Last week in Australia

I arrived back into Sydney with Coreen and we spend the day wandering around Surry Hills, ate some gelato and then dined at The Winery on a delicious feast of roasted cauliflower, cucumber salad, and mozzarella bruchetta! The following day Coreen took off to head back to the States and I ubered back over to Manly to spend my last week in Oz exploring and living it up in Manly.

We hit the ground running with a 26 mile bike ride. We started in Manly and made our way along the North beaches, stopping for a dip in Narrabeem, and to our final destination The Newport. This little gem is actually quite large and overlooks Newport Harbor. We enjoyed fresh Margaritas, tuna poke, and ceviche.

On Sunday we woke up early and went to the beach to spend some time cleanning up on Manly beach. It was such a terrific way to kick off the Sunday. Afterwards we headed to Allies Sup class in the Harbour followed by a fantastic late afternoon filled with Lawn Bowling! I had a blast, it was so much fun! Essentially I'd describe this game as a combo of bowling and bocce ball and you do it all barefoot! Woohoo!

Learning the game from seasoned professional Svante! ______The rest of the week was spent hitting up lots of yoga at Powerliving. I also ate at Bare Naked Bowls about 4x and and confirm they are in fact the most delicious Acai Bowls I've ever h… — Learning the game from seasoned professional Svante!
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The rest of the week was spent hitting up lots of yoga at Powerliving. I also ate at Bare Naked Bowls about 4x and and confirm they are in fact the most delicious Acai Bowls I've ever had! Clearly if I ate there 4x in one week, that is saying something.

I've also decided that if I ever decied to move to Australia, I'd probably set up shop right here in Manly, NSW. It's so beautiful this little beach town. Everything is walkable and reminds me so much of Saratoga. Defintely helped to have such amazing friends and hosts this past week to show me a fantastic time around Manly! We did so much the past few days including Australia Day; had my first lamington (think of twinkies), played Finksa which is a type of lawn bowling game. We enjoyed Sydneys Chinese New Year celebrations in the Harbor at the Opera Bar and naturally dined on some amazing Chinese food!

Chinese New Year Celebrations at the Opera Bar in Sydney Harbor

Dragon installation for the Chinese New Year on the Wharf

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I'll be back again soon Oz! India get ready, I'm coming for ya!

The Great Ocean Road

We set cruise control outta Melbourne and headed to Humming Puppy for a Mellow Hum yoga class. My dear friend Allie had recommended this studio so we decided to get in some stretches before the drive ahead of us. Holy Smokes. This studio was beautiful! Picture a huge vaulted yoga space, with 3 tiers of mat space. The whole studios concept is about 'Hum's', here is a blurb from the site that will explain it better than I:

When taking a class at Humming Puppy, one of the first things you will notice is that the room quite literally 'Hum's'... and this is by no means an accident! Our yoga space or ‘shala’, engineered by ARUP (one of the worlds leading acoustic engineers), is injected with a combination of frequencies to enhance and deepen your experience. More specifically we use a combination of 7.83hz and 40hz. Being submersed in these frequencies helps you to naturally produce matching frequencies through a process of entrainment. 7.83hz otherwise known as the Schumann Resonance is actually the frequency of the earth itself and helps to 'ground' you through your practice. 40hz is specifically associated with ‘Gamma’ brainwave activity, integral for achieving states of peak performance.

Class was so powerful. It was the first style of class I had ever taken like this besides a crystal bowls class and it was incredible. Still vibing days later just thinking about the experience. After class we strolled around Prahran along Chapel st. Got some flat whites from Journeymen Cafe and then stumbled into the best little Op Shop we ever did see. All three of us gals found some amazing gems in this second hand store. The two sales ladies just loved us American Gals and we must've spend a good hour in there. Well worth it! Also side note the Amici Bakery Cafe had the yummiest looking little nutty-vegan treats and artwork to lust over.

It was a bit overcast so we had a slight change of plans for the itinerary to Lorne. Instead of stopping in Tourqay and at Bell's Beach along the Great Ocean Road (GOR) we headed inland to explore some of the general stores and vineyards. When it rains it pours wine right? We thought so too. First stop was Bellbrae Vineyard. We sampled some very delicious wines, the best in my opinion were the Sauv Blanc, Estate Pinot Noir, and the Pinot Rose. The other bonus is that all tastings are free - woohoo. We then headed up the road to Brown Magpies Vineyard. The poor fella who ran the shop was probably thinking to himself, I've got 40 minutes left before closing. In walks in 3 ladies and within 5 minutes 15 people must have strolled into this tiny little tasting room. Needless to say we didn't stay very long, but he started sampling the wines too. We left the vineyard and headed towards Lorne. Along the drive we decided to detour to a little placed called Pennyroyal Raspberry Farm and Cidery. On the drive in Coreen noticed something in the field that was not a sheep or cow ... Our first 'Roo sighting!! We were squealing like little pigs. So excited to see this herd of Roos. They were just grazing in the nearby field. As soon as we rolled up, they stood on their legs and pointed ears to the sky to see what the heck all that racket was. They didn't hang for too long before they were hopping away. We were so excited!

We arrived at Pennyroyal and were in our glory. CC and I got baskets and we strolled along picking raspberries and blackberries. We did pretty well, you know only sampling 1 for every 3 berries picked. The couple who ran the farm were adorable. She bottled up some fresh raspberry jam for us to take with and the old man even gave the gals a sample of the fresh cider.

Once in Lorne we checked into our hotel, got changed and strolled to town and dined at a little placed called Cuda Bar. I had a fantastic twice cooked roasted pork belly dish and the gals both enjoyed fresh rockling and salmon mains. We were pretty beat so we called it a night.

The next morning we got into Melbourne Swift (our rental car name) and headed along the GOR towards Port Fairy. Little did we know how long that would take us, but we were in it for the long haul. Along the way we stopped and saw all the famous sites. Peep the pictures below.

The 12 Apostle (Actually there are only 8 left)

Once we arrived in Port Fairy per usual most shops and restaurants were closed, so we grabbed some grub from a highly recommended pizza joint called Coffin Sally's. This establishment is know for it's trendy atmosphere and gourmet pizzas. On the road back to Lorne we stopped a few places we had skipped on the way down.

From the tree top looking at the forest floor

The next day I went for a run around Lorne beach and then we decided to explore Apollo Bay and Otway Fly. Apollo Bay was a cute little town, not too much going on there but we did grab some brekkie. Onward we went to the tree top walk at Otway Fly. This was a pretty cool and yes touristy walk. But the tower was the first I'd seen like it. Towering at a 47 meters off the forest floor high into the tree line. The tower itself swayed with the breeze.

We drove to the Otway Lighthouse and strolled to the nearby lookout point and Cemetery. We didn't get to see the Lighthouse up close and personal but it looked pretty from afar! The Cemetery was the final resting place for the Lighthouse keepers and their families. Sadly, there had been many children and infant tombstones. The lighthouse is located in The Great Otway National Park, within the park there are farms, an animal reserve, and campsites. At one point on the access road we drove into what I would call the Ash Forest. All of the manna gum trees have become stripped bare by the Koalas who have been starving due to the lack of eucalyptus trees. The Koalas have become sick and all that remains are the bare trees in what feels like a tree graveyard. It was so sad to see, as these trees were once home to many Koala's and other forest friends.

We left Lorne early on our last day heading back towards Melbourne to hop our flights to Byron. On the way we stopped to see Airey's Inlet and the Split Point Lighthouse. Next stop was Anglesea to see if we could find some Roos at the local golf club - no luck. We continued on the GOR and stopped at to the famous Australian surfing location Bells Beach, which was beautiful. We dug our toes in the sand and soaked up the sun for a bit. Next stop was Torquay for lunch at Whytes on the esplanade.

Coreen taking in the view at Bells Beach

Christina in her happy place with her new Kimono 😍 - Bells Beach

Next stop Byron Bay! We couldn't be more excited for our next stop in Oz!

How's It Going?

If you walk into any shop or store here in Oz you'll be greeted with "How's it going?" -- which I adore! So here is how it's been going.

Manly is a fantastic beach town with everything you could want and more. I took the first few days to unplug and get into my groove with yoga and the beach. On day 3 I ventured into Sydney to meet up with fellow Saratogians; Garth and Jenny and Burnt Hill-ian by association Jason. We had a glass of bubbly at the Langham Hotel bar which was beautiful. Picture super swanky hotel with lots of pink and gold, accompanied with a ginger rose essence that wafted through the hotel bar.

Onward we strolled to Darling Harbor and dined at Nick's. The salmon and dill dip was awesome. After dinner we headed to Hotel Palisade Rooftop bar. We ordered some more bubbly and took in the evening views of the bridge and opera house before calling it a night. It was so lovely to catch up and see familiar faces after 3 days of solo time. I must've drank a bit too much as I fell asleep on the Ferry ride back to Manly ... Whoops.

The next day I woke and headed for the Spit Bridge. There is a beautiful costal walk that takes you from Spit Bridge into Manly, so I packed a bag, threw on my sunnies and suit and headed into the hot sun. Along the walk there are numerous beaches to hop in and out of, and I did just that. The walk weaves you through a mix of lush bushland complete with lots of backyard garden spiders - eep, and scenic views of the harbor and ocean. I forget exactly where I snapped some of the pictures below, but I think my captions are roughly I accurate!

Sydney Harbor National Park at Crater Cove Lookout

The walk took about 3 hours to complete before I got back into the harbor and headed back to the apartment to meet up with Allie & Sam. We grabbed dinner at a great little Mexican joint called Havana Beach -- the plantain chips and house mojitos are a must have!! To finish the night we went to North Head to watch the sun set over Sydney. Just another reason to fall in LOVE with Manly.

We woke the next day did a soft sand run in Manly beach, hit up a yoga class at Power Living, and hit the road in Sams sweet '69 VW bug bound for Dee Why Beach. We ate at a cute little cafe named Girdlers and consumed what I consider the best brekky ever. IT WAS AMAZING. Everything from the ambiance to the seating. Homemade kombucha on tap and avo toast to die for. I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

Post brekky we ventured to Bluefish Point. This was another interesting walk through the bush and trails which snaked along the coast. You'll see an old WWII lookout and radar tower. The views were stunning. We climbed down to see the Rock Pools just below the Bluefish look out. This was a bit terrifying -- the only way down is to hold onto a old rusty chain rope and climb down the cliff. We conjured up some courage and climbed to get down to the pools. As terrifying as this was, it was totally worth it.

The rusty chain (probably from WWII ... I kid, but probably for real) rock route

View of the sand and wind blasted cliffs from the pools

Pit stop on the walk to dinner with Allie! I adored this church door and insisted on a picture.

After surviving the climb back up, we headed to Collins Beach for a quick swim and few rounds of frisbee. Post swim we picked up some wine and went to Manly Beach for Happy Hour. Mix some wine and sun and presto, a bit buzzed we strolled towards town and stopped off for a few other pre-dinner cocktails and finally dinner at Cured Manly; we feasted on cheese, meats, bread, olives, and more wine! What a fantastic night we had! The morning was a little rough, but nothing a little SUP yoga session at flow mOcean taught by Allie couldn't cure in Shelly Beach.

After class we grabbed lunch at a cafe called Pure Wholefoods -- I was craving an Acai Bowl which did not disappoint. In my haste I didn't snap a pic, but trust me when I tell you it was fantastic! Walter is the owner of this cafe and was so lovely, greeting all the ladies with "Hello Darling". The shop has a slew of fresh cold salads, smoothies, and other hippie granola eats. The muffins were even made of almond flour. Let's just say that I was in heaven, and I wanted to order every damn thing I saw. I'll be back again at the end of the month to sample more eats!