Snappy H’appy Photo Challenge – Week 4 – Iconic Beach Shot

Another fun week of the Snappy H’appy Photo Challenge. Really enjoying learning lots of new photo tricks. For this week on cut outs we were very conscious of taking Mrs P at We Live In A Flat’s advice on not making it look tacky. So instead we have taken inspiration from an iconic Australian image…

So here is our original…. holiday pic this week. Sunset on the Australian East Coast.

Here is our inspiration…. the iconic camel sunrise rides in Broome on Australia’s West Coast

(Image Source:http://www.shipsofthedesert.com.au)

And our cut-out photo challenge shot….

We took Mrs P’s advice on Moldiv and also a bit of Photo Editor to try to blend in mum’s dodgy cut out attempt (she doesn’t have the steadiest hand) and also add the boarder.

Thanks again Mrs P at We Live In A Flat for all the effort she puts into teaching us about all these tools that are out there. Also Meghan at Firebonnet for co-hosting the challenge. We have lots of fun.

1st World Dog Holiday Review

Those of you following the blog may have read that the family and I went on holidays recently. Despite some initial concerns about being left at home, I had an awesome holiday! I have promised some of the folks that with train with that I would share the details of where we stayed. The place was also great so figure it was worth sharing with the 1st World Dog readers as other dogs deserve a holiday like this.

So where were we? Culburra Beach. It is about 2.5hrs south of Sydney (Australia for any of our international readers). A bit longer to get there if your humans insist on stopping at Berry, a cute little town full of nice stores and a toy shop called Goldfish Toys that the toddler LOVES.

Culburra Beach itself is a pretty small town. There is a major supermarket (Woolworths) and a line of shops with a couple of cafes, a bakery, takeaway shops and a post office. See this as a positive that mum didn’t leave me at home to go on long shopping trips (except for the morning she went back into Berry but dad stayed with me to watch the cricket). Nah the reason we went to Culburra Beach was for the beach and an awesome beach it was. Like a lot of beaches on the South Coast / Shoalhaven area it has a dog friendly / off leash policy which means I had plenty of time to enjoy the beach. It’s a really long beach so great for really long walks. The waves are fun for running in and out of. I met lots of other fun dogs, including a cool Kelpie who did herding trials and had some fun herding me, but it isn’t too crowded.

So where did we stay? The place was called Crescent View and we found it through Stayz. The layout was great for our family with heaps of space, even when Nana & Poppy came down for a couple of days. Importantly there was also heaps of room for me. I was allowed indoors, that was a mandatory for mum choosing a place, but like most places down there I wasn’t allowed on the furniture. To ensure I didn’t make myself comfy on the lounge of a night mum bought my crate down so we had a bit of crate training while we were there. There was heaps of room for my crate in the lounge room without it being in the way. From the families perspective the house was well decked out with everything they needed. They really just had to bring the stuff for me like my bowls and towels to dry me of after my swims in the surfs.

There were just a couple of things worth being aware of. The first is space if the family goes out. While the yard is fully fenced (and I’m not much a a fence jumper but it isn’t a particularly high fence for someone who was) there is a lack of shade in the yard. For that reason the family only ever went out briefly for dinner down at the Bowling Club. When they did go out they left me in the house. The other thing to be aware of is ticks. These nasty little things exist along a lot of the Australian East Coast and unfortunately this area is renown for them. The nasty fella found on me not long after we came home may very well have hitched a ride from here.

Some other things that the family enjoyed that mum asked me to share was places to eat….

Orient Point Bakehouse is a short drive away. It isn’t the flashest place but the menu is pretty good. On a Friday night they do Fish & Chips. Really yummy. And I got to go along as there is seating outside (ps BYO alcohol).

Pelican Rocks Cafe at nearby Greenwell Point has the most amazing seafood platter. I didn’t go with the family that day as they were taking the toddler to the local swimming pool too but just for the cafe I could have come along and sat guard by the door or there are some tables outside.

Lastly is the take home option of oysters. There are a heap of oyster places at Greenwell Point but of particular note is Jim Wild’s.

We had a great time and would go back again. Hope this gives you a place if you are looking for a dog friendly holiday.

     

N.B. Nothing in this post was sponsered or paid for advertising. These are all just places we came across on our holiday, enjoyed and wanted to share. While we hope you have a great time if you do take on any of the recommendations we take no responsibility if your experiences differ from ours. 

 

Photo Challenge Week 17 – Gone Surfing

Sorry we have been a bit slack on the posts the last week. We are on holidays. While we haven’t been posting on the blog we have been putting happy snaps on Facebook and Instagram if you want to check them out.

But we couldn’t miss Donna‘s Photo Challenge! Here is a fav holiday snap which pretty much explains why there hasn’t been much blogging, why I have sand through my fur and I am snoozing at any opportunity when I’m not on the beach.

Photo Challenge Week 16 – Paws in the Sand

Spoilt for choice this week. So many fun times being captured on mum’s iPhone while we holiday at the beach. A simple moment on our morning walk when mum realised how our paw prints were marking the sand. Simple but so meaningful as to our quality time on our morning walk.

Thanks Donna for keeping us thinking about capturing these moments.

Plenty more holiday snaps on Instagram and Facebook.

All that stress

Stressed out all morning. There were bags being packed. Means humans going somewhere. Wasn’t sure if I was going too.

Phew. Car harness got put on and I got lifted into back seat beside toddler.

Long drive. Then we arrived.

Very happy.

After dinner walk with mum the best.

Just need to sort out sleeping arrangements.

(Sorry no Marketing Stuff today… Mum on holidays and not thinking work).

Staying Cool

It’s going to be a hot one here in Sydney today. Been out or an early morning walk, including a swim in the creek, and planning on spending the day staying as cool as I can.

Wanted to share some things we do to stay cool on hot days….

Firstly food…. Mum makes a couple of frozen treats for me which you might like to try….

Puppy Iceblocks and Frozen Banana & Peanut Butter Icecreams are some favourites from my Recipe Book.

I also love to get my paws wet so mum will pull out the toddler clam shell and put some water into for me to have a dip.

And later in the afternoon we might head to the beach (but not in the heat of the day….) and there are some great local beaches that you can read more about in Places To Go.

And don’t forget… cars and hot days are not good for puppy dogs. Don’t leave us in the car if you need to take us somewhere. The car gets really hot really quickly.

Keep those paws cool today guys!

 

 

 

 

Photo Challenge Week 6 – Busy Paws

Another tough week when we wanted to put in the photo of me and my ribbons after getting my Rally Advanced title. I have such a great smile… but this one that mum and I chose we think is a better photo. It was down at the beach early in the morning and mum was playing around with something called SnappyCam that she read about on Donna’s blog… it seemed only natural that we should use it in the photo challenge. Unlike previous photo challenges it is one we have used in a post this week but love the concentration on my face but also the splashes of sand going up in the background which is why we have used it again for the photo challenge. Strange looks from the few other people on the beach at my digging and at mum as she sat in front of me taking the photos (reading to move quickly if I changed direction).

Thanks again to Donna for helping us learn new things in photography.

 

The day after….

How do you spend the morning after a big trial day…. waking mum up early and getting her to take you to the beach of course!

With toddler having a sleepover at grandparent’s place it meant we headed off to the beach this morning (sorry no sleep in here mum).

Great morning of chasing ball, swimming, playing with other dogs and most importantly a good spot of digging….

Love the beach! And then home for a yummy breakfast of a turkey neck (and a bit of Dad’s bacon and egg sandwich) and then a snooze on the deck in the sun. It’s tough being a 1st World Dog.