Noosa

Well, that was full few weeks. After spending the second half of February interstate, both for my book and Ben’s work, my little family and I are home; settling back into the rhythm of our daily life, and appreciating it more than ever.

While away we attended bookstore events in Sydney and Canberra, plus a meet-up in Brisbane, and in amongst those lovely gatherings (where I got to meet some truly kind + clever women who have read my book/blog), I was working to keep my two kiddos content. Joan and Walt are quite amiable travellers, and yet the constant moving about plus extraordinary (for us) hot weather made them both, understandably, a little cranky. Then there’s the fact that Walt is presently into EVERYTHING and finds it mighty difficult to sit still. He has also been busy growing teeth, and was out of sorts with a virus for a few days towards the end of the trip. All this is to say, we were all very happy to walk through our front door on Friday.

In amongst the wails of tiredness and overwhelm that punctuated our days, there were many golden moments. Brisbane and Canberra in particular were full of kid-friendly museums and activities. Oh, and the food! We ate well, folks, with noodles from Ho Jiak, pastries from Flour + Stone, pizza from Beccofinio, pancakes from Local Press, sushi from Mee’s Sushi and bread from Silo. Thank you to everyone who shared recommendations for where to eat and what to do. I’m so grateful we were able to do this trip, and I’m feeling wonderfully inspired about my work. I start seeing clients again this month, after taking a long break to write my book and settle into life as a family of four.

But back to our travels…

In the middle of this work + play trip, we snuck away for four magical days in Noosa. Every September when I was a kid, my family and I would go to Noosa for a holiday. We would drive all the way from the Mornington Peninsula (it was a long drive and I loved it) and spend our days swimming at the beach, eating Betty’s Burgers (back when they cost $1 and were made in a van by the beach) and running after Hey Bill for a snow cone. It was my most favourite time of year, and it felt really special to be back with Joan and Walt, doing the same things I did with my family. At the same time, it was also hard to be in a place where my memories of my brother, who is no longer alive, were so vivid. As I said in a post on instagram (about which I received many thoughtful messages - thank you), it’s been some time since I’ve experienced such a flooding of memories and felt David’s presence so strongly. It was beautiful and difficult.

Here are some pictures + notes of our time in Noosa.

Beach naps every day for Walt.

Watching the waves with my babes, feeling all kinds of grateful.

Both Joan and Walt napped in the car on the way to Noosa, which meant we had two well-rested kiddos on our hands - a rarity. We took the opportunity to eat lunch at a fancy restaurant.

Most mornings we had coffee at Aromas. My order is either an almond milk flat white or a long black.

“It’s so beautiful, Mumma.” - Joan.

Ben would strap Walt into the baby carrier whenever he needed a break from running after the little man. Here, Walt is pointing at a bird, truck, bus or fan. All day long he points at them and says “UP!” or “BYE!”. Gosh, it’s cute.

Salad wraps at our apartment for lunch. Marinated eggplant slices are a revelation.

One afternoon I took Joan on a date. I ordered a drink and she chose a sprinkle cookie, and together we wrote in her notebook. I asked her questions, like “Where I went”, “How I travelled” (ie. by plane, train, etc), “What I learnt”, “What I found challenging” and “My favourite experiences”, and wrote down her responses. It was a fun way for Joan to process and reflect on all that we’ve done, and she will share these notes with her kinder teachers when she goes back next week. One of her challenges was that “the airport and plane were busy”. In regards to “What I learnt”, Joan said “how to body surf”, and then added that her brother is learning “to not stand on tables and chairs”. That he is (hopefully very soon).

On our last night we got ice-cream from Massimo’s, wandered along the beach, played in the sand and made a promise to come back.

Heidi xo