Escaping for a relaxing night at Lush Pastures

Ever since I photographed Lush Pastures a few years back, I knew I wanted to come here for a night (or more). Now, I'm here. And not for work. And I'm excited.

The experience, for me, all starts with the drive down. Lush Pastures is just outside of Yankalilla, so I get to drive along one of my favourite roads away from Adelaide. The winding curves, the big bosom hills (that are looking so lush after winter) on one side and sparkling ocean on the other. I feel like I am a race car driver, scooting around the hillsides - even though I'm sitting on a speed that is similar to Granny driving (well, that's what I'll tell my Mum and Dad anyway).

When the road turns to dirt and we venture upwards, I know we are getting close. Surrounded by green paddocks, trees arching over the road and the odd farmhouse... Mother Nature's design of countryside, hills and valleys, I have no choice but to breathe deep and soak it in. Relaxation begins.

Cheryl and Andy greet us as we are getting out of the car, and show us around the property. The views from the pavilions are beautiful - especially with the blue sky and green winter grass. We look out over the hills to the ocean.

It's mid-afternoon, I have grand ideas of tramping around the paddocks but instead, find ourselves sitting with a bottle of wine and cheese board in the huge chairs that look out of Romeo, our pavilion. It's like a painting, the panoramic window framing the hills, ocean and sky perfectly. Chatting away, sipping wine and nibbling Fleurieu cheese, figs and gourmet crackers, it's hard to move. So we don't. Until dinner. When we have to wander a few metres over to the Lodge for more wine and three-course meal with Andy and Cheryl.

Blue cheese and fig creme brulee, spanakopita and dill pancake rolls with smoked salmon start us off. Beef short ribs, potato crisp and bok choy fill the tummy even more. Homemade vanilla ice cream with red desert lime marmalade, chilli plums and chocolate brownie nearly make me burst. All washed down with local K1 by Geoff Hardy wine.

The conversation goes from personal stories, the theatrics of a soccer game, sports stars, hilarious Australian humour to wine. Cheryl and Andy are great to chat to - but by 10 pm I'm ready to collapse into a food-induced coma. I waddle back to Romeo.

Waking up with no blinds, I love watching the sun change the shape and tone of the hills from under the covers. Gemma comes to the door for a pat before breakfast - and probably to tell us breakfast is ready, which (in the gentlest way) finally forces me out of bed. It is 9 am after all.

Breakfast is waiting for us in the Lodge. Luckily, I had a good nights sleep to rest my tummy after yesterdays food because this is a big, yummy feed of cereal, fruit, eggs, toast, yoghurt and endless coffee.

Now is definitely a great time for that walk. We wander through the paddocks to the dams - with Bella and Gemma in tow. Or, more so, leading the way. And then it's time to leave.

Driving back to Adelaide, we stop off to walk Normanville to Carrickalinga beach. My body is craving movement. I wonder why? Food coma, lots of wine and a good dose of relaxation... I feel like a different person.

www.lushpastures.com.au

Are you a www?

Don't be a www - weekend work warrior. Get out, enjoy and rejuvenate. Happy Mothers Day to all mummies on Sunday! They do an amazing job. I know how hard it can be. Xx

Mount Compass...

This weekend we went down to Victor Harbor. It's something we do quite often, with my family living down there. But have we ever stopped at Alexandrina Cheese Company? No. Have we ever picked strawberries at Mount Compass. No. Have I ever thought of going to Mount Compass for dinner? Heck no.

Mount Compass, for us, is normally only a place to stop for a toilet break or food. I only know of Mount Compass as a tiny, quiet, cold and wet town where we had to play netball at least once per season (when I was growing up). Why would I go there otherwise?

Well, we find out there are a few reasons… 

1. Strawberries

At first, $17 for two adults and two small children to pick a kilo of strawberries seems on the 'bit rich' side. But then we thought about it. We had enormous fun - so it's a cheap outing. We ate lots - we filled our bellies. And we ended up squeezing over a kilo in the container we were given. After eating about a dozen, it still weighted out at 1100gm. Win, win, win.

The strawberries? Well, most were good, some were fantastic, and some were a bit 'pumped with water' flavour. Maybe it's our ability to pick the correct strawberry? Who knows. 

2. Cheese

Alexandrina Cheese Company is between Victor Harbor and Mount Compass, and every time we go down, we see the big blue sign on the side of the road, 'turn left', but we keep going. Today is a different story. The kids loved the cut out face signs to pose for photos in, the tin galahs scattered around the grass, and picking cheese to taste with toothpicks. It'd be a great spot to go for a few hours over a cheese platter and drinks.

The shop is perched on top of a hill, with a view out over the paddocks and lumpy bald hills. A very rural farm outlook. Ben made comment the customer service wasn't what he expected - not as friendly and country cheerful. Perhaps they were still warming up for the day?

I'm not a cheese 'snob' but I do like a cheese platter. We bought two cheeses (and toyed with the idea of buying more) - with the Vintage Cheddar devoured within the hour after arriving in Victor Harbor. It didn't taste quite as 'vintage' and intense as what we tasted, but the fact that it, err, disappeared so quick, spoke louder. And the curd we purchased - that was great, fried over eggs, the next morning.

3. Brazilian BBQ

YUM! Get there. That is all I need to say. But I will say more.

Who would think they could find perfectly cooked meats, bathed in scrumptious spices and salts, that are beyond our BBQ taste in deliciousness, at a golf course in Mount Compass? I didn't, but was so very hopeful. I lived in Brazil, and I haven't tasted the same quality and experience yet in Australia. A friend I met in Brazil joined us to give it test it out too.

The dinner show includes a performace by the fabulous dancers by La Bomba - an awesome dance studio based in Adelaide. They add the sparkle (or thousand) to an otherwise pretty ordinary atmosphere in terms of decoration and Brazilian experience. 

But, don't go for the atmosphere. Or even the dancers. Even though I enjoyed getting up for a butt wiggle, and Ben was not too upset about the distraction of watching the girls shimmy and prance in their sparkling little bikinis and feathers.

The food. That is why you go. The Rodizio experience is all you can eat, waiter delivered meats, to your table. The waiter brings out cut after cut of various meats and slices it off the skewer onto your plate. The meats have been cooked on a brazilian bbq with special coals. On the table is a selection of sides - a black bean dish (feijoada), farofa (yummy sprinkled on meat), rice, tomato salad (vinagrette) and other dishes. Their chips and aioli starter was more than moorish, but the pao de quiejo (small cheese breads) took me back to Brazil.

Lesson learnt this weekend. Be a tourist in my own backyard. There are treasures to be discovered. Some treasures that people come all over the world to experience, yet we drive straight past.

www.harvestthefleurieu.com.au

www.alexandrinacheese.com.au

www.fleurieugolfcourse.com.au

www.labomba.com.au

A weekend away at Seawall Apartments Glenelg

After hanging out with the good folk at Seawall so much over the last year, updating their gallery of pics, I finally manage to stay. Purely my fault for taking so long.

A weekend of working ON the business, coffees and a wine or two. What an awesome place to hang and create. The beachfront room, with private balcony just adds to the awe factor. With The Glenelg precinct just minutes away (by foot) it would be easy to spend all day out, but I am so comfy watching the world go by, rugged up with glass of wine in hand on the balcony or comfy sofas inside. Oh, it's a hard life. Thanks to my cousin Shaya from The Family Law Project for laying the hard q's on me, and getting a different train of thought started.

Www.thefamilylawproject.com.au And of course, www.seawallapartments.com.au

A girly weekend out... with just the iPhone.

'I love it here. I just love it here.' I hear myself repeating my words, as the warm night breeze blows my hair. I could be on a beach, in a little ranty shack in Brazil. Or anywhere that oozes eclectic, eccentric, ramshackle. But no, I'm in Adelaide. Grenfell Street, Adelaide. Little Miss Mexico.

I'd heard about it for ages, and have never been. Mainly because I haven't been out in town for ages. Having two small children does that. And it wasn't til I asked a mate about where to go, and he says 'come here, no age bias, chilled tunes and great atmosphere' I get there. The description is not wrong. There's turtles in a tank. Fairy light tangled crates as lighting. Rickety makeshift bars. Old lounges. Uneven concrete. Galvanised island. Painted murals.

Having walked the breadth of Adelaide CBD from Benjamin on Franklin, I feel worlds apart. I've come from old world charm - muskiness stained in the sagging leather seating of the Library dining room, slick coffee cocktails and mirrored walls, to having margaritas in recycled jars and sangria by the bottle in an alley.

I feel like I'm on holiday. Gingers Cafe on Goodwood Road for lunch, surrounded by all the cool people. Checking into a two bedroom apartment at Mantra on Frome Road. Swirling wine in Benjamin on Franklin charm, and now chilling out with good vibes and relaxed crowd at Little Miss Mexico.

Do I have to go home tomorrow? Not before breakky at Colins and Co on King William Road.

Victor Harbor weekender

You don't have to go too far from home to feel like you are on holiday. And you don't have to go for too long either.

Growing up in Victor Harbor, one hour south of Adelaide, and with all my family still living there, I don't normally feel like I am going on holiday when I go down there. But this weekend, with the sun out, and the kids happy, we couldn't have been further (mentally) from home.

Splashing in the ultra fresh (aka freezing) water while watching the clydesdales pull the tram over to Granite Island. Clambering over rocks at the Bluff, looking for crabs. Enjoying a sunset drink while the kids play in the sandpit at Eat @ Whalers. Surfing some glistening green waves at Middleton (my biggest and longest yet). Then getting back to basics on the farm, watching newborn calves feed on colustrum.

Returning home, it feels longer than one night away. A refreshing break, energised and ready to start the normal life again for another week.

Where, or what, do you do to recharge and get away from it all? And if you are in South Australia, where do you go?