catchin' up

I'm getting kinda sick of doing the old intro "I haven't posted lately cos I'm busy la de la la" you get the gist. Last week I went to Northern NSW for a couple of days with the family which was lovely. We spent a few days in Byron then Mum and I drove around the small towns nestled in the hinterlands till it was late enough to be a necesscity to stop and find somewhere to stay. In the end we stayed at a cute little motel in Lismore with a cranky house cleaner and free milk. Seriously, after you book in there is a fridge of freebie mini cartons for your own pleasure. Wonderful. Byron I was pretty disappointed with the shops but ended up leaving with a khaki jacket and a cheetah necklace. What lacked in material goods, made up in food and now I am suffering in good-gourmet-food deprivation. Lismore surprisingly had plentfiul cool shit in the town although navigating became an issue immediently. Mum and I decided to dub Lismore the 'City of Confusing Crappy Round-Abouts' because there are literally 10 round about's in a 5km radius. We decided to go out for a bite to eat at dinner time but rather got lost, hounded for money by begger's and chased by stray cats. Never the less we did manage to escape and in that moment when we laid eyes on Paul (our car - paul the passatt) I have never felt so comforted by it's dark green station wagon goodness. Driving out of Lismore was a bit of a relief although stress and discomfort was not over yet.

Mum and I had the brilliant idea to take random mountain back roads to get home rather than the boring Pacific Highway where lunatics discriminate L-plate drivers even when they drive over the speed limit (an issue which never ceases to piss me off!!) We ended up on this crazy road that weaved up a huge mountain cutting very close cliff edges. Mum basically had an hour long heart-attack but the thrill was worth her high blood pressure. The view was awesome and sites along the way fascinated me to no end. Driveways up there were down right idiotic - either extremely steep up hill and down hill or zig-zagging through impossible landscape. We finished off the 5 hour drive home by stopping via Cavill to eat Mc Donalds and consequently get attacked by seagulls. I regret not punching out the five year old girl next to me who started the attack by offering handfuls of fries. Bitch. Overall it was a pretty lovely break and the only negative side was me losing my lens cap which I have managed to near-lose so  many times and hence grown quite attached to him, and also a floral skirt which fell out of my bag and is now fluttering it's $3 fabric through the dusty run down streets of Lismore. The whole imagery of my skirt on the streets and my lens cap nestled amongst the rocks of a 116 year old rail station has inspired me and now I'm kinda tempted to do a photo series of random objects left lost in absurd places. Stay tuned.

I apologise if you've read the whole way down and don't enjoy writing blogs because this is what my blog has became. I was once content with posting pretty pictures for no particular reason but I've realised that a million tumblr's already are doing that so I'm sure those of you who are looking for that kind of blog fill can go check some of those out. Enjoy your winter break and start collecting your own memories and stories .

Byron 

 Driving around the mountains

 Cubby house 

 Lismore Library

 Motel room in Lismore

Sunset in Byron

mountain withdrawal

Maybe 4 times the size of our pint-sized bath at home = heaven

The Forest Lodge we stayed at

These are a few photos I took over the past 3 days I spent in the Byron Bay Hinterlands. It was the most rejuvenating, relaxing and lovely mini-break I've had in my life. I'm quite different to the rest of my family, whom love and enjoy to spend any time off at beaches and different islands. Although, of course I do love and enjoy that, I have always dreamed and yearned to spend time in the mountains, countryside. Somewhere green and lush where it feels like there is magic looming behind every archway of orchards, and within each glittering creek and lake. So, as you can probably guess by now, I loved it. Driving through huge tunnels of trees and over hill and hill of greenery and farmland. Listening to David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Angus and Julia Stone, John Butler Trio, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Simon and Garfunkel. Usually I bore of the presence of the ol' family on trips away, but this time it was perfect to just be spending time with them. If this trip doesn't sound perfect enough already, the two stop off's at Byron Bay, Lismore and Bangalow filled my suitcase with plenty of secondhand and (god forbid) NEW clothes to bring home and wear to shreds. I also bought a dream catcher! Along with my plaits, tribal hair ties and embroidered denim jacket I was nick-named "Little Bear" by my clearly, hilarious father as apparently I looked like a Native. Anyway, the trip was incredible but it's good to be snug at home blogging and catching up on the happenings of the real world. I'm off to watch "I Shouldn't be Alive", good night my most loved readers.