Australia - Part One

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BRISBANE

The week prior to our trip, Brisbane was on the world news reporting devastation, with the worst floods in the area since 1974, the river had risen and burst its banks causing destruction of properties and loss of livelihood, roads were closed and public transport in chaos.
Watching the news in disbelief, as we were due to fly into Brisbane in a matter of days.
Thank goodness for skype, Daph was able to contract her family who live in the suburbs of Brisbane. Luckily they were on higher ground and unaffected, even their business in the centre escaped, undamaged - only loss of power and several days loss of income. Even so, we were not sure how this would affect our forthcoming trip.

January 13th 2011

Leaving Plymouth on the midnight bus full of anticipation of the trip ahead, blissfully unaware that the floods weren't going to be our only concern.

Arriving at Heathrow in the early hours, still a bit too early to queue for our airline. We enjoyed a coffee and croissant, it was funny that Daph had even guessed I’d buy croissant, she’d posted this to her FB page at the same time as I was purchasing the items. I’d only chosen the croissant at the last minute, reminiscent of our early morning coffee when we went to France a couple of years ago. Despite our snack, we were still quite near the front of the queue with our baggage. At the counter, I tried to see what our bags weighed and Daph tried the distraction technique, chattering away about her trip, her excitement at going to her daughters wedding. Imagine our alarm when the girl announced that Daph’s name did not appear on her flight schedule.
We stood perplexed for a while, and agreed that we may as well put my bags on, save queuing again. We were advised to go to another desk and a seat would be reserved next to me, when Daph’s ticket was sorted, we were to go back to the same lady and she’d have us sat together.

However at the other desk, the man was quite clear, there was no ticket for Daph, her agent had initially reserved the place but not backed it up with a firm booking. They had tried to contact the agent but to no avail. Therefore the ticket had been re-booked and the airline was completely fully booked up.
Daph had paid for a seat and it was really hard to take in these details. I think he may have explained the same thing again to us, a little later when we went back to see if there was any availability on the next day. There was not, because of the floods in Brisbane, the airline had booked out until 29th January. We were advised to go downstairs and look on the internet. I had a quick look, the only ones I could find were in a couple of day’s time, most started at £1200 and several of them were with airlines in T3. We were currently in T4. Daph wasn’t interested to book on line; understandably she wanted to sort something now. We went back up to the airline desks and asked at every one if they went to Australia and did they have any places for today or tomorrow.

Amazingly we found an airline, I had not heard of it before, called Etihad airways, and they had several places for the next day at £1000. Daph made the decision to purchase a ticket and book onto it. It was going the next evening, so she would have to book a room, and while away some time, it was the best we could do at this time under such pressure.

So much time had gone by and I still had to go through security checks. She had her new ticket and we had to part company, we hugged, I left.
Once through and with only 20 minutes left before departure, it all hit me, it all felt so wrong. I had booked my ticket much later than Daph, I had been unable to match the good deal that she’d got, but assumed that was because it was closer to the trip. She was going to her daughters wedding and had invited me along – or did I invite myself? I had planned to come home later than her in any case, as I was travelling further down the East coast after the wedding, to visit with some friends.

With her new ticket, she would still make it to the wedding. She was going to miss the high tea hen party that was planned for the Sunday afternoon, and held in her honour.
How had this happened? We could only assume it was a fraudulent transaction or perhaps the agent went out of business. I do know that on her return, Daph was able to get her money back, because the booking was made on her credit card.

This was a very sad start to our fun holiday to Australia, in our separate ways, we both tried to remain positive and not let it spoil our trip.

It was a very long haul, with stops in Dubai and Brunei. I had made friends with a lady from Luton who was going out for 3 months as a trial to move there eventually. All the while my thoughts were with Daph and wondering how she would while away a long 36 hours until her own flight. Could we have done anything differently I wondered? It would have been better for her to go on; I could find things to do around Staines. (When we later felt brave enough to talk about it, we agreed that the airline tickets are booked in our name and passport, and we probably could not have changed the ticket).

There was a feeling of deja-vu as Sammy met me at Brisbane airport, escorting me back to Cinda and Charlies, where I would be staying, with Layla and Harrison. It was so good to see them all again. It wasn't long before I headed for some much needed sleep on that first night. The following day was the High Tea Hen Party and the evening spent on the balcony, catching up, Cinda and I danced under the stars and the moon smiled. Even the possum stopped by for some nibbles. Had it really been four years?

Daph finally arrived on the Monday morning, at Brisbane airport, and the whole ticket episode could be put to the back of our minds.

She was THERE, busy catching up with all her family, including a day trip out to visit Di, her sister. Dad was there too, stranded because of a landslide, he couldn't use the road home.
We were soon leaving Capalaba (pronounced Cap-al-aba, not Capa laba as I’d thought) and travelling down the East coast, to Byron Bay, for Sammy’s wedding. During our short time in Brisbane we had not been affected at all by the floods, or the massive clean up, brown muddy waters along the coast, being the only obvious sign. That is not to say we weren't aware, or mindful of the many peoples lives that had been.

Beautiful Byron

There is something about Byron Bay that is difficult to explain, a vibe, a general relaxed and laid back atmosphere. It could be said that every holiday resort by the sea has this, but Byron has something more.

This was my second visit and it was every bit as beautiful as I remembered it. Raging blue/green sea with white horses meets indigo sky with fluffy clouds and an endless golden sandy beach.

The wedding, initially to be held on the beach, had to be re-located, due to the high, king tides. This young couple were not going to allow any change in tides dampen their day, instead an enormous field was hired, enough room for everyone to camp and a quaint bridge for the ceremony. Not any old field, I hasten to add, this was the field of festivals and concerts and happy memories for Sammy and Davo.

I was relieved to discover that we were not camping there, the long grass alone held visions of snakes and things, not to mention the terrific heat of the mid day sun. Sammy and her friends were full of enthusiasm when describing their vision of how they were to decorate the bridge, where they would walk and everyone would sit. I could not get a picture of the result, but after attending their high tea, I knew with confidence that it would be amazing.

We booked into accommodation nearby, at Belongil Beachouse. As luck would have it, we were right next to the reception venue, called the Tree House, and a short walk to the beach. An early morning walk along the beach was fantastic, although the high tides meant getting slightly wet.

In the evenings with the tide low, the walk long and beautiful, as the ocean waves crashed frantically. There were some surfers, but not the best conditions, the waves were a bit lumpy and no face.

At Belongil Beachouse they provided a free mini bus to the town centre, a shopping morning was a must, oh and a flat white (coffee) with cakes.

The wedding was indeed beautiful, with a few hiccups in the early morning preparations, the rest of the day seemed to flow nicely, and heart warming to see, two young people genuinely in love. Their friends and family surrounding them with warm blessings; it was such an honour to be part of.

I was introduced to one of the guests, Jake, who would be driving my way the following day, down the East coast to Newcastle, and yes I was welcome join him (as if it were only a few miles away, in fact it was going to take approximately 10 hours).
I’d already discovered that a Greyhound bus was leaving Byron at mid day, but this would be a much nicer way to go. We arranged to meet at 10 am the following day, at the Tree house.
Daph would be returning to Brisbane with her family, to enjoy some more quality time with them, and other family members not at the wedding.

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Photos

Manley
On a drive out, we took a wrong turn and ended up visiting Manley, very low tide.

Layla and Harrison
My friends have grown since I was here last...

High tea hen party
Sammy made a terrific hen, although missing her Mum, and her friends were fantastic as they rallied around to make her day very special.

More Byron,
Cape Byron lighthouse in the background

Comments

[Chris]

Great Stuff!
Love your journey, you have a way of writing and an ability to bring the reader right into the journey with you. Hurry up with the next installment! Chrisx

[Leanne]

Sounds like another amazing trip, can't wait to read part 2, you really should write a book x

[surfeye]

Thank you guys x x x more to come..
No problem writing the book, finding a publisher is not so easy :( x

[Alan]

Nice to see you blogging again Lorraine, and I think that your writing gets better and better!