As many of you know, organising a family holiday when your kids are grown is challenging. Even with our small family, it’s tough trying to coordinate all the work schedules and social commitments to manage even just a few days together. On top of that, we have two sibling herding dogs who haven’t spent more than a couple of hours at a time together in over a year. So, every time I thought about planning a holiday, I was left wondering how to convey this somewhat complex situation to an impersonal booking app.

But here’s the kicker, I didn’t need to worry. The first Airbnb property I approached was super dog friendly, had no issue with multiple animals, and had 80 acres on which the dogs could run wild and live out their best herding selves. When I told the family about my plan, they were all determined to make this trip happen.

Our mini holiday was amazing.

The property had gently rolling hills with lush green grassy areas for the dogs to run, as well as forested areas with scores of walking tracks created by the resident wildlife, namely kangaroos and emus.

It had three dams, one with a pontoon and a few boats and canoes.

Being the middle of Winter, the cloudy and rainy weather gave us a chance to really appreciate the comforting warmth of an indoor fire – something we don’t have in the city – then when the sun came out, the craziness well and truly came out too.

On one relatively warm day, some of the group even dared the others to take a fully clothed plunge into the cold dam. Unfortunately, there are no photos to share, only a few hilarious videos of those who mistakenly believed the dam water would be warmer.

Along with my trusty iPhone, I took several film cameras on the trip. It was my first time using Lomography Lomochrome Purple film and I probably didn’t shoot it correctly as each photo had a very different look.

Fortunately, I rather like the uniqueness of images created by mistakes in technique.

I’m already planning our next family holiday. I don’t know if we’ll try a new spot or head to the same place again.

What I do know is, now that we know family holidays are still possible, there’ll be nothing holding us back.

Until next time, enjoy the light.

Jacqui