I’ve never had a surprise birthday party, and this one definitely came as a surprise! Just before we left for Samoa, I’d sent out an email to all my friends in Melbourne inviting them to Mum & Dad’s place on Saturday 14th January for some casual birthday drinks and a catch-up. What I didn’t know was that my Mum completely hijacked my email list! She sent another email out to everyone on my email list telling them to ignore my email because she had something else in mind – sneaky Mum!
We arrived back from Samoa on 11th January and I organized to go out for a few quiet drinks with my mate Colin on my birthday – Friday 13th January. Mum had collected quite a list of RSVPs for my party on Saturday while I’d been away, and I was looking forward to seeing everyone the next day. We drove down to a local pub called the Geebung Polo Club, which by chance is where I had my 21st birthday party (and I didn’t even join the dots then!). I grabbed a beer, walked around the corner, and there was EVERYONE!
It turned out to be a great night and a fantastic way to see some friends that I hadn’t seen since I left Australia way back in 1998. Thanks everyone for coming and making it such a memorable night!! Special thanks to Matty Farrell and Laura, who came down from Sydney for it!
Thanks for the pressie guys!! Now I have my very own Ken Duncan print!
Mum, Dad, Me, Marnie, Adriana
The family knife (a hand-me-down through the generations) celebrates another milestone!
Adri with Katie and James.
My gorgeous sister Marnie gave Adriana and I a fantastic Christmas present: dinner on Melbourne’s restaurant tram! I’d seen it trundle around Melbourne’s streets for years and had always wanted to do it.
We climbed aboard the tram in near the Yarra river in the early evening. It traveled through South Melbourne and around Albert Park Lake to St. Kilda, and then back again with a quick loop through the city centre. We enjoyed a lovely three-course meal with some Victorian wines to go with it.
Table for two on Melbourne’s Restaurant Tram.
We returned to ‘Upolu and stayed in Apia another night before making our way to the best beach on the island at Lalomanu, on the south-east corner. The bus ride over took us across the rugged, mountainous and green interior of the island. Once we arrived we dumped our gear in our beach fale at Taufua Beach resort (don’t get too excited, a fale is nothing more than an open-sided wooden hut with palm frond "blinds") and went straight for a swim. The water was crystal clear and there was some good reef some 50 metres off the beach that we were able to snorkel.
Beautiful!
Lalomanu beach on ‘Upolu.
We enjoyed a few lazy days at Lalomanu doing pretty much nothing. One day we organized a local tour and went snorkelling around some of the nearby Aleipata islands. We were lucky enough to see some of the largest turtles I’ve ever seen.
Our second and final destination on ‘Upolu was a beach resort we’d heard of along the south coast called Virgin Cove Beach Resort. It was quite an adventure getting there – we got a ride with some locals in their ute, it ran out of petrol, and when we finally got dropped off it was a 5km walk to the resort from the main road! But boy was it worth it!!! Secluded fales spread along a curving bay, lush tropical vegetation, golden sand and turquoise water.
Paradise!
Home sweet home – our beach fale.