It is easy to fall into the trap of never leaving your home. Especially when there's always so much work to be done. There are chores indoors, and then when you have a garden it takes the level of responsibility up another notch. We have 26 acres of "garden" and while most of it is bushland, the rest keeps us so busy that some days we don't even know where to start.
That is not to say it's not enjoyable to spend time at home - indoors and outside. We enjoy our life here. We enjoy spending our time together pottering outdoors. We enjoy keeping our hands busy, and learning more about this untamed jungle that we call home.
But we are still explorers at heart. There is a whole chapter to this site dedicated to the places we have visited and the coastline we have chartered. And there are days when it is good to give ourselves a break, allow our hands to rest and turn the page on the to-do list in our mind to one that is empty.
After a busy week of activity launching our homewares collection, we were in need of rest and focussed family time.
On Sunday the sun was shining and the temperatures felt more like spring than winter. We packed some morning tea and decided to explore the area around Norah Head on the Central Coast.
We have visited the lighthouse previously. Once we made a last-minute stop there on the way from Byron Bay to Sydney. The traffic had been gridlocked on the highway and so we decided to take a detour, stretch our legs, let the children run around, and return to the main road once the dinner rush had subsided.
This time we found a section of beach near the boat ramp where there are facilities (always handy with young children) and found a manmade lagoon bordered with rocks. While we ate our picnic lunch the tide level was low and the children enjoyed running in and out of the water. Later in the day it was much deeper and we made a mental note that it would be a good sheltered place for them to swim on another day.
After morning tea, we walked along the coastline towards the lighthouse. The surrounding escarpment appeared to have had bush regeneration as it was quite lush. There were rock pools to explore, many shell varieties to see and enough of a stretch of beach to allow for lots of running.
There are tours of the lighthouse and you can even book to stay in some of the historic buildings but we kept walking and stopped for lunch at The Ark, a local cafe with a decent selection of food and drinks, as well as (large) children's meals.
While the area was popular, it wasn't crowded and it's a place we've bookmarked to return to, and one that we would recommend.
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A few weeks ago it was a steaming hot day and we were ready to cool off somewhere but didn't want to go to the beach in the middle of the day. Instead we headed to Somersby Falls, which is on the Central Coast. It was the perfect choice - a place to splash around but still shaded so we were able to cool off. It also was a lot of fun.
Along the way we stopped and picked up rhubarb, avocados and oranges from roadside stalls selling fresh produce. Once at the car park (where you will need to pay - so take change) it's about a five-minute walk to the top waterfall area. You need to walk down a series of steps and the actual rocks in the waterfall area are quite slippery. There were falls aplenty - and there was a fatal accident a few weeks after we visited. While I think this was a one-off event, it would be remiss not to mention it.
The sound of the main waterfall is surprisingly loud, and creates immense pressure when you stand underneath. There are a few "holes" that the children enjoyed sitting inside too.
We walked down to a lower waterfall and this was initially reached by a wooden staircase but to get to the actual water you do need to traverse more slippery rocks. Worth it, though.
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An appeal of moving to our current location is that we are still only about 20 minutes from the coastline. As it turns out, given Sydney traffic, this is no different to when we were living in the city. On Sunday we set out to explore Umina Beach. The primary reason we chose this location was because of the surf conditions. Our son was keen to get on a board again, and the southern end of the beach has some swell but is generally protected enough that none of the waves are too big - perfect for beginners.
When we first arrived there were many dogs roaming around, and while I can see the appeal of this to dog owners, I was initially put off. However, after watching the eldest two surf and boogie board for a while, the littlest and I went for a walk along the nearby rocks. It turned out to be a good decision.
She enjoyed walking barefoot along the rock ledge, splashing in the little pools and picking up shells. We also spied crabs and a few small fish. Later the older children joined us, and they enjoyed talking about the sandstone ledge and the patterns we could find.
There were a few people about, but mainly young children, and families. While it is perhaps one of the busier beaches in the area, it still doesn't compare with the crowds in Sydney. And the opportunity to explore the coastline meant that we all had a great day. Our budding young surfers too!
PS The littlest is wearing a great beach dress from Printebebe.
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It's time to catch up on a few things - spring-cleaning, the photos from our European holiday, which still haven't been printed, finishing off my son's bedroom, and lots of work. So I'm taking a mini break from the blog but I thought I'd share some of my favourite posts from the early days of starting this site. It's actually been just over a year since The Indigo Crew was launched - 13 August 2014. Have a great week and see you soon!
* All the kids took their sleeping bags on our recent trip away. Still one of our most-used buys from the past year.
* My mum had some beautiful fragrant roses in her garden which would be perfect for this project.
* We also did lots of beach combing on the weekend. This is one of the best places for finding shells.
* Home-made play dough
* We still read this book regularly.
* 10 Questions will resume again soon. Courtney Adamo of Babyccino Kids kickstarted the series in March. Read her interview here.
* We'll also get to know a little more about the people behind some of our favourite brands in Label Love, which started with the talented Dee Purdy of Une Belle Epoque.
* Hope to visit this beautiful hidden beach again.
* One of my favourite craft projects from the past year.
* Who can resist a heart-shaped apple and cinnamon tea cake?
* We've been using this book a lot recently too.
* Christmas is creeping up on us - definitely want to do this advent activity calendar again.
You can also head over to our Pinterest page for our favourite finds from the web.
And like our Facebook page for news, updates, videos and interesting articles. We also share a "find of the day".
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The Sydney Flower Markets have always been a favourite place to visit. I have fond memories of going to source tea roses for my wedding many years ago, and I've been back several times since. I usually visit on a Saturday morning, when you're not jostling against florists and you don't have to pay for parking. While the selection is not always as good, it's still ample choice for selecting fresh cut flowers for the home, or some special occasion. Florists often get to the markets at about 5am and by about 9am most stalls are closing. Sometimes this means you can bargain a little, although the prices are wholesale.
It can get quite soggy under foot, so it's worth wearing all-weather shoes. Also, it's a good idea to take containers to carry your flowers if buying in bulk. You can take a bucket or tub, or grab one of the cardboard boxes that the florists discard into the recycling.
The girls enjoyed stopping to (gently) touch the flowers and smell their fragrance. Some flowers are imported, depending on the season.
Flowers are one of those lovely reminders of the seasons, and what is to come. Jonquils are synonymous with spring. And flowers such as lavender can be dried out and kept in small calico pouches to keep in drawers filled with clothes at home.
Even fallen flowers are given a home. The children enjoy watching them float in water. The jasmine was picked from a local bush. It's fragrance always reminds me that warmer days are on their way.
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I came to Bundanon to work, but I never expected to see so much that I wanted to share with my family. For the past week I have been staying here as part of the Artists in Residency program, and will give talks to school children as part of their book week education program. And while it has been a wonderful opportunity to stay here, I have also somewhat unexpectedly been blown away by the surrounds.
Every day I go for a walk on the grounds, and every day I see something new.
Bundanon is the name of a property that famed Australian artist Arthur Boyd left to the Australian people via a trust that he established with the Australian Government - Bundanon Trust. It is a place that preserves his home, and works, and provides the opportunity for artists to complete residencies for art, music, writing and performance.
The property is open to the public on Sundays. You can take a tour of the homestead, where Arthur lived, as well as explore the grounds.
A short walk from the homestead is the Singleman's Hut. This is an old colonial-style building where farm hands would stay. Smaller exhibitions are held here.
The original homestead has been preserved in keeping with when Arthur and Yvonne Boyd lived there. Older children might appreciate viewing the works on display, as well as seeing inside an historic home. Arthur's art studio is quite an amazing place to visit, regardless of age. Close to the homestead are picnic benches, where you can sit with a packed lunch. The Trust encourages people to bring along a picnic (as they don't serve food - although you can get a cup of tea and a biscuit for a gold coin donation).
Behind the homestead is a formal-style garden, adorned with sculptures, which would be interesting to show children. There is a kitchen garden too. It would be a lovely activity to get them to identify flowers and herbs. Maybe even draw them, if you took along pencils and paper.
Day and night there are kangaroos everywhere. It really is worth stopping in one spot for five or more minutes and just observing them. Some of the kangaroos have joeys in their pouches. Others get into fist fights with each other or just laze around.
One of the installations is by a former Artist in Resident, Brook Andrew. These cool caravans had been part of the Sydney Festival.
Wattle and wild flowers were in abundance during my visit. You could make flower crowns galore with all this foliage!
You can take a walk to the Shoalhaven River from the property. On a few occasions I spied kangaroo and wombat tracks in the sand.
The walk back from the river takes you in-between fields of cows and kangaroos. You might have to dodge wombats - and wombat burrows (lots of them!) along the way. There are many easy bush walks you can take around the property, including to a bush-style amphitheatre and a track called Cedar Walks.
During my stay I bought the Siteworks book from the office - open to the public on Sunday - and plan to bring it back with me on my return. There are photos and botanical drawings of the native flora and fauna, and want to give the children the challenge of finding it all.
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We have been fortunate enough to explore Italy on three separate occasions before this trip. Each time we chose a different region to discover, and we have always impressed with the diversity that Italy offers from one area to another.
The first time we did the classics - Rome, Venice, Florence, with some surrounding historical towns into the mix, such as Padova, Siena and San Gimignano. The second time we went south and worked our way north - starting in Rome, again, but then taking a train down to Naples and exploring the Amalfi Coast - and getting incredible history lessons at Pompeii and Herculaneum. We moved north to work our way along the Cinque Terre and northern coastal towns such as Genoa, as well as Pisa, of course.
The last time we went to Italy was when our son was two years old. After studying the Italian language for several years we decided on a different type of experience and organised home exchange accommodation. As luck would have it, we didn't have to reciprocate any of our hosts. However, they were all incredibly generous with their homes and time. We stayed in an apartment in Rome - the home of a journalist, writer and TV producer - and he took us out for dinner with a group of his friends. We met our next host in Bologna and had a picnic with her and her daughter, who was a similar age to our son, and learnt that she had studied at a Sydney university before returning to live back in Italy. She gave us keys for her holiday apartment in the sleepy seaside town of Porto San Giorgio in the Marche region on the east coast. Our last stay was in Vigevano, an old town on the outskirts of Milan. We loved staying in less obvious places and getting a chance to experience life the way that Italians live it. It was also great practice for our Italian as many of these places weren't tourist destinations and so the locals didn't always speak English.
For our recent trip with three children in tow, we wanted to discover some new areas and the Piemonte region was unchartered territory to us. Being able to explore the mountains intrigued us, and we were interested in seeing some more lakes, such as when we had visited Lake Como and Maggiore on a previous trip. Once we found our accommodation, the beautiful Mill House, we set about exploring its neighbouring towns and places of interest. After getting our bearings in Varallo, we set our course for Lago d'Orta (Lake Orta).
We drove to the town of Pella and filled ourselves with pancakes then took a ferry across Lago d'Orta to the peninsula Orta San Giulio. It was a lovely town to wander through streets filled with old villas and cobbled stones. There was little traffic to worry about and plenty to please our eyes for the day, as well as enough to interest the children.
The ferry ride to and from the town was definitely a highlight for the children. For us, too. Sometimes having the opportunity to do nothing but observe spectacular scenery is the best journey of all.
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For many years I have spoken to friends and family about the idyll that was my childhood holidays spent in the French countryside staying in rustic farmhouses. With some of them it's become a little bit of a running joke. But I have always wanted to return to them, and as my own family has grown so has been my desire to recreate something of those holidays for them.
Memories can hold a huge weight of expectation. And rarely can recreations live up to what has passed and been coloured with years of nostalgia.
During our recent holiday to Europe, I feel the closest I got to creating something of that magic for our children was when we stayed at The Mill House in Valsesia - a group of valleys in the north-east of Piemonte - about an hour's drive from Milan in the mountains. One of the closest towns was Varallo.
We arrived to a beautiful house that had been lovingly and thoughtfully restored in 2010. The owner used bio-architecture materials such as cork, wood, stone, brick and lime to help keep its original character. The house is thoughtfully decorated too, and includes features such as a bathroom sink made out of a tin basin and a shelves made out of wooden beams. The surrounding garden was lush with hydrangea bushes and other flowers in bloom, as well as a variety of herbs, including giant rosemary. There was enough room for the children to run around freely but it wasn't too large that we didn't know where they were. However, because there was a waterfall nearby we placed strict rules about not walking down to the adjoining stream without an adult.
I would return to The Mill House in an instant. Below are some more details of the place. I'm happy to answer more queries about the place if you're interested in visiting. (I have a million more photos too! Very hard to edit down to just this selection.)
The Mill House is over four levels. The top level is an attic, which has a mattress for sleeping, and the children loved playing up here. The eldest liked to escape here and play scrabble or write in his journal. The ground level, accessible from the top entrance is the main living space with seating that converts into bedding. It has views overlooking the garden below. The middle level, a mezzanine of sorts, has a bathroom and a daybed. The lowest level is where the dining and kitchen are located. The Mill House is on a steep block and the property inside is quite small with low ceilings, but from our perspective this added to the charm of the place.
In Sydney we live in a house with a lot of stairs so they were not an issue for the children. However, we all needed to exercise caution and common sense.
The steepest stairs (as well as the most beautiful) went from the ground floor level (at the entrance) down to a mezzanine with a bathroom and a daybed.
The Mill House didn't have a bath, only a shower, but thanks to a large window provided a wonderful view onto the gardens and waterfall below. There were many thoughtful details throughout, including the copper shower head.
On the lowest level was a small dining and kitchen area. Both had a view over the gardens. While compact, there was enough space to prepare meals and host dinners for six guest reasonably comfortably.
On our second last day the caretaker came with a gift of cherries from his property.
We often ate at the table in the garden. The house visible in-between the trees was a neighbouring property (with a donkey who made noises that amused the children), however, we never lacked privacy. At night time we were able to see glow worms, which was quite a magical experience.
Alongside the house there was a waterfall and stream. The water was incredibly cold - it was from the mountains, after all - but that didn't deter the children and they enjoyed exploring the area and spent a lot of time building dams.
There were some walking trails within a short distance of the house. One of them lead to another waterfall. It was a wonderful place to explore.
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