Family Before the Wedding

The family arrived on the bus and in their cars before the wedding and drank and ate with our friends. I wasn't there but was told that it was quite relaxed. The weather was perfect and the location was paradise.

Giles on the way to Silky Oaks after getting ready at Tim's place

Giles talking to his Dad

Vicky filming with Tristram's video camera. She's actually shooting Tristram

Julian putting a big greasy smudgy thumb print on Giles' camera

The father of the bride

Annabel, Taylor, Dave, Alan and Janet

Those smart boys who married those Madden girls

Geoff (Giles' Dad) and Col (my Dad) looking at something

Julian smiling

Alan, Taylor, Trina and Janet chat

The celebrant Rosina Santa Rossa, the groom and the best man wonder where the bride is

Geoff (Giles' Dad), Col (my Dad) and my Uncle Bob waiting for the ceremony to start

Friends Before the Wedding

A bus picked some of the guests up from their hotels in Port Douglas and drove them 20 mins north to the wedding at Silky Oaks Lodge.

The wheels on the bus went round and round

The guests ate canapes and drank champagne while they waited for the bride to arrive. The dress code was

Tropical Glamorous.

The best man

Kylie chatting

The groom looking a little nervous

Smiling Scott

Tropical Glamorous Bianca having a glass of champagne

Giles + Adam looking happy but intense

Bianca + Scott

Guests mingling before the ceremony

A view from the reception venue, looking at the site of the ceremony

Giles + Tim waiting for me

The Morning of the Wedding

On the morning on our wedding (22/09/2006), the Madden family, the Alexander family and the best man and bridesmaid joined Giles and I for breakfast. Katrina and Taylor had only arrived on a flight from Darwin (left @ 1AM) and had driven straight to breakfast from Cairns.

Dave + Annabel getting cash out in Port Douglas

Bek, Tim and Geoff contemplating what they should eat from the breaky buffet

Dave, Annabel and Vicky waking up over cups of tea and coffee @ breakfast

Taylor, Trina, Mum and Dad @ the inner circle breakfast on the morning on the wedding

Rebekah and I had our wedding makeup done in our riverhouse. We sipped French champagne and had a lovely relaxing afternoon, having pedicures and manicures and lots of bubbly.

Putting on Bek's makeup

Getting my makeup done

We arranged for a bus to pick all the guests up so that no one had to drive.

The Alexanders waiting for the bus outside Trapical Nites

Annabel, Dave, Vicky and Geoff

Silky Oaks

We arrived at Silky Oaks on Wednesday the 20th of September, 2006. It was two days before the wedding. Our Riverhouse was the farthest from the hotel reception. We were taken there on the cutest electric powered buggy. Silky Oaks is all about eco-tourism.

Me in our room

Giles and I spent the afternoon of our arrival on the balcony of our Riverhouse, drinking complimentary champagne and eating the complimentary fruit platter.

Champagne tastes much better on a warm balcony in the canopy. V. Swiss Family Robinson.

Eat Relax Eat Sleep Eat Relax Eat Sleep Eat ... You WILL NOT lose weight here.

This is the view of the Treehouse Restaurant @ Silky Oaks.

The Jungle Perch is a fish that swims in the emerald waters of the Mosman River that runs out of the Daintree Rainforest and past Silky Oaks. You can see the restaurant from here. Giles and I spent a few lazy afternoons out here staring at the green everywhere while sipping from an espresso, delivered by the resident barista.

The Jungle Perch

Giles and I enjoyed the buffet breakfast each morning. It's the first time I've ever liked a buffet breakfast. This was something we did our best of make it to every day. This can get hard when you shift your day a few hours.

Giles eating breakfast on Thursday the 21st of September, 2006 @ the Treehouse Restaurant.

My 30th Birthday

On the 18th of August 2006, I had a party to celebrate my 30th year of life. There was a tree's worth of champagne, painfully enjoyable karaoke and a theme of wearing a hat that represented what you want to be when you grow up.

Watch me pull a rabbit out of a hat

Check out the two-tier red and black star cake with platform shoe

The food table and balloons before the party

The giant inflatable coconut tree esky

My rabbit just would not fit back in my hat once I pulled it out.

Giles went as a Computational Linguist and I went as a Magician

A bit of Bianca, me and Giles being BFF

Saying goodbye to Dean when he was leaving

Me, Michelle, Steve and Vicky singing perfectly in tune

I belt out a song with Dave

Bianca and Roger playing with balloons

Dave, Annabel, John and Michelle singing with balloons

They've Got Betty Davis Eyes

The couch-sitters bopping along

We Will Always Have Paris

Paris is the eternal kitten. She does a great impression of a scaredy cat, right up until she realises the dangerous stranger may be willing to pat her... then the fear disappears and Paris is your best friend.

Paris giving her one look... Miss Serious

Paris stalking the camera

Sofi-kiss-and-tel

In line with my quest to find nice hotel rooms in each state and territory of Australia, here are the photos from Giles' and my stay at the Sofitel in Melbourne, Victoria.

As usual I checked out the wotif site to find the room in the range I wanted and then bypassed them to book directly from the website of the hotel.

Sofitel Melbourne is on 25 Collins Street in Melbourne city.

The room was a Club Deluxe Suite which is a corner suite with separate living and bedroom areas offering 180 degree views.

Me in the lounge room

Standing in the hall between the walk-in-wardrobe and the bathroom

The bedroom with the best bed I have slept in so far

The view looking down from our suite