The Post you've all been waiting for

So I think I promised to blog about the Melbourne Trip/Wedding thingy... here goes

The days running up to the trip had me in doubt that I would have any chance of enjoying the trip. Apparently, though, this was just the stress of preparing for the trip that was causing tension. We did eventually get everything ready and packed into the car by about nine-thirty pm. Then, we hit the hay.

5am wake the next day; we ate egg on toast and fried tomato for breakfast with tea and juice. After finishing food and showering, we were ready to leave. 6am, we hit the road. I'm not going to go into the tedious recount of every individual stop on the way, mainly because I can't remember them all. Basically, the first day nothing of GREAT interest happened, but it was exciting nonetheless, simply because we were finally on the way. We drove all day, making stops to rest and eat, and reached Gilgandra by 5pmish, daylight saving time. We wanted to go for a swim in the local pool, but by the time we got there, it was closed :( . So instead, we got dinner at the RSL, and went back to the motel. We watched a couple of programs on cable TV, but it got boring after a while, so we went to sleep.

Woke up 6am to get going again, except 6am felt like 5am, because us Queenslanders aren't used to daylight savings. Kept driving for a few hours, before we passed through Parkes. This is, if you are unaware, the home of The Dish. The Dish is an old Aussie movie about Australia's part in making the 1969 moon landing happen. It's part historical documentary and part comedy. But yeah, so we saw the dish in real life. It's pretty big. Keep an eye out, I'll upload photos after this. We got some souvenirs - I bought a pin to add to my collection, and I got a coin stamped too :) . Then, we hit the road again. Driving for hours, we finally reached Derrinal (the holiday home in central Victoria) at around seven-thirty pm. We unpacked our stuff, cooked barbecued sausages, steak and potatoes and relaxed before bed. The sun didn't actually set until about 9:30pm, which is really freaking late, but it gave us a while to enjoy the surroundings. The setting was really beautiful. There were animals everywhere. Cockatoos, Corellas, and even a mob of roos.
Anyhow, we got into bed around 10pmish, and we were up again at 6. We dressed in our wedding attire, and were on the road to Melbourne by 8am. It took us over 2 hours in the car to reach the church where the wedding was to be held. We were a little early, so we got some extra breakfast at the closest McDonalds we could find. We got back to the church just after 11, which gave us enough time to run through the song a few times. Then, with another half an hour to spare, my sister and I went to do our makeup. Then it was time for the wedding. Most weddings I have been to barely lasted a half hour, but this one ran well over an hour. They didn't miss out a thing, and they attributed and dedicated everything to God (instead of the Commonwealth of Australia, which they do at secular weddings) which somehow made everything so much more sincere. Anyway, our item went well. So did the rest of the ceremony. First time I saw the groom dip the bride for the kiss, and first time i saw the bridal party including bride and groom dance down the aisle at the end. It was definitely different, and I have to say, I enjoyed every minute of it.
The next fun adventure was what to do in the 5 hours between the Wedding and the reception. Well, what else does one do in Melbourne? SHOPPING at Chadstone Shopping Mall :) . We had to buy gifts for the bride and groom anyway, so we went to Myer's first to pick something off the registry. After that, we proceeded to get lost in the endless miles of shopping heaven. I ended up buying a heavily reduced pair of sunglasses from Witchery, which was a major score. XD. We were all dying from exhaustion by the end of it. We got to the reception a little early, so we had time to change into more 'party' clothes. We proceeded to enjoy some more persistent late sunlight and got some photos. Then we went inside and found our seats for dinner. We were at a table with a whole heap of other people who'd also come down from Brisbane, but most of whom were smart enough to fly down. We all hit it off straight away. So amidst all the talking and eating, speeches happened, and before we knew it, it was time for the cutting of the cake and dancing. While the dancing started with the new couple, and progressed to parents, the bridal party and then to everyone, the highlight for me was probably the dance battle that happened a little later. Girls vs Boys*. It was pretty fun. I've been to weddings before where i'd expected there to be dancing, and there wasn't, so it was good not to be dissapointed for once. The last part of the night, we bid the new bride and groom farewell, and the bride threw her bouquet. She had untied it so that everyone could catch a rose, which was really lovely.
Around 11:30pm, it was time to go home. We left the party, dropped our friend at her hotel, and proceeded to get onto the wrong freeway before finally making our way back to the holiday home, which we reached at approximately 2:45am. You know that inky blue colour that the sky goes just before it starts to turn light? The sky was already that colour by the time we got there. We went straight to bed.

We didn't leave until a little later the next morning. We all needed a few extra minutes lie-in. So we left at around 8:30am. I opted to sleep in the back, while the others shared the driving, until we reached Echuca. Here, we found a cute little chocolate shop, and we visited the famous Beechworth Bakery for morning tea. I got a meringue worm called a zoomer, and a pink lamington called a Dame Edna (!?). Will post photos. Shane enjoyed a pie that was half pie, half quiche, and a vanilla slice, while Danielle bought a Steak and Kidney pie, and a really nice dessert that I can't remember the name of. After finishing our food, and enjoying our view of the Campaspe (said Kemp-see) river, we got a photo of the funny old horse & coach that was passing us. Then we continued on our journey, and I went back to sleep. I awoke after we had made a wrong turn, and get completely lost on a random dirt road. We were about to turn around and go back, when a nice couple in a 4WD came along, and lead us to the next highway that would connect us back onto our original route. We stopped to thank them, and then found a petrol station where we cleaned off all the dust that was kicked up while we were following them. We proceeded to continue driving, then for dinner we stopped in Dubbo for a huge meal of steak and chips. I have a photo of that somewhere too, which I took in an attempt to make my dad jealous (he's very fond of steak and mushroom sauce). Then we drove back to Gilgandra, and stayed the night.

Monday, our last travelling day, we had the luxury of waking up a little later than we had the rest of the time. The driving time was shorter, so we took a little longer. When we got started, i got a call from Mum. We updated her on everything while we looked for a McDonalds to eat some proper breakfast (i know right? fat chance). We ended up eating at and eatery called "Eat It" which served an all day breakfast. Shane and Danielle got the Big Breakfast, while I opted for a chicken burger with the lot. I have a photo of myself trying to eat this burger... and practically breaking my jaw trying to open my mouth wide enough. :O Later that afternoon, we stopped off in Moree to go for a swim. Apart from that, no touristy things done today... just held up by the excitement of getting home and sleeping in our own beds. We did get there eventually though. It was exciting crossing the border back into Queensland, and regaining the hour we had lost on Thursday. (Stupid daylight saving time >:@)
When we eventually did arrive home, I went to my room and discovered that the walls were now blue. This made me happy. :).


*I think I have video footage of this somewhere, but no promises, I don't even know about the quality