August has always been my favourite month of the year. Firstly, because it is the month of my birthday, (and who doesn’t love birthdays?) but also because as a child growing up in London, it always meant school holidays, exciting adventures and long glorious summers spent with my family in Ireland. Even as an adult it meant long summer days spent drinking with friends in beer gardens, something that London excels at. There is no place like London in the summer.

Living in Sydney means my birthday is now in winter, which despite what everyone back in the UK thinks, can actually get quite cold. But this actually makes it more exciting. Every year, I usually take the opportunity to escape Sydney’s winter and head to the sun, but this year, I embraced it.

Mr B planned a gorgeous surprise weekend away in the Kangaroo Valley – a breathtaking part of NSW that reminds me of home. We stayed at Broger’s End, a fabulous eco-eclectic luxury establishment, complete with chickens, log fires and wombats. It was truly fabulous, the perfect antidote to a rather hectic start to the year, where we talked, played games, drank fine wine and ate far too much cheese – a common theme for the rest of the month.

August also ushered in a job change, Australian citizenship and lots of down time with friends. In Sydney, everyone hibernates in the winter – it is the perfect time to make the most of being inside and catching up with friends. For some reason, summer flies by in a haze of barbecues, parties and outdoor activities, and while I enjoy those to the max, I cherish the bright, crisp winter months. It must be the Irish in me.

This was my August.

Birthday luxury

Afternoon tea

A vineyard with a view

A friendly neigh-bour

Stormy Coogee