Australia baby, yeah!: The Parents/In-Laws come to visit!

July 6th

After an early morning start, we met up with Russell and Margaret in Tullamarine Airport where they had flown from their stopover in Singapore. Despite having had a glorious week of warm sunny weather prior to their arrival, the sun decided it had had enough of Melbourne, leaving the clouds and rain to take over. Poor timing! Nevertheless, we were pleased to see them and we were on our way to our house in the eastern suburbs in no time, pointing out various sights along the way. Time to get settled in our lovely little house and catch up over a coffee and some UK dairy milk, even if my father in law thought it would be funny to play a little practical joke on me!!

The next few days were spent mostly at Warragul Golf Club with the three golfing Barrs trying to beat each other to victory. I escaped to the safe haven of work while this was all going on! I do believe Russell was presented with a lovely 'pizza boy' Dingo shirt and matching cap which he was then instructed to wear on the Old Course next time he was in St Andrews - which he managed to do on his return from Oz. We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the local Wild Dog winery for some lunch, the local Dusties footy and netball club and we had our friends round for Curry Club, where Margaret was awarded Curry of the Night with her Sweet and Sour Balti Chicken - winner! Oh and of course we were all shouting at the TV when Andy Murray won Wimbledon. Amazing!

July 11th - July 17th Port Douglas

Always a good way to start the holidays - french toast, bacon and maple syrup @ Good Habits cafe!! Our flight to Port Douglas was perfect and despite a small spot of rain when we first arrived, we were blessed with good weather for our 7 night stay at Rendezvous Reef resort. The resort itself had a lovely bar and restaurant area next to the main pool, with various other pools and a BBQ area on-site. Our apartment was great with a balcony overlooking the pool and we were just a short walk away from Four Mile Beach. To walk along the beach to Port Douglas main strip took approximately 30 minutes which was ideal. On our arrival, we got ourselves acquainted with our surroundings and enjoyed some dinner at home while we planned our trips for the next few days. We had decided on a trip to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation National Park on the Saturday, and a trip to the Great Barrier Reef on the Sunday aboard a catamaran. Monday and Tuesday were therefore free for chilling out and doing lots of not very much - perfect!

Friday - first stop - sitting by the pool! Sunglasses on, sunscreen on, book at hand, this was the life! Russell and Margaret were much more energetic than Bob and myself, going for a run on most days. As impressed as I was, the enthusiasm for exercising was lacking somewhat and I decided just to stick with my book reading! At least Bob and I managed a walk into Port Douglas along the beach so that was something. Port Douglas itself was quite touristy but not tacky - plenty of bars, restaurants and beauty parlours! The marina was a lovely spot too, great for people watching.

Our trip on Saturday was good, especially the river cruise in the Daintree Rainforest where we got to spot a couple of snakes in the trees and some enormous crocs. Our tour guide Andre was an Argentinian fellow who was obviously passionate about his job but also under pressure to fit in quite a lot into a relatively short space of time - this resulted in some hairy driving!! We were on the lookout for Cassawary birds during the drive (think 'RoadRunner') but unfortunately failed to spot any. After lunch at an idyliic spot in the rainforest where Russell tried a green lime flavoured ant (brave!), we travelled up to Cape Tribulation and walked along the beach with some bush turkeys. Then we travelled back via Mossman gorge where we had a short walk in the rainforest and a splash in the cold but spectacular gorge itself. We all managed to get in, some for longer than others (I was scared I'd give the baby frostbite, that was my excuse!!) and we were quite refreshed afterwards, put it that way! A spot of indigenous scone tasting and some coffee was a great way to finish the day.

Our next trip was to Low Isles, an hour boat trip off the east coast of Australia. Now this turned out to be an adventure on the high seas! Admittedly it did look a little overcast about 8am at the marina, but it wasn't until the catamaran staff started warning us about the 'slightly choppy weather' that we began to realise this may not be the most gentle of sails! A ginger tablet later and all four of us were cosied up on the deck in our summer clothes. I remember thinking as we set off, 'this is fine, just a slight lull' before I looked up to see boats ahead swaying vigorously from side to side. It was at this point I began to feel like an irresponsible pregnant person, who had no life jacket on and was gripping for dear life to Bob's leg for the whole hour! The only time I didn't grab onto Bob was when I was rolling around on top of Margaret who was trying to catch my sunglasses that had escaped with the choppy weather, and also when Bob nipped off to contemplate spewing over the side of the boat. All in all, an entertaining trip!

Once we got to the island, the sun came out and all was calm. While Bob and I settled ourselves under an umbrella on the beach, Margaret and Russell spotted some turtles out on the glass bottom boat before trying a spot of snorkelling. I managed to fit into a wetsuit for some snorkelling but my sense of balance on the noodle was a little off which resulted in me floudering around rather than being horizontal! I gave up pretty quickly and opted for a good old fashioned swim instead and a walk round the island, which only took about 10 minutes. Back onto the boat for a spot of lunch before another choppy ride home, but this time, not as wet!

All in all, a fantastic holiday and great that Russell and Margaret could see where we live. We thoroughly enjoyed our Canasta competitions, mocktails and BBQ's and loved our last night eating out at the 'atmospheric' Watergate restaurant in Port Douglas.