Fiji Again!!

The countdown is on!

In just over 3 weeks, The Zookeeper and I (Spanky) are heading off on a nice tropical holiday.

A girls only trip.

This came about around 2 months ago, when I decided that I wanted/needed a mini holiday in the sun, as i didn't take any time off over Christmas & New Years. If Bubbles and I both went, it would obviously cost us twice as much as just one of us going, so with his blessing, I asked The Zookeeper if she would be interested.

Interested indeed! she already had 2 weeks leave booked for June so it would all work perfectly!

I quickly booked our flights as Air Pacific had a sale on. We are taking the lovely midnight flight out of Melbourne on a Saturday, and coming back home on the Thursday of the following week - 11 nights away.

The plan was to try and not spend too much on this trip, but still get out to an Island. The Zookeeper asked for a couple of things, if possible: walking tracks, food options (she's Vegetarian), a pool, a beach, some sort of village/day trips. Most importantly, she wanted to be able to sit in a pool drinking cocktails!

So, think cap on, i thought of Musket Cove Island Resort and it's 'hotel rooms'. Patrice had stayed in these a number of years back, and although they are basic, they are not bad. So, i hunted a few other options, but these seemed the best choice. For around $130AUD a night we get a large room, king bed, single bed, lounge area, fridge, kettle, private bathroom, fans, aircon & deck. Seemed good for us. we plan on picking up some food stuff on the mainland before we take the boat out. The island works well due to the other resorts on the island, so there is other restaurant options. The island is large, so plenty of walks & other beaches. There is a pool, and lots of day trip options as well.    First 8 Nights sorted!!

                                     

Beach at Musket Cove Resort, Fiji

For the last 3 nights, we are heading back to the main land. I have booked us in to the Terrace Apartments on Denarau. This gives us a 1 bedroom apartment, with bedroom, bathroom, lounge, kitchen & deck. The reason i chose these Apartments over the other resorts at Denarau is that they are across the car park from the Marina. Meaning when we get off the boat, we can just walk over to them, and also for meals we can use the small supermarket and also the many restaurants at the Marina.

We plan on spending one of the days using the Bula Bus ($7FJD) to visit each of the resorts at Denarau, checking out their shops & checking out the resort themselves.

Terrace Apartments, Denarau

Hopefully it will be a really nice holiday, and that The Zookeeper has a good time on her first Fiji visit.

(Dont feel too bad for Bubbles, he's off to England and Copenhagen for a week and a half just before i head off to Fiji)

Miss Maggie turns 2!!

Today Miss Maggie turns 2 years old!

She is very much loved by us and all our family.

10wk old Maggie

Mischief Maggie

Miss Muddy Paws

We where wondering how the roof of the
dog house got paw prints on it! 

We love taking her to school on Sundays, where she works hard and enjoys seeing all her friends.

Maggie loves Fridays when the garbage bin man come around, because the bin man means that shortly Grandma (The Teacher) will be around to pick her up and take her for a play date (and see gets to see Bonnie & The Golfer as well).

First beach visit

 Road trips with Miss Maggie are always fun. She doesn't mind where we are going, but is always keen to explore when we get there. She loves the visits to the 'Country Club' where she can get in the pool and play on the equipment. She enjoys getting in the car with Bubbles and going for a drive to the YouYangs and going on a 2 hour bush walk.

Looking much older than her years

 She is a funny girl when she is let in the house after we get home from work. She comes inside and starts 'talking' to us - we are sure she is telling us all about her day and asking how we could go off to work and not spend the day playing with her!

She has become Spanky's watcher lately. Spanky will go do something in the kitchen, and Maggie will be right there with her the whole time, underfoot. She wont leave her side until she goes and sits on the couch, but then she stands in front of her waiting for Spanky to tell her what she wants her to do (either sit for a scratch, or go lay on her mat).

Post knee surgery

Christmas time at Dog School

As life is, its been a busy, full on last two years. It wont stop in the future, but its nice to have Maggie along for the ride!

With Bonnie at the 'Country Club'

Still enjoys resting in the garden

Big girl now

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAGGIE!!!

Bathtub part 2

A while back Bubbles started a project with our old bath tub (here).

The project is 'for the moment' finished.

The Bath has been planted out with colourful plants.

And the sink part of the project has been added beside it!

There is still a couple of things to do to totally finish what was started. We still need the cold tap connected up in the sink, to make washing dirty hands easier and to also connect the pipe that will run from the sink outlet to the bath so that the waste water waters the plants.

That will come later..... i think.......

Looks good though.

Tins for the Market

New to the Another Step market stall is these gorgeous tins.

I've got tins in 3 different sizes & shapes. There is a large array of styles, below are just a very small sample of them.

There is some tall, rectangle ones. Perfect for pen/pencil holders. Or even Lego holders (that was one suggestion).

There is some round tins.

There is also some smaller rectangle, hinged tins.

Easter weekend

I know it was a while back now, but life has been busy as always.

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. We again when to Daylesford/Hepburn Springs for 4 nights.

We stayed in a different house than last year (and all other years) as we like to change it up every year and try new places - we already know where we are going to book for next Easter!

We stopped off in Trentham on the way up and had a great lunch at The Cosmopolitan Hotel. The Como Hotel was burnt down a few years ago, and currently runs out of their newly converted horse stables. The whole setting was so pretty. They have a large garden area, and encourage kids and dogs to have a run around. The food was very tasty.

Lunch outside at the Cosmopolitan Hotel

While in Daylesford/Hepburn we spent our time visiting the markets, walking to Hepburn Springs for lunch each day (with Miss Maggie of course), Bubbles & Maggie took a number of large walks (10+km), we lit the fire and enjoyed reading and catching up on 'rest'.

Farmers Market

Our House for the weekend

Hepburn Bath House - yummy lunches

Ready for a big walk

Walking off around the Daylesford Lake

It was another wonderful weekend in the twin towns, looking forward to visiting again next year, hopefully its just as relaxing ;-)