Happy 30th Birthday Adam!
For Adam's Birthday weekend, we started off right by having a hearty breakfast at 'Pancakes on the Rocks'. I'm not going to lie, it was a little ridiculous. Adam ordered the Jaffa Orange which is 'Orange slices in grand mariner sauce aside chocolate pancakes with cream and vanilla ice cream. Topped with chocolate sauce and chocolate chips' ... aka Heavenly and completely American (Australian brekky's are not normally this big or fattening).
Next, we teed off at The Coast (which it name implies ... it is a golf course on the coast). Golfing was fun (just the two of us) and I think we both played decently.
The next night, Adam was expecting to have a nice dinner with just the two of us ... but we had other plans. We surprised Adam with a party at Kingsley's steakhouse in Wooloomooloo. His boss, Duncan, planned the evening and it was a great night. Adam was completely surprised (always a plus!)
Happy Birthday Adam! Here is too many more birthdays to come. Cheers!
And for shits and giggles ... here is a short slideshow (movie) of Adam from birth to 30. Enjoy :)
In October, Adam and I had the pleasure of attending our first Aussie wedding! Sammie and Adam, friends of Adam's from Grammar, had a beautiful wedding in Ballandean Station in Queensland. This is a small town a couple hours inland near the border of Queensland and New South Wales.
We drove up on Saturday morning (8 hours straight with Adam - with only one quick 5 minute stop for bathrooms and gas, grrr). We stayed at a small bed and breakfast that had an observatory and included a tour of the night sky. The bed and breakfast was operated by a retired couple and the husband was a former Astrology Professor from Griffith University. Once retired, they decided to move out to the country where he built an observatory (80% by hand) and opened up a small B&B to share his passion with others.
Since Adam and I are basically stupid when it comes to the southern sky (especially when at least one of the other couples fancied themselves as stargazers and even brought their own computerized telescope - no joke), it was pretty awesome to learn about the constellations and then be able to see everything he taught us up close Since we were out in the country, the sky was beautiful to begin with and we were even able to see the Milky Way with our naked eye! I don't remember all the things he showed us but I think one of my favorite was a supernova. Great experience.
The next morning, we went to Girraween National Park and hiked/climbed the Pyramid. The park is famous for the large granite rocks throughout the park.
We decided to climb the pyramid (or as much as we could - quite steep at the top and we are wimps). There were great views of the park and the Second Pyramid in the distance.
Here are some other pictures of the boulders in the park:
For a complete group of pictures, click here: Girraween National Park
After the park, it was time to get ready for the wedding festivities! One thing we learned about Aussie weddings ... they last all day (don't worry, we are not complaining)! The wedding started at 2:00 and lasted all night long.
Thank god they
hired a bus to take us from our B&B to the wedding, the ride was
interesting to say the least! It was on back country dirt road and we
passed by several cows who sent the bride and groom off (they were even written into the wedding vows). Here are some pictures of the location:
The site was
absolutely beautiful (in almost a desolate sort of way). It is very dry
out in the country so there was a stark contrast between the yellow
tall grass, the blue sky (perfect day for a wedding), and brown trees.
Not a sole in sight (minus the cows as mentioned previously). The vows
very beautifully written (some of the best we have ever heard) and
there was a lot of emotion between the bride and groom. Here are some
shots of the ceremony:
Part of the fun .... Here is Adam loading the hay back on the truck after the ceremony was over.
After the ceremony, the celebrations continued at the "Homestead" which if I am not mistaken is the Bride's childhood home that they (Adam and Sammie) have been renovating for the wedding. It was about a mile up the road from the ceremony (no worries, still way out in the country!). The reception lasted the entire rest of the evening. Something interesting that I find in Australia is that since the sky is so clear there can be very cold nights with very warm days. For the wedding, it was about 80° during the day but only 30s° overnight!
The reception started out with a cocktail hour until about 7ish and then an Italian dinner. Adam and Sammie spent a lot of time in Ballandean renovating the Homestead and according to Adam, they tried every restaurant in the area. They settled on their favorite Italian restaurant for the reception and the food was phenomenal! There were several courses (4-5 maybe, can't remember) and speeches in between each course making dinner last about 4 hours! By the time dinner was over, it was time to bust out the dancing but since we suck and were exhausted from a day of fun we took the bus back to the B&B (yeah, we are old). Altogether, it was an exceptional night with exceptional people!
The next morning, Adam and Sammie had everyone back to the Homestead for a big hearty breakfast. Here is Adam with most of his Toowoomba gang:
Congratulations Adam and Sammie! ♥
