Here comes the bride - by water taxi.......

Wow, what a day....where to start my account of the wedding of Mr Tim Shrimpton and Miss Kay Annals.  I can only give you my account so here goes......

The day started fairly leisurely for myself (although I'm sure not for others involved), the wedding was to take place at 4pm in the Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney and afterwards on the Blue Room, more of that later.  So, from a brother's point of view, all I had to do was to get to Kay's house in Kirribilli for 3pm and photos.  Not wanting to be late I left my apartment at 1pm, knowing that the journey should only take half an hour anyway.  I was dressed in my hired suit, shirt and tie and the temperature was 28 degrees - so I headed underground for the train and to escape the heat.  The train took me through the city to Circular Quay to catch the ferry across the harbour to Milsons Point, a short 10 minute trip.  I was there in plenty of time and grabbed a quick takeaway lunch while waiting for the ferry.  Once on the other side of the harbour I could see the view that Kay has every day.  She lives in Kirribilli which is directly opposite the Opera House and her building is on the waterfront so has uninterrupted views of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge from both a bedroom and the living room - truly breathtaking.

I arrived at Kay's nice and early - as a brother should - to find that she wasn't in.  The hairdresser had taken longer than expected (4 hours) and they were on their way back.  After a frantic few moments the dress was on.....

The bride looked stunning and there were parental tears, as there should be when a daughter gets married.  A few photos later and it was time for an emotional mother and proud brother to leave for the ceremony.  Our journey was by road, across the bridge to the Royal Botanical Gardens.  The journey of the bridesmaids, father of the bride and glowing bride was justifiably far more grand but first a couple of photos of proud parents:

The Royal Botanical Gardens are adjacent to the Sydney Opera House, just a short walk from the front steps of this famous landmark.  The site of the wedding was about 200 yards inside the gates on a flat grassy area that looks directly back at the Opera House.  Being a public place there were quite a few onlookers at all the funny wedding guests in full regalia, all slowly melting in the sun!!  The location of the ceremony was very special indeed:

Such a beautiful setting deserves a stunning entrance by the bride and that was provided by a white water taxi which docked (albeit over15 minutes late) at a private dock at the foot of the Opera House steps:

The bride walked up through the park to a symphony of applause from everyone in the gardens, complete strangers who added greatly to a very special day.  I had spoken to Tim prior to Kay's arrival to check with him that it was okay for me to be everywhere armed with both video camera and still camera in an effort to capture as much as possible for those who could not be there with us due to the distances involved.  Sadly this was a great number of people who were dearly missed but in everyone's thoughts.  Tim had agreed to my camera antics and I think I managed to get photos from pretty much every angle imaginable - it must have looked very strange to the amassed crowds for this restless person to be constantly wandering throughout the ceremony - and I sure I must have annoyed some of the assembled guests......

The ceremony contained two readings, the formalities expected as well as a sand ceremony performed by the bride, groom and their mothers.  This was an Australian tradition which involves the pouring of two different coloured sands alternately into a heart shaped vase, creating a unique and permanent memento of the occasion for the bride and groom.

Following a wonderful ceremony, delivered perfectly by Sue, a very close friend of Tim's family, pink champagne was served to the guests before the photos took place.  The photographer, Michael, was fantastic and there will be some very special memories captured through that lens...

Mr and Mrs Shrimpton invite you all to attend the Blue Room.............

Opera to Koalas

After a slow start settling into Manly and getting the shopping done for our stay here we finally hit tourist mode on Monday and boarded the ferry into Sydney. Manly is a 30 minute ferry journey into the city centre and this is the view that greets Kay every morning when she travels to work. The ferry docks between the Opera House and the Bridge and then it is a short train journey to her office - all this (and back again) for £20 a week.


Our first stop, naturally, was the Opera House we walked to it, then around it and decided to go inside. This was a bit tricky as the 1956 design didn't really allow for access and we had to be escorted by staff to a lift in the area where sets were being made up for the Opera later in the week. Once inside we asked about performances but were told if Luke made the slightest noise we would be thrown out as Australians are very intolerant of children - best not bother then. We did book a tour, which was fantastic, and Luke managed to just about stay quiet for the hour. The Opera House looks amazing at any angle but close up takes on a whole new beauty. It has now been listed as a site of historical importance. We spent the rest of the day wandering around the quay to the Sydney bridge and back through the area called the Rocks - the first settlement in Sydney - before meeting Kay on her way home from work and catching the ferry back to Manly. If you ever get the chance to go and don't have children with you there are plenty of regular events you can go to experience the Opera House - I liked the look of High Tea where a singer will give you (and the 50 or so other guests) a private performance. Back at Kay's we had Kangaroo steak for tea!


Tuesday we decided to use the tickets that Kay bought us for Christmas and visited the Sydney Tower. Rather than catching the train we walked up the main shopping street. There is lots of shopping here - each train station, like our underground, is situated under a shopping mall. The Sydney Tower was no different and after searching in vain for a lift that worked we finally gave up and used the escalator for the pushchair. Luke has given up on walking and after losing him in a supermarket on Sunday for about 2 minutes we've given up caring about how much he's using the pushchair. The tour starts with OzTrek that takes you through the sights and sounds of Australia and ends in a virtual reality cinema - luckily Luke was too young for the moving seats so we got to sit in the stationary ones! The views from the tower were amazing and we could just about see Manly in the distance. We found it hard to pinpoint exactly what everything was but eventually worked out where the Olympic Stadium and Chinatown were. We could also see the afternoon rain clouds coming in and managed to get back down the tower before the rain really started. We then walked, in the rain, to Kay's office to meet her for dinner - we took her to Chinatown, which she hadn't been to before, a few blocks away. We were finally allowed to use the train (as I was dead on my feet) and ended up being very late back but it meant we saw the bridge and the Opera House lit up (and Luke saw the moon).

Wednesday we decided to have a day for Luke and used our tickets for the Aquarium and the Wildlife Park which are next to each other in Darling Harbour (two ferries away) - another place for shopping and eating. Luke spent most of the first crying because he wanted to go on the train and most of the second playing his Leapster and shouting Go! Go! Go! from the pushchair - I'm afraid all of our tempers were frayed. Lee and I loved it. The highlight was having a photo taken with a Koala - we weren't allowed to touch them but she did nearly fall on my head at one point. Because of the train issue we took the monorail from there into the city and then got the train back to the quay - only just making the ferry back to Manly.


Today we are probably going shopping and Friday is the day that Lee and Kay are going to climb the harbour bridge - I'm (luckily) looking after Luke.