Escape...

I love living in Thornbury... The people are friendly and it is one of the few true communities I have come to know in Melbourne.

But in the country, well every town is a tight knit bunch. Every customer in the one or two shops that the town might be blessed with, is greeted by name and and a friendly smile...

Last week my nerves were frayed and apparently I was "difficult"... Well I didn't know what in the world EVERYONE was talking about, but when I was offered my first holiday in over 24 months, well I jumped at the offer!

So we headed off to a place called Wombat Valley Cottages... I didn't read the website and had absolutely no idea of what to expect when I arrive. It was a slightly arduous journey for my wee lil Alfa, up unkept gravel roads... Especially for the fact that we pulled in to the property past 10 in the evening. The owner drove us to the actual cabin, where I was taken aback by the fact that there was no electricity. Instead everything was gas, including the fridge!

I kindly requested lots of matches and for the owners torch!

Now please don't get me wrong... I'm not a princess! I have stayed in festy hovels from Canada to China to Eastern Europe. And I can appreciate camping including the "digging a hole" style... It's more that in my head I conjured up images of complete luxury and being pampered head to toe (I did say I didn't read up the place AT ALL!)

Anyway...I couldn't hear a single thing except the light murmur of a well populated bushland... We were quite high up in fact and had no idea where the next human might be... but I decided to suck it up an go with the flow...

It was actually a really lovely weekend away and we were blessed with largest downpour the little town of Briagalong had seen in a very very long time. This meant that almost my entire weekend away was spent sitting by a castle sized fireplace, piecing a 700 piece puzzle together and eating food lovingly cooked by my lovely partner. I didn't move a muscle... which could explain the extra kilo I gained!

My favourite meal is Spaghetti Bolognese... I possess very mature and complex taste buds. So over my entrée of Buffalo mozzarella, olio and avocado, I casually requested he open the bottle of wine he brought along. I didn't realise it was the $500 Penfolds he won at Christmas. So after a fit, I decided that the only thing left to do was to sit back, relax and down this sublime liquid beauty!

Savouring my last sip of Penfolds... Pretty sure that will be my last of that calibre :(

Needless to say I have returned back to my shoppe refreshed, revived and energised! I have caught myself more than many times, smiling at the sun and passers by, humming happy tunes...

Super relaxed and getting ready to face the real world again...

Did I mention this place is dog friendly? My girl is curled up under a jumper after she got in the fight with a pair of scissors... Poor thing

So my advice to anyone feeling stressed out and needing a very cheap, short break, is to go somewhere completely isolated, with only the necessary mod cons... for me this includes full kitchen utilities and a hot shower! and just unplug from life... even if just for a moment.

Our "TV"... Pity it didn't change channels...

The cottages though simple, are super cute and the next living human turned out to be only 10meters away in the next cabin!