On one side of Federation Square in Melbourne sits a small museum featuring Australian art. It’s part of the National Gallery of Victoria. The temporary exhibitions change constantly and they always surprise and inspire. Everything from photography to furniture, visual and interactive collections, including Indigenous art.
The best part? Free entry!
I met the Reyes family on a sunny day at Elwood Beach. We had a short session in the sand and at the park. This American family has been in Melbourne for a year! Three little boys make for some fun moments 🙂
christina hardcastle photography’s 1 hour session includes some portraits!
the session ended with a sweet hug ❤
For information on 1-hour “unscripted” sessions like this one, as well as other services, click here!
This past Sunday we stopped by the Pet & Animal Expo in Wyndham. The dogs loved seeing all kinds of animals, especially at the petting zoo. We (the humans) looked at all the booths and then learned how to perform CPR on dogs. It’s a pretty cool event if you love animals!
Now that the weather is getting nicer, we finally went for a hike. We went to Werribee Gorge (always looking for fun things to do on the west side!). The circuit walk is so good! There are definitely hard sections; parts of the trail are just piles of rocks, and there is a cable to hang on to in one part so you don’t fall in to the water. An old irrigation channel goes along part of the trail, and informational signs about plants and wildlife keep the hike interesting. It took us about 3.5 hours and we took our time.
Just some sunset photos from our last day on Kauai. Taken at Hanalei Bay Resort. We had the best view!
I cannot say enough good things about that resort. We aren’t resort people at all, but we loved it. It wasn’t crowded, the beach was close, and the pool bar was awesome. Can’t wait to go back!
The drive up to the top of Waimea Canyon in Kauai is so exciting. The curves are scary but each one offers a new amazing view. When you get to the lookout and see the incredible canyon, it just takes your breath away. Next time we visit, I want to do a lot more of the hikes!
We went to the Luau Kalamaku at Koloa Plantation. An extremely touristy activity, but it was actually awesome. The performers were amazing!
The plantation grounds also house a rum tasting room which I highly recommend.
In a last minute adventurous decision, my family signed up for an ATV tour at Kipu Ranch in Kauai. It was really beautiful and really, really dirty. We left completely covered in a thin layer of dirt.
A lot of movies were filmed on this ranch, including Raiders of the Lost Ark, and we got to swing on a rope into the river where the opening scene to that movie was filmed. We saw a beach from a distance that supposedly has a lot of skeletons from when Hawaiian warriors tried to take Kauai from its last king. We also saw taro farms that have been there for a very long time.
Overall, it was an awesome tour, and the guides made it really fun. I highly recommend it!
My husband and I met up with my family in Hawaii recently. We had many adventures, and my next few blog posts will be photos from that trip!
Every Friday night, the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort puts on a fireworks show. It lined up pretty perfectly with some palm trees on the beach. I’m not that great at firework photography, and I used the wrong lens, but here are a few of my shots 🙂
This past weekend, at Federation Square, the annual Buddha’s Day and Multicultural Festival took place. It celebrates Buddha’s birthday and promotes cultural awareness and inclusiveness. There were many interactive opportunities, including a tea ceremony and an art installation. It was really cool to see people learning about a culture they weren’t familiar with, and participating with open minds. The food was also very, very good!
Alms giving ceremony
Bodhi Tree art installation
Tea ceremony
Bathing the Buddha
Another touristy post!
Living in Melbourne, I have always wanted to tour Parliament. I never got the chance until recently. We only did the short tour (15 minutes), which was extremely rushed, but still really interesting. I would recommend taking one of the longer tours, because there is so much information! I got the impression that the guides prefer leading the longer tours, too.
Here are some quick photos I got of the building and details.
A cool thing about a lot of wildlife sanctuaries in Australia is that you can feed the animals. They will come right up to you, even grab your hands, and it makes for fun photo opportunities. I took these at the Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas.
Fun fact: This is one of the few places in Australia where you can hold a koala!
Australia has a very interesting and dynamic history of immigration. The Immigration Museum is full of surprising facts and amazing stories! They have an exhibition that chronicles the life of Mahatma Gandhi, and a British immigrants exhibition that closes this Sunday. I think the ‘Identity: yours, mine, ours’ exhibition should be seen by everyone. It is a wonderful opportunity to teach kids about diversity and acceptance.
We have lived in this city almost 2 years, and we still do the tourist things. Everyone thinks we’re tourists anyway because of our ‘accents.’ I love the Queen Victoria Night Market because you have tons of local shops and food all in one place. Clothes, art, books, souvenirs; they have everything, in all different price ranges. You can get drinks, dinner, and dessert (see sangria, nachos, and Nutella loukemades below). There is also entertainment, like live music and street performers. Most weeks even have a theme; this one had flamenco and salsa music.
Today is the second to last summer night market! I already can’t wait for the winter one.
The band is Malcura. They were awesome.
Bonus pictures courtesy of my husband: a performer chose me as an ‘assistant’ and I had to basically pull the sword out of his throat. It was so weird and I was thoroughly embarrassed. I cannot control my face in most situations, so here you can really see me freaked out. Haha!
We took a day trip to Mount Macedon recently. It was beautiful and everything was so well-kept. There are a lot of small walks to drive to that offer incredible scenery! The Top of the Range tea room is very cute and gives you the chance to enjoy a glass of wine with a view. We will definitely be back again!
Memorial Cross
Major Mitchell Lookout
View at Camels Hump
Sanatorium Lake
One night a year, from 7pm to 7am, the city comes alive with art, performances, and activities. We managed to stay out all night long, and saw some really amazing things.
I love Melbourne!
Just some scenes from the NGV Triennial in Melbourne.
Apparently the NGV is a great date idea.
One of the most interesting things about the Triennial was the placement of the new, modern pieces in the historical galleries.
The NGV Triennial goes on until April 18th!
Two of the most visually striking displays at the NGV Triennial are Yayoi Kusama’s Flower Obsession and Ron Mueck’s Mass. One involves an explosion of bright red flowers, and the other is a room full of giant human skulls.
When you walk in to Flower Obsession, you are given a flower sticker to place anywhere you want in a recreated living space. The flowers have now taken over, illustrating a hallucination the artist had as a child.
“They killed all those giants! How sad!” -my husband, who sometimes thinks he’s 12.
One hundred individual skulls sit in the historical collection galleries of the NGV. It is so strange and cool.
More photos of the NGV Triennial to come!
In continuation of my New Zealand posts (here and here):
We spent one day in Milford Sound (probably not enough). The first half of the day was kayaking. I didn’t take my camera for that. We saw penguins and a dolphin swam right next to us! It got really windy, though, and it was a lot more work than I thought it would be. After that, we went on a hike to the top of a mountain (the Key Summit Alpine Walk on the sign below). It was absolutely beautiful, and I wanted to just share a few pictures from the top! The last one is me; my husband took it.
As we continued our New Zealand adventure (see last post), we didn’t have much planned other than we would rent a car in Greymouth and drive south. We took the TranzAlpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth, which was very relaxing and beautiful. We walked around Greymouth a bit before starting on our road trip adventure. It was a few days of spontaneity and getting lost in the best way!
We walked to a view of the Franz Josef Glacier, where the biggest amazement was seeing how much it has receded so quickly. At least half of the 45-minute walk used to be covered in ice, less than 100 years ago. The only way on the glacier now is by helicopter (we didn’t splurge).
We stopped by many random beaches. One had a coffee truck right on the side of the road. One had a pod of dolphins jumping right by the shore. We stayed as long as we could stand the sand flies.
We stopped at scenic lookouts, short walking tracks, and even a distillery. Eventually we made our way to Te Anau, the gateway to Milford Sound (which will be featured in my next New Zealand post!).
Franz Joseph Glacier
Knights Point Lookout
Dolphin at Ship Creek
My first documentary family session of 2018 was a birthday party! Sharee turned one year old, and her family threw her an intimate party in the backyard. The weather was perfect, and she loved her cake (made by her mum!). Her big sister had fun with bubbles and the trampoline. Next year they’ll be running around together!
So grateful this beautiful family let me share in their day!
Previous Hawaii posts here: 