Australia 2023

Nowra

A long couple of flights got us to Australia and then on a train down to Wollongong where we spent a night freshening up and getting over the jetlag. From there we continued on down to Nowra to see Brandon, Alysha & their three little ones and Mum & Brian. It both felt like it had been no time at all since I’d seen them and it felt like it had been forever. The four years since I’d been back and spent time with them all felt like nothing as we immediately fell into the love and laughter that can only come from growing up together and sharing that many years together. The biggest changes came from Cody & Thea who have become their own little people, complete with adorable personalities full of curiosity and wonder. Brandon & Alysha have been blessed with some very beautiful children.

The first few days in Australia had some incredible weather with clear skies and temperatures in the low thirties. We spent the first week enjoying a couple of days of sunshine before the weather turned average with rain and clouds and this pretty much followed us for the rest of our time in Australia. Not to be deterred, we filled our time with exploring the areas around my home town, doing dinners and lunches and hangouts with all the family and showing Keoni how Australia does the best coffee in the world and some of the best seafood and fresh produce anywhere in the world. We also picked Cody up from school and went home to make cupcakes together. Monopoly deal (with Thea being an absolute shark learning this in one afternoon and then beating us all), painted nails, movies together and swims in the pool were some of the other adventures we all had together.

With the weather not looking much better, we decided to bring our time in Melbourne forward and see if we could get lucky by heading down south.

Melbourne

A couple of days to drive the coast road down to Melbourne and we were soon seeing Dad, Janette, Tristan and Amber. Missing these lot just as much as the family in Nowra, we crammed as much time together as we could. Sometimes just sitting on the couch watching tv together. We also spent a fun day exploring the Yarrah Valley wineries and chocolate factory and a weekend down on the Mornington Peninsula with Dad & Janette where we watched the Penguin Parade and ate some fantastic Greek food. We visited Dad at his work and ate some amazing Asian food before spending a couple of days in Melbourne where we met up with Frankie, an old friend.

Sydney

Back to Nowra we went to attend Cody’s Easter Hat Parade which coincidentally I’d attended 4 years earlier at his preschool and then an afternoon adventure walking along the river and searching for little crabs under rocks. We also did a sleepover night where Cody and Thea spent the night at Mum & Brians with us. We all laid out mattresses in the rumpus room and had a fun filled couple of days laughing and playing altogether.

From here Keoni and I said our goodbyes and headed off to Sydney for a few days exploring the city, catching friends such as Mat & Dougal along the way. Manly ferry, Chinatown food adventures, walks around the harbour and along the coast and we were then on a plane up to Mackay.

Mackay & Airlie Beach

We flew into Mackay and drove straight up to Airlie Beach. Here we spent a few days staying in Magnums Backpackers (hahaha that brought back a few memories) and hiking the coast, swimming in the lagoon and generally lazing about in the sun before heading back to Mackay for Dean & Alecia’s wedding.

We did another walk out to Finch Hatton Gorge and a swim in the waterfalls, caught up with Adam a couple of times and then attended the wedding. The wedding was loads of fun and I am truly happy that we were lucky enough to be invited. It was a beautiful ceremony and done just perfect to Dean & Alecia’s personalities. We wish them all the love and happiness in the future.

Back to Sydney for a brief 36hrs where we had one final dinner in Wollongong with Mum, Brian, Brandon, Alysha & Fam. Dancing in the restaurant with Thea and a heart wrenching goodbye as Thea and Cody didn’t want us to leave. Thea telling us that saying goodbye is always the hardest part made me so sad we had to go but also so joyful that we got to spend this precious time with them. Similarly saying goodbye to the rest of them was hard and I cant wait for the day when we aren’t so far apart. I miss them all terribly.

Sadly we didn’t get time to see Blake and Nari but hopefully they’ll be in Europe sometime soon or we’ll catch them somewhere else in the world for fun hangs.

I’m writing this post months later and the sadness that not having my family close by is a deep ache. They are all beautiful people and I cherish the memories we have together and the time we get to spend together even if right now its long between visits. I miss you all so so much. Love you Mum, Brian, Dad, Janette, Blake, Nari, Brandon, Alysha, Tristan, Amber, Cody, Thea & Jade. Our family is growing. From our humble 6 as we grew, we are now at 13 and no doubt there are more to come. Cant wait to see you all again!