happy 2011

Wishing everyone lots of love, success and happy vibes for the year ahead.

We have returned from our wonderful Australian holiday in Melbourne rested, tanned (yay!), a lot poorer, but with some great memories and lots of plans for the future. My sister and her fiancee Blair were saints for letting us stay with them in their gorgeous apartment for 3 weeks and not once complaining about the early morning starts and extra mess courtesy of the small, loud person. We saw so much of the city and the surrounding countryside. A lot more, I'm ashamed to say, than when I was backpacking in the post-student days and spent a month there, where I was mostly touring around the bars in the St Kilda area.

A few highlights were visits to a wildlife sanctuary where we encountered the adorable koala Benny, an evening Christmas carol concert in the Botanic Gardens, a trip to the picturesque village of Daylesford with its stunning lake, a day spent at the zoo, and a visit to a winery on the Mornington Peninsula. Oh and course lots of beach time. New Years Eve was spent with a big BBQ on the balcony and first rate views of the epic firework display over the city. So now it's back to Auckland and reality and I'm starting to get excited about the year ahead. I'm not a fan of resolutions but I do love making lots of lists and generally organising myself. This has been made intensely more enjoyable due to the fact we have a new toy to play with- a shiny ipad, courtesy of Jo and Blair which is an extremely generous late wedding present. So I have been happily downloading apps, and getting my life sorted. Roll on 2011!

Here are a few of our holiday snaps...