So the festive season didn’t start off too well as we were driving back from the farm one day to be pulled over by police, not once but twice! They were out in force, eager to catch the criminals of Adelaide, and unfortunately thought Tom and I were next on their naughty list. With flashing lights behind us, Tom pulled over and out came the policeman. Already with an attitude, he asked for Tom’s driving license which he immediately thought was fake! He started questioning Tom’s reasons why he is here in Australia and why he thinks he has the right to drive in this country. Long story short, the policeman had done a check on our car and it was showing as ‘unlicensed.’ Little did we know it was because we have a UK driving licence, their system doesn’t pick them up and therefore see no license against our vehicle. Once that was cleared up and the policeman had no choice but to back down, he then started questioning our visa rights and how long we were allowed to drive in the county for. He thought we were only allowed to drive for 3 months which is a rule we had NEVER heard of before. The policeman agreed to look into it and took Tom’s mobile number to call him back. To our amusement, Tom received a voicemail from the officer stating he was wrong and apologised. He wished us well on our travels and Tom won’t be deleting that voicemail any time soon.
As soon as we got home I needed to head out to the shops and would you believe it, another police car started flashing behind me! Are you kidding me? That was twice in less than an hour. After our first experience I knew exactly what was coming, so before the policeman could even speak I passed him my english driving license and he knew straight away what the issue was. He was a lot nicer about it than the first policeman and sent me on my way straight away.
Amongst the farm life, the Ashes were soon upon us and we had to go and experience a game while we were here in Adelaide. Our friend Will joined us at the second day where we got thrashed and then Tom and I returned for the final day to see Australia conclude the game. I guess it was time for the Aussies to win something hey…
It was then December 9th and we were certainly due a few festive drinks. But first it was girls night. Lana and I headed out to the Wine Centre in the city while the boys stayed at home with Halle. Vodka, white wine, red wine, a small dinner, a smashed wine glass and a hilarious cab ride home later, we were absolutely plastered. Oh and we both had to be up for work in less than 4 hours time. Kill me now.
To say the next day was a struggle was an understatement. Every time I bent down I thought I was going to be sick, so by 11.30am I had to clock off and sleep in the car while Tom held the fort. That night we had the Carols by Candlelight show which was also a struggle in the 30 degree heat and dodgy jacket potatoes. The next day didn’t get much better either. This time I was actually sick, over the strawberry plants which meant I had officially had a 2 day hangover and which also meant I must be getting old!
It was a busy few weeks from then on, from going to see The Cactus Channel and pretending I was Australia’s next top model. The farm days were quickly getting ticked off and the bags under our eyes were quickly becoming heavier. But it was an awesome build up to a hot Christmas and soon enough we were at the airport picking up Tom’s sister Kate and her partner Matt. After a few weeks in New Zealand they arrived with no jet lag, which meant we could get straight into catching up and showing them around Adelaide.
Whilst I joined them for their first day in the city, Tom stayed off work for the majority of their first week so he could spend some well earned quality time with his sister and played tour guide for them.
We had a big Christmas party at the house with a few of Andrew and Lana’s friends which traditionally involved a game of ‘Centurion’ – 100 shots of beer in 100 minutes. After my experience the previous week with Lana, we left this one to the boys whilst us girls watched amused. They actually did very well and everyone had a really fun night! I went into work the next day while Tom recovered. Turned up in a Christmas hat only to be described as the ‘weeding elf’, I was determined to bring Christmas cheer to the farm. It turned out to be a very long, boring and backbreaking day on my own.
On Christmas Eve we went to Gorge Wildlife Park. This was our third visit there but still love the place! We held Kevin the koala and enjoyed the sunshine and a picnic. That night Matt and Kate treated us all for dinner at our favourite Vietnamese restaurant, NNQ before we went to see some Christmas lights down by the river. It was so awesome having them here for Christmas. As much as we missed our families back home and a traditional Christmas which we know and love, having Kate and Matt here with our Australian family made it even more special.
In true Aussie fashion, we spent Christmas Day on the beach. The weather was beautiful, and just how we would imagine a hot Christmas. That was after watching Halle open her crazy amount of presents in the morning, and a delicious brunch at Rita’s house. That evening we headed to Paul and Georgia’s place for another Christmas feast and board games. We certainly missed our parents and family who couldn’t be with us, but really enjoyed our hot Christmas nonetheless.
Boxing day was just as special, we spent the morning on the Dolphin Explorer followed by an evening on Glenelg beach playing Kubb, eating ice cream and watching an incredible sunset. Bliss.
It was the day after that things started heading a little downhill. Tom and I were back on the farm and I wasn’t feeling too good. I thought I was just over tired from all the Christmas celebrations and getting up at 4.30am hit hard, but when we got to Cariole Winery after work to meet Matt and Kate, I had only a couple of tastes of wine and knew I wasn’t right. Tom took me home to rest but I wanted to force myself out to dinner that night. Unfortunately I couldn’t eat anything which is unheard of for me and as soon as we were home I was sick. The gastro plague had officially hit me, which also took down Halle, Andrew, Lana, Kate and Matt the next day. Tom was the last man standing.
Of course this was the worst timing ever. It was Kate and Matt’s last day before heading off to Sydney for New Years and Mum and Dad were arriving. We rocked up at the airport all feeling a little worse for wear. I had told Mum and Dad we were going to be working at the farm the day they arrived so we would see them in the evening but little did they know we wanted to surprise them. We powered through catching up and watching Andrews & Lana’s wedding video. It brought back all the feelings and memories from the most perfect day.
On 29th December, we saw Kate and Matt off and wished them well on their onwards travels before we then headed to Kangaroo Island for New Years. We caught the ferry later than the family did but managed to wave them off from the port. Whilst we were all pretty much recovered from our sickness, I knew it was inevitable that Tom and maybe my Mum and Dad were going to be next!
It was our first proper day on the island when Tom started to feel icky. No exploring for us unfortunately and Tom spent New Years eve bed bound, in Barker the van. The rest of us had a BBQ at our Bowhouse Getaway apartment and partied into the night but it just wasn’t the same without Tom.
He thankfully felt better the next day and we caught up on exploring what the island had to offer. As we were staying in Penneshaw which is 5 minutes from the ferry port, it took a long time to drive to anywhere else on the Island. We saw A LOT of road kill and the roads were pretty boring, but once we got to the National Park to see Admirals Arch, the Remarkable Rocks and hundreds of seals and sea lions swimming around and perched up on the rocks, it was well worth the drive!
Our last day on the Island was even better, we headed to Emu Bay – a stunning beach to the north. Then we hit the sand dunes in Little Sahara and had such a laugh. I managed to beat Tom in a race on our sand boards, Mum actually sleighed from the top after a million attempts half way up, and everyone came away with achy legs and a few pounds lighter in the process as getting up and down the dunes was hard work! But it was the best part of our trip without a doubt!
That night we got the late ferry back and stayed in Myponga ready for farm life again. It sucked to have to work when Mum and Dad were here but we made sure we made the most of the afternoons and evenings together. We squeezed in a lot including wineries, Adelaide Central Markets, beach time, BBQ’s, board games, shopping trips and on their last day we took the day off to take them to our favourite brunch restaurant, Peter Rabbit. We spent the rest of the day on the beach and then surprised them with dinner at Windy Point Restaurant as a bon voyage and late Christmas treat.
Mum and Dad left on the 18th January and reality hit that we were on the official countdown, we had just 10 days left on the farm!!!
Gemma.