The morning of our flight I was feeling anxious. Leaving my family and friends behind to head off on a long journey across 3 continents was a scary thought. We started to call it the triple-A trip: Australia – Africa – Austria.
We flew Jetstar – no perks, no nothing. So what was a girl to do? I decided to get creative - my new entertainment was to annoy B for the rest of the flight. I’m not sure how much entertainment that was for him though.
Hello Adelaide, time for food and a good sleep!
B has already written a post about our beach day adventure so I will skip that part and tell you about the afternoon with the bridesmaids.
At 3pm I headed off to high tea at the Stamford Hotel to meet up with Ash and her Bridal party. I haven’t seen her in ages and I really enjoyed catching up while having delicious sweet treats. Later that afternoon we headed out to the Barristers Block up in the Adelaide Hills. "Bojan Cabs" became a common saying during our stay in Adelaide. We rented a car and poor B was driving the bridesmaids everywhere.
Barristers Block was a good hour out of the city and by the time we arrived it was already night and freezing. B was stuck with us for the night as it was too dark for him to find his way to the accommodation of the boys (which was at some other remote location in the Adelaide Hills), so he was sent to do the manly chores of lighting the fire while the girls drank the wine and gossiped. Three bottles of wine down and we decided it was "party in your pants" time… which is when B decided it was time to leave and go to bed.
Daylight on the next morning… Please close the blinds. Today the bridesmaids were to get a bad reputation. Some words we will not talk about.
The venue set up was today and the groom and his men were on the case, while the girls stood around hung over and not knowing what to do. By 2:30pm it was time for us to leave and head into the city for some relaxation … we deserved it! We managed to have our nails done and buy some food for breakfast the next morning. Again "Bojan Cabs" was on the case and took us back up to the villa. Poor B had to drive all the way back to the train station after where the boys were staying. This took him over two hours – he forgot his phone at the villa, and the Adelaide Hills are pitch black in the night.
Finally it was the day of Ash and Sam’s wedding. Up at 6:30am, Ash and I were on the case to set up the barn and the outdoor wedding ceremony and by 1pm the area looked amazing. The hard work had paid off.
B had arrived somewhere during the preparations, bringing some drinks and supplies for the wedding, but I kicked him out straight away – he was not supposed to see the girls before the ceremony. That blew off his fuse I think, he was not seen after that until the wedding started.
Later I found out that he went to Hahndorf, a German settlement in the Adelaide Hills (of which you can see some lovely photos here). Obviously this was a beautiful place, especially in the colours of early autumn. But as it often comes with places like that, they can be a bit over the top, or as B put it: "it was more German than bratwurst and leather pants".
Ash looked stunning in her wedding dress. She was the calmest bride I had ever met. The ceremony went by so quick and Ash even had a joke when signing the register that Sam had been a "groomzilla" over the last week.
While Ash and Sam were off together having their photos taken, the bridesmaids headed into their room. We set it up with rose petals, chocolate hearts and champagne. And then it was finally time to party.
What a great weeding day, relaxed and beautiful. I really enjoyed spending the day celebrating one of my best friend’s marriages.
And then came the flight days… what can I say really. 1hr flight from Adelaide to Melbourne, 3hr stopover in Melbourne, 14hr flight from Melbourne to Dubai, 4hr stopover in Dubai, then a 10hr flight from Dubai to Cape Town. A total time of 31hrs with almost no sleep. As soon as we made it to our accommodation at Ashanti Lodge in Cape Town, I passed out. This would have been at 2pm in the afternoon and now I am awake at 5:25am on a Sunday writing this.
All I have left to say is the Australian goodbye, Cheerio Mate!
