We couldn't lie in too long as the B&B owners were off on holiday on the Sunday (this wasn't their fault, their plans got changed at the last minute) - she did let us leave & lock up ourselves though. We headed up to the barn to help my parents & some friends to take down the decorations. Some went to Kate & Tom for their wedding in September, others (plus some presents) got taken by Vix & Neil to drop off to us at a later date. We headed off a bit later than planned & stopped in Abergavenny for lunch & to wander around the steam fayre that was there. We also grabbed some groceries to suppliment our supply of wedding leftovers! Mark drove us over to the far end of the country & ... read more

So the morning was a hectic rush of loading a good portion of the wedding bits & bobs plus all out honeymoon stuff into the car - amazingly it all fitted with room to see out! We arrived at Postlip Tithe Barn late morning to find mum already sorting out her carload! Many friends turned up to help turn a working barn into a magical hall. We had a team (including myself) putting up the swagging, another making bows to go with it, a couple of lads hanging the wonderful bunting (made by lots of friends!), Mark & Dad strung up the fairy lights & cloth behind the stage, the table & chairs were put up, stage arranged, mum & Clare worked wonders with the flowers! I apologise for turning into Bride-zilla but everyone wanted me ... read more

After a week of early starts it was nice not to have to get up early or vacate the room by 10am. We had a lazy morning then wandered into the centre where we had lunch at a vegetarian Chinese tea room (but failed to get any tea - it was too hot for hot drinks!) which Mark loved but I was slightly disconcerned that I couldn't figure out what some of the food was! We then popped along to the Alice Springs Reptile Centre where we were in time to meet some of the animals - a couple of Beared Dragons, a Blue-Tongue Skink & an Olive Python. It was nice that we were trusted to hand the lizards around between ourselves instead of having a member of staff hovering over every move. We were ... read more

So once more we were up & out with a new 3 day tour group & a new driver, Ben. We headed south from Alice Springs & stopped off at a camel ranch where I got to ride a camel, which was much more comfortable than I'd been led to believe! Only a short ride around the field though. We then had a couple of pit stops at Eldunda & Curtin Springs where Mark bought me a flask & patch for my bag & a slice of homemade chocolate cake to be my birthday cake! We stopped off at the camp site to have lunch then headed to the Uluru cultural centre where we learnt lots about the local culture & managed to hide from the midday sun! We then headed off to the Kata Tjutas ... read more

Up early in the New Year & Mark went to wake Travers who didn't show for breakfast as his alarm failed to go off! We failed to get to the thermal pools for a swim due to 2m of water on the road. We then headed to Larrimah to the Pink Panther Pub. The pub owner started rescuing animals and now has a little menagerie out back. Here we got to hold a Children's Python & a little Sugar Glider (who was just the cutest!) - although not too closely together! They had several lizards & snakes, many many birds including a Blue-Winged Kookaburra which we saw fed on the wing. There were two adorable wallabies hopping around the place that liked to be scratched on their bellies. Mark now thinks we need to get pet ... read more