The days after Christmas and New years often feel quite surreal to me. There seems to be no sense of what day it is and if nothing is planned, those 6 days can drift by in a state of haze. After a year of grueling repeated lockdowns and travel restrictions in 2020, we take the opportunity to make a plan to do something after Christmas, and go on a road trip with some friends.
We head out to Healesville, 2 families of 4. Even though we’ve only recently got to know this family, it seems like we’ve known them for an eternity - a combination of complementary personality types and shared experiences growing up help us instantly click - it’s funny how sometimes even us adult introverts can still make friends at this age. Our children are all similarly aged, the older two are 6 months apart and the younger two, also 6 months apart. It works out very well indeed, nap times coincide and the children have friends to entertain themselves with (sort of). Highlights of the road trip include a lunch date to a winery, a dinner of home cooked crab noodles & prized copycat Bedok Corner cheng tng by yours truly, morning coffees & croissants at Habituel, a visit to Healesville Sanctuary and of course, no family summer holiday would be without multiple trips to the playground & ice cream stops for the kids. The rest of the meal times in our temporary home are a big circus, as you expect, but good all things considered.
The Christmas season is often a time for families to gather, but with family being a continent away, I’m glad we have friends to call family.
Photographed on Contax G1 on Kodak Portra 400