Anniversary
First of all, I've been wanting to write about a particularly lovely weekend, two weeks ago, but then I emailed about it to a few different people and it took all the immediate writing novelty value right out (and I would then have felt like I was just repeating myself, and then I start feeling generic...) BUT on January 24th, Marcus and I celebrated our one-year anniversary together, and it was truly a perfect weekend. Marcus took over the reigns and planned a beautiful weekend out of the city. And it was a surprise, which made it that much better. :) We both took a half day off of work that Friday and borrowed our roommate's car...and began heading south. We passed close to where his parents own a beach house, in Gerroa, but kept driving south. Hmm. About 20 minutes later, the traffic slowed, the road curved, and we entered Berry, a cute little touristy town with an apparently renowned bakery and cute little shopfronts that make you feel like you stepped backward in time just a bit. I loved it, and that's where we spent our weekend. Marcus booked a little B&B for a few nights and I can honestly say that it's my favorite rented room I've ever stayed in. A giant yellow adirondack chair marked the entry way and the owner was quick to meet us in the gravel parking lot. Um, parking lot for three cars. Yay! Our room, with just one other room, was in a little building separate from the main house where we had our own balcony (complete with our own adirondack chairs...the owner was also in the adirondack chair business, so random) 
where we could look out on the property that was beautifully landscaped and gardened (the owners' other hobby). Our room was also just perfect, wit hardwood floors, a ceiling fan (I have quite an appreciation for this contraption) and A/C (this invention was also an admirable one); there was a giant spa bath tub in the room (hello giant bubble bath); but the best part was probably the "kitchen" which consisted of a little counter, some cupboards, and a fridge filled with eggs and bacon, ketchup and BBQ sauce, butter, jam, yogurt, milk and orange juice. On top of the counter was a package of sandwich cookies (really weird, it was like saltines with lemon frosting in the middle), sourdough bread, muesli, tea, coffee, hot chocolate mix...I was in heaven. I seriously would have been the happiest child sitting in our hotel room all weekend. But Marcus did manage to drag me out. :) We walked around the garden in hopes of seeing a platypus, though the platypai evaded us (apparently this is a common activity of the species--remaining unseen, and I have been told that not many Australians have actually seen a platypus in the wild). But I liked the idea that there was a platypus around, even if I couldn't see it. Just like driving through forests of eucalyptus trees knowing there's a koala around somewhere but he's just not visible to my eye. At least I can feel their "presence". Ha. :)
Anyway, we went and walked around town and poked our noses around, found a good place to eat for dinner, then retired to our lovely hotel room. The next day we woke up to some intense heat (which we didn't have to endure thanks to the a/c!), Marcus whipped up some bacon and egg sandwiches with the aforementioned goods, and shortly after we set out for a day wandering around the area. We drove up to the Minnamurra rain forest and decided that we would start our own anniversary tradition--seeing at least one waterfall. :) We did a 5k hike along the "tree top canopy walk" but it was more like a tree-bottom walk...because the planks lifted us about six inches off the ground. Hmm, misnomer...oh well. The rainforest was beautiful, though, especially the trees. Trees covered in other trees' roots and other climbing, strangling plants.
We walked on and on, eventually getting to some pretty steep parts, and we had high hopes for the waterfall up ahead. Well, we did get to the waterfall. 
Mmm, maybe it could be more aptly described as a water trickle. :) It was a gorgeous hike, though, and we completed our mission. After the waterfall, we headed out to get some fresh ice cream in one of the coastal towns, then went for a dip and headed back to Berry and picked up some pies from the bakery (and not the sweet kind of pies, mind you) and some locally-made chocolates and gummies. Then we frolicked our way back to the wonders of air conditioning and our adored room. After a few hours of cooling down and watching the clouds roll in (and watching yet another of the horrible movies that were to be found complimentary in our room) we went to a nice restaurant for dinner. We exchanged gifts (I got a picture collage of our first year together that will be completed with a picture frame and I gave him some silver cuff links with the date we met engraved on the back), ate a country version of stylish food (which was tasty) and then headed back to just revel in some alone, away from the world time. It was SO good. The next day, we had another leisurely breakfast and headed home. A little bit of adventure, a little bit of waterfall, and a lotta bit of lovin'. And I really do love that boy! :)
where we could look out on the property that was beautifully landscaped and gardened (the owners' other hobby). Our room was also just perfect, wit hardwood floors, a ceiling fan (I have quite an appreciation for this contraption) and A/C (this invention was also an admirable one); there was a giant spa bath tub in the room (hello giant bubble bath); but the best part was probably the "kitchen" which consisted of a little counter, some cupboards, and a fridge filled with eggs and bacon, ketchup and BBQ sauce, butter, jam, yogurt, milk and orange juice. On top of the counter was a package of sandwich cookies (really weird, it was like saltines with lemon frosting in the middle), sourdough bread, muesli, tea, coffee, hot chocolate mix...I was in heaven. I seriously would have been the happiest child sitting in our hotel room all weekend. But Marcus did manage to drag me out. :) We walked around the garden in hopes of seeing a platypus, though the platypai evaded us (apparently this is a common activity of the species--remaining unseen, and I have been told that not many Australians have actually seen a platypus in the wild). But I liked the idea that there was a platypus around, even if I couldn't see it. Just like driving through forests of eucalyptus trees knowing there's a koala around somewhere but he's just not visible to my eye. At least I can feel their "presence". Ha. :)Anyway, we went and walked around town and poked our noses around, found a good place to eat for dinner, then retired to our lovely hotel room. The next day we woke up to some intense heat (which we didn't have to endure thanks to the a/c!), Marcus whipped up some bacon and egg sandwiches with the aforementioned goods, and shortly after we set out for a day wandering around the area. We drove up to the Minnamurra rain forest and decided that we would start our own anniversary tradition--seeing at least one waterfall. :) We did a 5k hike along the "tree top canopy walk" but it was more like a tree-bottom walk...because the planks lifted us about six inches off the ground. Hmm, misnomer...oh well. The rainforest was beautiful, though, especially the trees. Trees covered in other trees' roots and other climbing, strangling plants.
We walked on and on, eventually getting to some pretty steep parts, and we had high hopes for the waterfall up ahead. Well, we did get to the waterfall. 
Mmm, maybe it could be more aptly described as a water trickle. :) It was a gorgeous hike, though, and we completed our mission. After the waterfall, we headed out to get some fresh ice cream in one of the coastal towns, then went for a dip and headed back to Berry and picked up some pies from the bakery (and not the sweet kind of pies, mind you) and some locally-made chocolates and gummies. Then we frolicked our way back to the wonders of air conditioning and our adored room. After a few hours of cooling down and watching the clouds roll in (and watching yet another of the horrible movies that were to be found complimentary in our room) we went to a nice restaurant for dinner. We exchanged gifts (I got a picture collage of our first year together that will be completed with a picture frame and I gave him some silver cuff links with the date we met engraved on the back), ate a country version of stylish food (which was tasty) and then headed back to just revel in some alone, away from the world time. It was SO good. The next day, we had another leisurely breakfast and headed home. A little bit of adventure, a little bit of waterfall, and a lotta bit of lovin'. And I really do love that boy! :)
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