Holiday

It's been a whole ten days since I've come back from Oz so it's about bloody time I start planning the next holiday. I think it might just be Malaysia. Few days in KL, week or so in Langkawi. Sightseeing in the city. Week on the beach with a load of books. Now just plan a period, wait for the airlines to release next season's tickets in February and book! In the meantime, Barca and Vienna are on the cards, and I might sneak in a weekend in Bologna too to get my Italy fix.

One of those Mondays

A quiet weekend, and still I woke up feeling not so great. Not ill. Just not so great. I must be coming down with a cold not-so-great. Not ready to go to work not-so-great. And on Mondays with no meetings in my calendar, the solution is easy. So I dropped my bosses a note that I'd be working from home today fighting off a cold.

WFH Mondays are great. I can look like a slob all day in my dressing gown or track suit. Hair is a mess, no make up. Cups of builders tea. Nice lattes. Loads of time for brekkie so I have yogurt with fresh mango, apple and blueberries. I watch the BBC breakfast news, which is not so newsy at all as they have all sorts of actors dropping by promoting their plays and films, while answering emails. I will spend the rest of the day ticking all the things off my to do list and be hugely productive, until it is almost six o'clock, by which I race to the gym for my pilates class assuming I feel all right.

Come Tuesday morning, I will be all relaxed, all prepared, and hopefully cold-free. And ready to face the world, the colleagues, and the office.

Fragonard Soleil

You'd think three different perfumes should be enough to cover all moods and occasions. Then again, you'd think one or two handbags would be sufficient and most women know that is nonsense. However, when a (male) mate commented I could always sell some of my handbags should I lose my job, I decided enough is enough (this was before the Mulberry Alexa came out I must admit). Still, the joy of a nice handbag or nice perfume is a great one. So when I came across a little French shop in Hobart, with beautiful perfume bottles, I was drawn in. Sensible enough not to buy a large bottle when on holiday and in a different mood, I fell for this tiny bottle of Soleil of Fragonard. And now I regret it of course. I loooove the bottle and love the fragrance. I feel prettier and sunnier and girlier when I wear it and imagine people's heads turn to see who's wearing that lovely jasmine scent. This 7ml of heaven in a bottle I will make last as long as possible. To feel good, and to remember that special holiday at the start of the decade-with-no-name (unless that name got sorted in my absence and I completely missed it.

Next stop: Scotland Island

Same kookaburra?
Originally uploaded by Gypsy Saskia

Scotland Island: 670-odd inhabitants of the human kind, gazillions of the mossie kind and a whole heap of birds, possums and other 'wildlife'. No shop. No Sunday newspapers. No fresh pint of milk in the morning if you forgot to buy some on the mainland. My Irish friend moved there recently after years in Sydney. With husband and bub, she found sheer domestic bliss. I felt trapped and was going slightly nuts already after two days. Yes, the quietness is nice, but the crickets never shut up and make more noice than down town Syndey traffic. Having to plan your shopping, not having access to newspapers, and not being able to just meet a friend at a caf for a latte....it's not my scene. But I saw kookaburras. So for a holiday weekend it wasn't too bad.

Sydney!

Company on my hotel balcony
Originally uploaded by Gypsy Saskia

I've been in Sydney for about 24 hours and it feels home like never before. After a day of browsing through Paddington and doing some modest shopping and getting a pedi/mani, I went back to the hotel. My hotel is absolutely amazing in the most old fashioned way. Plus it has a rooftop pool. After pool and bath, I sat on the grandfather's chair, made some King Island brie and crackers (according to Em this Tasmanian brie was to die for and I wasn't disappointed), had a glass of Moorilla merlot cab and read my book on the Widow Cliquot. Just when I thought life couldn't get any better, the bird (parakeet of some sort?) in the pic decided to keep me company.

The last days in Tassie were fab by the way. An incredibly relaxing holiday on an incredibly beautiful island. Will have to come back and see the parts we've missed.

Wineglass Bay

Wineglass Bay
Originally uploaded by Gypsy Saskia

Tassie, day four. We're back in Hobart, before heading to Cradle Mountain. The east coast was stunning. Freycinet NP, where the photo was taken, is just this magical place. The smells, the sounds, the views.... Loved it. Oh, and the seafood. I od'd on mussels and other stuff. Outside Hobart we've found virtually no internet, had no phone reception on other providers than Telstra, and saw few people on any of the beaches we went to. Loving it.