While I should be starting the first post of 2021 with photos taken this month, I’ve still got a few photo sets taken in late 2020 to get through. Just as well, with the unpredictable start this year has started off with. Life in between lockdowns has been all about savoring any opportunity to get out and about. For us it meant a hop and a skip across the border for a quick family reunion. So one weekend we packed up the car, the dog, and went on a little adventure.
We haven’t really gone on holiday since getting Diago because in Australia its very hard to find pet friendly accommodation. Unless you’re willing to sacrifice comfort and stay somewhere pretty awful and run down. Or there’s often the caveat; pets must remain outside the accommodation. Which is usually a glorified barn at best. And that just won’t do! So usually it means a pet sitter stays at the house with Diago while we go away. So we were very pleased to book accommodation that not only welcomed pets, but was beautiful and luxurious too.
Diago loves a car ride and a photo shoot; making him the perfect travel companion. I knew we’d be stopping at this lighthouse the way we always do, so of course matching nautical outfits were in order! This dress is a Jacks Daughter creation, and you might remember I have another dress of hers in the same style. Since I haven’t bobbed my hair in so long, I decided to do a lazy faux bob to go with the 30s aesthetic. It could have turned out much better, but because of our early start I was too tired to care.
For some reason I seem to be a bit cursed when it comes to booking holiday rentals. When I told our family where we would be staying, they collectively rolled their eyes. The last time we booked a rural property, there was someone creeping around the house in the middle of the night and we decided to bail. After which I claimed that was the last time I’d be staying somewhere rural and isolated…
Obviously I don’t learn from my mistakes. And this time the misfortune was different. After a four hour drive, we arrived at the stunning eco lodge we booked, exhausted and eager to check in. Only to learn that the previous occupants required a police escort off the property…They liked the accommodation so much that they were refusing to leave at check. This led to a long stand off with the owner, one woman vs a group of ten…until the police arrived.
But for us that meant being stranded in the bush on a day where the temperature got into the high thirties. The accommodation options in the nearby town weren’t the kind of place I’d spend the night anyway, so the fact that they weren’t dog friendly wasn’t really relevant…All we could do was sit in a paddock for several hours under a camphor tree and wait. Thinking about how hot it was still makes me wince. Diago had a great time though. I had packed a cooler full of food for him (he’s raw fed) and not a scrap for us…
Eventually the fifty or so cows that lived in the field decided to evict us from our shady spot under the tree. They formed their herd and advanced towards us at a surprisingly speedy pace for cows. Very concentrated and eager to reclaim the only bit of shade in the field. I think Diago was a bit traumatised because usually when he barks at cows they move back. These ones couldn’t care less about the cow painted dog trying to intimidate them. I mean if it weren’t for the fact that cows are such sweet, docile creatures we would have been in for it.
Late in the afternoon, sunburned and starved, we finally checked into our accommodation. Which ended up being incredible, and the best place I’ve ever stayed. The rest of our holiday was actually wonderful, and we’ll be back I’m sure; whenever borders are open again. But for now it’s nice to have the memory, and a story to tell that at the time was far from funny…
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