One Day You’re In, The Next Day Your Out

Or married. 

Well that’s it, the whole shebang.  We planned, we wed, we partied and we survived.  The whole thing was very surreal.  Some days it was too real and other days I felt like I was living in a dream (and sometimes a nightmare).

I really enjoyed sharing our wedding with everyone and I hope the hive found my posts interesting but helpful.  I seriously get really excited when I see people mention on the Boards that they are trying Craigslist out for wedding related needs or are thinking about poster invites or Goodwill makeovers.  I hope flower girl poms, short dresses with bright shoes and funny t-shirts as bridal party gifts get more popular too.

I’m really sad to be “out” of Weddingbee for good, so I won’t be.  We’ll just say I’'ll bee on a very extended leave of absence from the wedding planning scene.  I’m sure I’ll have projects to share that can be wedding related. 

While I won’t be blogging here, I will still be blogging.  You can find Mr. Joey and I documenting our house building and decorating journey at Forty Twenty Four.  I hope some of you will “hop” over and say hi.

I love this place, it really helped make my wedding experience.  I hope it won’t be too long until I hop in for a hello!

Love,

Mrs. Joey

Love in Grey and Yellow : Train, Planes and Koalas?

After we left Cairns (pengy, can you link the last honeymoon post?), we headed south to Brisbane aboard the Sunlander Trans-Queensland train. We wanted to see more of the Australian landscape but knew we didn’t have time to do any driving ourselves so we boarded the train for a 24-hour trip.

Mr. Joey enjoying the first class cabin.

It seems like a long time to spend on a train, but the journey was actually really enjoyable. We packed provisions (lunch, some dinner and breakfast), a few good books and kicked our feet up.

We saw some amazing views from the train and we even caught a few Kangaroos hopping along side the train. I felt like we really had an Australian experience after that. I didn’t get any pictures because the train was moving too fast. Poop!

We got into Brisbane in the evening the following day and decided to just have a chill night. We had lots of excitement planned in the morning.

At 9 AM, we caught a river cruise to the Lone Pine Koala Refuge. The actual river cruise was really nice. It was fairly warm and we both learned a little about Australian history. Also, the residential architecture in Brisbane is stunning. We both wished we had taken this trip before we started designing the house.

Do you remember this picture from my pre-recap teasers? Well, it’s time to cuddle!!!

Meet Pepsi. Yes, her name was Pepsi. She was super cuddly and didn’t stink. A lot of people told us they smelled but I didn’t notice. I was afraid that for some reason it would “go to the bathroom” on me. It happened with a lizard once and now I always think about it when I’m holding anything other a cat or dog.

Pepsi was a little tired and fussy. Each koala does a 30 minute photo shift every two weeks and we were Pepsi’s last clients of the day. She had a bit of a “walkabout” on me and it took a few minutes to get her to relax and smile.

The Koalas at Lone Pine were some of the most active we’ve ever seen. Koalas at zoos always seem to just be sleeping, hugging or eating.

After snapping a picture with Pepsi, we picked up some Kangaroo food (similar to rabbit food) and headed in the the huge fenced area. There are no Lone Pine attendants, just you with a few of these

and these

I think the Emus were scary. The roos were really chill. We just walked up to them with food in our hand and they just hopped over and ate right out of our palm. Actually, a few ran away from Mr. Joey.

We also saw some of these sleepy guys. Oh, they are sooo cute!

We both really loved Brisbane and wished we had more than 2 days there. When we go back to Australia, we’re definitely spending more time there in addition to adding Melbourne to the itinerary.

After some koala cuddling and joey feeding, we hopped on another plane back to Sydney for 2 final days in the land down under. We ate more buttery seafood, did some shopping and enjoyed a lot of wine.

The view from our room. We stayed in a different part of town.

We also enjoyed a picnic in the Royal Botanic Gardens and took in some really lovely views.

And a little more wildlife. These guys just fly free like seagulls would in Seattle.

We had a fantastic time in Australia and would go back in a heartbeat. Anyone else heading down under?

Love in Grey and Yellow: …the Hotel Lobby in Australia

So after the After Party, Mr. Joey and I enjoyed a lovely Sunday with our families, spent Monday packing and opening presents and on Tuesday jumped on a plane to Australia.

I was a little worried Mr. Joey wouldn’t make it.  My flights for works average about 22 hours one-way, so Australia wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.  He thinks trips to see his parents in South Carolina are too long. 

Thankfully he survived and even though he wasn’t the happiest camper, the flying was totally worth it.

I’m sorry that I don’t have too many pictures to share from our trip.  They were lost when my computer died.  I did manage to salvage some though.

We started our trip in Sydney.  We stayed at the beautiful Sofitel Hotel (thanks Priceline!) downtown just minutes away from the Opera House and Harbour. 

We did the usual seeing the sights, riding the ferries to lovely neighborhoods, checking out all the awesome shopping.  One of our favorite things was going to see Aida at the Opera.  MIL Joey gave us tickets as a shower gift.  The show was AMAZING!  I still can’t believe we saw an opera there.

The view as we walked up to the Opera House.  We’d be poor if we lived in Sydney.  I’d always want to go to the opera.

Two other really great things we did while we were in Sydney at the beginning of the trip were visit the Powerhouse Museum of Science and Design and the Sydney Fish Market.  The Powerhouse Museum had some really cool design exhibits that we loved.  The Fish Market was an odd choice but a friend said we had to go there for at least one meal.  It’s the second largest fish market in the world but you could smell it way before you can see it.

Mr. Joey discovered a new love for grilled octopus.  I know, sounds weird but they were so good!  Actually, everything was ate there was delicious.  Hands down the best seafood I’ve ever had and living in Seattle, I know seafood.  Everything melted like butter in your mouth.  We went with a Grilled Seafood Plate for 2 and got about 10 different seafood delights to sample.  I wish we had made a second trip to the market!

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Seriously, the octopus is good!

After Sydney, we hopped on a plane headed north for Cairns.  Shouldn’t all honeymoons include tropical weather and time by the pool?  We spent about 3 days on land exploring the area, hanging by the pool and of course eating more seafood.  We spent 2 days and 1 night on a liveaboard ship that does snorkeling trips.  It was sooooo coool!!!  Everyone was super friendly, the water was warm and the Great Barrier Reef was way more than great.  It was stunning.  One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen!

The light areas are where the reefs are really tall making it seem shallow in the water.  Again, I wished I had more pictures. :(  We saw a giant clam as big as I am, lots of beautiful fish and coral and even a few sharks.

They lowered the dive deck into the water at night and snorkelers could put their face into the water while sharks swam by.  Um, yeah, we passed on that.  We went on a total of 6 snorkels while we were there.  I really loved that we did this.

Next up, we head for dry land.