Little beach, Albany - my favourite WA beach!

There, I said it, my favourite WA beach and instead of saving it for myself like I really want to do, I'm going to share it with everyone because really it's too good to miss.

WA is blessed with over 10,000km of coastline and the vast majority of it is white sandy beaches and clear turquoise ocean, in the grand scheme of things I've barely experienced it but this beach was absolutely breathtaking.

Nestled at the end of a long dirt track in Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, about a 20 minute drive from Albany, is Little Beach. It lives up to it's name, compared to the sprawling beaches on the rest of the coast this beach is honestly quite little.

You can see the dirt track and car park at the back of the photo. We arrived by 9am and there were already quite a few people setting themselves up for the day.

If you're visiting mid-summer definitely bring a gazebo or shade of some kind and lots and lots of water, the nearest shop is at least 30 minutes away.

We visited in March, the end of our summer but were lucky enough to have a 35 degree day. Lucky the water was nice and fresh- perfect for cooling off after sunbathing! 

It looks gorgeous from above, but trust me it's even more incredible below...

I've never seen such beautiful clear water in all my life! And no sea weed - bonus!

Now seeing as I've already spilt the beans on this gorgeous beach, I feel I should go all out and tell you an even bigger secret...

(this photo is looking 180 degrees behind the first photo)

There's another hidden beach, if you walk all the way across the beach and over the rocks (or through the bush, just watch out for slithery friends) there's an even smaller beach, 

and the water is just as beautiful, the sand is just as perfectly white...but it'll be all yours.

As with all beaches, take care, there is always a possibility of large waves and rips. 

There are obviously no lifeguards on duty, so swim within your limits and stay safe.

 To get into Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve you need to pay the standard DPaW entry fee, $12 to cover everyone in the car for a day's entry.

You can access the whole park via 2WD.

There's more information about Two Peoples Bay on the DPaW website.

What's your favourite beach? Is it in WA?

xo

White dog Lane, the perfect Albany Farm stay

Every now and then you find the perfect place on Airbnb and are left with the moral dilemma, do I share this little piece of heaven with the world or keep it as a secret? White dog lane near Albany is something we really wanted to keep as a secret, it's just so perfect. 

I spent far too long looking for accomodation in Albany for our weekend getaway from Perth, I wanted somewhere we could totally relax and escape the hustle and bustle of city life, but equally wanted a bit of comfort and luxury. We found White dog Lane on AirBnb, at $200 per night for the whole cottage it worked out the same price as staying in a nice hotel but with so many added extras.

We set off from Perth mid-afternoon, just under 4.5 hours later we were driving down the gravel track to the cottage. White dog Lane is an original 1900s cottage which has been lovingly restored and modernised, by the owners Susanne and Brian. It has three large bedrooms, and comfortably sleeps 6- there's the option for extra beds to be made up though for a large family.

The building is such a beautiful example of old Australian farm houses, the Verandah looks out over the paddocks (below) and is the perfect place to sit and sip your morning cup of tea or your evening glass of wine.

The property is on the farm that Brian and Susanne own, they're more than happy for guests to wander around and make friends with the animals or get stuck in and help them out (trust me, nothing makes you feel further away from city life than morning walks up to see the goats!).

Susanne leaves afternoon tea out for all her guests, we had beautiful home made scones with jam and cream and chocolate fudge cake- the perfect little sugar hit after the drive!

The kitchen is equipped with everything you need, if you don't feel like cooking though the local pub (2 minutes down the road) is known for it's amazing steak. 

A secret cupboard filled with board games and toys for children! 

Two double bedrooms, both styled to perfection- a little trip back in time!

The master bedroom is tucked away off of the lounge, it has a super comfy bed and gorgeous ensuite with views from the bath out across the paddocks. It's modern, with the perfect touch of luxury! 

If you want to explore a little, the beach is a 6 minute drive, Cosy Corner is around 12 minutes and the amazing albany attractions like the Gap and blowholes are around 25 minutes away. Albany town centre is just 20 minutes and Denmark is just under 30, including Greens Pool and Elephant rocks, the property is literally perfectly placed for exploring around the local area. 

I honestly can't think of enough nice things to say about our stay at White Dog Lane, it was absolutely perfect and I can't wait to go back with friends and family. If you're looking for somewhere to stay in Albany I would highly recommend booking a stay at this gorgeous cottage. 

xo

week nine

A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.

This week our long awaited annual leave finally came around, we'd originally booked a week off although due to lots of changes we ended up with a long weekend. Our original trip to Esperance had to be re-planned as spending 8+ hours in the car each way with only 4 days off didn't appeal to either of us. Instead we booked a farm stay near Albany, we had no phone reception and no wi-fi, but instead had a suitcase filled with cameras and boardgames and a fridge filled with yummy, local food and drink. Unfortunately we only had one full day of good weather, but luckily on that one day we'd already planned to head to Little beach in Two Peoples Bay (about 20 minutes from Albany) which is where this photo was taken. Despite the bad weather- and loosing our Go Pro to water damage at the end of the trip, we really enjoyed ourselves- I'll be writing up some more blog posts about Albany and our farm stay soon!

What have you been up to this week?xo

week eight

It doesn't matter how slow you go, as long as you do not stop

Life goes on (brownie points if you sung that a la noah and the whale) and so does the never ending bathroom renovation, anyone who plans on renovating top tip- take time off work to do it! If you've missed any of our bathroom design /inspo etc. you can check out all my bathroom posts. I finally found a feature tile I loved and it's now up and all the plumbing is done on that wall (just waiting for the vanity!). Next weekend we are off to Albany to escape for a little while, but until then the boys made sure the bath works so I have a mini escape after a hard day at work! I've also decided to sign up to an 8 week challenge with a local personal trainer duet, so can't wait to see how that goes- hopefully it's the kick start I need to get back to chasing my fitness goals. 

what have you been up to this week? What do you think of our bathroom tiles?

xo

Citadines St Georges Terrace, Perth

We're currently mid renovation, we have no floors, some rooms have no ceilings and as a general statement my house is not currently a homely sanctuary. So when the folks at Citadines St Georges Terrace invited me to experience the recently renovated Apart' hotel in the centre of Perth's CBD I couldn't say no.

Right in the heart of Perth, Citadines St Georges Terrace is within a 3 minute walk of the convention centre, shopping malls, Elizabeth Quay and some of Perth's best bars and restaurants like Bobeche, Bar Lafyette and the Trustee (amongst many others!). It was quite literally the perfect location for a city break. 

After a quick and easy check in, I was getting to know my new apart' hotel space for the night. We stayed in a one bedroom apartment, but also had a look at some of the other rooms which are all equally as gorgeous. 

The one bedroom apartment at Citadines St Georges Terrace is perfect for business and holiday alike, the open plan area is perfect for relaxing in and there's a desk (not pictured) for getting work done or writing postcards home.

The bedroom was wonderfully spacious, with a huge wardrobe, king bed and TV. I love how all the rooms have artwork based on the Perth skyline! The bed was firm, but extremely comfortable and there were enough pillows to crash in to after a long day (hidden in the wardrobe).

A huge spa bath was perfect for relaxing in, after a busy day wondering around Perth city!

The kitchen space is perfect for making meals, if you don't fancy eating out. Though she be small, she is mighty- with a fridge, hob, microwave, toaster and kettle...and bonus points for having a washing machine, no taking dirty clothes home- heaven!

Citadines St Georges Terrace have partnered with the neighbouring restaurant BS & Co to offer room service food for hungry visitors. We decided to check out the breakfast the next morning in the restaurant...

Dan went for the omelette and I went for mushroom bruschetta, we both agreed the food was great and was standard prices for brekkie in Perth (around $25 per person) even if delivered as room service.

We hadn't stayed in an Apart hotel before our night at Citadines Perth, however were both amazed at the space you get in comparison to staying in a hotel suite. Citadines St Georges Terrace is the perfect base for exploring Perth city, the rooms were all clean, modern and comfortable whether your trip is for business, leisure or both. I also loved the amenities for guests, including free business centre, access to local goodlife gym and onsite laundry facilities.

You can enjoy weekend accommodation at Citadines St Georges Terrace from $135 per night, by visting their website - Citadines St Georges Terrace 

Have you stayed in an Apart Hotel before?

xo

week seven

Adventure is worthwhile

My friend Jas needed a roadtrip buddy to head down to Eagle Bay, which is one of my favourite places in Western Australia, by chance I had the day off so instead of sooking around the house looking at all the work to do I met her at 7am ready for a roadtrip. She had to visit someone so left me with her car for a couple of hours, I drove to the beach and took a wonder with my camera and was so fascinated by this photo as it uploaded to my computer that I knew it would be my photo for this weeks project 52, I just adored the depth of field and all the different textures.

After getting home from Eagle Bay, Dan and I drove down to Perth city to celebrate the final weekend of Fringe World and spent the night at Citadines on St Georges Terrace (blog post coming soon!). House wise, not much has progressed thanks to Dan working 10-12 hours most days and my lack of ability, however he's finally sorted the lighting and put up the cieling and the shower should be installed early next week, yipeee.

bathroom inspo

If you've had a read through my bathroom before blog post  you'll know our little 1970's bathroom left a lot to be desired. But after three sweaty days and 1001 trips to the skip bin on the drive way, we were left with a nice open space which was suddenly filled with light. The only problem? Not knowing what to put back in, so like the cliche millenial that I am, I turned to pinterest.

I started clicking around trying to find some ideas, I quickly came up with a quick tick list of styles and things I liked; lots of natural light, high ceilings, the feeling of space, a mixture of scandi and different textures from wood, pattern and plants. 

We had already decided to knock through our toilet and bathroom to make the space feel bigger, however thanks to the space still being rather tight we had to make a big decision and put the bath over the shower, knowing this would feel a big tight I started to look at ways to create the illusion of more space. Extra shelves, both sunken and floating create a lovely place to store prettier bathroom bits and bobs.

I adore the look of hexagon tiles, they're super on trend although I think if done well will age well. However I'm sick of marble and white, so feel like either a mix of neutral / earthy colours or patterned ones.

I fell in love with this white, white, white look (above left) and after finding out the vanity was from IKEA I fell in love a little more. The creative lighting is awesome, the only thing I didn't like is the mirror, having lots of squares already - bath, vanity, tiles... I turned to the circular mirror trend which seems really affordable (target and kmart have them) and great as a temporary or long term option! 

I definitely prefer the look of the basin on top of the vanity (a la the picture on the right), although probably not another circle...so much to think about!

Natural colours, a mix of textures and patterns in a light, bright, bathroom....sounds easy enough!? I've skipped ahead and started thinking about finishing touches, pretty candles, devils ivy falling from a shelf and lush products lined up neatly on a shelf. I also definitely want to think of / make some way to balance a book / wine glass in the bath either with a built in lip or by making a bath caddy to fit across (as I can't find one to buy anywhere!).

You can check out the rest of my bathroom inspo pinterest board 

What is your dream bathroom like?

If you've renovated your bathroom please leave your top tips below!

xo

week six

It's all systems go to get the bathroom in order, after a disastrous attempt by Dan to take some leave from work (the agreement was to work 'on call' but he then got 50+ phone calls each day). I finally decided on a feature wall of tiles and managed to pick up some plain white tiles from a guy on facebook who had surplus from his owner build (his house was inspirational). It feels terrible that there's so little I can do to help, so I've focused on trying to plan the rest of the renovation and have spent most evening I'm not at work sorting through boxes and trying to make the habitable rooms feel more homely. 

week five

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.

Our lives have been completely consumed by renovation but it feels as though nothing is progressing. We've lived in the house for two weeks now without the luxury of a shower (thank goodness we got the bath hooked up) so I've been heading to the gym and to friends houses to wash my hair, I never thought I'd miss having a shower so much! I have so many house pinterest boards and magazines from IKEA and bunnings piling up on the coffee table, but still cant decide exactly what I want which is annoying as we are very very quickly running out of time for me to choose tiles and colours and fitting for the bathroom. 

We realised quite quickly the importance of still taking time for ourselves whilst renovating, so the dog beach has been our sanctuary! It's so lovely watching jess run up and down the beach chasing waves. She loves her new garden which is about 4 times the size of the old house. 

How has your week been?

xo

bathroom before

We always knew the first thing we wanted to do when we got our keys was change the bathroom. Now, don't get me wrong it was a perfectly functional bathroom with a seperate toilet next door (I've spared the photos of three walls and a toilet..) and hot water in all the hot taps and cold water in all the cold taps, but it was 30 years past it's use by date and felt extremely cramped.

Ever the optimists we looked for the potential from every angle...

Looking in to the bathroom from the hall way, a seperate shower, huge vanity with built in basin and small bath (I say small, it was as deep as the two lines of tiles beneath it). The door on the left went straight in to the master bedroom, which would have been fine had the bathroom been an ensuite, but alas it is our only bathroom. 

For reference, the toilet lines up in the space behind the vanity and bath, accessed through the laundry which is about 2 metres to the right of this photo. It's completely normal in Australia to have a seperate toilet and bathroom still, however I hate the thought of people's germ ridden hands touching all the doors in between the toilet and the sink. 

The same terracotta floor tiles run throughout the house.Despite looking massive the shower was smaller than the average, and just had one lowly fixed head on the wall. Also, look how horrifically annoying and hard to clean the space is between the vanity and the shower!

Possibly my worst photography to date, but it shows how cramped the bathroom is, I've not mentioned my love for the window yet though so I'll do it now... I love that window. It's completely frosted and lets in so much light.

Beautiful, beautiful tiles....

The vanity was so big and clunky, which you'd like equalled LOADS of storage room, well you are wrong. The plumbing under the sink took up a big chunk of the top shelf and the bottom was only just tall enough for a can of hairspray, boo.

I'm not sure which is deeper, the sink or the bath? No seriously, the bath only won by a few inches, I could barely sit in it with my legs out straight in front of me and then the water (had I been so inclined to actually take a bath) would barely cover my thighs before spilling out of the to the floor.

So unfortunately it just had to go, we couldn't firmly decide on a new layout before we started smashing the old bathroom down, but knowing we had to have a working toilet before we moved in the next week we didn't want to waste time. The space suddenly looked so much lighter and brighter all opened up, and gave us a chance to assess all the plumbing points, distances and doors (with the help of a qualified plumber I may add!). Probably not the ideal way to do it, but luckily we had booked time off work and had a 10 day over lap with our rental.

So the plan so far, is to brick up the door in to the master bedroom and the door coming from the laundry in to the toilet. We want to keep the space open (controversial I know) to make it feel bigger / lighter and we know that we want the same floor tiles throughout our house (porcelain wood effect).

Have you renovated your bathroom before? What are your top tips?

xo