Ben’s return from England marked the beginning of two weeks of traveling around Australia. We hit the slopes with his uni friends for four days of fabulous snowboarding, followed directly by a spontaneous trip to the Gold Coast with Nix, the first week of classes, and then a weekend away in the country to visit Jason in Cootamundra. You think we’d stop there but we’re off again this weekend with the University of Sydney’s Ski Team for Club Champs at Threadbo – they’re allowing Ben to tag along with me even though he is competition ! I’ll try to keep this post short but definitely take a look at the photos – there are a ton!
Jindabyne is about a five hour drive south west of Sydney and located in the Snowy Mountains. We stopped in Canberra for lunch (even though there apparently isn’t much to see) since it is the capital and what kind of tourist would I be if I didn’t at least stroll around town for a bit?! We arrived at Station Resort and the sun was shining and the conditions on the mountain were awesome. We snowboarded all day Sunday, Monday, and half day Tuesday since there was a terrible blizzard and my snowboard was nearly lost in the terrain park…oops! To my surprise (I’m a total beginner) I even started connecting my turns with a little bit of coaching from the boys. Not only was it a great opportunity for me to undertake yet another sport, it was so much fun spending time with Alpha and Jarred, James and Lee, and Sonja and Michael. I can’t wait to hone my so-called skills this coming weekend!
With our snow trip sadly coming to an end we decided to take Ryan up on his offer and booked tickets the day after we got home for the Gold Coast. We arrived on a Thursday in time to watch the “sunset†from the beach with Surfer’s Paradise in view before dinner and an all you can drink wine buffet at the Fermented Grape with Ryan, Samara, and Kavita. The next morning Ryan, Ben and I drove to Byron Bay for lunch. I had heard so much about it and we were only about 45 minutes away so it was a must do on my list! The small hippie town right on the beautiful beach reminded me of a more relaxed Santa Barbara – it had the beauty and sights of a gorgeous downtown but the chilled out atmosphere of Isla Vista. I’m proud to say I’ve now visited the most easterly point in Australia! That night Ben and I went to Surfer’s Paradise for dinner and a stroll in the very touristy yet pleasant town. The next morning we met up with Nix and Chris for a beautiful sunny morning of whale watching. Although we didn’t see any whales it was worth the semi seasickness we were all feeling just to be out on the water on a beautiful winter’s day, with such good company, and the gorgeous Gold Coast to see. Ben and I then joined Nix and Chris for a walk around the markets before a dinner party at Chris’ for all Nix and Ryan’s friends. Chris made the best Shepard’s Pie I’ve ever tasted and our last night on the Coast with Nix, Chris, Ryan, and all of their friends was really special – we had so much fun we’ve already decided a second trip is in order!
After one week of Uni we hit the road again to Cootamundra with Mel, Sarah, Marilia, Tom, and Rory to visit Jason. The small country town has a population of 8,000 and the widest streets I’ve ever seen! We all went out for dinner, drinks, and dancing at the local RSL before returning back to Jason’s for some much needed karaoke and a somewhat embarrassing danceoff between Rory and I to ‘Baby Got Back!’ Luckily Jason’s Mom is a saint and didn’t resent our loud music all night and even made everyone a huge breakfast the next morning. We then headed off for my first ‘bush walk’ in Pioneer Park. It was wonderful to go for a hike and get some fresh air after a late night. When we got back we played a three on three game of soccer and I went for a run before heading out for the night. Our weekend in the country gave us all a chance to get out of the city, spend some quality time together, and relax. Overall it was a great trip and very sweet of Jason and his Mom to open their home to all of us.
If you can believe it I’m finished rambling on about the past two weeks. Now just looking forward to the Gwen Stefani Concert tomorrow and more snowboarding this weekend! Check out the photos and send me an email or two if you get a chance. Hope all is well at home and miss you all!
Love,
Jackie
Here is another video of Jackie showing off her skills a little better – from Ben:
Melissa and Ben’s wedding was on the 7th of July, and the celebrations began with a pre wedding dinner on the 6th at the Stone Golf Club. It was a nice dinner with my family, the Hocknells and Ben’s parents who hadn’t met Grandma Lila before. We all had an early night in preparation for the big day.
Luckily despite the weeks of rain, the sun decided to come out for the wedding. We all got dressed up and headed over to pick up Grandma and get to Milwich (where the Hocknells live) an hour before the wedding at 3. TK, Keiren and I did our part helping out with directing cars and getting everyone parked since there were about 150 people coming – filling Milwich Church to capacity. The service went smoothly, and afterwards we all headed across the road to the Marquee by the house. Since the sun was out, most people milled around the tennis court having drinks (there was a lot of Pimms going around, as TK can vouch for after 5 and a half glasses in about the first 30 minutes!). The Marquee looked great as we all slowly headed in for dinner followed by the speeches, and then the band. The band was great fun, playing some old rock and roll, and a bit of jazz. We all got in to the dancing, including Grandma! My family eventually headed off and I decided to stay and just crash at the house for the night. It was a good decision because the rest of the night was good fun, and we even ended up singing karaoke around the piano in the wee hours of the morning!
The next day I got up relatively early and helped with some of the cleaning up and preparing for the party that day. I was actually feeling pretty good considering how little sleep I’d had, although I was grateful when mum and dad arrived at lunch with my clean clothes and toothbrush so that I could freshen up! The sun was out again so we set up croquet, tennis and giant jenga on the lawn. Everyone arrived around lunchtime and we had a nice afternoon eating in the marquee and enjoying all the summer games. As the afternoon progressed it was time for Mel and Ben to head off for their honeymoon in Devon, and for everyone else to slowly make their way home. I’d decided that it would be fun to see Pete and Rach’s new place in Lichfield, so after a quick shower at the hotel headed off to Lichfield with Rach. We met Pete at the apartment with takeaway Chinese for a quiet evening in on the couch watching ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’, which I enjoyed. Pete had managed to get some left over beer from the wedding so we enjoyed a few bottles and all slept very well. The rest of the family came round for lunch the next day before we headed back up to Stone, and then on to the Hocknells for a last dinner with them before I headed down to London. Debs and her children Alice and Alexander were also there and we all had a nice relaxing evening.
The next morning I headed down to London by train (It was £44 for a 90 minute journey!), picked up a bag of presents that we had forgotten in Mayfair, and then headed to Katie’s place in Essex, about 20 minutes on the train from London. After a quick shower and a rest it was back out to London for some dinner and drinks on the south bank by London bridge with Katie, Nicole, and Katie’s boyfriend Brett. I had a fun evening catching up, but we decided not to have a late one and headed home around 11. The next day was my final day in England, and I had a busy day planned. I spent the morning shopping around Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus and Regent St, then had lunch with Talenia, an old friend from Singapore at a cool Thai restaurant near Tottenham Court Rd, followed by more shopping on Carnaby St, a stroll past the Tate Modern, and the Dinner with Dominique and Vagi, friends I know from Wakeboarding in Sydney. After dinner I met Katie and some friends of her’s for drinks in Brentwood, Essex followed by more drinks at the local club. We didn’t ended up getting to bed till almost 4, so it wasn’t easy in the morning making the hour and a half tube journey to Heathrow! I somehow managed to get up at 6.30 and get to the airport on time – at least I was tired for the flight!!
All in all, it was a great trip, and I had so much fun catching up with all my family and friends.
July 2005, August 2006, June/July 2007: all dates that have something in common. Key dates for UK terrorism you might say – but in fact they are also the dates of my last 3 trips to England. I arrived here early morning on June 30th to find out, yet again, that while I was enjoying my 24 trip from Sydney to Oxford, car bombs had been discovered in London’s West End and the country was on critical alert. Other than the increased police presence around London however, life goes on as usual, the threat level has since been downgraded to serious, and I am enjoying a wonderful holiday with my family, belatedly celebrating Keiren’s 21st and Dad’s 60th as well as celebrating mum’s birthday and my cousin Melissa’s wedding.
I arrived at Heathrow at 5am on June 30th and hopped straight on a bus to Oxford for the first night of celebrations. That night was a joint party for Keiren and Dad in Magdalen college where Dad was a student oh so many years ago . We had a wonderful dinner with 40 family and friends (even Gary, Tom and Alison – friend’s of Keiren from Sydney, were there), with delicious food, a ceremony by mum, and of course a few drinks! I really enjoyed finally meeting some of Keiren’s friends in Oxford. After dinner the party continued for some of us, who went to one of Keiren’s friends house’s round the corner. After some more drinks it took me and my cousin Pete 2 eventful hours of wondering around Oxford to get home, in the process saving a few lives, making a few friends and eating lots of fried chicken! A fun night all in all
The next day the celebrations continued in Croydon at the Selsdon Park Hotel. TK and I managed to squeeze in a game of squash at the hotel before the party, and I almost lost £56 to TK with a few cocky bets, but luckily double or nothing finally paid off and I broke even. The party that night was with the extended ‘Buchanan Clan’ – many whom us young ones had never even met. It was good fun though and everyone got on well and had a chat and generally enjoyed themselves.
On July 2nd we then drove in to our apartment in Mayfair in the centre of London. Our first night there, Emmeline, the daughter of an old friend of Dad’s, invited us to Sotheby’s to a cocktail evening viewing Turner’s water-colours amongst other things that were about to be auctioned off. It was an interesting evening, and definitely something I haven’t done before. Talenia (a friend from Singapore) joined us and afterwards introduced us to a cool art restaurant/bar called Sketch, just round the corner from Sotheby’s. The food was delicious and the restaurant had a fun atmosphere, with art projected on the walls and a confusing but futuristic bathroom with ‘pods’ for cubicles that TK and mum compared to expensive porta-loos.
The apartment in Mayfair was a tight fit with 2 bedrooms and 6 of us staying there (Keiren’s friend Tom was there for one night), but it got a lot tighter our second afternoon when Keiren had a few friend’s over and I brought round my friend’s Katie, Kate and Marina (from Santa Barbara), as well as Emma (from Singapore) for a glass of Pimm’s. My friend’s and I continued on to a local pub in Shepherd’s Bush, where I also met Dan, another friend from SB. By this stage of the trip however, all the lack of sleep and jet lag caught up and I had a early night and some well deserved sleep.
From London we picked up our huge Chrysler MPV and loaded in all our bags and all the birthday presents and hit the road, first up to Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds for lunch with family friend’s Candy and William. They have a lovely little cottage in Chipping Campden which is a pretty old English village. Candy had prepared a delicious lunch at their house, after which we had a walk around town while Dad had an emergency visit to the dentist since he was looking like a jack-o-lantern after a crown fell out.
After lunch we drove over to Tewkesbury, quickly settled in to the hotel, before heading round to Twyning to visit the Spaldings – more family friends. James and Duncan are old school friend’s of Keiren and I from Singapore. We had a great dinner in Ledbury, before Keiren, Duncan and I went to Cheltenham to check out Duncan’s apartment (where we ended up staying). Unfortuantely James didn’t join us after a bit of drama due to a miscommunication with another friend of his.
The next day from Tewkesbury we headed off after a huge breakfast at road chef and a while with the Spaldings, to nearby Worcester for lunch with the Hallmark’s. TK was in 7th heaven since they had a lot of little Labrador puppies to keep him entertained. After lunch, it was finally on to Stone in Staffordshire where I am now. I’ll therefore leave this blog here and continue on about the rest of the trip, mum’s birthday and the wedding as it unfolds.
I’ve managed to put up all the photos so far in the gallery, so be sure to have a look!
! I’ll try to keep this post short but definitely take a look at the photos – there are a ton! 