Celebrating 5 years

So over our five year relationship Jules has always been the one to surprise me with weekends away, concert tickets and even last minute holidays, so I thought it was about time I took the lead. Having failed a few times (booking the wrong flights and having to completely rearrange our holiday at the umpteenth hour was probably my lowest moment) this time I was determined to make the weekend epic.

We packed up the cool box with beer, cheese and lots of fresh meat for the BBQ and headed north to Barmah National Park (about 3 hours from Melbourne). Here we hired a canoe and paddled up the Murray River into Barmah Lake, through wetlands and meandering creeks. It was so peaceful and relaxing.

After 4 hours of exploring, we headed to Cape Horn Winery in Echuca. I hadn’t done much research about the actual wine, but I knew it was right by the river, offered wood-fired pizzas and often had live music playing. So a lot of boxes were ticked. We chilled here for a few hours, did a spout of wine tasting and headed over to our humble abode for the night at Talo Retreat.

Talo is basically a small retreat made up of little Yurts in the middle of Australian bush land, right next to the Murray River. A truly relaxing and peaceful experience to escape the hustle and bustle of suburbia.

We had a relaxing start the next day, drinking tea on the balcony, whilst doing a bit of wildlife spotting. We headed off about 11ish to make our way down to Heathcote, a famous wine region in Victoria known for its bold Shiraz wines. Our local wine merchant gave me a list of places to check out, so I made a few private bookings for us. My favorite tasting (I would actually go as far to say this was the best wine tasting experience we have ever had) was Wild Duck Creek Estate. Not only did they have an amazing setting, private room, beautiful views, but they had a very extensive wine list, were super attentive, poured huge glasses and come the end of our 2 hour experience, sent us home with free bottles of wine.