2017
👩🦰 What better excuse for a quick trip to the East Coast of Oz than a wedding…as guests, of course haha! My cousin was getting married, so we (along with my huge family) all descended on the idyllic Yarra Valley for a quick 2 night’s stay! We found an awesome 4 bedroom barn house on Air Bnb situated in a lovely spot:
There were green rolling hills all around, wild roos wandering the ground, friendly photogenic horses and sheep - in particular, one male sheep that we could not stop laughing at when it photobombed our lovely pre-wedding shot (see the photo below), we weren’t sure whether to be concerned or impressed haha!
The wedding itself was held at the RACV Healesville Country Club and Resort, a gorgeous spot at the foothills of the Great Diving Range. Unfortunately, it seems no one let Mother Nature know that there was a wedding on the day - she decided to open the heavens and drench the beautiful ceremony setup, which meant that they had to rush to relocate to a less idyllic indoor location!
Despite that, the ceremony was beautiful, and we had so much fun afterwards at the reception. After a few too many champagnes we decided to bounce on the giant bouncy pillow setup outside which was a laugh!
In the aftermath of the wedding, we hung around for a few days to visit the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie and to head up to my Aunty's house, a lovely big country property with animals and lots of fresh air. As a massive sweet tooth, the Chocolaterie was well-worth a visit, we walked away with lots of sweets. It’s also just a really beautiful spot, as you can see from these photos of the grounds.
At my Aunty’s house we helped tend to the animals, and by that I mean I stood back and filmed while my dad and Aaron wrestled a poor snotty sheep who needed to take her medicine haha!
I got to pat a chicken and tried to feed the alpacas (Benny and Jet) but they weren’t interested in being my friend in the slightest, wah. I did help to clear away some branches though along the property edge, it was hard work and I was not dressed to be a farm girl 😅
We used some of those branches a little later in the day for a small bonfire once it cooled down and the sun was setting. The view from up there was beautiful with the city skyline behind the fire, although it does get chilly up there. It was pretty awesome seeing a wild kangaroo come right up near the house the next morning as well.
On the way back to the airport we drove by the Gnome Village, a little spot not far from Tullamarine Airport where people have started putting gnomes and it constantly grows in size. Very cute!
We had a few hours before we had to be at the airport so we wandered around the city for a bit, taking in the sights. We checked out the MCG Cricket Ground and the Hisense Arena (as someone who doesn’t care about sports, I had no interest in these spots but my dad and Aaron seemed keen to check ‘em out).
The city itself is such an interesting mix of ultra-modern skyscrapers and antique buildings, and I’d really love to return some day and spend longer really exploring everything that Melbourne that has to offer. Next trip, for sure!