Photo by Jasmin Wong

I’ve always been a city girl at heart, albeit one who loves sitting on the hillside, watching clouds drift by lazily, as much as sitting in a bustling café on the weekend, sipping coffee lazily. As I’ve grown older I’ve definitely observed my growing reluctance to participate in activities that include more than a few dozen people in the same room at the same time. Even on weekends, my boyfriend and I prefer to stay in and cook breakfast instead of battling it out with the cool kids queueing up to get into the newest café or shop.

This internal realignment has definitely taken some adjusting to. But I’ve realised that I’ve always been a solidly solitary person at heart; I am wherever my thoughts and a camera are.

So, when an opportunity to spend a long weekend in the Southern Highlands came up, I was immediately excited. For those who don’t know Sydney and its surrounds well, the Southern Highlands of the state of New South Wales consist of lush, often rainy and misty landscapes that provide excellent cultivation ground for magnificent gardens and sleek waterfalls. For somewhere that is only a two hour drive out of the city, the area looks and feels dramatically different to the sun-drenched pavement and beaches of Sydney.

Last weekend, my boyfriend and I spent a few blissful days with family in a log cabin on the outskirts of a small village named Robertson. We read, played card games, and took grandma naps whenever we pleased. One other trait of being a city girl is that I’d never participated in the custom of going somewhere in order to view autumn foliage, so you can imagine the anticipation that built up when we first drove up the dirt path that led to the cabins, lined on both sides with flaming gold and red liquid amber!

It was a quick and easy getaway, easily forgettable and neglected in the everyday routine of work and rest, but necessary. I was content to take walks and be disconnected from the world for a while … but what do you know, there was decent mobile internet so I spammed my followers on Instagram with incessant shots of burnished maple leaves. As I write this, I wish I could turn back the clock to Saturday morning when we first arrived. Enjoy the photos!