Escape the stress and grind and find your 'Happy Place'

In this incredibly fast paced world we live in I believe it is vitally important to sometimes take a 'time out' to slow down, de-stress and care for yourself.  Some people are able to do this by taking an hour or two to sit in a favourite place and watch the world go by, meditate, meet a great friend for a coffee and a few laughs or take a day or weekend trip to somewhere they love.
For me, my happy place, as I like to call it, is in Port Elliot South Australia.  A one hour drive from my  'usual' fast paced life and I am breathing in beautiful sea air and can feel myself automatically relaxing.  Lucky (although I do work very hard for it) to have a beautiful little cottage in this little seaside town where I can park the car and go everywhere on foot is one of the great joys I have.

My styling efforts at my little cottage

Whilst my family and I absolutely love spending a few weeks at our cottage in Summer, embracing the beach lifestyle and all that goes with it we also love escaping for one or two nights throughout the year when the pace is slower and we can meander the streets, talk to the locals, rug up and wander the coast, have a delicious meal at the local pub and enjoy a leisurely breakfast at one of the great cafe's while we watch the world go by.

Our favourite breakfast place in Port Elliot is 'Cockles' with options of inside or outside seating, great coffee, wonderful staff and a menu to be admired.

'Cockles'

Cockles -Eggs Florentine

After enjoying a leisurely breakfast,  I enjoy wandering the streets and looking in the beautiful shops - 'All that Jazz' (French inspired homewares and fashions), 'Elliot and Me (high end fashions and accessories), Mist (my absolute favourite which has homewares, Ecoya products, and some items by local artists).  Enjoying a chat with the locals and owners is always a highlight. (Along with a few purchases!).  After walking up 'The Strand' (Main Street of Port Elliot) you get to enjoy a awesome view of the sea, Victor Harbor to the right and Middleton to the left.  After navigating a number of steps you can join the beautiful old promenade that hugs the coast and walk to the well known and popular swimming beach 'Horseshoe Bay'.  The views and experience of this walk is truly worth seeing, I recommend everyone visiting to do this walk.
This is obviously only a small snapshot of some of my favourite things about our beautiful little escape location, I will expand on some of the other highlights and experiences of the beautiful Fleurieu Penninsular in South Australia in future blogs so keep an eye out. Where is your happy place?