Autumn Adventure

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that sunflower trip

My mum and I made the last minute decision to go on a two-day road trip this weekend. For a long time, we've wanted to drive to the Toowoomba region during the sunflower season to explore. And more recently, we've been talking about taking a drive beyond Toowoomba to Warwick to look at some of the beautiful old buildings of that region. So we set of in search of flowers.

We stopped at the little town of Crow's Nest on the way to go op shopping and to check out the beautiful autumnal leaves in the park.

Next stop: Toowoomba for a little shopping. We visited the sweet flower market there.

We stopped by Laurel Bank Park, which is a beautiful park with many nice gardens and little walks.

After a little while, we left town and headed south. During our trip, we saw a total of five sunflower fields, two of which we stopped at to take photos. The first spot was along the highway at the exit for Cambooya. At least six other cars were parked along the side of the road, everyone enjoying and photographing the beautiful sunflowers.

Further down that same road, we found another field called 'Mayfield.' :) We found ourselves among some of the same people who were at the first field. Evidently some were expert sunflower-photographers as they had stepladders to take great photos from above.

It wasn't easy to capture the feeling, and the sunflowers stretching out for what seemed like forever...

After taking a scenic drive through a few little towns, we arrived in Allora, where we were spending the night. The town was home to a few historical buildings, including the house where P.L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, lived.

We spent the night at the hotel and then drove off to Warwick the next morning for exploring. The local art gallery was running an exhibition about miniature houses and buildings, which was the cutest. I loved how much attention to detail went into each model.

We drove by the amazing Abbey of the Roses, which looks like this. Unfortunately, we couldn't go in, but I did take the below picture over the fence.

After spending several hours in Warwick we started the drive home, stopping a few times at other pretty places that caught our attention.

It was an awesome trip, and we did it on a pretty tight budget as well. We took most of our own food, so it ended up costing about $10 each in food. Accommodation was $25 each and the fuel, we estimated, cost about $60 for the trip. So in total, the trip cost us about $130. Not bad for a beautiful weekend getaway!

wanderlust

Among my goals and plans for 2018 was "travel more." But without the time and money to make this dream happen, it's so easy to fall into the jealousy and comparison trap. So I came up with a small list of what to do when you want to travel, but can't, in the hope it will help me and anyone else going through this right now.

go on a mini trip

This one kind of goes without saying, but if you don't have the ability to do that NZ road trip or visit France, at least travel as much as you can. Plan a day trip, or even an afternoon trip. Be a tourist in your area for a day. You might be surprised what beautiful locations are right outside your door.

create a travel fund

Even if you can only afford to save $20 a week, at least that's something. That's $1,040 in a year! Determine what matters the most to you. If travelling is really a priority, surely you can give up something else in place of it. 

plan for the future

Start a Pinterest board or a pen-and-paper list of the places you'd like to go. Start researching routes, accommodation, and activities. If you can't be there in person, at least 'be there' via the internet. :)

make the most of it

Whether it's a drive home or a walk to the shop, we are constantly embarking on small adventures. Learn to appreciate the beauty around you, right now. Stop and look at the view. Watch the sunset. Spend a few minutes gazing at the stars. As Henry Thoreau said, '...only that travelling is good, which reveals to me the value of home and enables me to enjoy it better.'

Happy travels, friends!

woodgate beach

I just got back from a two week holiday to Woodgate with my family! Woodgate is a small little costal town in between Hervey Bay and Bunderburg on the eastern Queensland coast. We had a wonderful two weeks on the beach, exploring and visiting nearby towns. Here are some photos from our adventure:

I loved the moodiness of the ocean -- blue and sparkling one day and wild and grey the next. I've never spent a significant amount of time by the sea before, so it was really cool to get aquatinted with the tides and moonrises etc. To fall asleep listening to the ocean's roar is something I'm already missing.

And the sunsets. I miss the sunsets.

I love this photo of two of my little siblings -- watching a storm roll in.

One of the road trips we took was to a nursery/garden called bamboo land we had visited as a family over seven years ago. It was nostalgic to be walking those same paths again.

This is from Maryborough, a town I loved because of its historical buildings. (Or as my family and I call them for no reason, "hysterical buildings.")

Just a cute tree growing beside our holiday house.

A beautiful place in Woodgate was Theodolite Creek, which we called Treasure Cove. Unfortunately, I have no photos of the place, nor do I think photos can do it justice. It was an inlet of the sea. When the tide was out, you could walk for ages across the mouth of the sea. When the tide was in, pools and sand islands where formed. The place was nestled by a beautiful little forest and the sand had lots of driftwood and shells on it, hence "Treasure" Cove.

It feels so good to be home, and yet so exciting to be leaving again soon, because I move out this week to study Floristry in Brisbane. And with my boxes of possessions I'll carry with me these memories.

xo

May

P.S. I'm thinking of revamping my blog's design and posting more often. What kinds of posts would you like to see more of?

update in photographs

I went on a wonderful two-week trip with my mum to the Blue Mountains, Sydney, Hobart and Melbourne. We flew to Sydney, cruised to Hobart and to Melbourne, then flew home. This was my first time leaving Queensland for a holiday, and it was such a fun time.

Unfortunately, we didn't go in the opera house, but we did get this view of it while cruising out.

Colourful Sydney townhouses by the water.

Little Italy in Melbourne! We had authentic pizza and gelato.

Melbourne, from the top of the Shrine of Remembrance.

St. Kilda, Melbourne, at sunset. Beautiful place.

And beautiful Hobart.

There have been a couple of small road trips as well. I found a lot of beautiful places near where we live that I'd never visited before.

But really, how adorable is this little guy?

Someone's really nice driveway. Trespassing may or may not have been involved. ;)

I really love this view.

Here's a video I made as well.

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a great day and I'll see you soon.