The parable of the sewer...the seeds that fall in the good soil help us grow. When we were first married I can't say that it was easy. It was hard like the type of soil that you need to till and add soil conditioner to, to make the ground fertile for a fruitful relationship. Just as well there was plenty of love to prepare the ground for the years ahead.
Our honeymoon was one such event that needed quite a bit of TLC for us to appreciate and remember with cherished memories. Not having lots of money to start our journey in life together we were very unmaterialistic in our attitude to what would make an enjoyable honeymoon. In our minds we thought that all we needed is a tent and a beach and we would be set for a good week. Dean's family did offer to pay for a nice hotel for us however being the independent minded young couple that we were we declined the offer and made our own plans, little did we know what was to come of these plans.
On the 4th of January 1992 Dean and I headed into life together as husband and wife. The morning after our wedding day was bliss, we spent the first night in the Hilton at the Sydney airport thanks to a lovely gift form my bridesmaid Jemima. We were greeted with room service, strawberry compote and pastries, to this day is our favourite treat. It was fabulous waking up to my loving husband who greeted me with a huge smile, it was all going great up until I realized I did not pack a hair brush...do you know how painful it is to get teased hair from your wedding day straight again with a finger comb...just as well Dean could not see my drastic looking hair do that morning, sometimes his lack of sight is a blessing!
We flew back to Lismore early in the morning and picked up our little van that my mother had kindly loaned me for the week, and like a pair of Nimbin hippies we took off to our beach side retreat with our tent and airbed jammed in the back. After travelling the winding road for a few hours we showed up at our booked campsite which to our dismay was not on the beach at all...it was on the highway overlooking the Tweed river on the opposite side of the road. Now remember that is the early 90's the internet was not around and so there was limited access to getting any reviews about where you were booking, what I did remember was the yellow pages phone book advert said that it was close to the water so in my mind I thought that was the beach...oh well...We could always drive to the beach or go fishing in the river so was our resolve.
As our wedding day was in prime time holiday period for Australian families we noted that the camping ground that we booked at was overflowing with tourists coming and going in and out of the boom gates. I could barely find a parking spot outside of the area but when I did, I got out of the van and walked a ways to the head office of the complex. Standing in line I patiently waited my turn to check in. I recall thinking wow this really is a very busy place. When it was my turn to speak to the clerk behind the tourist desk she looked through her bookings list and could not find our reservation. Luckily they had sent me a receipt for the money I had paid and so the woman accepted that I must have booked. The only problem was...they were all booked out. Not one 3 x 3 meter spot left for our tent to be pegged.
The lady behind the counter saw the look on my face as my heart sank...and I can give some dreadful looks (just as well Deano can't see them) She had a thought! She suggested that we pitch our tent just next to her office outside the boom gates. With lack of funds and not wanting to spoil our honeymoon I reluctantly agreed. I walked myself back to the parking bay drove up onto the grass strip next to the office and with a forced smile in my voice I told Dean where we were about to set up the tent for our first week of life together...on a strip of grass with highway frontage and water views between breaks in the traffic. Our only consolation was there was a small trickling stream behind the office that made a relaxing water gurgling noise that we could hear late at night when the traffic had calmed down, and the fact that our tent had mozzie screens protecting us from the mosquito infestation that came from the body of water that either from the river or the stream to this day I am not totally sure.
I guess it is the fact that we had each other that counted the most and with a couple more tales to tell about our honeymoon hide away you will realize that the soil that you plant you life in needs to be good soil so that when opposition comes your way you can look back and laugh and still grow strong together.
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