Sunday, June 12, 2011

A country break

I love escaping to the country. Walking through national parks and feeling like I'm a million miles from anywhere.. drinking fresh delicious rain water, breathing the crisp unspoiled air, smelling the trees, scrubs and grasses... just being along side the universe and marveling at the simple beauty of it all.

The recent couture holiday had the Mr and I touring around a little bit of Australia that neither of us had ever been to - beautiful central New South Wales.

It was fascinating to come from the north New South Wales coast into the beautiful green hills, forests and waterfalls, before seeing the stark and equally beautiful contrast of the flat plains of Narrabri that stretched all the way to the horizon - only the memory of cotton left after the season's harvesting.

It was easy to appreciate how vast and varied Australia is. And I couldn't help thinking of Dorothea Mackellar's poem My Country with the iconic line I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, which she wrote in neighboring Gunnedah in 1908 while on her brother's farm. There was certainly plenty of inspiration all around.

Taking a break to enjoy the views at the Mt Kaputar National Park, Narrabri, New South Wales