Melbourne - Wedding #3 - Mel and Bruce

The third and final wedding for our trip brought us back to Melbourne, one of our favourite cities. This time I was a bridesmaid, and I had so much fun as a result! The pampering began on Thursday, with a manicure and pedicure during the day, followed by the rehearsal and dinner in the evening.

On the day of the wedding we were up bright and early for hair at 8am, then makeup at 10am. The morning seemed to drag on for ages, but once we got back to Mel's parents house for a quick bite and to get dressed, it was just one big whirlwind of photos in various locations!

We arrived at Sky High just in time for a few last photos before all of the guests were bused up to the mystery location. We witnessed a beautiful ceremony in the gardens of the restaurant, and topped it off with drinks and dinner as the sun went down over the city. The views from there are absolutely amazing. After dinner we danced the night away to some absolute classics. I had forgotten how tiring the "nutbush" is! I must be getting old!

NZ - the Land of the small white hire car

After Mark's wedding the next stop was NZ to visit my parents, who had recently moved back there after almost 19 years in Australia, to purchase a fish and chip shop (the best in town ;P). Somehow I could always picture them owning a fish and chip shop.

We picked up our hire car - a small white Diahatsu Sirion. It was definitely different. Not the biggest car in the world but a very high driving position. Strange to drive but you get used to it. Following the directions from my parents "drive into town you can't miss it" we surprising had little trouble finding the shop. It was good to see the parents again after a couple of years.

The rest of the time was spent driving around checking out the sights of Timaru (no indy kart this time - see previous post) and catching up with the girls (Mum's sisters) and their kids. Its surprising to see how much they have all grown in the past 2 years (I am starting to sound old).

Also Tammie took the opportunity to pick up a snowboard, boots and bindings at a bargain price for our upcoming trips to La Plagne, France (Christmas) and Vail, Colorado (Feb 2006)!! Excellent!

After 4 days we'd had enough and drove back to Christchurch for our trip to Melbourne and wedding #3.

Bundaberg - Wedding #2 - Mark and Monique

After enjoying a few days chilling out in Brisbane, we drove up to Bundaberg for Mark and Monique's wedding. The morning of the wedding looked a bit grey, but by the time we ceremony rolled around, it was a balmy 37 degrees and sunny. Handheld fans were given to guests at the ceremony in case the heat got too overwhelming!

At the reception we were entertained by various members of Monique's family. Talk about a musically talented family! Even Monique got up and sang (and did a very good job of it!), which is probably not easy when you're wearing a corseted wedding gown! Being the best man, Shane got up to say a few words and did a good job of both embarassing Mark and keeping the speech G-rated.

It was a wonderful day - we danced until we could dance no more, and drank champagne until the last guests left.