How many of us have bumped into a friend or acquaintance and the first thing we say is “how are you?”, to which most of us (including me), respond with something along the lines of “I am good, just really busy.”

It’s a statement of life, for most people I know. Busy with work, school runs, ferrying kids to after school activities, social arrangements, home duties and so much more.

Last weekend was a step out of the rat race of life. After a day at the Spring racing carnival, we packed the car and headed out of town to Warburton, to a beautiful holiday farm called Hill n Dale, set upon acres and acres of never ending forests, with trees that touched the clouds and fresh hazelnuts from the orchards.

It’s a favourite destination for our family, this being our third visit to the farm. It’s the type of place that embraces slowness, exactly what we have been craving for far too long.

We read books, warmed wet feet in front of the fire place, fed the birds from our hands, discovered marshmallows hidden by the local forest fairies, cycled in the wind and rain on the Warburton Rail track and had lots and lots of quality family time, interrupted by no-one and no agenda to be anywhere at anytime.

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The forest version game of beach bats…

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Little toes….big fire…..

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The birds at our cottage ate very well….

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We’ve got ourselves a mud-covered sleeper…..

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On the road to nowhere in particular….

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Hunting for marshmallows from the fairies…

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And the sheer delight at discovering the hidden marshmallows from the forest fairies….

 

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