Dreaming of Vintage Treasures

On Day 5 of our Eden holiday, the last day of 2019, we woke up to find a magnificent red sun. It reflected on the water, making it sparkle like orange diamonds and immediately reminded me of a U2 song.  My mum.  Later, I went for my usual beach walk and saw a man meditating on the beach and then he walked straight into the water for a swim. What a perfect way to start the morning, I thought. Except for the fact that swimming before 10 am is referred to as 'shark hour' but, you know, some people have no fear. Outfit details: Leopard dress, belt and ring - secondhand market finds. Pink thongs- forgive me, I'm on holiday! My mum and I went to the Eden wharf to buy some seafood for lunch. We met a lovely, talkative lady (just our kind) with a New Zealand accent who was selling seafood. We came away with oysters, mussels, snapper, prawns and a lovely chat. This was my favourite meal of the holiday! Later, my mum and I went

Day 4 in Eden started out with a morning swim. I really enjoyed boogie boarding, floating on the waves and sliding into the sand (and getting sand burn).  We went for a drive to the Eden wharf and walked around, taking in the beautiful sights. The end of the wharf was fascinating and it reminded me of a Freddie Mercury  statue   that was built in front of a lake in Montreal.  Source At the ocean lookout, my mum and I got talking to a sweet elderly lady who was walking her dog. Her son said that he'd moved back to Australia from New Zealand to live near his mum in Merimbula. He said that he took his mum for a walk to the beach every day, which is just about the sweetest thing I'd ever heard. For 3 weeks over Christmas time, the town is filled with tourists, he said, and then they have the beach to themselves for the rest of the year. It was lovely to chat to them. Hello from the lookout! For dinner we went to a local Chinese restaur

Day 3 in Eden started with our routine walk on the beach.  Listen to the wind blow, watch the sun rise. My mum took this beautiful sunrise photo - she's an early riser. Although I'd like to take these sort of photos myself, I get up early throughout the year so holidays are really the only time I  sleep in.   Outfit details: Maxi dress - hand-me-down from my ma! Last seen  here  on the blog. Turquoise ring and bangle and sunglasses: Secondhand finds. Straw bag: Worn throughout this trip and bought retail years ago. My family and I spent the day in Merimbula, browsing the shops.  Of course I had to take a photo in front of these pink hydrangeas because they perfectly matched my dress. I bought my dad a couple of band t-shirts for his birthday and then we ate at the R.S.L.  I had a calamari salad - yum!  It started to rain and people began peering out the windows and everyone was relieved. Thank goodness for the rain, we all collect

As I mentioned on Instagram , thanks so much for your kind messages about the fires . They are still devastating New South Wales and parts of Victoria. It has been heart warming to see so many Australians support one another through donations and of course all the hard work from firefighters, the army and volunteers. I'd like to go back in time and share some holiday memories before the fires cut our holiday short as we had to leave in a hurry. The trip up to Eden took 8 hours by car and thankfully I slept for most of the way and briefly woke up to have our annual breakfast at McDonald's (I'm not a fan of McDonald's - my family and I only do this once a year) where I swapped my usual hash brown for a cheese and tomato toastie.  Day 2 in Eden started with a morning beach walk with my mum and pancakes for breakfast. My family and I strolled through Eden's strip of shops and passed the Mary MacKillop museum which used to be a church.

THANK GOD MY FAMILY AND I ARE ALIVE! While we were away on holiday in Eden, New South Wales, over the Christmas holidays, we were promptly interrupted at 7pm on New Years Eve to evacuate our cabin as the alarming bush fires were overtaking many parts of New South Wales.  We received a text message instructing us to evacuate to the Eden Fisherman's Club where we slept on the floor between some pokies machines with hundreds of other people! That sounds like the most bizarre thing, but it is true. You can't make these things up! Source It felt like an apocalypse - supermarkets were running out of food and petrol stations were running out of petrol/diesel because trucks couldn't enter through the thick smoke to deliver anything. Phone and internet lines were being destroyed too, making contact impossible for some. Source To be frank, I was terrified that were were going to burn to death as fires were approaching Eden from both sides. We left Eden on