Just before the Easter Long weekend I posted on Instagram that I would almost chew my right arm off to be back at Tangalooma on Moreton Island for the weekend. Deep down, I knew I wouldn’t chew my arm off, but it’s always so nice to just get away to one of your favourite places for a few days break to unwind and just be feeling pretty damn good for a few days.
Having said that, it’s also just as nice sometimes to have four days at home for Easter just a few months after Christmas. I know a lot of us don’t actually get the full four days off with having to go to shift work … or looking after kids/family/relatives/pets/houses and so on, but four days at home for those fortunate enough to have that luxury goes alright in my opinion as well. After all, we all just need to make the most of what we have, where we are in this moment in time.
We usually love going away for Easter and look forward to that little getaway somewhere around the Australia Day holiday coming to a close and remembering it’s now a long slog until the next long weekend and couple of days off. We like to head somewhere where there’s great food, either locally sourced or at some great little restaurants, beautiful beaches, home away from home accommodation that maybe is just a little more luxurious than what you are used to, and just that general Joie de vivre you only get when you are one hundred percent relaxed and never want to leave, with cocktail in hand and a flat battery on your phone…ok that last one is just me..:) . We would usually head to Moreton or Straddie ( North Stradbroke Island for those not from these parts and lucky for us, our close backyard Island) or Noosa Northshore/Rainbow Beach/ Tin Can Bay or Woodgate ( I am not telling you where this is, you will have to find out for yourself on that one.) 🙂 , at this time of the year. They are all stunningly beautiful, laid back, coastal destinations where the water is warm enough still to swim, where you can still wear shorts/sarongs/togs pretty much all day and night and where you don’t have to pretend, they love you just you as you are and the more you are yourself, the more you will get out of the locals and the locality and love it!
But this year.. we stayed home for the Easter long weekend.. Yep.. we didn’t do too much at all really, and you know what, we loved every minute of it! .Well apart from Woollies where I decided to go food shopping on Easter Saturday, which was ridiculous and I vow never again. We enjoyed a long and very lazy , extremely delicious Easter Sunday Brunch at the Cleveland RSL with some beautiful friends ( we are definitely going back there for this again, unbelievably great value and really delicious, freshly cooked food).
This was about the extent of the effort I was required to put in to my appearance as far as getting dressed and brushing my hair and eyebrows and teeth, which then forced me out of my togs/sarong/pyjamas for something a little more decent and appropriate for company and public view. I think I over indulged on the bacon and eggs, but I really tried to counteract it with the delicious fruit platter on offer.. Nanna Nap needed at 11.30am definitely…
So… we pretty much cocooned for the weekend and that’s OK too you know. A Staycation they call it, or so I have been told..The main reasons were that this year we had the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games upon us here, so everywhere was supposed to be super busy and we were told to avoid the coast at all costs as everything would be super expensive as well. The locals would tell a different story but that is another story. We had just had a very late Summer holiday and combined with an early Easter this all meant we were just not actually in a position to enjoy another 4 days away so soon but as I have said before, that’s OK too!
Admittedly, home for me looks like this, so I know I am a kinda very lucky and blessed, but as anyone will tell you, after a while you just sort of stop noticing your surrounds and they just become a part of your life. Sometimes I imagine us living on a farm five hundred or more like double that kilometres west of here because it sounds so romantic with wide veranda’ed farm houses, wood stoves, an orchard or large vege garden, old stripped back furniture, iron beds and those big skies at night, the peace, the space, the no traffic, no noise blanket that we could wrap ourselves in..
We could imagine it would be idyllic, and as I am a country girl mostly, I know that there are definitely many advantages to living away from the hustle and bustle of the suburbs but, those that live ‘out West’ as we affectionately call it, will tell you it’s not all it’s cracked up to be and I am sure most of us can relate to that as well with what we see and read in the media about our farmers. They contend with droughts and floods, dust, heat, flies, snakes 🙂 and remoteness to the everyday amenities we take for granted such as takeaway fish and chips, a 7/11 store, restaurants and 24 hour medical centres in most of our reaches. I also imagine us living on a beautiful big boat, sailing the seas and ….
Anyhoos, as I do, I digress…
So, this Easter I did a lot of other things that I wanted to do to catch up on.. For starters I cooked and I cooked with passion for my family and my dad and his partner, because I actually had the time. Not hastily like I often do for a quick week night dinner, where you are just tired or even exhausted and starving, and your family is starving and you just want it all over and done with so you can have a shower and go to bed, just to get up and do it all over again the next day and can totally relate to Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. No, not this time, this time we enjoyed carefully prepared Wild Barramundi and Gold Coast king prawns with fresh and local vegetables for Easter Sunday Dinner with raspberries and apple crumble for dessert and good Vanilla bean ice cream. What a treat to sit and share a delicious and relaxed meal it was.
I also spent some time researching for kitchen ideas for our old tired kitchen soon:
I spent some time Insta checking on paint colours for the exterior of our old home, still tossing up on Dark Grey versus light Grey…
I also tried to do some wall washing and floor mopping, but the weather wouldn’t play nice and trying to wash walls streak free in humid, damp weather just doesn’t work so.. they can wait til the weather cools down and dries out a bit more yet.
So eventhough we didn’t head away anywhere this time, I felt like we had a break that was very well spent. I left the weekend feeling rested and we spent a day at Straddie last weekend just swimming and lunching at the Hotel, with hardly any crowds and this more than made up for missing it at Easter this year so it all worked out perfectly.
Well we are heading for another long weekend very soon here in Queensland with Labour Day coming up in early May. We intend on doing a couple of quick day trips at this time to visit friends and family and we are looking forward to some sneaky long weekend/midweek trips trips away to Bunya Mountains, Burleigh Heads, Noosa, Tin can Bay, Stanthorpe and Yamba in the coming months with some good friends and family to celebrate some milestones and also just to celebrate being alive and having great friends!
So tell me, who likes being at home and who likes going away? Where do you like to go? Any secret spots you want to share?
Jennifer May Parker 
Reblogged this on Random Repeat.
Thank you for sharing!