January 2025 (Rye, Mornington Peninsula)
A shorter than usual entry for me this month as I am in “holiday mode.” I have spent most of the month at my happy place in Rye (where I am writing this). My first trip outside of Rye is 30 January when I fly to Perth ahead of flying the following day to the Cocos Keeling Islands for a week! Look for photo spam on @2_drifterss (Instagram) and for a rundown in February. Very excited for this incredible opportunity.
Rewind to this month..the weather has been incredible in Melbourne (very stable and sunny). We have happily pottered about at our house, in the garden, read, watched the Australian Open, watched cricket, had a couple of lazy winery lunches, had family time, swam and generally lolled about. Perfect!
On my first morning here, I went to Polperro Winery in Red Hill for a morning outdoor yoga class – blissful. Sadly (!!), that was the beginning and end of my yoga for the month. Oh well, one class is better than none!!
Our lovely winery lunches were at Port Phillip Estate and Pt Leo Estate. We are so spoiled on the Mornington Peninsula for excellent wine and winery restaurants. They aren’t cheap but they’re good. Really good. And the views are pretty special too!
We have been back and forth to Melbourne more than usual as Andrew’s Mum has had some medical appointments. We also took the opportunity to spend a day at the Australian Open (AO) – what a great day that was. We had Rod Laver (Centre Court) tickets and saw a women’s and a men’s match, each over three hours’ long. We also wandered around the festival set up around Rod Laver. It’s a fantastic event – one both Andrew and I have been going to since our teens back in the days when the AO was at Kooyong!
In a surprise turn of events this month, we bought a motorhome!! It is something we have been thinking of on and off since we retired. We hired one for a few days at the end of 2022 and intended to hire a caravan to see how it compared. Andrew kept telling me, however, that he really didn’t want to tow which counted out a caravan.
A 2023 motorhome appeared on facebook Marketplace (!!), we went to have a look at it and voilà! It is a Jayco Conquest and we are only the second owner. We are planning to drive it up to the Sunshine Coast in March and we hope to take a “shake down” trip of a night or two before that. For those who don’t know, a “shake down” is a trip where you see what works, what doesn’t, where you practise setting up and packing up and where you make a few trips to Bunnings and Kmart!! Watch this space for our Australian adventures!
I haven’t done too much writing this month. I actually thought it was best to take a bit of a break, refresh and read more. One of the books I have read is one that I have been meaning to read for ages, On Writing – A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. We’ll see if I can put any of Stephen’s tips into practice!
Two published stories this month but they're goodies!!:
- Why a Country-Intensive Cruise is One of the Best Ways to See Croatia - https://www.goworldtravel.com/country-intensive-azamara-cruise-in-croatia/
- The Magic of Cappadocia - https://www.goworldtravel.com/magic-of-cappadocia/
Be back in Feb!
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