Not sure what to have for breakfast while visiting the Queen Victoria Markets in Melbourne? The Waffle Club is the place to go. With delicious waffles that give me an excuse to have ice cream for breakfast – it is perfection. I’ll let the photos do the talking for how yummy it is!
Nouméa, Nouvelle–Calédonie, is a beautiful place. Along with my best friend Maree, I was lucky enough to visit for a week this month. There are so many snapshots that I want to share but I am going to start with the smallest island we visited, on our first full day in New Caledonia. Coming from wintery Melbourne, the warmth was so lovely – being able to just wear summer dresses and sandals was divine. Because of this beautiful weather, we spent our first day by the sea. In fact, we spent most days by the water! How can you not when it is that blue?!?!
L’Île aux Canards is a tiny little island about 5 minutes by taxi boat from the main land. It is the weekend getaway for those from Nouméa or, on the weekdays, for the few token tourists that aren’t on cruises visit this little island. All that is really here is a little beach shack, umbrellas, chairs and coral sand! Yes, the sand is made from coral, which made the jumping photo below a little tricky – trying to avoid the coral! It was such a beautiful island, and so close, that we came back another day via kayak to snorkel around the island.
It was a gorgeous place to start off our trip and these photos remind me of my sun-soaked memories, spending the day on a tiny little island, named after ducks! Even though there weren’t any on the island (:
Amanda
Maree
New
Caledonia
(:
This was today. Just pure happiness!
Sara // Enjoying Golden Hour
Pub Golf Crawl // Just. Epic.
The first photo is my technical favourite photo but this last one is a sentimental favourite just because that day was so much fun and this picture encapsulates it all!
Barbar & Mum // Happy Birthday Barbar!
Barbar, or Barbara to others, is my Mum’s mum but doesn’t like being called Grandma so hence she is Barbar. This week was her 80th birthday and we all went over to Perth to celebrate it. She got these awesome balloons from her friends and I of course had to photograph them. It was a really special time to experience with my whole family and I’m really glad I was able to.
Happy Birthday Barbar!
Grandmax & Barbar // The native Perthites at their favourite place, Port Beach
These are my grandparents – see both have quirky grandparent names! – and they both love living in Perth and being near the beach. This beach holds so many special memories for me as it is the beach we always swim in with Barbar, every time we visit. I love it and them so much!
Sample House Girls // All of us accidentally wearing a little bit of pink
These are my house mates. We were out celebrating Stef’s birthday when we realised we all had managed to wear a little bit of pink, coincidentally on the Mean Girls Anniversary!
Elle // Golden Puppy
This is Ellie, my beautiful 4 year old Cavoodle. She loves her ball more than anything in the world and we sneakily put it in this pot, to see if she would find it. Of course she did and what entailed was her being adorable and trying to ask us to get it out for her. Below is another shot I loved of her, though I chose this first one for the series.
Elle // Where is my ball, Manda?
Pippi // The three year old who will work for cupcakes
Dad // Happy Birthday Daddy from your parents
Week 15 this year was a week of birthdays, big and small. Little Pippi turned 3 and it was my Dad’s birthday too. We gave Pippi that little elephant purse from Thailand as well as an apron and Chef’s Hat from Venice. Of course the tiny present was her favourite! For Dad’s birthday, we went and had afternoon tea with my grandparents, who told us stories of my Dad as a little boy. It is always lovely celebrating your loved ones on their special days.
ANZAC Day, April 25, is an important day in Australian and New Zealand history. It is the day we remember our fallen troops and those continue on. It is the day, 99 years ago, we commemorate the first day of the Gallipoli Campaign, where we lost countless men. It is the day we celebrate those who are still here while mourn those who cannot.
ANZAC day starts with a dawn service, to remember those fallen in the quietest moment of the day and then there is a beautiful parade after through the city, honouring those who are still here and those who walk in the memory of others. It is this event that I attended this year.
My great-grandfather Stanley fought in the Gallipoli Campaign in World War I and my great-grandfather Hedley was a surgeon, commander of a field ambulance unit, in Malaya before the British surrendered to the Japanese and he was taken as a POW in Singapore in World War II. He was then the commanding medical officer of the Changi Prison Hospital, before returning home after the Japanese surrender in 1945.
It is those two that I remembered yesterday. I feel honoured to be a part of their families and honouring them is important to me. These photos are a small way I can help honour and celebrate others.
Lest we forget.
