Tuesday

Ooooh I was so excited and nervous this morning! The alarm went off at ten past six and I was too chicken to ring James so texted him and Kate. It was much easier to get up after peeking out the window - it was light outside already! We dressed in a rush and Trav looked so handsome in just his shirt and pants - with his hair mussed up and some light stubble on his face.
I tiptoed downstairs and quietly opened the door - and who happened to be was standing right outside the door perusing the brochures but Trav's dad! We both looked at each other, I gasped and quickly shut the door! What did I think - maybe he didn't see me??
Sheepishly I opened the door and there he was - grinning from ear to ear and looking us up and down with amusement as we stepped outside. 'Shhhhhh' I smiled.

As we stood at the front of the Villas, a familiar car was parked at the entrance to the beach. Shaun! What's going on? Does nobody sleep in around here?? We wondered whether to wander down or wait for James. As we stood there we came up with a few scenarios - if we bumped into him we could either approach him in astonishment and say 'Shaun! hi! What day is it???' or we could bluff with 'OK, ready? Let's do this!' As it turned out we needed neither - James drove up and Kate stumbled out to join us moments later (looking glamorous at even that hour!)

We drove a bit further down four mile beach and got out of the car - with amused looks from the PT class that was passing by.

As we stepped onto the beach I didn't hesitate once and walked right down to the waves with my skirt over one arm. The water was pleasant and refreshing. We wandered up and down the beach and Kate asked if I was happy to let my skirt down. Ooops! Was I still carrying it? I let it down and the breeze was just strong enough to flow through it!

We jumped onto a beached catamaran and climbed up the lifesaver's lookout. Kate and James were a great team. We wrote some messages on the sand and James said he'd caught sight of what must be Shaun's flash in the trail up to the lookout. The sun slowly cracked through the clouds.

Soon we headed down to Anzac park - this was the bit I'd really been looking forward to! We'd run out of time and daylight to come down here on our wedding day.
It's funny how you can be standing there with the camera going and you think to yourself - I wonder how this will look? Well they were some of my favourites. James must have been having so much fun and he must have been almost laying on the ground to get some of the angles. Kate would add the parasol, move the parasol, fan out my skirt, take the parasol away. In others the palm trees create a beautiful frame around us. In some shots we look like we're standing in a field or on a hill. There's nothing else - no palm trees, no water. The sky is huge.
We played around on the swings and the picnic table before heading up to the lookout.

When we returned to our Villas, it was nearly 8:30 and we snuck back into our room without being noticed.

After packing we said our thank you's to Toni & Bruno and relaxed in Egan & Marian's Villa with avocado and bacon sandwiches for lunch. Soon everyone arrived back from their trip to Mossman Gorge and we enjoyed the last few hours together with some quiet drinks and looking through the photos. 
Trav and I presented our parents with the gifts we'd carefully picked for them - including that bottle of wine I'd nursed from Adelaide to home, then home to Port Douglas. 

Soon it was time to go, the shuttle pulled up as we said our last goodbyes. As we climbed aboard and took our seats, Trav took my hand and we smiled at each other, ready for a whole new adventure...