Alice To Adelaide Day 0

We arrived at Alice Springs at about 12pm. As soon as the plane landed and the doors opened, we were hit with a dry heat, it was 38c. We made our way to collect our luggage and then to the minibus which would take us to Toddy’s backpacker resort. On the way there we got chatting to Tim from Somerset and Jason from Canada. Tim had been travelling and working for 8 months in New Zealand and had decided to do the same in Aus. He was going to be stopping in Alice for just over a month. Jason had just finished his uni course the day before and had decided to do some sightseeing, he was booked on the Alice Springs to Darwin trip.
We got to the youth hostel and went to check in at reception. The lady gave us a map of the area and pointed out the highlights which were the main street and a few aboriginal art galleries. Adam and I both knew Alice Springs was going to be small but we didn’t realise it would be that small. We proceeded to our room which fortunately had air con and we lay on the bed for a little while in just our underwear as it was that hot! A little later Adam convinced me to go out and brave the heat to have a look around so we made our way into town. We had a look in a few souvenir shops and bumped into Tim and Jason who told us they had pretty much seen all there was to see in about half an hour and therefore were on their way to the pub as there was nothing else to do. Adam and i carried on and had a look at some of the aboriginal art, the only major shopping centre and that was about it.



So we made our way to the Bojangles pub and spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with Tim and Jason and having a few drinks. Later on we decided to make a move and grab some dinner back at the hostel and then go to bed as we had an early start. We met Jason for dinner and he and I had a normal meal ie fish and chips whereas Adam decided to be a bit more adventurous and try the kangaroo steak, which he really enjoyed. We said goodbye to Jason and headed to bed.

Brisbane Life

We had a fantastic time in Brisbane and did so many things it would have taken forever to write about them all, so we have done a list of some of the places we visited and things we did. Some of which we will elaborate on as soon as we can.

TJ got a HR Job at Mater Hospital a few days into our stay in Brisbane


The landlady of the Macrossan house lived next door with her dog Zoe who was Phoebe’s twin


We watched the Brisbane lions V’s Carlton, Australian rules game at the Gabba where Brisbane lost


We visited the Lone Pine Koala sanctuary where Tj got to cuddle a koala


Along with thousands of others we watched the fantastic fireworks of the Riverfire Festival


Frank and Marion took us to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast


We dived at The Seaway, Southport and Tweed Heads with the Brisbane BSAC Diving Club

Adam finally got a helpdesk job with Extend Technologies


After much persuasion Tj convinced Adam to go Latino Rock Dancing where we became regulars


We saw some shows at the Valley Festival in the heart of china town.


We had a look round an Eco House, which showed loads of energy saving ideas

We shopped until we dropped at DFO shopping village


We partied at Oktoberfest


We relaxed in Noosa and even tried a Surfing Lesson


We visited Australia Zoo and saw lots of crocs


We drove to Coolum to see the Kite Festival on the beach


We had a meal at the Norman Hotel Steak House for Mich's (a friend from BSAC) Birthday

Jasmin and Annika visited us so we took them to Harbour Town and DFO Shopping Villages and Surfers Paradise


We volunteered at Australia Zoo for 5 days


We caught the ferry to Stradbrook Island and spent the day exploring the island with Matt and Mich


We went for and Indian in Bulimba with Vesna (a friend from dance class) and Iver


We watched the Indy 300 at Surfers paradise and got to walk down the pits.

We took Fearghal (Tj’s work mate) for a meal at West End then for drinks at the Storey Bridge Hotel.

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.