Portland Comes Alive...

Yesterday Portland came alive!
Since arriving to Portland (we arrived late on new years eve) we haven't seen so many people in Portland and so much traffic in Portland. It was even difficult to get a car park. There was a BUZZ around the town, shops were packed, the carnival was even open during the day and some shops even had big sales on. We noticed the Portland market was going to be on, on the Portland foreshore which we wanted to go to. Quite a few locals and people in our neighbourhood (also known as Portland tourist park, Hehe) were chatting about the market and the P&O cruise ship arriving tomorrow (which was yesterday), we even noticed signs around town advertising the arrival of the P&O cruise ship, I think its a big thing here in Portland, Victoria.

So these are some pics of the excitement around Portland...We all had a great day joining in on the excitement, eating our picnic lunch on the lawn while listening to live music, quite a bit of it being Christian music. We enjoyed being amongst the locals and the many people off the P&O cruise ship and walking through the market stalls, it was a lot of fun. I really LOVE smallish towns, I LOVE the community feel, I LOVE how many people help each other out!

P&O Cruise Ship...

Portland comes to life...

Girls in class...doing maths...

Where did Elissa go?!

Where did Serena go?!

The Portland Market was GREAT...

The Live Music was GREAT.....

Check out the OLD Chap...

Supporting a new Australian art business...

 

We had a GREAT day in Portland town. We enjoyed seeing the town alive and full of excitement....Thanks Portland for a GREAT family day!

Have a good one and Take Care,
Dimi :-)

Cape Bridgewater...

The last couple of days we've taken our tiny, rented Fiat to Cape Bridgewater...

Check out the MAGNIFICENCE of Cape Bridgewater...I'm in LOVE...
Oh and don't forget, I ADORE photography so there will never be a short supply of photos...Check them out :-)

BEAUTIFUL...

BEAUTIFUL Cape Bridgewater...

Oh So BEAUTIFUL...

Do you know this guy?? What a SPUNK...

Gorgeous Princess 1...

Gorgeous Princess 2...

STUNNING, Bridgewater Bay...

STUNNING Bridgewater Bay...

Looking over Cape Bridgewater...

We've walked for hours and hours the last couple of days at Cape Bridgewater and Bridgewater Bay.....We've had a FANTASTIC 2 days...Cape Bridgewater is about a 20 minute drive from Portland...

Come On, How STUNNING is Cape Bridgewater?! SOOOOO STUNNING, I'm in LOVE...

I'M THE QUEEN OF THE WOORRLLDDDD!! HAHAHA :-)

Be Afraid, be very Afraid...This is the Petrified forest...It is a group of rock formations that appear to be in a form of many tree trunks...

Wind Farm...

Petrified Forest...

Check out the SPUNKY tourist, Haha! He was Freaking out, he doesn't like heights...This is his worried/scared face...

Hi MUM :-) I'm not doing anything Dangerous, really I'm Not, HAHAHA...

Can you spot the Girls? This is The Rech Family Classroom for today, they are taking notes for tomorrows project. Yep, I'm a tough teacher, we study on the school holidays, Haha...

Some Beautiful Wildlife...I freaked when I seen a large group of HUGE, wild kangaroos (can you spot the kangaroos?)...They scare me...it is a looong story...

So over the last couple of days, we've spent quite a lot of time at Cape Bridgewater...It is a stunning place, with stunning views. We splashed and walked along the bay. We are told the water is freezing but we are going to return in a couple of days to spend the day swimming, WAHOOO!
We did the 500m walk to the petrified forest, walked some more to the blowholes and did most of the 5.5km walk to the seal colony look out...I think we were less than 1km away from the seal colony lookout when we turned back. We felt it was safer to turn back since it was already 5pm, and it took us about 2 hours to get that far. However I don't like to give up. I'm a very determined person, so my goal is to get to that lookout over the next few days :-)
Oh and after our nearly 5.5km walk, we were sitting on the bench seat near the car park when a couple of men approached us and started asking us questions. The men were from the herald sun newspaper, they just started a story 2 weeks ago about families holidaying, WOW! They took some details down, took quite a few photos of us, and then told us we may be in the newspaper this Sunday or Monday and if not, to check online for the photos, WOW! Who knows, we may or may not be in the newspaper this week...Will keep you posted!

We also spent some time today at the Portland Market on the foreshore, it was pretty fantastic, I'll share more about that tomorrow!

I Hope you enjoyed our lovely photos and I hope you all had a GREAT day with your LOVED ones xo

Take Care and Goodnight,
Dimi xo

GREAT People in Portland...God is Good ALL the Time...

So GUESS WHAT? You won't believe it! But it is true! We have encounted yet again, a GREAT person.

We were not able to hire a car in Portland, nope nothing available! As I mentioned in an earlier post, we decided to make the most of what we could get to in Portland mainly on foot. On 2 occasions we caught a taxi mainly because the girls had enough of walking (we had been walking for hours). Both rides home in the taxi we had the same lady taxi driver (Sue). This lady is lovely, she is an ex truck driver and she is just lovely.

When she dropped us off the second time at our home (on wheels), Shane asked her if she knew of any other car hire places in Portland. Sue said there was one in Warrnambool (about 1 hour drive from Portland) and if we wanted, she could drive us to Warrnambool the next day (which was today) in her own vehicle, WOW, WOW, WOW!

Sue, a local taxi driver just offered to drive us in her own vehicle to Warrnambool so that we could hire a car, so that we could go and enjoy all the sites Portland and the surrounding area has to offer, WHAT!! AMAZING!!

So it was decided this morning Shane would only go. Shane left with Sue this morning, and he arrived back in the afternoon with a little car (I think the car is a Fiat. I'll share a pic tomorrow because I'm too cosy in my bed to go outside and take a pic).
What an ABSOLUTE BLESSING :-) GOD IS SOOOOOOO GOOD!
THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH SUE, YOUR A BLESSING XO

Come on, you have to tell me, you must believe that these blessings, these GREAT people we are encountering everywhere we go are an act of God. You must believe God is purposefully placing people in our path to help us, to direct us, to provide a way for us when we feel there is no way...HE has said, He will never leave us, nor forsake us. He has said, Trust ME. He has said, Follow ME. 
You know what? When God has a plan for you, when He has a plan for your life, if you accept that plan, then I believe nothing, NOTHING will stop that plan from coming to pass, as long as you never give up. God WILL equip you, God WILL make the way clear for you...because ALL things are possible with GOD, ALL THINGS!!
Thank You for GREAT people GOD.

Tomorrow I have many pics to share of some of the most GORGEOUS places we visited today...You know how much I LOVE the ocean, wait till you see the pics of Cape Bridgewater, ABSOLUTELY STUNNING :-)

Take Care and Goodnight,
Dimi xoxox