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Published: January 14th 2012
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We had finally finished our long journey down the East Coast of Australia so we donated our camping equipment and headed towards the city to drop the car off in Adelaide and to meet Natalie’s Australian relatives and to say goodbye to our little Yaris!
We met Diane and Lillian and set off with them to see a few sights around Williamstown. Firstly, we went to the famous Jacobs Creek winery and enjoyed tasting half a dozen different wines, thinking each time that they tasted the same as the last. From there we went to ‘The Whispering Wall’ which is a 135m curved dam that allows one person from one side of the dam to whisper to the other side because of the structures design.
That day we met David who is Diane’s Husband and Mark Capelle’s cousin (who he has never met). He works at the winery so our time with him and Diane was spent with a glass of wine in our hand…happy days! We stayed at their house for 4 days with Lillian, who is Mark’s Auntie and Natalie’s Great Auntie (try to keep up).
The next day we went shopping and met more ‘reli’s’,
watched an Australian film called Red Dog and enjoyed a good old aussie BBQ. We were well looked after throughout our time in Williamstown and it didn’t take long before we felt right at home. The following day was New Years Eve so the two of us headed back into the city to Elder Park where there was a huge firework display and live entertainment. We were surrounded by 20,000 people that night and it was the hottest New Year we have ever had! We were lucky to make it out however as we got a telling off by the local police for J walking?!? A $100 fine each could well have been slapped onto us on another day but because it was New Year he let us off…how generous. New Years Day was even hotter, 41C, so we put on our ‘swimmers’ and headed to Glenelg beach! The clear sea and white sand was a good enough reason to spend the whole day there before setting off back to Di and David’s house in the evening.
The following day we took a trip to the Murray River which is as clean as the Thames and then spent the
rest of the day relaxing with Turkey and chips for tea.
Chris was back in the driver’s seat the next day as we drove a couple of hours to the tiny town of Burra to Lillian’s house! Burra is famous for its copper mines but it definitely isn’t famous for its nightlife. We spent the evenings here going through Lillian’s DVD collection of Mr. Bean, Midsummer Murders and Only Fools and Horses which we didn’t mind. We went around the mines and the jail house in our time here and Natalie even took up the hobby of cooking (cleaning is next on the list). Auntie Lillian gave us a few recipes to take home, including her famous shortbread and homemade BAILEYS!! We met another one of Mark’s cousins Andrew and his daughters Madison and Emily, we stayed with him for one night before getting comfy in the local pubs accommodation.
On the Thursday Lillian had a bowls game so we went down with some pompoms that Di had given us and gave her some English support, barmy army style!! However, we may have put her and her team off as they got beat but gave them a run
for their money! The same day we went back to the Bowling Green and Lillian gave us a few tips on how to bowl, we had a go ourselves with Chris hitting the jack first attempt but Natalie was too consistent with her bowls and won the game. We drove to Clare on our final day to purchase some flowers for Di and Lillian to say thank you for everything they did for us because they were fantastic hostesses!
We finished our time with Lillian and Di with a party which included 24 reli’s of Natalie’s including 2
nd cousins, 3
rd cousins and even 4
th cousins making an appearance! It was great meeting everyone and it felt like we had both known them all our lives and it was sad to say goodbye. Hopefully we’ll be back in a few years with Mark and his brother so they can finally meet them all but we have set a high bench mark for them to fulfill!
As they say, one thing ends and another begins, we left the party with Maureen who is another cousin to Mark and we would spend the rest of our time in Adelaide at her
house in Glenelg until our flight on the 12
th! We loved spending time with her and her lodger, Trent and once again we were thoroughly looked after! The weather wasn’t as nice as New Year’s Day but it was great relaxing time as it was exhausting work seeing this huge family that Natalie has got! We met Maureen’s parents, Frank and Hilda, Frank has unfortunately been in hospital but we definitely gave him a nice surprise when we went to see him and we hope he gets better soon. He still had a great sense of humour, saluting us as we went in his room and even saying he played for Manchester City at one point.
Before we left Adelaide, we had the pleasure of meeting Maureen’s son, Scott and his family and they took us to Cleland Wildlife Park and treated us to dinner. They had just come back from America and were probably still jet lagged so we were very grateful that they did this for us.
The whole family were exceptional with us and it was great getting to know all of them! We will definitely keep in touch and see them again in the
future.
We are now in Darwin waiting to board our flight to New Zealand on the 15
th. Our trip to Australia has been a little bit of a rollercoaster but it is all part of the fun. In the end with good planning and knowing were going to have to pay a little more we have ended our trip on a high! New Zealand is going to be an adrenaline filled adventure with Bungee Jumping and Sky Diving on our agenda and we cannot wait!!!
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Di & David
non-member comment
Time with Chris and Natalie
It was so nice to meet another relee and Chris, I think a great time was had by all meeting each other. Great company and oh so well mannered what a privilege. Can't wait for you to come again, always welcome @ Williamstown. Love Di & David