My 21st birthday weekend

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As part of my birthday weekend Penny organized for us to stay in a caravan in Moontah for a night so that Nick and I got to see some more of the area. We had planned to leave Adelaide relatively early to make the most of the day but Penny and I went to the market to get some supplies which took longer than expected and we ended up leaving around 12o’clock. The drive was really nice with loads of flat wheat fields going off into the distance. At one point there were some massive metal statues on the side of the road which were really strange. We arrived in Moontah around 3pm and quickly checked in and made our way to our caravan. The caravan was quite big with 6 beds and a nice large fridge to put all of our food and drink from the market. Nick and Gareth sat outside but it was a bit too windy for Penny and me so we stayed in the caravan on the double bed watching tv and drinking. At about 5pm we got out the cheese, meat and breads that we’d bought at the market and had a little party outside with a nice bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate. They gave me the bottle to pop the cork off but not being a pro I somehow managed to brake my thumb nail off which really hurt! Somehow Nick and Gareth managed to make their way through a bottle of Jack Daniels and six beers each by 8pm which meant they were extremely drunk. Nick was making a complete fool of himself and wanted to go into town to buy more alcohol and even though we said he didn’t need it he and Gareth were adamant. So Penny and I stayed at the caravan whilst they went into town. We were pretty hungry by about 9.30pm so we walked down to the local take-away and got a pizza to share. Nick and Gareth found there way home at about 10.30pm and told us that they’d been betting on horses in one of the pubs; they didn’t have any winnings to show for it though! We stayed up for a bit but Nick and Gareth were so drunk and loud that Penny and I had to go to bed to get them to be quite! What a nightmare! Still they were the ones feeling worse for wear on Saturday morning!
On Saturday morning we ate the rest of the cheese and bread for breakfast before checking out at 10am. We drove to Wallaroo which was close-by to see the massive jetty and grain silos, both of which were quite impressive. After a walk down the very windy jetty we drove to St Kilda play park and acted like big kids! We played on the swings, slides and zip lines which was absolutely hilarious and made us feel like big kids. When we got back to Adelaide we stopped off at the Warradale for pizza and chips before getting our stuff, moving out of Penny’s and moving into Kirsty’s. It was Penny’s friends 23rd birthday so we arranged to meet up out in town later on in the evening. I wore another of my new tops and decided it was my turn to get quite drunk instead of Nick! We didn’t go out until 9pm but soon got into the swing of things and had a really good evening. I was so tired by 2am that I went home and left Kirsty and Nick to go into town where they went to the Wool Shed and rode the mechanic bull! I was rudely awoken at 4am by a couple of very drunken people! Again they were feeling it the next day.
Nick and I decided to cook a traditional Sunday roast for everyone which took a lot longer than expected but was so worth it! We made roast pork with swede and carrot, roasted veg, cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire puddings, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, stuffing and gravy! After lunch Nick went to play football again with Gareth while Kirsty and I had a little nap. We went to watch the sunset in Glenelg in the evening before deciding to have a film festival back at Kirsty’s instead of going out again. Nick and Kirsty attempted to make chocolate popcorn but had a little trouble getting started. They tried twice and burnt the popcorn and then decided to read the instructions which surprisingly worked! We stayed up until midnight so we could celebrate it being my birthday but then went to bed as we had to get up early the next day.
Monday was my 21st birthday and although I was so far from home the Aussies did a very good job of making it memorable. I woke up to presents of chocolate, alcohol, bags, make-up, nail varnish, perfume and an engraved bracelet from Nick which was a very nice start to the day. Nick and Kirsty then cooked a delicious fry up and we had a champagne breakfast with the kitchen covered in balloons, banners and fresh flowers. Penny and Gareth came over and at 9am we set off on a wine tour in McLaren Vale. Gareth doesn’t like wine so he offered to drive which was really nice of him and saved us a lot of hassle. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the wine tour but basically we drove round to different wineries, walked up to the bar, asked to sample something from a long list of wines and carried on trying them until we found one we really liked and might want to buy. Penny bought quite a lot of wine and Nick and I did purchase a few of our favourites although we’ve now got to carry them around. Halfway through the day we stopped in one of the wineries gardens for a picnic of chicken salad wraps and I was surprised with a yummy chocolate cake. We managed to make it to about 8 wineries before we couldn’t drink much more wine and headed back to Kirsty’s. I made a very alcoholic fruit punch which was tasty but went down way too easily. Another couple of friends from Thailand also came over for a birthday BBQ in the sun to finish off the day. In the evening I put on my new birthday dress and high heels and we headed out to a local bar for a few drinks. We finished off the night back at Kirsty’s and I can’t actually remember getting to bed. I am definitely the one feeling the effects today and will be happy to go on a detox when we leave tomorrow morning for Sydney.

Thanks to everyone for my birthday wishes it was nice to know we haven’t been forgotten even though we’re on the other side of the world xxx

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