'We're leavin in half an hour if you want to come,' Dad enthuses. I'm still in bed. It's Sunday and it's freezing and I have a headache for drinking two stouts instead of one last night. But still, I'm always up for an adventure. Saturday's family outing was to a location just outside of Geelong apparently known for good photo opportunities. None of us have heard of it - it came up in a photography group.

Dog Rocks is so known as it used to have feral dogs living there. Apparently indigenous people believe it haunted. The owners of the land opened it up for anyone to come and look to take photos which is cool. I was too busy talking to take many - credit has to go to my sister here for her beautiful photos of the site. I'm looking forward to going again at dawn or dusk - those rocks must light up beautifully. The second pair of photos - the tree and the view - are mine. My sister is by far the superior photographer. I'm still learning.

After Dog Rocks, a few minutes drive away is a nature reserve - The Moorabool River Reserve. There's beautiful old river gums with nested birds, including cockatoos and purple crested lorikeets. My nephews spent time feeding cows whilst we walked up the river. Truly a gorgeous place, and very unexpected.

I absolutely adore this picture of Mum, too, who often shies away from photographs. For some reason she decided to photo bomb me. She's not too impressed I actually TOOK the photo but I do think it's just gorgeous.

All in all it was a very unexpected but lovely day, and I'm glad I braved the cold and got out of bed. It was particularly good to see places like this, which have historically been abused by agriculture and general neglect, regenerated. Apparently you can even find platypus in the river, and koalas in the trees. I'll definitely head back there and practice my photography!