Decoration and Design road trips!

It is my birthday on Saturday (yes I am a typical home loving, home obsessed Cancerian hence my interiors passion :-)) and for my present I decided I was going to Decoration and Design in Melbourne to see what is on offer and share it on the blog. When my husband found out he of course pulled out the footy programme to see what matches were on and discovered his team, Carlton, are playing on the Friday night. So of course he wanted to come. We then decided we might as well drive rather than deal with kids and planes, plus we love a good road trip. Then I thought “ooh at this time of year I may see whales if we go the Great Ocean Road way to Melbourne”. And so, a little “me hopping across to Melbourne for the weekend”, has become the whole family (minus my 19 year old son) hopping in the Prius on Sunday and heading to Victoria from South Australia, via the Great Ocean Road. That is just how we roll 🙂

I have blogged about a number of the amazing designers and events across the 18-21st July at Decoration and Design in the lead up and here is a list of my “must meet and see” people.

• Ash Allen/Tom Taslveski
• Dan Moderne
• Lab De Stu
• Lindsay Blamey
• Linen and Moore
• Forestry Tasmania
• Frankie and Swiss
• Ingrid Tufts
• Ink and Spindle
• Marc Pascal
• Mark Douglas Design
• Martinich and Carran
• Megaria Pty Ltd
• Pacific Blue Furniture
• Polywood Australia
• Tane Design
• Tasmania By Hand
• The Mod Collective
• Thea and Sam
• Walter G

There are more in fact, but you get the picture. I am going to be RUNNING to see them all, chat, take pics and attend the three wonderful speaker seminars as well:

• Forward Thinking: Handmade Products for the Modern World Lori Weitzner (USA)
• Design from the Heart Chelsea Hing (AUS)
• Creating an Australian Style in a World of Design Jessica and Timoli (AUS)

And I am very excited!

In the meantime I will be hoping to get some great pics of whales along the way, maybe some seals, sunsets, sunrises and a few cafes I hope! And spending time with my family on the road which is always one of the best times of my life. A couple of years ago we drove across the Nullarbor from Adelaide to Perth, twice, that is over and back in 17 days in a camper van! I am a whaleaholic and I got to see whales and their babies at the head of the Bight on both directions. A highlight of my life. Yep it was a pretty cool and crazy thing to do! Last year we spent a month in Tasmania while I worked on my PhD and did some wonderful trips around the island. So I guess we have this one in the bag – Melbourne and back in 7 days.

Here are some pics from our Nullarbor journey. It is such an amazing journey, if you have never done it, do. And if you can do it in September when we did, do it. Wildflowers and great weather.

See you from the Great Ocean Road!
Helen