Day 254 of 366: Blog Challenge 2012

Hello all

Today I want to tell you the story of our WEDDING NIGHT but don’t panic folks, it is a G-rated Wedding Night story! Or else you might call it The Wedding Night Disaster perhaps? Call it what you may: fiasco, disaster or just plain bad luck, it is a great story which is worth telling. Sit back in your chair and enjoy … at OUR expense!

To begin with I’d had two hours sleep the night before the wedding. The Wedding Day was always going to be a long one. Ceremony in the morning with a Nuptial Mass (read long ceremony) … followed by lunch at a wedding venue … followed by a party at my parents house in the evening …

The plan was to leave the party around 10pm and find a motel on the outskirts of town for the night before heading for our 2 week honeymoon at a quiet little beach about a five hour journey north – up the Queensland coast. We were very tired but on the advice of friends, we did not book anywhere as we would have no problems in finding somewhere for one night. WRONG ADVICE!

What happened in the next five hours would not only bring us no place in which to lay our head, it would bring us an inordinate amount of “NO VACANCY’ signs and lots of frustration. Here is the night captured in slow motion. Yes, DO laugh, because looking back it WAS funny … but not at the time.

At first, we were not concerned when we saw all the No Vacancy signs but as we continued on up the coast we could find nothing available. We were getting quite desperate now. It seemed crazy that there could be so many ‘No Vacancy’ signs popping up everywhere we went. Why??

By midnight we came to the small town of Nambour and we went into a Hotel in darkness. But someone did answer the bell and we were told there was a band conference being held on the Sunshine Coast and we would be unlikely to find accommodation ANYWHERE. That explained all the No Vacancy signs!

Now by this time, we really were exhausted. Still, Geoff remained hopeful which was more than could be said for me. Geoff decided to deviate to a new development called “Kawana Waters” in the hope of finding something…. anything! This deviation proved fatal and was, for me, the last straw.

As Geoff drove around I said: “but there are no buildings, only plots of land!” My voice was getting higher … and just a tad hysterical. Geoff stopped the car. I began to cry. Between sobs I poured out my heart: “Geoff, take me home! I don’t want to be married anymore!”

How crazy was THIS thinking? But remember, exhaustion had set in as it was now 1am Sunday morning.

This Austin looks good in comparison to The Beast.

Geoff, the dutiful new husband decided we should find a spot off the road and try to get some sleep and continue on the next day to our Apartment at the beach. Suddenly we found a long dirt track that led up to a farmhouse on a hill with lots of property. Finally … somewhere to kip. But no. As soon as we parked the car, a dog came out from the house barking at the top of its lungs. Next minute, the farmhouse light went on and a man appeared with a torch searching for the intruders!

Geoff backed out so fast from that track as the dog was now chasing us. Our hearts were beating fast. Fancy being chased by a dog! Onwards we went. It was now getting on for 2 am. How could things go so wrong? What a nightmare of a wedding night!

No one warned me about this …

As we continued driving ever northwards, Geoff saw another track that did not appear to be attached to a house. We drove onto the track and parked the car. There was silence. No one came. We were safe! At this point, why not celebrate our wedding with the bottle of champagne and glasses we had packed?

And so it came to pass that we clinked glasses not in a fancy hotel but in the front of our cramped Austen A40 which we bought for $60 when Geoff’s good car was stolen (nicknamed ‘The Beast’). There were some problems however in getting comfortable: my white stockings got caught on the large gear stick and went into a myriad of large ladders. Then I lost one of my contact lenses and there was a mad search on the floor to retrieve it. Despite trying to make the best of a bad situation, things were not going well.

A sawmill a bit like this one

Somehow we managed a couple of hours sleep and we woke next morning to a train roaring past quite close to where we were parked. It did make us sit up and take notice of our surroundings.

 We had parked outside an old SAWMILL. The sign on the building said: YANDINA SAWMILL. It appeared to be falling down. We had spent our wedding night outside a sawmill folks. A SAWMILL!! And then we saw the absurdity of the situation.  

But this was not the end of our little adventure As it was 6am we decided to continue on to our destination and have breakfast at a Roadhouse on the way.

When we walked into the Roadhouse it was packed to the rafters full of Truckies. We looked a sight. I was all dressed up in my ‘Going Away’ suit, my white stockings were full of great ladders, the hair extension I had in my hair was hanging loose and tears had made my eyes black from mascara and eyeliner. Geoff had on his bell-bottomed trousers and a jacket.

Not exactly a look you would have when going for breakfast at a Roadhouse. It seemed that all those Truckies looked up … and stared in disbelief at us.

Now onwards to the Apartments where we sighed with relief as it was the magic hour of 10am. But no. We were told that our apartment would not be ready for a couple of hours but they would make us a pot of tea while we waited. How kind … not!

I hate to have to admit this but I again burst into tears. Geoff consoled me and told me everything would be alright … but I had my doubts about that. Would anything ever go right ever again?

Well yes it could and it did. When we took possession of our apartment, we took one look at that comfortable bed. How inviting it looked … how sleepy we suddenly felt. I can honestly tell you: there sure was nothing else much on our minds …

PS: We heard on the news the next day that the Hotel in Nambour which we entered in the dark was robbed an hour after we had been there in the early hours of that morning!


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