Airlie Beach (March 30th - April 5th)
KRISTI AND SEAN'S WEDDING (4th April 2007)
AHOY THERE CAPTAIN SALTIES!
A week or so ago had a few days away in Airle Beach for my cousin's (Kristi) wedding ....it was magic! The first few nights we stayed at a Caravan Park about 4km out of Airlie Beach (with Mum, Dad, Jas & family, Wayde & Kellie, and Deb, John and kids) - was great spending time with the family whilst we were all on holidays, and being at a caravan park rather than a resort meant we spent most of our time outdoors surrounded by green grass & trees (rather than buildings & concrete) and swimming in the huge pool which had two waterslides! Going down the small waterslides were made a lot more exciting having the girls (Ella & Charlotte) there and seeing their excitement - of course if they were really big ones it wouldn't make any difference of whether the girls were there or not for us to have fun! The Caravan Park also had a mini golf course.....which looking back I would not have played - or at least put some insect repellent on! Chris and I decided to play one late afternoon before dinner, and got bitten all over by tiny little sandflies! He also beat me by one. I blamed it on the sandflies and tiredness of pregnancy distracting me on the final holes.

The next few nights were spent tossing and turning, trying so very hard to resist scratching the itches! Mum and Chris were relieved of their itchiness in a day due to popping a Teldane pill, I was limited to use of topical treatment only.....Dirty.

The last couple of nights, we all moved into town and stayed at the Seastar Apartments where the wedding Reception was to be held. The view was sensational! A couple of days before the wedding, the girls had a pamper afternoon with a massage at a day spa along with lazing by/in the pool & spa sipping on champas, while the boys headed out to Hamilton Island for a day of drinking, golfing and other island activities! Chris and I had a night away from the family at the end of that day and went out for dinner in town....which was lovely! But unfortunately for Chris, I get knackered just too quickly at the moment, and was not as eager as he was to kick on down the road where the music was firing! Lucky for me, I was the boss for the night!

(Charlotte the Pirate girl, assessing the Treasure Map for her big voyage the following day!!)

The wedding day was so much fun! Kristi & Sean hired an old style boat (looked like a pirate ship) with all the crew dressed as pirates, and we highsailed across to an island where the ceremony was held. The weather was intermittent with rain on and off during the boat sail, but for the ceremony, the sun came out and it was stinking hot! Lucky parasols were provided for all the ladies to shield us from the sun! Although I must say many men took cover also, and Chris looked very much like "I'm a lady, you see" holding my parasol!

On the way back there was a stop for some snorkelling & some swinging off the rope of the ship into the water. The rope swinging was hilarious to watch! Only a couple of the females were actually strong enough to hold on to the rope long enough for a good swing and drop. Most let go about 1 metre from the boat!! A couple of the boys go knackered in the nads because they had their legs wrapped around a knot.....and didn't unwrap in time with their arm release!!

A couple of hours after we got back to Airlie Beach, we had the reception. A marquee was set up in the carpark of the apartments we were staying in, so was very handy in getting ready and getting home! Spent a lot of time on the dance floor, but certainly not as much fun as when you have had a few ales to loosen the inhibitions! I felt so unco dancing! Chris, Wayde, Jason, Nat and Kel had no problems though! The boys were on the dancefloor most of the night - more so Chris and Jas with their shared love of what we once called "Heavy Metal" music! They were going off! Took some pics on Mums camera, but don't have copies yet.

The dj's stopped playing at about midnight, and much to Chris' dismay would not honor his request of ACDC's 'You shook me all night long' as the last song! I had to explain to him that he is not the one getting married this time - it is the bride & grooms choice of the last song! (Although I must admit, the female dj did want to play it)! So Chris, Jason and the dj just sang it themselves instead!

By this time, I was sooooo very tired, but Chris and Jas were nowhere near ready to retire......so I left with Wayde & Kellie (Nat had taken the girls home about an hour earlier) and we left Chris & Jas singing Guns N Roses - and apparently spent the next 2 hours singing all of the G 'n R songs they could think of, entertaining the Irish stayers (Kristi married an Irish bloke, and many of the "mad" Irish came across for the wedding), whilst helping down the many leftover beers in the esky fridges by the marquee!Took 2 minutes to get back to our room, and then sat on the balcony for a bit of a wind down chat with Wayde and Kel before bed.

Flew out the next afternoon (Thursday) - both absolutely knackered by the time we got back to Newman early Friday morning!

Pregnancy limitations on holiday:

• No medication allowed, so had to practise control and just put up with the almighty itching of sandfly bites.


• Couldn't slide down waterslide on my belly (but back was ok!!)


• Learnt pretty quick that I can no longer do speckies reaching for the ball whilst playing pool catch with a wahu. The stretching on the stomach takes you by surprise and is not a good thing. I now just do the speckies for the fun of it (no reaching for the ball).


• No snorkelling for me because it is still Stinger season. Once again weighing up the decision of whether to be selfish and risk the chance of getting stung, or think of our bubba and the chance of losing it if I do.


• No rope swinging off the pirate ship and into the water - pressure on the belly when hitting the water not a good idea for little bubba. But at least I could capture on film, those that did so at least they have hard copy memories!
• No alcohol leads to being much more aware of when you are actually tired and need to go to bed....and because you know it is important for your baby, you actually go! At the time feel like I am missing out on all the fun, but in the morning always happy to be hangover free!


• Not feeling as comfortable running amok on the dancefloor whilst sober!!
  Becoming uncomfortable after much shorter periods of time during travel. Over 24 hours in transit from Airlie Beach to Newman meant endless up and downs from chairs and just walking around to stretch my back. My first experiences of back pain during pregnancy were on the trip home.

But apart from these few limitations, I had an awesome time!! Even though I missed out on some things I would normally participate in, I really loved being pregnant on holidays!
I am so proud of my pregnant belly, that I just wanted to show it off! There is something about having a big (pregnant) belly and getting around in bathers or belly hugging clothing that brings a wave of happiness and huge smiles of contentment. Maybe because the belly draws the attention away from other wobbly bits???!!!

Was also nice to have a bit of color again - even got a thong tan mark (on my feet!!).

Will post some pics of pirate ship and actual wedding ceremony when I get some copies from the family....

Adios!