Wild Spark Ladies Day – Mudgee 2019

After our Ladies Day in Brookfield QLD (in case you missed it you can read all about it here – we will wait while you do) we loaded up Ed’s car and did a massive road trip down to Mudgee in NSW for our second Wild Spark event in 2 weeks. We really love to over commit – 2 ladies days in 2 different states over 2 weeks – if we really thought about it we would never have done it but my goodness it was fun. I absolutely love doing Wild Spark with my gorgeous friend Edwina and can’t thank her enough for partnering with me. Ed – there is a reason it took me 4 or 5 years to get Wild Spark going – you were missing!

Both events were brilliant and we couldn’t have been happier. So many wonderful women, smiling, enjoying some time out for themselves and meeting new friends. What could be better?

The best thing about the road trip was that Kirsten from Bettyquette and Nicole from The Builders Wife drove in convoy with us. We met them at Gatton Macca’s at an ungodly time of the morning and off we went. It was such fun. Kirsten has been with us from our very first event in Mt Isa and has had her Bettyquette pop up shop at each event, she is such a huge support and I would be nothing without her wisdom and advice, oh and she is such good fun.

Look at us in our Wild Spark shirts – we are totally business women right? Just a quick meeting at a roadhouse along the way.

Then back on the road bound for Mudgee. We booked a big house and yes – of course it was such fun all staying together, so many laughs and late night chats. When we got to Mudgee we popped down to see my Mum and Dad. They had whipped up dinner for us – fully set table and all. Now I have never really thought much about the fact that Mum and Dad still live in the same house they built back in the 70’s, the house I grew up in, but the girls brought to my attention that this was really quite something. They couldn’t believe that was the house I grew up in and that my Mum and Dad were still together after a gazillion years (ok so only 50). But I guess they are right, we really are lucky. The same pictures on the wall, everything just as it should be, with a few renovations here and there – ok lots of renovations.

Gosh listen to me bang on about the road trip – lets get down to business – the actual Ladies Day…

Well it was brilliant. I was so nervous, this was my hometown and I really didn’t want to let these fabulous women down – especially my gorgeous family – Mum, Sister and Aunties. Most of them are suffering in the severe drought and I wanted them to have such a great day. I was a mess the day before – the girls basically had to slap me – I wasn’t fit for human consumption – such a grump. I was just so worried that it was going to be a disaster. But I was so wrong – it was amazing.

Our Ladies Day was held at Burnbrae Wines which is about a 10 minute drive out of town.

Everyone was welcomed with a glass of bubbly – Burnbrae Twinkle Toes – and canapés while they shopped the fabulous pop up shops. The sun was shining and it couldn’t have been more perfect. Thanks so much to Burnbrae Wines for sponsoring our welcome drinks. Trine, Andy and their crew at Burnbrae did an amazing job hosting us and we are so grateful for all that you did for us.

Thanks so much to all of our Pop Up Shops who travelled to Mudgee to be part of our event, we can’t thank you enough. We hope you had a fabulous day: Add to Cart by Baby Mac, ZOCO Candles, Bettyquette, This Farmhouse, Sunday Cowgirl, Blue Sky Cheese & Krysties Boutique.

We even had a coffee cart – Kate and her daughter came along with The Coffee Float – isn’t it just so cute…

If you are looking for a coffee cart for your event down around Mudgee we highly recommend Kate and The Coffee Float. Thanks so much for coming along.

Our Mudgee event was a fundraiser for the McGrath Foundation. We did this by selling bon bons which had random prizes noted inside. We had some fabulous prizes and would like to thank every business that donated something to help raise funds on the day.

My Mum and Dad spent hours putting these little pink bon bons together and in doing so helped raise $2,500 for the McGrath Foundation. Thanks to everyone who bought one on the day.

Everyone then moved onto the verandah for lunch and our guest speakers – Shelly Hawkins from Trek West Tailored Hiking Tours and Amanda Loy from Sunday Cowgirl. Both Amanda and Shelly have also been with us from the beginning. Shell has been our little mascot and guest speaker at every event and Amanda has been our IT expert – helping us enormously with all things tech – spending countless hours putting together the slide shows for both events as well as hosting a pop up shop and sorting out all the techie stuff – not to mention speaking in Mudgee. Thanks so much ladies!

After lunch the lovely ladies from Blue Sky Cheese Mendooran (Pip and Deb) told us about their fabulous cheese making business. These ladies are amazing and are doing wonderful things from their dry farms in the central west of NSW. One point I took away from their talk was that they have found their “Crazy” in each other and they are having fun along the way – doing something they love. I have found my own “Crazy” with my Wild Spark partner – Ed – we sure do have some fun and love what we do and I guess that is the main thing for us. We have definitely found our crazy!

Blue Sky Cheese also sponsored our grazing table after lunch – all of our ladies got the chance to sample their delicious cheeses. Thanks so much Pip and Deb.

We were also very grateful to NBN for sending their Muster Truck to provide WiFi on the day. Unfortunately Lachlan had a bit of trouble connecting us but we were so very thankful to them for coming all the way to Mudgee and supporting our event. If it weren’t for NBN I wouldn’t be able to write this blog and would definitely not have been able to start Wild Spark with Ed. NBN is allowing remote women like me to do amazing things from the middle of nowhere.

My sister was also such a massive help with our Mudgee event – thanks so much for all of your support Toni – couldn’t do it without you. She also rounded up the troops and had quite the crew from Gilgandra there with us. Thanks for coming ladies.

I would like to introduce you to a wonderful lady – her name is Shoina and she is from Coolah (she is the gorgeous lady on the left with the spotty top on)…

Shoina purchased 2 tables and brought a heap of ladies from Coolah along to our day. These are ladies who are struggling with the severe drought but still managed to find time for themselves. Shoina came along with her 3 daughters. Heidi from All Quotes Direct is one of her daughters and Heids has also been with us since our first Wild Spark Event in Mt Isa. Thanks so much for all of your support Heids and Shoins!!!!

One of Shoina’s friends came up to me on the day and told me that she wasn’t really looking forward to coming along, they were very busy at home on the farm and things were just so dry but she decided to come. She told me what a wonderful day she had and how thankful she was that she decided to come along – turns out she really needed the break and a chance to catch up with many other women who are in the same boat as her.

It is stories like this that make our Wild Spark days worthwhile – that is what we are all about – bringing women together, helping them be the best they can be no matter where they live – “Celebrating rural women”. Thanks so much to all the ladies who are struggling with the drought for making time for yourselves and coming along. You are inspirational.

Each lady also took home a gift bag full of goodies.

Thanks once again to all of the businesses who supported and sponsored our Wild Spark Mudgee event, we couldn’t have done it without you.

After such a massive 2 weeks (and all the weeks leading up to both events) we definitely deserved some time out and on the Sunday we did just that. Mudgee is the “Land of Wine & Honey” so there are a gazillion wineries in the area. On Sunday we decided to head out to Lowe Wines – we got there around 11:30am and didn’t leave. We really settled in. First with some wine tasting and then lazing around with some platters and delicious bottles of wine. It was seriously the best day ever. Our Wild Spark Crew – Myself, Ed, Shelly, Kirsten & Nicole, plus my Mum & Dad, Aunty Theresie & John and of course my Sister – Toni – and her gorgeous friend Cathy. It was such an amazing day. What a stunning spot. It was so great to kick back and relax after 2 full on weeks. I think these pics really speak for themselves and sum up our lazy Sunday at Lowe Wines…

Just looking at all of these pictures from our weekend in Mudgee warms my heart. Thank you so very much to everyone who came along and especially to our Wild Spark gang of helpers.