Thinking of Penny

With Clare and I going back to Australia at the end of this month, we've got a small opportunity to do a bit of pre-research and potentially lock in a date for the wedding without needing to come back for another trip. So it's all wedding planning systems go at the moment.

I couldn't help but think of my good friend Penny tonight, and of when her and Josh got married a just over two years ago.

Their gorgeous wedding was held in a small country church in the Hunter Valley, near Josh's family farm where the reception was later held. On the way to the church we were halted ever so slightly not by a herd of cows or an overzealous country policeman, but by a billy cart race.

Yep, three/four wheels, MDF, spray paint and lop-sided oversized helmets all round.

And just a heads up, but it may happen again...

The Bangalow Billy Cart Derby, last year held on 17 May 2009, will be held again this year around the same time. We're looking at May 2010 in the Byron Shire as a possible time to get married.

Potential clash? Potential opportunity.

Bridal billy cart anyone?

Anatomy of a proposal - The rest of the weekend

Saturday, 7 November
Yamba, NSW

The second best thing about coming back is that I am able to see Mum, Dad and Cass.

Cass doesn’t even know I am in Australia. Dad stayed overnight in Yamba, while Mum and Cass are to ‘meet’ him up there today for lunch. Cass must be thinking Mum and Dad have lost it with all this “Oh, it would be a nice little trip up there” chat.

So I’m driving down to Yamba today to meet them at the Pacific Hotel in Yamba for lunch. I’m loving being back amidst the Australian countryside, driving through all the cane fields and country where Clare’s family has lived for generations.

I call Meils as I travel down the Pacific Hwy – she was pretty stoked about the news, but as disappointed as I am for not being able to have time to go to Sydney and say hi…

About an hour in and I’m driving down alongside the Clarence River, digging the fishing culture and pelicans dotted along the way. I wonder if Penny is randomly in town with Josh and little Campbell...

I pull up a stump at a table next to the Pacfic Hotel’s grand glass frontage - I’ve got the whole of the Pacific Ocean and a bunch of surfers rolling around only a couple of hundred metres below. What a view!

And what a spectacular day. Perfect 2ft rolling surf…I just wish I had time to get the old sea tractor out for a spin.

Then Cass arrives. She has no idea what was going on – a wonderful moment when I tell her what I was in town for. And to see Mum again was divine – it had been such a long time. I swear Dad’s pushing out a bead.

We smash a mezze plate and a few drinks, slipping straight back into family mode. Skype really does rock – I reckon it goes a long way to helping keep that family familiarity.

Today is one day I’m really glad to be around in person though, as Mum has just found out Nan has terminal cancer. It’s not the nicest news, but I’m happy I can at least be around in person to hear it and offer support – as much as Skype rocks, a hug is something you can’t really do online.

We end up moving down to a pub just up the Clarence for lunch and coffees – Cass has been as snap-happy as a clapping Jap today. Our lunch is also attended by a pod of dolphins doing their thing in the river. Could this day get any more spectacular?

The day rolls by into the afternoon - sucks to have to leave my family yet again after just a teasingly short few hours. Jeez I wish I could be living closer.

I give Libby and Greg a buzz to let them know I’m just about to head off, Libby suggests Mum and Dad come around for tea…they accept! The dream stays alive. Party time.

And what a party it is. Greg CAN cook a steak. The BBQ is just brilliant, very Australian with all the traditional accompaniments – salads, bread, snags, top-quality meat, wine…

Clare’s Uncle Tom and Aunty Carmel are also staying with Greg and Libby at the moment, so it is a pretty full house. Clare's brother Nick has also randomly popped home for dinner, so we are able to have a good chat out on the deck, with his questions as to my intentions far harder than anything thrown up the previous evening by Greg and Libby!

With so many of the respective families home, it’s an excellent way to celebrate. The hard part now will be keeping the secret under wraps!

Clare would love this.

Trashbag chippendales

Just a regular Saturday night out in Sydney really. Might I say that Millgate is looking decidedly buff!!

Thanks to Clare for producing the little gem...

Congratulations Penny & Josh!

News just in that Penny & Josh are the proud parents of a baby boy!!!

THE wedding

Firstly, my apologies for not posting this up sooner. I have been recuperating from the aftermath of such a shit-hot weekend.

Getting there

I was packing darkies as Clare and I headed up the F3 freeway with rain pelting toward us from seemingly unimaginable angles. I was thinking of how Penny must be feeling, with the irony of that annoying Alanis Morrisette song beating about in her head.

With the rains clearing, Clare and I decended upon Maitland McDonalds to get changed - below is a picture of Clare walking back to the car in some wooly attire. The guy in the brown t-shirt was like, "WTF?".

We managed to get to the church a little early, yet still only scoring the last of the seats. With half an hour until the main action was due to start, I tried to relieve my pent up excitement by inspecting Clare's ear canal.

Clare looked absolutely gorgeous on the day. And the hat! Stunning!!

The wedding

But 'stunning' would be an understatement when speaking about Penny. Wow. She looked like an absolute angel, beaming like a snow flake floating its way across a crystalline Tasmanian mountain.

Here's a quick video snapshot of the wedding:

Millgate and Sar un'veil' their cheeky sides.

The reception

Penny and Josh arrive by horse and cart. What an entrance!

The Evans'


To quote Paff at this exact moment: "Oh! I love love!!". Also note the small child reaching for an early piece of cake.

The gang.

There is a distinct question to be asked in the above photo. Why is Millgate making a move on Clare? He looks kind-of into it, but Clare...well, slightly confused. Please explain.

One for the photo album. Did I mention that our outfits matched on the day?

Willis & Weens: Watch out Daryl Somers and the Dancing With The Stars crew!

Late-night hot chips and sauce from Gresford - thanks to Willis and Weens "The Carbohydrate Express".

Millgate and Dani cut up the dancefloor. Hot dress Posty!


Considering Millgate's earlier advances, I'm really not sure what to say about this photo. It was fun though.

"I need answers"

This particular photo was taken at 3am after Tim couldn't find a nestful of individual easter eggs he had strategically placed around the farm. Perhaps those late night cookies were throwing his radar slightly off course?

The morning after

Ezre finds said easter eggs the morning after.


Karla's trashbag feet.



Willis & Weens slept in their car. The full-length nightsuit Weens is wearing - I've no idea either!

Has the Captain Cook Hotel ever been the same?

There is the possibility of me going back to the Captain Cook Hotel in Paddington this Thursday night before I go to watch a Waratahs trial. For those who didn't have the pleasure back in '04, it was the scene of an unlikely post-party party.


It was 766 days ago - the day of my 21st birthday celebrations. Mum and Dad had put on a ripper of a party during the day at our old place adjacent to Randwick Racecourse. From memory, the following events happened:

• Paff decided to use skills learned as one of the Ox's barmaids (and one of the hottest) to pour herself a couple of jugs of beer, then proceeded to notify the barman of his professional shortcomings.
• There were holes in the walls of the men's, after someone played demolition expert.
• Lane tried to get to know several of my female invitees.
• There was nakedness at the bar. Enough said.
• One of the attendees may or may not have made relations with my younger sister outside the front of the pub.
• The barman gave me free shots because he didn't think I'd drunk enough. Then I vomitted in a nearby laneway.
• Willis & Hoy literally carried me home. Mates!

Here's a few old photos of the events prior to the debauchery:

Then some idiot gave me a wig and everything started to get loose.





Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from here on. However feel free to email them to me if you have any tucked away in a random computer file somewhere.

So anyway, I'm possibly off there again later this week. Hope they don't remember me.

Here comes the bride...

Nice outfits - scared the shit out of us.

Congrats to Penny and her soon-to-be husband Josh.

The crew went for a bit of a road trip up to Newcastle to celebrate the lovers' engagement. The party was a great opportunity to meet some more of Josh's mates, eat chops stacked 3-high on platters as big as Newy surfboards and of course, get pissy with the Batho kids. Here's a few photos (there may or may not be some more colourful ones on another site - for those in the know, they're hot. Thanks to Tim M.):

Karla and Dani getting ready. They'd make a fabulous pair of Charlie's Angels.

Crare and Ezre.

That's what mates are for. I had a bit of lamb chop stuck in my beard. Check out our mos.

Penny & I...