Breakfast at Barrine

Headed up the hill this morning for early morning breakfast at the Lake Barrine teahouse.

Lake Barrine (and its sister lake - Lake Eacham) form part of the Crater Lakes National Park and were formed around 10,000 years ago when there was a shift in the earth's climate.   A Maar volcano was formed when hot molten rock came into contact with groundwater. This caused a build-up of steam, gasses and pressure which blasted the central core from the volcano. This massive explosion caused a crater which subsequently filled with rainwater - and  this is how the two lakes came into being.

Walking down the long flight of stairs from the carpark to the tea house - this is the view that greeted us.  Breakfast at Lake Barrine on a Sunday morning has become a bit of a family tradition.  How lucky are we that this little gem is so close to the Valley.

What a great way to start the day - sitting on the edge of the lake, enjoying our coffee and just taking in the magic of this special place.   That water just looks so inviting!

This pelican (and a couple of crazy ducks) provided the entertainment for the morning.  I love the way the pelican would scoop his huge bill under water and then come up with a huge feed of  fish.  The ducks just did what ducks do best - duck dive!  

Look at this cute sunbird's nest on the verandah.   Just look how intricately this has been constructed.  Sunbirds are just such incredible little engineers.

These beautiful little vases of roses were on every table. 

 They just took my

breath away!

And so did these!