wonderland

This colorful bird was waiting to greet us as soon as we started walking around. A great start to our exploration

Cairns definitely won my heart in the few days we were there. I'm enamored with tropical landscapes, where everything is covered in green, with wild things growing from every little scrap of dirt they can find, crawling one of top of the other, covering trees, rocks, buildings, everything in sight. So our trip out to the botanic gardens was a highlight for me. With some manicured areas, mostly green chaos, and a fantastic boardwalk through a patch of rainforest. Gorgeous leaves and shapes everywhere, and brilliant splashes of color here and there with fantastic flowers. Really, truly, remarkably overwhelming in natural beauty.

I loved the exceedingly large scale of everything. From palms, to cascading walls of green, to trees both greatly wide and tall, complete with giant leaves

All the different shapes, patterns and textures were fascinating

One of those extra tall trees covered in what looked to be some type of cactus. Wonderful

And those stunning flowers! Of which I'm sure some are not technically blooms, but that amazing color! So gorgeous

The serene feeling of being completely surrounded and immersed in a green universe, with beautiful creatures like proud little kookaburras just hanging out

 And of course that great boardwalk. Shaded by tall ferns and trees that seemed to twist up and away beyond the sky, wild twists and curls of vines all over everything, and crazy tangles of branches. Just: Wow

daylesford dates

So I've been seeing an Australian bloke for about a month now. His name is Jeremy and he's great. Splitting his time between here and Sydney. It's so nice to show someone around town who also has an appreciation for all the great art and gorgeous nature to be found in Daylesford. Our last two dates have been all about the Convent Gallery here in town. One day we walked through the botanic gardens on our way down to look at the art, and it seemed as if all the world was green.

I love the gallery for it's cozy setting. The convent is full of little niches, colorful stained glass, religious artifacts, and just wonderful architecture. Much more enjoyable than a large, stark museum space in my opinion.

We went to see an exhibit of works by a local artist, Richard Payne. The show was titled "Of Gods and Love", and is full of mythology and the stories and images of the Greek gods. It was great to be wandering around in a converted Catholic institution, admiring works depicting pagan idols.

Love that they added these small olive trees to this room. Why not go all out with a theme?

When we went back for a second time, it was to enjoy the gardens. And now it seemed that everything around was gold (and red, and purple)! Incredibly beautiful. Earnestly cramming in as much fun as possible into these last days here, and couldn't be happier. 

easter

Babka is beautiful inside...

Well, Easter has quickly come and gone. And it was great. We started the day by popping in over at Petra's to say hello and deliver some chocolate babka (my extravagant treat for the day. Won't post any process pictures or recipe because it might put you off trying to make it yourself! And I say- why not?), then Sarah, Pasca and I went to church. I'd been craving some kind of ritual leftover from so many Easters with my family in the states, and once I saw in the paper that one of our local churches had an organ, I was determined to go check it out for myself. The organ itself was heartily disappointing, after being spoiled with the magnificent ones at Spreckels and Foothills, but still enjoyable in a funny kind of way. And I was happily surprised to turn around during the greetings in the service and see our guests for the weekend, Sarah's friend Morgan and his wife Dina up from Melbourne. We're all interested in the social rituals and psychology of practicing religion, so it was a nice diversion. Then back home, and greeted by more guests, Sarah's brother Robert, his wife Querida, and their two adorable daughters, Phoebe and Vivienne. They had all had a hunt for chocolate eggs while we curious few were in church, and then we all headed down to the Sunday market. A quick look around just as the stalls were packing up for the day, then a quick rest and chat on a little lawn before everyone but me caught the last ride of the day on the old tourist train. I headed back up the hill to the gardens, said hello to Timothy at the cafe, and had a quick Skype session with a friend back home. Then back home to meet up with everyone and have some dinner. It was definitely a day of good eating, we had babka for breakfast, enchiladas for lunch, and a giant vegetable potpie for dinner. Delicious. And finally, after the sun had gone down and everyone was stuffed on pie and chocolate, we broke out the Paas kits. American style Easter egg dyeing! A bit out of order, and sadly no hunting, but still lots of fun. The kids loved dipping the eggs in dye and then decorating them further with stickers, shrink-wrap and glitter. And I think they turned out beautiful! And made a wonderful addition to some wholesome gribiche the next day. Seems like life here at Hightor is revolving around the kitchen lately, and I love it!

...and out!

Tasty and cheap market finds. We were all of one mind when it came to strawberries.

My Sunday best included my handmade skirt. Really love it. 

Eggs and dye ready to go

I did a few tie-dye style eggs

Lovely jewel tones with the brown eggs we used

Pasca did multiple shrink-wrap on several eggs. Clever girl!