Thursday 17th February
This must have been a busy day as I only wrote down a few notes which I am expanding now as I type.
After the hotel breakfast we packed up the cases and put them in the porters lodge and checked out of the hotel. Then it was a short walk to the car rental place. The chap was a bit too much of "no worries" but no information. I would have liked a little more information about such things as the speed limit in built up areas. But hey you can't have everything. There was a street map of Melbourne and other notable towns in Victoria. It was a bit too much for Jenny for some reason. It was about 2 inches thick and about A4 in size so there was plenty of it. We did get back to the hotel safely. I looked after the car as we were parked on the street and there were supposed to be traffic wardens in the area. Jenny got the cases, I loaded them and then we set off aiming for the Geelong Road. Somewhere along the way we got lost and took the wrong road. We were heading out down the wrong side of the bay and we could not seem to find a way of turning round and heading back in the right direction. Half an hour later we did get on the main freeway heading for Geelong.
It then started to hit us that the distances were a bit bigger than they looked on the map. Hey Geelong is just down the road. It took us the best part of an hour and then after a stop in a supermarket another half hour to get to Barwon Heads. We stopped off in Geelong to go and see the venue for the wedding and had a lovely chat with one of the gardeners there.
Whilst shopping we found that the big supermarkets do not sell alcohol. You have to go to a Liquor store for that. Later that day though we did see a new thing - a drive through liquor store so you can be handed a pack of cold ones on the way home!
As we got into Barwon heads, we got a text from Liz and Gary to say they were at the wedding reception site, within walking distance from the beach houses where we were staying, and when we are ready come on down for a drink. We checked into the beach house and, whilst I unpacked the cases, Jenny went off in search of her sister and brother in law.
We went and had a quick drink at the jetty 'At The Heads' with them before they went off back to their hotel in Geelong. We unpacked and looked out to this great view of the bay and river just outside the window.
The view from Barwon Heads |
There are 4 beach houses all next to each other with great sea views. They are all occupied by wedding guests and will be part of the centre of operations for the next few days. We are in one house, Sue, Bill, Megan and Rupert are in another. Barney & Ingrid will be based in another, as well as the other bridesmaids. Friends of Sue and Bill are in the final beach house. A bit later Bina, a long standing friend of the Ellis family (almost a relative), arrived. She is staying in the beach house with us. She is very well travelled and has already spent some time with relatives in Australia. As we all arrived we sat around drinking and chatting. Bill, who makes an excellent cocktail, made some very good Singapore Slings. It is a good job that we bought a large bottle of gin at the duty free shop!
In the evening there was to be a two family party. It would be a chance for the two families to get to meet each other before the event as opposed to just meeting at the wedding itself. It was a great idea. As the evening progressed people started moving around between the tables and we all got to know each other a bit better.
The three aunt’s – Jenny, Gayle and Liz |
