Family, mountains, and hotrods!

After our first 4 days spent in the "big smoke" of Melbourne we headed on up to the north east of Victoria, to Bright, to stay with my folks :-) Our train journey from Southern Cross station to Wangaratta took about 2 1/2 hours and my Dad was there to meet us and drive us the last 75 kilometres to Bright.

Bright is a little township of about 2,200 residents, lying at the foot of the Victorian Alps and ski fields, and it is where I spent my primary school years. It is very picturesque but I have to admit there is not a whole lot to do other than chill out, drink coffee at the numerous cafes, walk along the river, visit the local micro beer brewery, or make day trips to the surrounding mountain areas. We did all of those things, but most importantly spent time with my family :-)

We stayed at my Mum's place and it was so lovely spending the days doing as close to nothing as possible! Favourite daily activities soon became: reading, solving sodokus, sitting in the sun, playing with my Mum's crazy dog (Minty), complaining about the flies, and eating & drinking ourselves silly. At one stage those pesky bush flies were SO bad Jeroen bought a venus flytrap and embarked on a one man mission to hunt all the flies down and feed them to the plant!!

My Dad kindly played chauffeur/tour guide and we managed trips up to Falls Creek/Bogong High Plains, Mt Buffalo for a lovely BBQ in the sunshine, Beechworth, Harrietville, Wandiligong (gotta love those names), and Huggins Lookout. We were also "lucky" enough that the annual hotrod rally was in town during our stay! A whole weekend of muscle cars, hotrods, testosterone and petrol fumes :-)

I think the highlight for Jeroen was seeing his first star through a telescope during a night spent staying out at my Dad's "shed" on his bush block at Mudgegonga. I use the term "shed" loosely because part of it has been converted into a home away from home - complete with bathroom and kitchen.

All in all, two weeks of perfect weather and perfect company :-)

Alli xxx