The Beginning

So if I’m going to dedicate a whole site to the run up to our big day I guess its only right I start at the beginning –

We were treating ourselves to a 3 week holiday travelling bits of Australia and had just hit Sydney. We had a gorgeous little apartment over looking Manly Beach and were thoroughly enjoying leaving the camper van behind for a few days in exchange for some home comforts. On 14^th November 2010 Rob woke me up with breakfast in bed. This was a “moment” in itself (and hasn’t been repeated since!) and my god I made the most of it. Ah, but there was more. I knew he had a treat booked for us whilst in Oz and it turned out today was the day… he had only gone and booked us a helicopter flight over Sydney. I know! OH MY GOD!! I LOVE helicopters and the prospect of taking to the skies over my favourite city, in the world, was mind blowing. NOTHING could beat that.

The flight wasn’t until mid-afternoon so we took the ferry over to the city. After a walk round the Opera House we made our way to Darling Harbour to take in some of the sights. After a wander round we settled on one of the many restaurants for lunch… fate was shining on us, not only did they have my favourite dish on the menu (beef carpaccio for those who care!) but shortly after taking our seats in the sun a jazz band directly opposite us started up and serenaded us for the duration. Awesome.

After lunch we made our way to the train station and headed out towards the Airport. We walked straight through the terminal to the taxi rank the other side and after a few minutes a minibus pulled up. After a seemingly endless journey down a bumpy track, flagged with air hangers both sides, we pulled up outside Blue Sky Helicopters. By this point I was almost hysterical with excitement and couldn’t wait to get going. After (too) much faffing and form filling we were led out to our chopper… She was beeeeeaaautiful.

After a smooth take off, we flew over the city towards Darling Harbour where we had been only hours earlier. We soared over Sydney Harbour Bridge and round over The Opera House. Iconic Sydney at its best. As we rounded for the second time, directly over the bridge Rob turned to me and rather nervously said that there was actually another reason for him bringing me up there… My heart started racing, butterflies appeared from nowhere and started performing Riverdance in my stomach… Surely not? He’s not going to…. Rob was talking again and I had to focus… I held my breath. He produced a box from his pocket (OMG!) and as he slowly went to open it he very sweetly told me how much he loved me and asked if I would be his wife. DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN? The ring was stunning and everything I had dreamt of…(and hinted at over the years). So he does listen (noted)! YES! YES!!!!! My answer is YES!!! The ring was on my finger faster than you could say Tiffany’s. I had to keep asking him if he was sure. I just couldn’t believe it. He assured me he was. Yay! I’d never felt that happy. Ever. Rob looked relieved…and happy. Obviously. The rest of the helicopter flight was amazing, we were on top of the world in every which-way.