…And relax!
From the moment we arrived after a surprisingly quick and comfortable flight we have managed to power through jet lag and settle in very nicely, enjoying some early morning rises with our gorgeous niece Miss Halle.
Here we are 12 days into our Australian adventure and what a start it has been. With Andrew and Lana still working we have managed to keep ourselves pretty entertained – the first couple of days saw us back on Mollie (Andrew’s dog) walking duties, visiting our favourite shopping centres and food outlets and catching up with our favourite people.
A particular highlight was Day 4 when Mum got lost in China Town after taking a trip to the ladies and not managing to find her way back to us! If that wasn’t funny enough, we experienced our first game of Balderdash that evening (a game where we have to bluff our way through questions making up answers which we must try and convince are real). This game made my belly hurt from laughing, watching dad reading in tears of laughter because of mums classic answers! And that was without a drink or two…
Then last Saturday we had Lana’s Hens night. The most perfect day for the most wonderful big sister to be! We headed to the Marion shopping mall first for a bit of pampering and then a ladies lunch at the Verve Kitchen bar. We then went back home for a quick change before heading to Wanda’s (Lana’s Auntie) amazing house for what I can only describe as… Lana’s Paradise. Flowers everywhere, everyone dressed in white, dream catchers, cocktails… just check out the photos to see! Followed by homemade paella, churros and some brilliant party games!
A favourite was writing down a best memory shared with Lana which was read out anonymously by Danielle (Lana’s Maid of Honour) and Lana had to try and guess who wrote it. It was a struggle to think of my favourite memory so far with Lana as there’s been so many and I had no idea what the game entailed at that point. But fortunately for Lana she guessed correctly when she heard mine about swimming with dolphins and that meant… a shot for me! Mum of course ‘sipped’ her shot as Lana also guessed hers correctly about their memories camping in Queensland. Typical mum also managed to make 1 glass of wine and 1 glass of sangria last her all night, but still very proud to say she absolutely powered through with us until 4am! Everyone just had the best time and danced the night away in a brilliant club called the Electra House until our feet hurt and the lights came on! Let’s just say the boys have a lot to live up to this weekend for Andrew’s Bucks Night!
Of course a hungry jacks brekky was in order as we all had pretty sore heads in the morning. We also managed a trip to my favourite restaurant (the Bombay Bicycle Club) Sunday evening for a trio of curries! Seriously I’m addicted!
So a week had passed by then and Andrew took no time at all to sign me and Tom up as volunteers for the Mawson centre (This is where Andrew works. It’s based on a uni campus right beside a beautiful lake. He organises community projects and learning activities from the centre for students and public members) I can’t deny it – I really enjoyed myself! Speaking to hundreds of University students, filling in questionnaires and giving out water bottles in the Adelaide sunshine. It was funny to be on the volunteer side of things but pretty sure we smashed it and impressed Andrews boss too.
What better way to celebrate a long day of work than a climb up Mount Lofty (Adelaide’s highest peak). In 31 degree heat may I add, after already doing 13000 steps that day. I knew it would be hard, but my god, it was the hardest thing I’ve done since our 100km run from London to Cambridge! Lana and Andrew aced it, Tom was holding back to make sure I wasn’t going to collapse and fall off the side of the mountain. And then there was me, staggering behind but never giving up. And I did it! Too exhausted to really appreciate any view at the top at that point and then to find we had to run all the way down which was slightly more pleasant but still- a killer!
I just about managed to climb the stairs to a lovely roof top pub afterwards called The Unley for some well deserved fish and chips and a glass of wine. Not surprising to say I didn’t get much use out of my legs the day after so what better way to relax than to spend the day on Grange Beach! It was just me mum and dad as Paul (Lana’s Brother) picked up Tom to do some shopping for Andrew’s Bucks night and Lana and Halle were running some wedding errands. It was lovely, gorgeous sunshine, and managed to play a bit of frisbee with dad and yup you guessed it… more fish and chips! (with chicken salt -YUM)
So that brings us to the last couple of days. Thursday me, Tom and Dad went to watch our first live basketball game at the Adelaide Titanium Security Arena just around the corner. Adelaide 36ers vs. Illawarra Hawks. Unfortunately they couldn’t find the win but it was amazing to watch and there was such a great atmosphere throughout the whole game!
Yesterday – Andrew and Lana’s last day of work before their holidays begin! We enjoyed a relaxed day in the garden playing with Halle and Mollie. I swear Halle gets cuter every day! She loves to apply our sunscreen and drinking out of my water bottle rather than hers. She also managed to eat half my paddle pop ice cream. Oh and Mum’s too! Think she definitely has the Murray appetite in her!
Finally, we all took a trip the city last night and met up with Paul, Georgia (Paul’s girlfriend) and Rita (Lana’s mum) for a lovely Thai dinner at Spices on Rundle Mall. We then took a walk around The Fringe Garden of Unearthly Delights. We are so lucky to be here when the fringe is on as it makes the city come alive! We couldn’t resist a ride on the Ferris wheel which was surprisingly scary, more so for Tom when a huge flying stick insect of some sort decided to fly right at him and land on his shirt!
Speaking of insects, we saw our first huntsman on our way home last night! It looked huge but apparently it was a ‘small one’ … Not sure I want to come across many more of those please! I will certainly be checking our bed sheets before we sleep from now on…
It really has been an awesome start to our holidays and we are thoroughly looking forward to the wedding preparations, rehearsals and celebrations to come this week. Look out for our next post where Tom will be sharing some (not all) of the antics from Andrews bucks show and of course, The Murray Wedding…
Gemma