The end of winter (and our wedding anniversary) saw us heading once again to the Southern Highlands. I revisited Chinoiserie, the property with the beautiful peony gardens that I saw the previous spring. This time, we came to stay.
We stayed in the separate guest wing, and it was a lovely, cosy place to be.
Lots of whimsical touches inside, like this stained glass window.
Dominic, the co-owner and ‘head gardener’ loves his peonies, so there had to be some indoors too.
Gerroa isn’t just by the river but by the beach – the glorious Seven Mile Beach that stretches 7.8 miles (or 12.5km) all the way down to Shoalhaven Heads.
It can be a windy beach, but on this day there was hardly a breeze. Perfect weather for families.
One last look at the rolling waves before the drive back to Sydney. With the Gerringong by-pass complete, the journey back was barely an hour 40 minutes now. Such accessibility means that it might not be so serene here in the near future.
I rounded off my winter retreat with a lunchtime visit to the coastal village of Gerroa. It’s an half-an-hour’s drive from the Abbey, and one of my favourite places on the South Coast.
The Crooked River flows through the village. Being a bright and balmy winter’s day, some of the local kids were tempted into the water.
I liked watching the river flow. The colour and the rippling patterns were lovely to see.
Early the following morning (always early starts at the Abbey), I strolled around the rainforest walk.
The path dipped from the cottages to follow the creek.
It was still dark at the lowest level.
The path undulated across the banks of the creek, so I reached the light eventually.
And much further along (away from the rainforest and the creek), there was even sunshine.
It was a lovely way to start the day.
Last year’s visit to Jamberoo Abbey took place in mid-winter. I was up bright and early the first morning to watch the sun rise.
The cattle were in the paddock closest to the cottages, which was a bonus to the photographer.
They looked to be mainly black Anguses, and were busy breakfasting…
When an interloper appeared out of the bush.
The bovines weren’t quite sure of the wombat.
And neither was the wombat completely comfortable to be so exposed. After a few nibbles of grass it wandered back to safety.
Cooler weather might still be a little way off, but that’s no reason to stop knitting. I spent the summer knitting these gifts for various friends.
A toddler’s beanie. Very easy and clever pattern.
A shopping bag out of cotton. Looks like crochet but it’s definitely knitted.
A pair of lovely cable socks with variegated yarn. It’s another Pom Pom Quarterly project, took the longest to do, but was (generally) a pleasure to knit up.
Static and Silence 