Freelance Book Designer

Bush, Water, Easter

When our friends offered us the use of their holiday house over the Easter long weekend we said ‘oh please yes thank you!’ and thought to ourselves ‘aren’t we lucky to have such generous friends?’ when we arrived at the property on Good Friday afternoon upon opening the door, our jaws dropped and SAH quickly faced each other to high five – the place was amazing.

theNursery-16

theNursery-3

theNursery-1

theNursery-2

I’ve said it before but it’s worth saying again, we have some very cool friends. And Kate and Felix along with their two daughters are part of that collective. Supreme taste and artist sensibilities make them interesting people to chat to, while their warmth and generosity makes the friendship glow. Felix used to be my boss a million years ago but not so long ago we wrote a book together and now regularly meet up in the staff room at the design college where we both lecture. Kate is an accomplished artist and print maker and recently completed an installation my father and I commissioned for my mum in honor of her completing her PhD (you can read my mum’s response to the artwork here on her blog)

So the house was always going to be cool, but as SAH and I are used to spending holidays in fibro beach shacks we knew to expect something a little more polished than a rickety hut but were blown away by the architect designed module home set high on the side of a hill, a few hours south of Sydney.

It was a complete luxury and we enjoyed every minute – aside from the minutes we were chasing after Little A pleading with him not to destroy the quality of the house.

We spent the days ‘embracing slow’ as Jodi would say. Letting the mornings unravel in their own time with cups of tea and copious amounts of bacon, sitting on the veranda and listening to the trees.

theNursery-11

theNursery-10

theNursery-12

theNursery-13

theNursery-14

When we were ready we packed up the car and made our way to the beach. The first day the surf was huge and rough, so seaside paddling was out of the question. Instead we watched as surfers enjoyed the crash and power of the waves from the safety of the beach while Little A madly constructed sandcastles.

theNursery-5

theNursery-6

theNursery-7

theNursery-8

theNursery-9

We visited one of the towns not so far away and got caught in the Easter weekend tourist crush. It broke the magic a little for us, so after sifting through the collectable shops and downing a few pies we high-tailed it back to the sanctuary of the house.

Where the local kangaroo gang finally made an appearance and Little A happily bounced on the trampoline yelling out to the unfazed animals ‘I a kangaroo like you!’

theNursery-15

Sunday slowly rolled out as we returned to the beach to explore rock pools and finally get to have that promised swim in a much calmer ocean (well the boys did, I just sat on the beach and happily watched).

Monday we sadly packed up and said good bye to the house, the view, the kangaroos and the trampoline as Little A protested and exclaimed ‘I can’t!’ – as in he couldn’t leave he was having far too much fun on holidays.

The trip back to Sydney took hours longer as the entire population returned from their own long weekend break. A stop in Berry for donuts and a leg stretch was welcomed but my favourite part of the drive is going from Berry to Gerringong. And I have often told SAH (many times on this trip in fact) if we won lotto I would buy a holiday house in that area, possibly Gerroa. The land where the rolling green hills stretch from the volcanic mountains down to the sea is one of the most picturesque, comforting places I know. My first driving lesson 2 hours after I got my learning permit was along those country roads in my friend’s father’s battered Landrover Discovery and I fell madly in love with the area there and then.

theNursery-17

theNursery-18

theNursery-21

Having said that, the holiday house is not too shabby at all. A beautiful place to stay and was a welcomed weekend away. Thank you K&F.