Every now and then it's good for the soul to get out of town and do something different. I thrive on exploring and discovering new places so it was wonderful to head to Tasmania's Golden Valley and spend a few days crafting and catching up with good friends.

It was worth getting up at 3am to catch our sunrise flight to the Apple Isle. The view out the window was incredible and more than made up for the early morning. And it meant we had the entire day in which to play!

I don't have many photos as I was too busy being in the moment, screen free. Aah, the wonders of limited-to-no phone reception - it forces you to notice your surroundings and spend time with the people around you.

I went with my youngest daughter and we had a great few days chatting and eating delicious food as well as foraging for mushrooms in the pine forest (I finally got to eat saffron milk caps and now I know what all the fuss is about - they were incredible!), swimming in the dam (it was super cold and my 'swim' was more of a  yelp and a plunge!), playing games (League of the Lexicon which is a word nerd's dream game; think Trivial Pursuit for writers but better. It was a Kickstarter I somehow managed to miss but have since pre-ordered), stargazing (we went to a local paddock and tried to spot the aurora australis, also known as the southern lights), poking about in thrift stores (my favourite is the junk shop in Deloraine opposite the pub), eating ice cream (we just had to try both ice cream parlours to test the different flavours and scoop sizes) and crafting (but more of that in a later post!).

It sounds like we did a lot but we mostly sat by the window, soaking up the sun and winding down. The perfect remedy for a busy city life. Highly recommended!