Brisbane

When leaving Hervey Bay we said goodbye to Lisa, Paul and Lorraine as they were carrying onto other places, however Toby, Adi, Adam and myself were continuing onto Brisbane where we were going to meet up with the rest of the Gallard/Smith clan. When we arrived the others were there and told us about their beautiful apartment which they were staying in, in the Cleveland area. Adi went off with them whilst Toby, Adam and I went to look for a youth hostel to stay in. We walked to the train information centre and contacted a couple of hostels to see if they had any private rooms with ensuites-no luck. So in the end we went with a hostel which was about 10 minutes from the train station called Chill Backpackers.



The room was lets say cosy. It contained a bunk bed and a single bed and that was about it, not much space for our bags. It was cheap and cheerful and was to be our home for the next couple of days. We went out straight away to explore the area and ended up at southbank. This is the cultural part of Brisbane with museums, theatres and libraries, but it also has some great restaurants, markets and an artificial beach and swimming pool. We visited south bank a few times in the first week with friends for dinner and nights out. During the days most of our time was spent trying to find a place to live and work. Before Sarah and Aaron returned to the UK we spent a day in Brisbane with them, Sarah and I went and had a day of pampering while the boys went and had a tour of the Castlemain XXXX brewery. We had registered on lots of websites for accommodation, and had a phone call from a lady saying she had a shared house for rent in Norman Park – south east Brisbane. In the evening we went to have a look and fell in love with the place straight away, it was big very modern and fully furnished. Two days later we were moving in, we met our house mates for the first time Frank and Marion, a German couple in their 40’s.

Hervey Bay and Fraser Island

After a long night on the train we arrived at Maryborough West very early in the morning and caught the coach to Hervey Bay with Adi and toby, leaving Mum, Dad, Lucy and the boys on the train heading for Brisbane. We arrived at the Koala hostel to find Aaron, Sarah, Paul and Lisa already there (they had travelled by coach from Airlie beach). A nice lady let us in our rooms, we dumped our stuff and headed off to explore Hervey bay. We had a wander down the beach and grabbed some lunch on the main street, we all headed back to our rooms for a kip before we visited the local Chinese restaurant for dinner.
We made our way to Palace Backpackers another youth hostel, early the next morning, as our trip to Fraser Island started from there. We all sat in a room and watched some interesting videos on how to drive your 4x4 on sand and not get bitten by dingos. We then got put in to our groups for the next 3 days, we had already requested that TJ, me, Adi, Aaron, Toby, Sarah, Lisa and Paul go together, and as the 4x4 held 8 we had a girl called Lorraine join us, it just happened that she was a petite, red head from Ireland (remind you of any one (Lisa!!). They were like twins, instantly getting on. After all the introductions we hopped in to our 4x4 and travelled about 5 mins to the warehouse where we loaded up all our equipment we needed for the island, then a quick stop at the local supermarket to get food and off to the port to get our ferry.



Tj and i had visited the island before and although we had been given a suggested itinerary, we decided to visit lake McKenzie where a few of us thought it would be fun to jump in to the freezing cold water of the lake, we had a while messing about throwing a football around, then i realised that my wedding ring was missing, 5 days and i had lost it already, so i quickly got my mask and started searching the bottom of the lake with everyone else looking too. Fortunately for me i managed to find it (how lucky???). We decided to have a look around Central station, there wasn’t much there just a few old buildings. By this time we had to head to the main beach to find somewhere to camp for the night before it got dark. We found a spot just off the beach and setup camp, we made dinner and had a few drinks then went to bed as everyone wanted to get up early to see the sunrise.

Day 2

Tj and I missed sunrise as Tj was feeling ill, but the others showed us their photos it looked fantastic. We had breakfast, packed the 4x4 and where back on the beach. I had done all the driving on the first day and Adi was very happy to do the driving. We stopped at Rainbow gorge, it was a bit of a walk to get to the gorge from the beach but it was worth it, we climbed to the top of the sand gorge and took it in turn to roll/run down it.



Lisa rolled down it first and spent the rest of the day trying to get the sand out of everywhere. We walked back to the car and drove on to Eli Creek, the largest creek on the eastern beach of Fraser Island, we spent an hour paddling about before we left for the Maheno shipwreck, in 1935 the ship was being towed from Melbourne to Japan for scrap metal when it was caught in a strong cyclone. A few days later, on July 9th 1935 she drifted ashore and was beached on Fraser Island. During the Second World War the Maheno served as target bombing practice for the RAAF. The ship has since become severely rusted. We spent a while taking photos and looking around the ship wreck. We drove up the remainder of the 75 mile beach to Indian head, a rocky out crop, at the top you can see lots of sealife off the island.



We spent another night camping on the beach, chatting to some of the other travels on the island.

Day 3

The last day on Fraser and Aaron took his turn driving. We had to be back at the ferry by 4pm and we were on the other side of the island with plenty of things to see yet. We started heading towards lake Wabby, the tracks on Fraser are just that, tracks! The sand that makes up the track in some places is much softer and so it is harder to drive the 4x4 and at one point we managed to get stuck for a while but we all jumped out and dug the wheels out and Aaron drove us out of it.

The other problem with the tracks is it can get a bit bumpy, and at points it was that bad that everyone was lifted off their seats. On the way to Wabby we stopped at Lake Allom, which is supposed to be the home to lots of turtles, but after an hour walking round the lake we hadn’t seen an. We got back to the 4x4 and carried on to lake Wabby, which has fantastic view over a huge sand dune and a beautiful green lake at the bottom of it. Then it was time to catch the ferry back to Hervey Bay.

Wedding Photos

Hi, Just a quick note to say we have uploaded some photos of our wedding, we will tell you all about it on here in a few days.

the address is http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/adam.gallard/WeddingPhotos

Thanks for all your cards and gifts.

Mr and Mrs Gallard

Tj’s Wedding Day

At 11.50pm Adam pushed Lucy and i out of Adi’s room and told me he didn’t want to see me until the day of the wedding so Lucy and i made our way up to my room (i think i got the better end of the deal), we were fairly awake and chatted for a while and must have not got to sleep until about 12.45am. I slept quite soundly but was woken up to Lucy holding the video camera up to my face asking how i felt – i don’t think it was a pretty sight! Lucy and i were hungry so we went down for breakfast at about 6.30 am and were surprised to see my dad and uncle Harry already there making full use of the breakfast buffet. I then returned to my room to get showered whilst Lucy went to check up on the boys. I thought i would have felt really nervous and would have been a complete bridezilla,i did have a did have a few butterflies but i felt surprisingly calm. A little later Lucy and i went back to the breakfast area so we could meet up with Jasmin to get our hair done at the beautician/spa . We were meant to be having breakfast in shifts so us at 8am and Adam at 9am but as I was waiting for Jasmin i spotted Adam out of the corner of my eye and then had to duck down whilst Lucy tried to stop Adam from seeing me. I felt a little silly as people stared at me and wondered what i was doing. Eventually I managed to get away and I don’t think Adam saw me. We made our way to the beauticians and were greeted with champagne on arrival. I was having my nails done first so Jasmin and Annika relaxed on the terrace whilst Lucy sorted a few things out. The beautician was telling me how much of a busy day they had because of the 4 weddings taking place on the island including ours – it was obviously a popular date. 1 was at Lovers Cove and the other 2 also at Endeavour Chapel.



I did get a bit bridezillish and was hoping their hairstyles would fall out or their makeup would run but that was the last time i thought about the other brides. I still felt really calm and was starting to think if this was abnormal but continued with the beautification. The next thing was hair so the girls got their hair put up first. It wasn’t quite like the picture i had shown the hairdresser but they still looked lovely. Then it was my turn i had a combination of 2 photos that i had printed off and was actually very pleased with the outcome. The hairdresser also placed the rose and ticka into my hair to ensure it didn’t fall out. After getting my hair done I went and had my makeup put on. I have to admit i was a bit worried as to what it would like as i didn’t want it to look too heavy but it all turned out great. So after getting all made up Lucy and I headed back to my room and Jasmin went to catch up with her mum. It was still too early to put my dress on so i just pottered around a little with whilst Lucy went to sort the boys out and then all of a sudden it just got really busy. Caroline the wedding co-ordinator came up to see how i was and to drop the flowers off and to tell me that unfortunately the favours we had ordered hadn’t arrived but i didn’t let that spoil my day and didn’t mind too much about not having them. Then another member of staff came by to drop some other things off, then the civil celebrant came by and we went through the order of the day and what i had to do and where to stand and then Anna the photographer came by to discuss the sort of photos I wanted so it was all go. Dad and Inderjit came by to have a look at my gorgeous dress and dad approved which was a big relief and we discussed walking down the aisle etc. Lisa and Paul whom we had only met on our Bangkok to Singapore trip and so known for about 3 weeks also came to the wedding which Adam and I couldn’t believe. Lisa came up to have a look at the dress and seemed to be on baby sitting duty which was keeping her busy. A little later on Lyn and Inderjit came up and started making the posies for the bridesmaids, as the florist was going to charge an absolute fortune and Lyn being quite crafty with Inderjit’s help did a brilliant job. Then my auntie turned up and my dad. Everyone looked so smart and the room was full of different colours, Lyn in her amazing purple and lilac dress and my dad in the cream suit with white shirt and red tie and Inderjit in a cream Indian suit, Auntie Debbie in a lovely blue Indian outfit and also my bridesmaids Lucy and Jasmin in their gold dresses. It was exactly what i wanted (sorry should say we but Adam kept saying how it was very much my day), lots of different beautiful colours and a little bit of east meets west. Everyone seemed to be rushing around whereas i felt a little bit like a spare part as I just stood around not really doing much just watching people run around me. I decided to put my contact lenses and after half an hour of trying to get them in and almost giving up i got them in and am so happy that i did so as the photos look great. Anna the photographer had gone down to take some photos of Adam and Adi and then came up to my room to take some photos. I put my dress on which was a little loose i had lost a little weight but still looked fantastic even if i do say so myself. Then Inderjit, Jasmin and Auntie Debbie helped to put the finishing touches on me such as my indian jewellery, bangles and the red eye sticker decorations. I was unable to find anyone who did mendhi but wasn’t too disappointed as i knew i could get it done for the uk reception and therefore wouldn’t miss out. I felt amazing. It was time to make my way to the chapel but Caroline asked me to wait as there was hardly anyone in the chapel and the ceremony was supposed to start at 3pm, probably because they were all with me. So everyone left me except my dad and Lucy, Jasmin and of course Dan our little page boy and we slowly made our way to the Rolls Royce golf buggy which drove us to the chapel. We were at the chapel for 3.30pm (Adam must have started to wonder if i was actually going to show up) and then the music started. The bridesmaids with Dan started to walk up the aisle and my dad and I followed.



It all felt a little surreal i couldn’t believe after a year and half of planning and 9 years of being together the day had come. I don’t remember much after that as it all went by so quickly. I remember looking at Adam and seeing his eyes well up and thinking don’t cry as i knew he would set me off. I tried to look away and looked at Sarah – big mistake. She was crying, the tears were just rolling down her face, well that just set me off. Rosalie the civil celebrant handed me a tissue and i had to try and compose myself. It was a very emotional ceremony. Toby and Sarah did brilliantly with their readings and i could see Tom and Pete in the background filming our special day. It was lovely to see friends and both families come together. After the ceremony Adam and i walked out the chapel as husband and wife.



We celebrated with champagne and then watched as our families exchanged garlands which in Indian tradition is where members of the family accept each other into one anothers family.



After that we went behind the chapel where we had lots of photos taken, the background was amazing, lush green trees to one side and the ocean behind us. The photos all turned out really well. Once Anna had taken all the family and friends photos people started to make their way to Sunlovers Terrace which is where our reception was being held while Adam and i continued having more photos taken at other locations. When Anna had finished taking the photos she too continued onto the reception whilst Adam and i headed back to the room just for a couple of minutes just to sit down and just take in everything that happened. It was at that point that i remembered i hadn’t put my chuni on for the ceremony (i was going to wear it on the back of my head as a veil) oh well, it cant all be perfect. We made our way to the reception and were meant to be introduced as Mrs and Mrs Gallard but for some reason this didn’t happen but we walked in anyway. The terrace had been decorated beautifully.



The chairs had a white cover and a gold sash around them and from the centre of the roof hung tiny little fairy lights which came out into the corners of the room. We had decided to have the table set up as a square so we could see all our guests and this seemed to work really well. In the centre were 2 large goldfish bowls which were half filled with water and had rose petal leaves scattered into them. They sat on 2 round mirrors which had crystals going round them. We could see the wedding cake in the corner of the room. It wasn’t quite what i had asked for which was 25 small cupcakes more like about a dozen or so larger ones, but still it tasted nice.



Before we sat down for dinner we were asked to go to the bar/lounge area which had a laptop set up in it. We sat down and started to watch as lots of our friends appeared on a clip sending us their congrats and best wishes, i especially remember Simon Pinches in his lime green pimp outfit and Neil Millar dressed up as an Australian. The film was absolutely wonderful and it was so lovely to see friends and family who couldn’t make it to the wedding. After this we had dinner and the speeches took place. My dad’s speech was all very last minute but i was happy that between him and Inderjit they said a few words. Then onto our first dance. We started off with Lady In Red, as if that was any surprise, however half way through Adi mucked up the music and managed to accidentally turn the music off, or did he? Well it just so happened that some salsa music started and Adam and i just happened to know some Salsa moves. Well actually Adam and I had been learning it for the past year as part of our first dance and even if i do say so myself i thought we did brilliantly, and after our dance we even gave a few lessons to people. The reception was just lovely. As it was a small group of people i got to spend time chatting to everyone there. After the reception some of us went to the bar/lounge area of the hotel and had a few drinks and after a long day it was finally time to get some sleep. What a magical day!

Adams Wedding Day

The morning of the wedding and Adi, Dad, Paul Mc , Aaron, Toby and i wanted a last minute stag do so we hired some jet skis.



Two per ski, Adi and I went together on one, what a laugh, we were the only ones to fall off (3 times) i took the camera and got lots of silly video footage, after about 45 mins it was time to head back in. I headed back to Adi’s room to start getting ready for my big day. I got all suited up and went down to reception to meet the registrar and photographer, we took the executive golf cart round to the chapel where the registrar went through the ceremony with me. I stood there at the altar with Adi reassuring me, waiting for TJ to arrive.



35 minutes later i was told she had arrived (thank goodness as i was starting to get worried), the music started and i turned round and saw Lucy and Jasmine who both looked beautiful then Tj on her dads arm, her dress was amazing, She looked Stunning. The ceremony itself is a bit of a blur, but i do remember both of us welling up a few times. We had asked Toby and Sarah to do reading for us and Aaron and Pete to be our witnesses,



we said our vows to each other and exchanged rings, finally the registrar told us we were man and wife. We had a champagne reception and rose petals for confetti, then we had our photos taken. The chapel was over looking the ocean, it was a great backdrop to our photos. Everyone else headed to the sun lovers terrace for the reception whilst we had more photos taken on the beach. We headed back to our room to practice our first dance, we had secretly been having salsa lessons for nearly a year and planned to surprise everyone with some latin moves.



We entered the sun lovers terrace to find everyone waiting for us, as soon as we entered the room Adi ushered us to a sofa with a laptop setup. We weren’t the only ones keeping a secret! Tom, Pete and Lucy had hatched a plot to get video messages from some of our friends and family who couldn’t make it to the wedding. It was such a great present, we were nearly in tears and laughing all the way through the video.

Daydream Island

The next day Toby set off early as he had booked a Whitehaven beach tour. We wouldn’t see him for a few more days as we were heading to Daydream island later that day. We finished packing our clothes after mum and dad had taken our washing to the laundrette. We caught the bus down to Shute harbour which took 20 mins and boarded the boat to the island. It only took 15 mins and we had arrived. We were greeted with a garland and champagne, told about the facilities on the island and then taken to check in. Mum and dad followed TJ and I up to our room, as we had booked the best room on the island. We weren’t disappointed, the room was fantastic, a huge bed, massive spa bath, a separate lounge and a gorgeous view.



We all headed back down to the boat dock to wait for our friends and family to arrive. We missed the arrival of Paul and Inderjit but found what room they were in and went to say hello. The last ones to arrive were Lucy, Adi and the boys, who had just arrived from a few days in Dubai. It was great to see them again Dan and Charlie had changed so much in only 2 months. Later that evening we headed to the far side of the island to have dinner in one of the restaurants.
We all met up for the buffet breakfast, then headed for the pools to chill out, as a gift to Adi for being my best man we had arranged a diving lesson for him. Aaron also decided to give it a go, Tj and i tagged along too.



We had a play in the pool whilst Aaron and Adi had some tuition then we headed for the sea, Aaron decided to give the sea thing a miss so the rest of us went and enjoyed the dive. Most of the day was spent relaxing around the pool. The rest of our wedding guests arrived including Paul and Lisa who we had met on the Bangkok – Singapore trip. That evening we had booked a table for everyone at mermaids bar, we all had a great meal then headed to the bar for a night cap.



I had been kicked out of our suite as Tj didn’t want me to see her until the wedding so i had to sleep in Adi’s room. Dan played up most of the night but it didn’t make much difference as i was awake with nerves most of the night.

Airlie Beach

We arrived at Airlie beach at early evening we were all hungry so after we had drop off or bags at the Koala hostel we headed out for some food. Right across the road from the hostel was our favourite restaurant “Hogs Breath Cafe” so we sat down and had a steak. We had a walk up and down the main street in Airlie Beach and got lots of brochures on trips we could do. The next day we spent most of the day around the main street again doing some shopping.



We booked a trip to Whitehaven beach for the next day. We headed back to Mum and Dad’s room to watch the last episode of “A Farmer Wants a Wife”.
We got up early to head for the harbour where our boat trip started. We set sail for Whitehaven beach. After about 20 minutes we sailed past Daydream Island, we were trying to get a peek at what the island was really like as we had only seen it from pictures on the web. Eventually we arrived at Whitsunday Island and ventured through the rainforest to the famous Whitehaven beach.



We didn’t have long there as the crew took to a good diving and snorkelling spot, on the way we got to see some humpback whales. Both Tj and i got to do some diving while mum and dad went snorkelling. This was the first time i had got chance to use the water proof case for our camera whilst diving, i had great fun taking loads of photos.



On the boat we got chatting to a French man call Jean Luc, who had lived and studied in Coventry. When we got back to the main land we agreed to meet Jean Luc for dinner later. We headed for the Lagoon in Airle beach where we hoped Toby would be after he had travelled half way around the world on his own(I couldn’t have done that). Once we had met Toby we all went back to the hostel as Toby was staying there to. We met Jean Luc and a friend of his for dinner at a Chinese restaurant and had a great evening.

Business Class Trains

Had to be up early again as our tilt train was leaving at 9.15am as we had to exchange our train vouchers for tickets and have been told to be there 90 mins before. So we set off from the Koala at 8am and walked 2 blocks along and 3 down to find that the entrance to the Train Station via a shopping mall was closed as the mall didn’t open until 10.30am so we had to walk round the other side of the building.



It was funny to see Bob and Lyn also looking like backpackers pulling their luggage. After approx 35 mins of sorting out our vouchers (took some time as we had booked tickets for other people) we boarded the train into our business class cabins. The seats were similar to the business class flight we had took in that they had little tv’s in the arms, loads of leg room and waiter service – i could certainly get used to travelling like this!! We bought a breakfast package and settled down to watch the towns pass and various movies as we wouldn’t be arriving in Airlie Beach until around 6.30pm.

Fitzroy Island

We had booked mum and dad on the cape tribulation tour for today and as we had already done this tour a few years ago we had decided to take a trip to Fitzroy Island and do some snorkelling. We arrived at the harbour at 9 and waited to see which boat we would be on. At 9:30 we boarded the Thunderbolt,



as we climbed aboard, the captain asked us if we had filled out the disclaimer form, “What disclaimer form?” is asked. It turns out that this boat can go quite quick so we had to sign that we had no medical conditions. The captain started the 4 250hp engines (thats 1000hp) and we slowly left the harbour, as soon as we where clear the thunderbolt went like thunder. After 30 minutes of excitement we arrived at Fitzroy Island to pick up our snorkelling gear. We headed round the coast of the island and stopped at some shallow coral, it was very clear water and there where lots of fish.



I had taken my underwater case for my camera, I took loads of great photos underwater, then one of the other people on the trip shouted that he had seen a turtle, so we all swam over to see and sure enough the was this dude just cruising, I got some fantastic photos of him.



We grabbed some lunch on the boat and headed to another bay on the island for more snorkelling. At about 2pm we headed back to Cairns. When we got back to the main land we spent the after noon wandering around the shops. That evening we met up with mum and dad for dinner. We had a look around the night market before heading back to the hostel.

WaterFalls and Castles

We got up early to get our tour bus, which stopped outside our hostel. As we got on the bus the tour guide introduced himself as Wiley.



The next 30 mins was spent dashing around cairns pickup more people for the tour and dropping some people at the train station where some people were going on another tour. Our first stop on the tour was Lake Barrine, about 1 hour south of Cairns, but we had to climb up to the tablelands in the bus, the road up there when it was first opened in 1926 had 612 hairpins and was only a single track but in 1959 the road was widened and straightened, so now it only has 216 hairpins. Lake Barrine is a volcanic crater lake, its fed directly from rain water (no streams into the lake) which makes the water very clear. We had a tour around the lake on a boat showing us the flora and fauna.



We were told that if we were very lucky we might see a platypus, no such luck for us. When we docked we got free scones and tea after about 30 mins it was time to get back on the bus, next Stop was the Curtain fig Tree, three trees which had fallen on to each other and a fig had grown around them making it look like one tree.



The next place we visited was Milla Milla waterfalls, now we had been disappointed in Malaysia by the lack of water in the waterfall but this was amazing it was picture perfect, but the water was too cold to go swimming in.



We visited a few other waterfalls all very picturesque, we even had lunch next to one of the waterfalls. After Lunch we headed to Paronella Park which was home to a Spanish man who built a castle there. It was a beautiful place the castle had become derelict but the grounds where fantastic. The best bit was the guided tour as the guide told the story of Jose Paronella and his family.








When we got back to the hostel we waited for a few minutes until Mum and Dad arrived after flying in from Ayres rock. That evening we headed to a Italian restaurant which had been recommended to us by our tour guide.