Happy Australia Day!!!! I can't believe I am spending Australia day actually in Australia! So much fun. It's a big public holiday and everyone is off work, its meant to celebrate the founding of Australia when the first fleet of ships arrived from Britain in 1788 but I think everyone uses it as a day in the middle of the summer to get drunk or spend at the beach. We did the latter :)

Well I slept surprisingly well last night, and had a long lie this morning too! We had a busy schedule for today, and our first stop was a hippy, and I mean hippy, cafe in Dunsborough for breakfast. It was all organic and vegetarian, I ordered the pancakes which sounded amazing until I realised they were gluten free and trust me gluten free pancakes aren't proper pancakes! Bad choice there, especially when I saw someone order the fresh fruit salad with yoghurt :( It looked yummy!

The temperature was starting to rise already when we got to our first stop, Meelup beach. So I was straight into the sea to cool down when we got there. It was very busy, and like all the beaches I have been to on the west coast - gorgeous turquoise ocean with white sandy beaches. This one had a lot of seaweed which was the only difference. Everyone was setting up gazebos and BBQ's to spend the day there, it really was packed. I took all my auzzie things down to the beach and managed to convince Phoebe to stop being a snob and have some fun :) The three of us took some random photos before heading onto our next stop of the day.

The next stop was Vasse Felix Vineyard for wine tasting and then lunch. We had to go back to the bush house to shower and get dressed, as all vineyards in the area were quite posh and this one was too. The wine tasting was free, but the samples were very small compared to the South African wine tasting measures. We got to taste quite a few and opted for a Semillon Sauvignon Blanc blend to have with our lunch. Nicole had booked a table for 2pm for lunch, as it was really busy being Australia Day. I seem to be living it up in Perth as it was another fancy restaurant with white table cloths and a posh menu that was hard to understand. I went for the Pork Belly dish, as it's very common in Australia and I hadn't had it so far. It was really nice, the girls then opted for a pudding but I had another glass of vino instead :) well... I was at a vineyard!!!

I'm glad we were inside in the middle of the day, as it was ridiculously hot. Temperatures reached 43 degrees in Perth but we were a couple degrees cooler since we were 3 hours south but it was still melting temperatures hehe. When we came out of the vineyard it was much cooler so we headed straight for Smiths Beach. Firstly we had to change into our bikinis and where else but the car park at the vineyard hehe, what a laugh it was. We then decided to go into the vines with our bikinis on and take some random photos which was so much fun. Think the people driving past, got a bit of a shock but hey it was Australia Day!

Smiths beach was massive and very quiet compared to the beach this morning. We spent hours there until sunset, mucking about in the water, sunbathing and taking lots of Australia day photos with all the flags and tiaras :) It was great fun and the tan is topping up nicely.. maybe a bit too much :s

After sunset we headed to Caves House which was a bar with a decking area with loads of seating outside. We sat outside and had a few drinks, before ordering some small starters to share for our tea, as we weren't that hungry after our posh lunch. It was a lovely setting with a great atmosphere due to it being really busy.

On our drive back to the bush house I could see the milky way so clearly, probably more clearer than when I saw it in the Masai Mara. The stars were unbelievable tonight, the southern cross was also really clear. I don't think I have ever seen the sky so packed with stars, it was such a beautiful night. When we got back to the house, Phoebe went straight to bed but after my shower I went and sat outside on the decking, with a cup of tea and a Tim tam looking up at the stars, it was perfect (I was also sending a few emails back home too which was nice). Nicole then joined me, but we were naughty and had a cider with a bar of dairy milk caramel together!!!

Such a fun Australia day with a stunning evening under the stars to top off a brilliant day! This is the dream :) xxx