Sea Change Okinawa: Australia

Where to see snow near Melbourne!

My snow cat

Last weekend we finally got something I feel like we haven't had since we moved back to Australia: A truly relaxing weekend! Every since we went to the snow in Japan, little G has been talking about seeing snow in Australia, and that together with the fact that I had some time in lieu and H was about to start her new job the following week, we jumped at the chance to have a long weekend in the country and take that kid to the snow!

We found a super cute cottage just outside of Marysville, in a little town called Buxton, which was only a 30 minute drive from Lake Mountain (the snow destination). We didn't really have any huge expectations for the weekend, as I wasn't expecting much in the way of snow, and we really just wanted to relax. Well, our cottage was absolutely perfect and even better than we were expecting. It was super cute, with a great fireplace and a cute yard with a little creek running behind that we could hear whenever we walked outside. It was also pet friendly, so we could take the dog with us!

On our way to the cottage, we drove through the Yarra Valley and made a quick stop at the Chandon Winery to pick up a bottle of bubbles, stretch our legs and take some photos. I love that place. When we got closer to Marysville we drove through the Blackspur forest surrounded by gorgeous, tall gum trees on the winding road. It was just a spectacular drive.

Right before we got to the cottage, we stopped in Marysville to pick up a couple of supplies, and G had a play in the park. Again, so pretty, and such a great park for kids! Marysville is such a cute town!

Domaine Chandon winery

The motherland

Nice spot for a snack and a drink

Black Spur

Marysville

Our cottage for the weekend

We spent our first night afternoon and night just hanging out in the cottage, getting the fire going, eating cheese and crackers, reading books and just hanging out. Perfect really.

Saturday morning after breakfast, we headed into Marysville to rent some toboggans and get some snow gloves, and off we went to Lake Mountain. It costs $56 to enter Lake Mountain, which is the fee to bring the car in, and there's no avoiding it if you want to get to the snow. Once we we through the entrance point and driving up the mountain towards the carpark, I was pretty surprised by the amount of now around, which only increased as we got closer.

The snow quality was much better than I was expecting (I had pretty low expectations) and was perfect for tobogganing and building snow men. There were lots of people there, but not too many to make it unpleasant, and there were a couple of different toboggan runs as well as cafes and gear rental. I think there were some pretty tame ski slopes as well but we just went to toboggan.

We didn't try any of the food there, as it seemed like overpriced cafeteria food, but overall it was heaps of fun and I totally recommend it for a fun day out (with or without kids). If you were driving up from Melbourne, it's only a couple of hours, so easy enough to make a day trip. I would also recommend stopping in Marysville on the way to get your rental gear, as it didn't take long at all, and the prices were great. There seemed to be quite a line up at Lake Mountain.

Overall, it was a perfect weekend, and I was so hard to drag ourselves back to Melbourne, and real life. We would definitely go and stay our in the same area again.

The "babbling brook" at the bottom of the cottage yard

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23:55
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The Journey back to Melbourne

Australia

We're home! It's been an insanely hectic almost 2 weeks since we've been back, and because of that it feels like we've been home for much longer (sometimes, it weirdly feels like we never left Melbourne!).

The last few days in Okinawa after finishing work was pretty crazy, but we actually managed to get out of our house ok, as well as have a farewell party, and then spend the last night with our bestie in Okinawa. It was such a lovely end. After our final house inspection from the housing agency, we drove over to our friend's house, and had a final temaki sushi party. Perfect end to our time in Okinawa.

Our first days back in Melbourne involved a trip to Ikea, many other shopping trips and the boring stuff like setting up ultilities in our new unit so we could move in. 5 days after getting back I also started work! Basically it's been non-stop these past 2 weeks with (unfortunately) no time to actually catch up with all the friends we've missed while we were away. I'm hoping for things to calm down in the next week or 2 so we can start to relax and enjoy catching up with people.

The other awesome thing that happened this past weekend was getting the pets out of quarantine. They both survived the ordeal pretty much perfectly (although a little lighter), which took one layer of the stress away. We're all now comfortably getting used to life in our new (small - compared to our Okinawa house) apartment and enjoying being back in Melbourne.

If you can think of a new appropriate blog name, please let me know!

Perfectly empty. Goodbye beach house

Temaki sushi spread

Last day in Japan, finally found cremia!

Pho was the first stop in Melbourne

I've missed this coffee

Back working at the University of Melbourne

This kid could not be more happy with his new bed

Our new hood

After 10 days in quarantine - so happy to have these guys back

The park next to our house

23:37
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Leaving Okinawa

Australia

So I haven't really been sure how to write this on the blog. I've already told family and friends, as well as my work, but anyway, we'll be leaving Okinawa at the end of June.

We've been here for over 2 years now and for a number of reasons, we've decided to move back to Australia.

I'm super grateful for the experience, and although the adjustment to life in Okinawa was harder than I expected, i'm so glad that we had this experience. We've had the amazing opportunity to live overseas as a family and go on some unforgettable trips together. We've been able to live in a house on the beach and watch the sunset over the ocean everyday from our deck. These are the things I will remember.

Although there is a lot i'll miss about Okinawa (the beaches, the beaches and the beaches), i'm really excited to get back to Melbourne and set up our life there again. I want to be able to hang out with my friends, see live music, eat good food and hopefully find a cute apartment and a good job.

At the moment we are kind of living in limbo.... wrapping up our jobs here and trying to find replacements (anyone want to move to Okinawa, let me know, there are 2 jobs going!), starting to pack and sell some of our stuff, but in the kind of weird place where it's still too early to be applying for jobs in Australia, or places to live......

We've got just under 2 months left in Okinawa now, and my main goal is to get in as many beach days and snorkelling as possible before we have to leave and go back to a frosty Melbourne winter. We've just come back to work after 5 days off for Golden week, and although we spent a lot of time sorting through our stuff and packing boxes, we still managed some relaxation and beach time. Our biggest challenge will be navigating the move back for our pets! Australia has crazy-strict quarantine rules, so we've got a complicated process to navigate.

I hope you will all still be interested in reading along with my adventures back in Melbourne, although i'm really going to need to think about a new name for this blog! Suggestions welcome!

Thanks for following along with my adventures in Okinawa. There will still be plenty more in the next couple of months.

23:52
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Australia - New Years on the Gold Coast

Australia

New Years Eve was our last night in Australia, and we were lucky enough to spend it with my sister, her husband and kids, my dad and step-mother, my brother and his wife (who were over from Korea). Because there was lots of young kids involved, we all went to the Tallebudgera Surf club for dinner, and when we finished there we got some bottles of bubbles and headed over to the beach to wait for the early (kid friendly) fireworks. It was lovely and G LOVED watching the fireworks so close.

Watching fireworks on Tallebudgera Beach, Gold Coast

On New Years morning, we all headed down to the beach to try out Griff's new kite and let the dogs have a run around. It was such a gorgeous day (although the beach was much too windy and rough - nothing like our calm Okinawa beaches) and it was great being able to fly the kite! On the way back to the car we decided to have a quick swim at Tallebudgera Creek, which was packed with people, and absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately it was the only beach swim I managed to get in while I was in Australia, but it was a great way to end the holiday.

Tallebudgera Creek, gorgeous

Kite flying on the beach

Tango, Mia and Teddy

16:07
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Australia for the Holidays - Melbourne Part 2

Australia

I really loved our time in Melbourne because it was so relaxing. We got up on our third morning there and went to the zoo to meet up with little G and his dad. G LOVES the butterfly house at Melbourne Zoo, which is where we headed straight for. He was so desperate for a butterfly to land on him and it was hard to get him to leave. After the zoo, G went back home with his dad, and H and I headed back into the city to do some more shopping before going out to Lygon Street for some more tasty food. First we went to Milk the Cow, a cheese and wine bar for, you guessed it - Cheese and wine! After that we went over the road to DOC for a pasta dinner.

Melbourne Zoo

Carlton Gardens

Milk the Cow wine and cheese followed by DOC Espresso for dinner

The next morning we checked out of our hotel and headed to our old house in Brunswick East to stay. When we moved to Okinawa, our friends took over our lease and are living there now. I miss that house so much, and it was lovely to be hanging out there again. It still feels like home. Our first night there H and I made dinner for some friends. We made our vegan lasagne with cauliflower bechamel, which is a recent invention of ours. I really should do a post on the lasagne all on it's own! It was so great to be able to go grocery shopping in an Australian supermarket again! I miss the foods. Especially the feta cheese.

The next day we had to run some errands in the morning before meeting up with Jazz and Ty at the Cornish Arms in Brunswick for amazing vegan foods. H and I shared the vegan double down. Which is a vegan take on that KFC monstrosity from a few years ago. Basically it was vegan cheese and vegan bacon sandwiched between two fried vegan chicken patties. It was honestly amazing, and so close to the real thing it was crazy. The vegan bacon was freakily real. Check it out in the pictures below.

Hanging at our old house. I miss this place

EC - Ewok Cat

Pet shop kitties

Brunswick Street Art

Vegan double down at the Cornish Arms

Home cooked vegan lasagne, salad and garlic bread

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Australia - Christmas in the country

Australia

Most years, my family celebrates Christmas Day down at my Aunt and Uncles gorgeous place in Coorabell, a tiny country town in northern New South Wales. It is one of my favourite places in the world. This year we drove down there from my mum's house on Christmas eve and stayed until boxing day (26th December). Christmas eve was spent having some drinks, snacking on cheese and dips and catching up with everyone.

Coorabell

I love these rolling green hills.

Delicious snacks

Exploring

Cousins <3

Oh Christmas morning everyone was awake and waiting to open presents, except for little G! He was so tired and we couldn't bear to wake him, so we did the present opening and then G opened his when he finally woke up! We were also lucky enough to have a little wallaby come on to the property for a morning visit, which was so Australian!

Morning wallaby visitor

After a chilled out morning, we all took turns making different things in the kitchen, which meant a lunch full of heaps of different, delicious salads, cold meats, summer fruits and champagne! It rained pretty much all day, which was actually lovely and we could sit outside on the deck and watch the rain while eating. After lunch, even though it was still raining on and off, the kids got on the slip and slide and had an awesome time.
Because there were so many people staying on Christmas night, we got to sleep in a tent. G was so excited as it was his first time sleeping in a tent. It was really cute, and made me think that we really should give camping a go while we're living in Okinawa.