To get us in the mood for relaxing, Mum and Dad gave us a bag of goodies to take away including magazines, our favourite Kilkenney liquer, Lindt chocolates and some bath bombs for the spa.
On Saturday morning when we drove down the weather was certainly cold and miserable and we were very much looking forward to curling up in front of the wood fire and not moving for the whole weekend. About half way there it actually started to snow. It's not really common for it to snow so low here so whilst it was a little bit scary, it was also quite amazing to drive through.
A whole ten mins after we took the photo of the snow, we arrived at our destination, Crabtree Cottages just outside of Huonville.....look how blue the sky is, you would never have known we had just driven through the snow if it wasn't still all over the car!
The accomodation is actually made up of two conjoined cottages. We stayed in Eliza's Cottage on the left and the one on the right is called Emily's Cottage. Last year we brought Mum and Dad a voucher to stay at Emily's Cottage and they loved it, so for our anniversary this year they also gave us a voucher for a night at Eliza's!
Two very cold little snow bunnies......just because the sky was blue does not mean it was warm! We got the fire going before going out in search of food! Just down the road in Franklin we found a place called the Petty Sessions Cafe. My Dad has always spoken highly of this place but the only issue was we had no idea what the menu was like. Given it was cold and rainy outside and it looked like it was warm and dry inside with the obvious bonus of feeding our hungry bellies we decided what the hell. We were seated right in front of a roaring open fire place and soon found ourselves torn between just about every item on the menu! I eventually decided on the Mushroom and Fetta Bruschetta and Mr B went with the Seafood Linguine. Neither of us could fault the meals and we will definitely be going back because we both have our next 4-5 meals picked out!!
We stopped at the supermarket to grab some supplies before heading back to the cottage for a lazy afternoon spent in front of the fire reading magazines and playing Jenga.
Future Jenga champion of the world I am not......
Later on when the rain subsided we ventured outside to try and find the resident platypus, Norman. Whilst Mr B ducked and dived along the banks of the rivers, I stopped to take this photo of the cottages where we were staying.
It is such a beautiful quiet spot and, when it wasn't raining, the sound of the river was lovely and peaceful.
The next morning was our actual anniversary so we started the day in style with our traditional Sunday morning egg and bacon breakfast. We were spoilt in that the accomodation includes local eggs, bacon, juice, fresh bread, butter, milk, jam, honey and cereal......just about everything you could possibly want for breakfast!
It was a beautiful day so after checking out some local markets, we went for a drive around the countryside and eventually made our way to Birch's Bay and more importantly, to Grandvewe Cheesery.
We visited Grandvewe last year on our 5th anniversary and fell in love with their White Pearl cheese so thought it was the perfect time to go back and stock up! We also sampled some of their Vanilla Whey Liquer while we were there.....oh my goodness....the liquer is made from the whey leftover from cheesemaking and if you can imagine a creamy almost custard like vanilla bean liquer then you know what I'm talking about.....just the thought of trying it poured over ice cream is making me drool....
While we were there we could not go past trying their Scones with Blueberry Jam and Cream and Mr B couldn't help himself when he saw the Ewe-Cino on the menu (think Cappuccino but with Sheep's Milk....). It took us both a little while...and some help from the waiter...to be able to see the sheep on top of Mr B's ewe-cino....can you see it??
The scones came out piping hot and were delicious smothered in homemade blueberry jam and whipped cream and washed down with a cup of tea....or a ewe-cino in Mr B's case....
After lunch we drove back to Franklin to check out a replica Viking Ship that was moored at the dock. We often see the ship sailing up and down the river but have never had the chance to look at it up close.
It was quite a beautiful ship with all of the intricate and delicate wood work and carvings.
I particularly love this photo.....
And this one taken from the dock at Franklin looking up the Huon River towards the snow covered mountains....
We may have spent far too much time planning what we would do if we had a viking ship of our own.....
The weather soon started to crack up again so we trundled on back to the cottage and settled in in front of the wood fire. A quick spa, a killer cheese platter, several glasses of rum and far too many games of UNO later, we were tucked up in the big soft cozy bed absolutely exhausted but 110% relaxed. Just what the Dr ordered.
Up and about early this morning to check out.....but not before our eggs and bacon!
Happy 6 year anniversary Mr B xx
Lots of Love, Mrs B xx
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