Around the world and back

Well, almost. But going to Australia sometimes feels like you are going around the world!!

We headed off on our trip home for our second wedding and a bit of r&r. We survived long flights, old 747's, a second wedding, the hottest weather in 100 years, bush fires and sharks (well, not really, but it sounded good and they were out and about on the beaches!).

For the first time, I felt the drain of the long journey, but felt rested when we finally got there. Husband is not a keen air traveller and travels most of the way with white knuckle fever. I, on the other hand, find it very easy to sleep and relax which drives him mad. The trip is long though, and can really drain you at the end. It took him several days to work out when to be awake and when to sleep.

It was such a great time to be in Melbourne. The tennis was on, we arrived on Australia Day eve, the weather was balmy and light still until 9pm, however, we experienced some of the hottest weather I have ever felt in my home town in my whole life. Consecutive days of over 40 degrees was a lot to handle when we had come from cold and snowing in early January.

Our first day saw us celebrate Australia Day in pure Australian style with a barbeque of steak and sausages and beers, followed by the one and only; homemade pavlova.

On 31 January we celebrated our Melbourne wedding with family and friends which was amazing and so special to be able to do for a second time. We had a fantastic night which passed so quickly and it was such a treat to have friends come from far and wide to help us celebrate.

We had some great nights with friends and with family having barbeque's of seafood and steak, yummy Italian at old time favourite spots and catching up with my girls who were in town from QLD.

On the way back to we enjoyed a couple of days in Singapore were we shopped and relaxed. Luckily for us there were some great sales on due to Chinese New Year. We ate great food in Arab Street and enjoyed the cheap and tasty Malaysian and bowls of noodles on offer in Orchard Road. I love Singapore. It is so civilised, clean, and orderly. I loved the older architecture of the shophouses in the Arab area along with its nargile cafes, with patrons seated on carpets on the floors and trendy shops of home decor and designer handmade jewellery. The service is always good, everyone speaks English and you can find a real mix of Asian food culture, from Chinese to Malaysian, for whatever price you wish to pay. We didn't really venture out of our immediate location due to exhaustion and the want to shop and then eat and relax. I hope to visit Singapore again and get outside the city and stay somewhere nice for a couple of days. Thanks for all your Singapore tips, my dear readers. They will come in handy for the next trip!