One Wedding and a Few Miles
We made a little side trip from our camping to come back to Melbourne on Good Friday to
attend Mark and Stephen’s wedding and we had a truly wonderful time. This is the third same sex marriage that we've attended in addition to our own. Each one has been different, and we have been enjoying seeing how people who were denied for so long by tradition have felt free to ignore it to create very personal celebrations.
Thanks to Lindsay for putting us up for the night. We drove back up to Mt Buffalo on Saturday in time to fulfill our rostered cooking duties, followed by an unplanned pre-storm evacuation Sunday night.
At the end of the week we flew out for the start of the European leg of the trip, starting with the customary visit to Dale's Great Uncle John in Highcliffe on the south coast of England. We were pleased to be able to catch up with Great Aunty Vera's niece Jane and her partner Stephen.
It's been fun to learn more about John and Vera's life in the UK after they left Australia in the late 1960's. Jane grew up being very close to John and Vera in the late 1960s and 70s in the UK, much as Dale's dad was very close to them while growing up in Australia in the 1950s.
We had a lovely dinner out with Jane and Stephen in Christchurch on Saturday night.
Despite feeling a little dusty on Sunday morning we got up early and went for a long walk at Hengistbury Head. OMG, we didn't know that this incredible site existed. We were already fans of Christchurch but it just keeps throwing up wonderful surprises.
Hengistbury Head is a headland that juts out into the English Channel and which affords excellent views west to Bournemouth and back east to Highcliffe. It is an important archeological site where they have found evidence of human activity that goes back 15,000 years.
The Mudeford Spit is on the north side of the hill, where there are more than 300 privately owned beach huts that are among the most expensive in the UK. We were able to get glimpses inside a couple of them and they contained kitchens, beds and attics. Simply awesome!!
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| Celebrity Red Carpet Arrival - sunglasses obligatory |
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| The happy couple tying the knot |
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| The festivities kicked on at a pub in Port Melbourne |
Thanks to Lindsay for putting us up for the night. We drove back up to Mt Buffalo on Saturday in time to fulfill our rostered cooking duties, followed by an unplanned pre-storm evacuation Sunday night.
At the end of the week we flew out for the start of the European leg of the trip, starting with the customary visit to Dale's Great Uncle John in Highcliffe on the south coast of England. We were pleased to be able to catch up with Great Aunty Vera's niece Jane and her partner Stephen.
It's been fun to learn more about John and Vera's life in the UK after they left Australia in the late 1960's. Jane grew up being very close to John and Vera in the late 1960s and 70s in the UK, much as Dale's dad was very close to them while growing up in Australia in the 1950s.
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| Jane as a young girl, with Great Aunty Vera (behind) and Great Uncle John's mother and father (Dale's great grand parents) |
We had a lovely dinner out with Jane and Stephen in Christchurch on Saturday night.
Despite feeling a little dusty on Sunday morning we got up early and went for a long walk at Hengistbury Head. OMG, we didn't know that this incredible site existed. We were already fans of Christchurch but it just keeps throwing up wonderful surprises.
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| Looking back towards Christchurch Cathederal |
Hengistbury Head is a headland that juts out into the English Channel and which affords excellent views west to Bournemouth and back east to Highcliffe. It is an important archeological site where they have found evidence of human activity that goes back 15,000 years.
The Mudeford Spit is on the north side of the hill, where there are more than 300 privately owned beach huts that are among the most expensive in the UK. We were able to get glimpses inside a couple of them and they contained kitchens, beds and attics. Simply awesome!!
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| Apparently these go for A$400K |
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