Whoop, whoop! Arrived in AUSSIE!
We are now getting used to airports, so the usual, fill in landing cards, go through passport control, collect baggage........but I hadn't realised about the Aussie queues for quarantine! I have been to Sydney about 9 years ago, but I don't remember this and I HATE queues! We landed at 5.30am and I'm not a morning person anyway, especially after no sleep on a plane, so when Ian told me I needed to ditch my cashew nuts as they wouldn't let them through quarantine, I wasn't best pleased. I LOVE cashew nuts! I hung on to them till the last minute, but as I was watching everyone get their bags thoroughly searched and things like seashells, beef jerky and such like being extracted from cases like it's a gram of cocaine (I kid you not, they fine you massive amounts!), I was losing my resolve, even for cashew nuts. Too late though! We were finally at the conveyor belt, oh no, panic set in, but all was well, I could keep my cashews! This was a sign, its going to be a great leg of the trip!
Even though it was only 6.15am, Michele and Andy were waiting for us when we came out of arrivals and took us straight back to their house, which is a lovely open plan bungalow, straight out of 'Neighbours'. Then we set off sightseeing, Mullaloo beach, Cotisloe beach which was gorgeous and we had sparkling wine overlooking the sea, Kings Park as the sun was setting over Perth and dinner on the waterfront. When we had been in Kings park, the whole area was being set up for the big celebrations for ANZAC day, which is Australian, New Zealand Army Core and they have massive parades and street parties. Michele and Andy had decided to get out of Perth the next day as everything is shut so the following day was by the sea at a place guilderton where the Moore river meets the sea and in the afternoon a National Park called Yanchep, where Andy volunteers, to sees Kangaroos and Koalas! This was a fantastic day getting a reall feel for Western Australia. Although I was VERY excited to see Kangas and Koalas, however, I was also excited about the following day, which was Michele's Hen day in the Swan Valley for a wine tasting tour, on a pink bus, dressed up in gaudy 70's wear, FAB! Thankfully, I had gone into Primark before I left England only to see that this years summer fashion is pretty much gaudy 70's, so I bought a little summer dress and shoved a scarf round my head and just about got by, but some of the girls had fantastic costumes and Shona, Theresa and Louise all wore wigs.........ALL DAY! Big respect! I haven't had such a laugh in ages. All Micheles friends she has met over in Perth are lovely and a lot of fun. It was a brilliant day and a good send off for Micheles married life to come! (I need to get my planning head on to make sure that hen night 2 over in England, as she is coming over for a blessing in July, is just as much fun, but I'm not sure I can live up to wine tasting in The Swan Valley!!)
Amazingly we were not too hungover the day after and managed a boat trip to Freemantle for the day, where we drank a paddle of 6 beers and had fish and chips, with scallops, king prawns, squid and red snapper. Yum! Bearing in mind this was now the day before the wedding, Michele decided to confess that she thinks she may have an allergy to scallops as she loves them but they make her sick. This is halfway through eating the said scallops! Guess who was throwing up at 4am the night before their wedding!!! Uh oh! Before we knew it, it was Saturday morning, the day of the wedding and..............in Australia.........on Michele and Andy's wedding day.............it was pissing it down! We were gutted for them, but they were not letting anything spoil the big day and soon had the wedding moved inside and the day was absolutely perfect!! The wedding was at a place called Joondalup resort and as I've not been in Aus very long, the names are still tickling me. For example, Michele lives near Joondalup resort just off Wanaroo road near Balladong loop! I know this is coming from a girl called Jane Gallogly but I love all these Aussie place names! Back to the wedding, Michele looked absolutely beautiful and I've put some pics on the offexploring website and the rain didn't matter one bit.
Sunday we were all a bit hungover and chilled out at a place called Mindarie quays listening to live music and watching the world go by. Then Monday was off to Margaret River, a fantastic wine tasting region south of Perth. Yes, basically we were going on honeymoon with Michele and Andy! Sorry, Michele and Andy! Another blog to follow from Margaret River very soon!!