Ode to Philip Island

On the weekend my boyfriend and I decided to make a spontaneous trip to Philip Island, which is about a 2 hour drive from Melbourne.
Joel was keen to do a Qi Gung class at Abbotsford, so we got up early and I read a book while he relished in ancient tradition. Afterwards of course, we had breakfast at Lentil as Anything. If you haven’t been there before or know what Lentils is about, check out their page here.
There was a farmers market going on outside the restaurant so we went for a wonder and look what we found:

A baby Chow Chow puppy!! This was one of my life highlights. How is this animal even real? I mean come on.. It is a living, walking teddy bear. Cute overload.

We then began our road trip, and tried to ignore the weather forecast that was predicting gail force winds! The radio was blasting music from Splendour in the Grass festival that simultaneously made me really happy but sad -because I wasn’t at the festival myself. We even discussed the possibility of running a market stall soon, so my  friends- keep your eyes peeled.
(^Awkward blinking shot^)
We must have stopped at every beach on the island. Which was many due to the mass of cute coves covering the jutted coastline. And being a surfer, Joel wanted to stop and watch ALL THE WAVES.

We found a heap of red clay that I want to use in my soap and beauty products. How wholesome is that? I would love to harvest all the products I use. We have a heap of calendula flowers in our garden that I want to pick and devourer soon. I have a friend who picks, dries and grinds her own stinging nettle and sells them in cute little jars at the markets. -I love that!

Joel’s boss has a beach house on the island, so we were lucky enough to stay there for the night. After Joel went for his much anticipated surf, we got ingredients to make a tasty, tasty kangaroo burger and snuggled up to watch a movie.

Some of us don’t need or choose to eat meat and some of us do. It is down to the individual body -and really, we know ourselves best and know what we need. I lived with vegetarians for 2 or 3 years before moving to Melbourne, and due to the situation and convenience I lived fairly vegetarian. I got quite unwell during that time due to lack of protein and iron (or something). At one stage my hair was falling out and as soon as I would eat a steak or burger things would normalise in my system.
So having said that, I’m getting the feeling more and more that kangaroo meat is the way to go. It is a much more sustainable practise in comparison  to the beef industry and although its not marketed this way, it is usually organic. Also being Australian, it feels right to eat Australian animals if you know what I mean. It is also a great lean meat option and is high in iron for us ladies. But the flavour is definitely stronger and game-ier, so be sure to pair is with some awesome herbs, spices or sauces.

(^Awkward looking into the sun shot^)
Unfortunately I had to spend most of the next morning finishing an assignment for my nutrition class, but after that we ventured down to the western headland and it was so beautiful. It was so vast and natural, highlighted by the incredible icy winds. I loved it there, and am so excited to go back when its not so damn cold.

Check out this amazing animal below. It is a fluro green/yellow nosed goose, or Cape Barren Goose if you want to get real. I had never seen one before, and they blew me away! We saw a mumma warming her chickies in a nest -very cute.

On our way home nature was at its finest, colours were vivid, the wind was relentless and rainbows were everywhere! Such a beautiful little trip, the wild and wacky weather made it all the more interesting. And I’m very excited to go back in the summertime.