MY NEPHEW PAUL AND KIM'S WEDDING CELEBRATIONS

What a grand idea! A relaxed wedding celebration over three days in a tropical paradise in the Whitsunday group of islands off the north Queensland coast. 

Paul and Kim's relatives and close family friends fly  into the airport right on Hamilton Island. Within minutes, we are comfortably ensconced in our cliffside apartments among the gum trees with stunning views out over the sea. 

Virgin Blue gets me to Hamilton Island from Sydney in a  2 hour non-stop flight.

What an opener! - The view out to sea from my bedroom in Shore Line apartments on the windward side of the island.

Time for lunch - and what better than fish and chips with the Alexanders down by the marina with the Australian native cockatoos and lorikeets looking on.

Come sunset we hop in our electric cars and drive up to the look-out to join Paul and Kim and the other guests for a glass of champagne while we watch the sun dipping into the sea.

Kim's sister Cassandra, dad Bob, and friend Lloyd

Paul and Kim "not nervous at all"?

My sister Anne and Trevor, Michael, brother Mark and Jenny

THE WEDDING DAY - 4th August 2010

All Saints Chapel is perched beautifully on a hill overlooking the sea - an idyllic spot in the late afternoon for all of us to witness Paul and Kim exchange their marriage vows. Father Bill comes across from the mainland to officiate.

Father of the groom, Bob Alexander

Paul (looking every bit like my late sister Cathie's son), and Uncle Michael

Kim with her two sisters, Cassandra and Kirsten, and her father Bob

Paul and Kim with his dad Bob, and his brother Dan and his wife Kellie ready to toast the union

The guests

Uncle Michael's birthday and other activities

UNCLE MICHAEL'S BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST


Coincidentally, the wedding day falls on my birthday. Of course, I choose to believe that it was with 'careful planning' that this was the case and I am truly honoured that the young couple invited everyone to a 'morning tea' on their special day to celebrate it.


Later in the evening, in Bob's 'Father of the Groom' speech, he opens by telling Paul how proud he is of him, and Kim how gorgeous she looks and then proceeds to thank all the guests for sharing this special day . . . . . . "Michael's birthday!"

JAN AND BOB'S "MORNING-AFTER" BREAKFAST

In true 'morning-after' style, Kim's parents, Bob and Jan, were up early on the day after the wedding to host breakfast down by the pool, and to cook the bacon and eggs for the 'weary-eyed', and for those of us who went to bed at a reasonable hour.

Infinity-edge swimming pool of the apartments

Bob meticulously removes the fat from the bacon while Cass makes the bacon and eggs

I love golden eggs that are so fresh that the yolk sits high on the white.

A TROPICAL ISLAND

What is the idyll of a tropical island without palm trees? Here on Hamilton, the Palm trees have been brought in. But the rabble of butterflies of the one blue colour are captivating. So are the kookaburras that descend into the branches of the gum trees outside our bedrooms in the morning, laughing to wake us up. Flocks of native sulphur-crested cockatoos screech but add such life and colour to the bush. Regrettably, I was not fast enough with the camera to get a photo of the pod of whales surfacing from the sea in front of our apartments

Bauhinia

Butterfly supping from the new Grevillea blossom

A baby Kookaburra on the branch of a gum tree

PICASA WEB ALBUMS
Take your time and browse through three Photo Albums and Slideshows. Double click on the picture and the album will open into full screen view.



THE WEDDING








UNCLE MICHAEL'S BIRTHDAY AND OTHER ACTIVITIES








COCKATOOS AND OTHER FLORA AND FAUNA ON A TROPICAL ISLAND