After all the terrible stories of Cyclone Marcia, I want to write about something nice and I noticed that I mentioned that we gotten engaged but haven't properly written about it yet. Well, here it goes:
Steve and I met in July 2000 in a small outback town. He was the local Police Officer and I was a student who travelled the outback after studying in Australia and before returning to Europe. Back then I lived in Townsville and I just finished my Bachelor of Science at James Cook University. I wanted to see the Outback before I go back to Europe. I had a job lined up in Portugal and was looking forward to that. So Hera and I travelled in my Station Wagon from Townsville up to the Gulf of Carpentaria and then to Mount Isa and back to Townsville. A day or so before arriving back in Townsville, I was planning to stay in a small rural town with a haunted pub. Unfortunately when I arrived the Publicans didn't allow me to stay as I had Hera and they had a lamb. So I travelled another 50 km into the next town, to stay there for the night. When I walked out of the Pub after I paid for a night, Steve walked in. For me, it was love at first sight.
Fast forward 14 years (!!!) later to November 2014. Steve just returned from a 2 months trip to Europe. We were there for 4 weeks together and while I went back to work, Steve discovered the UK. We met in Sydney on the 13th and then drove to the Blue Mountains on the 14th. After having visited my family the month before we wanted to catch up with Steve's family. On the way, we stopped at The Three Sisters which was pretty spectacular. It was a hot day and we decided not to go for a big walk - which was overcrowded by tourists anyway.
For lunch, we stopped at Katoomba. And I admired the gardens of this beautiful hotel.
Don't these flowers just look magnificent?
The Katoomba Hotel - looks like it recently got refurbished.
Our lunch - my first proper food after working for 4 weeks on Barrow Island - I was so excited! It was really nice despite a power failure which occurred during our meal. It was very hot outside but even without aircon, the inside was nice and cool.
After lunch we travelled to Rydal on the Lake Lyell. We were planning to stay at
Eagleview.
After we checked in, we were guided down the stairs into the inside of the hill. I whispered to Steve, that if I don't like it I will tell them and leave but then she opened the door to our little studio...
The bed was positioned to make the most out of the magnificent view.
Same as the Spa which was located right in front of the bed, so you can enjoy a Spa bath and the view.
The kitchen was cosy with everything you need including a bottle of Sparkling in the fridge and a cute little fruit chocolate fondue.
From everywhere (even from the shower) this was the view!
Isn't it beautiful? It was fairly hot outside but as the studio was build inside the mountain it was nice and cool. It was just magnificent!
After looking around and feeling happy with our choice of accommodation, we opened the bottle of champagne and sat down here as I was curious to hear about Steve's trip. He told me stories about little laneways which were supposed to be roads. He described to me the taste of Cornish beer ("like dishwater") and while he told me about all his adventures I opened all the presents he got me on the way. Nice perfume (Bulgari - my favourite!), a traditional bracelet from Cornwall with the Cornwall flower in blue and white gold which I totally fell in love with! I also received a pearl necklace. I enjoyed Steve's stories and the beautiful presents, the wine and the view - everything was perfect. There was one present left. I thought to myself "they must be earrings".
When I unwrapped the last present, it made me speechless. For people who know me, that NEVER EVER happens.... The content of the jewellery box was a large solitaire diamond ring in white gold. I gasp and looked at Steve. He commented "That's it, you're stuck with me, we're getting married." Obviously he didn't ask or propose, so I didn't have to answer and to be honest I cannot recall what my first words were but I looked at this ring and thought "I've never seen something
THAT beautiful!"
Well, after 14 years together, Steve and I are engaged! How exciting!!! I have been wearing the ring everyday and everyday I look at it and think, OMG, I cannot believe I'm going to marry the love of my life!!!
Next day we went to visit Steve's daughter for brunch and celebrated. We spend a few more days in NSW and visited Steve's parents and brother to tell them all about our news. His family was very excited and I stopped counting the 'About time' comments.
We will be getting married on 7 November 2015 in Montville. We plan a small wedding with Steve's immediate family (parents, siblings and children) and my Mum and Sister. We want a simple and in-expensive wedding and I'm very much looking forward to it. I'm so happy!!!
