A Royal Welcome

After an abominable day of flights, layovers and ridiculous luggage charges... I made it.  I am finally in Australia!

On Friday morning at about 10:00am I was greeted at Sydney Airport by my wonderful aunt and uncle, Coral and Phil, and his brother and sister-in-law, Geoff and Joy.  After hugs and tears and laughter and English, Joy and Coral and I hopped on a train and headed to Sydney.  We got off at Circular Key and had a coffee on the harbour overlooking the Harbour Bridge and the beautiful Sydney Opera House.  After that we headed up to the Opera House for a closer look and got rained on.  The weather certainly could have been better, but it was still better than a kick in the teeth.  After coffee and walking around a little more we stopped for a meat pie.  The rain persisted so we hopped back on the train and headed for Town Hall to see the beautifully ornate Queen Victoria Building we're we did some window shopping and then had stopped for tea and a vanilla slice.  We quickly ducked into Victoria's Basement, a kitchen store, so the ladies could pick up commemorative William and Kate plates before catching the train home.
When we arrived back at Geoff and Joy's we took our places for the wedding of the decade.  We were quite early though and since I had been waiting for a hot shower for 12 weeks, I opted out of some of the pre-wedding coverage for the blessed hot water.  It was a truly amazing moment.  After freshening up it was time for dinner; a beautiful lasagna that Coral made and a salad which I've been craving for months.  It wouldn't have been complete without a ginger beer which brought the meal to an A+.  Back to the tele for the entrance of William and Harry, Her Majesty and finally the beautiful bride.  We enjoyed the wedding immensely; Jane Austen could not have written a better ceremony. For all of the Americans who seem to think it was nothing but a waste of money or whatnot, keep it to yourself.  The commonwealth love their royals, and about a billion people heard a heap of the gospel, so I say it was well worth it.  The evening was beautiful and the sleep that followed was the best I've slept in quite a long while.
The following morning we had a delightful breakfast and set off for Dungog where Phil and Coral's farm is located.  We drove about 3 hours and then stopped for lunch and grocery shopping in Maitland.  Back on the road again and we arrived at my favorite farm at about 4:00pm.  My uncle Rob and Aunt Wendy were there to great me along with my lovely cousin Racheal and several of her friends who were getting ready for a party that evening.  We planned to attend so we headed for the house to freshen up.  After a cuppa, some Anzac cookies and a quick call home, I filled the great big tub with hot water and had a luxurious bubble bath; what more could a girl ask for?
We went to the party and had a lovely time.  Delicious food including lamb, hummus and sausage rolls, and good conversation around some games of pool. My cousin Tim had also come in for the party and it was lovely seeing him too.  There was a good deal of grog there though, so we left when the rest of them started to get a little too fuzzy for chat.
It is now the next morning and I am getting caught up on news and laundry.  I think another bath will be in order soon; perhaps after afternoon tea and some hot cross buns. :)