A winter holiday for dogs

Penny's blog has been quiet the last week or so, because we've been away at a dog holiday resort, at Tarra Valley. We've been there before - Best Friend Holiday Retreat. One of the relaxing things about the Retreat is that there is no mobile phone or internet coverage at the cabins. It forces you to take a break from the human world and concentrate on enjoying the company of your dog. Dogs must be with their humans at all times.

Walking in the local area in winter is wonderful, because it is unlikely we would encounter any snakes, so we can head along narrow paths we would normally avoid in summer, and we don't have to worry if the dogs veer off the main path, as Penny is doing in this shot.

It was windy and cold, but that was invigorating, if we didn't mind slopping through water. The humans tried to stick to the edges of the paths, but the dogs loved wading through. It's strange that at home Penny won't even walk on damp grass if she needs to go outside to wee, but on walks she loves to get her feet wet.

The wintry beaches were usually deserted.

Seeing she lives in a one-dog household, it's good for Penny to be part of a canine pack and mill around with her friends back at the cabin.

at Best Friend Holiday Retreat

Penny has just been on holidays once again, staying in a dog-friendly cabin in the lush Tarra Valley.

On the way, we stopped at Yarragon Village while Penny's human (me!) had a cup of coffee and a sandwich. I chose the Yarragon Cafe, because it has a cute little garden out the back where a dog can mooch around and smell the smells.

The Best Friend Holiday Retreat at Tarra Valley is a great place for a dog to relax, as I've blogged previously here and here, and The Ninety Mile Beach is just amazing. 

Off to have a whale of a time at the beach

Penny and I are off to Tarra Valley for a while. Given that one of our main activities there is walking on The Ninety Mile Beach, I was interested to read in The Age newspaper recently that Museum victoria is excavating the skeleton of a whale from under the sand at that part of the beach.

Here's hoping they've dug it up by the time we get there, or they might have Penny helping. She loves digging at the beach.

I'll let you know how she went when we get back...

holidaying at Best Friend dog resort near Yarram

Penny has been away from home for a week, enjoying the magnificently dog-friendly resort at Best Friend Retreat at Tarra Valley, near Yarram.

Many places will accept dogs accompanying their humans, but at Best Friend the dogs are the guests and their humans the companions! Dogs must never be left alone. So humans take the dogs everywhere with them - unless they want their dog to spend the day in the reportedly luxurious kennels. (We didn't use them, so I can't describe them.)

Our trip was organised by Cindy, who had a birthday while we were there, so of course we had a party. The barbecue area is great for parties, because the dogs can come in with the humans, but we thought they should stay out in the little fenced yards until we had cooked the meat - for obvious reasons.

Tarra Valley is not far from the pristine Ninety Mile Beach, where dogs are allowed off-lead, so each morning we set off for long, long walks.

Ninety Miles of doggy bliss!

(More about Penny's holiday in the next post...)