A VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY FULL OF SURPRISES.....

What a wonderful weekend we have all had away celebrating Steve's big 60.  He thought it was going to be very low key weekend with just the two of us away for the  weekend..  He did know that Chloe and her flat mate Danielle were coming down for dinner on the Saturday night but that is all he thought the weekend would hold...

Little did he know that his parents would be there.  It is over 5 years since they have been up,  so it was a huge surprise for him to see them... I had hired a cabin out for them to stay in as well as Chloe and Sarah and Max....

He had no idea that Sarah was flying up either until she walked into the van around 10.30pm on Friday night....

Saturday, we actually managed to have a bit of a sleep in until almost 8am and then we cooked him a very special breakfast which we all had together down in the cabin. 

Chloe had planned on giving him his birthday present just after lunch but by 11am she could wait no longer.....  The kids had bought him a sky diving experience...

He opened his present and when he saw it he was quite apprehensive,  he was more shocked when we told him it was happening that very afternoon, in fact in about three hours time....  He went very quite and we caught him fiddling with his hands quite a bit...  I could tell he was really nervous....

Chloe and Dan had also given Dan's dad Sirio a skydive for his birthday which was the week before, and he was doing his jump the same day at Steve also....

The plane they were doing the dive from...

both of them as nervous as anything....

 Sirio was keen to go first and get it over and done with.... He had got his present a week before hand so had a whole week to stew on the dive... Steve was keen for him to go first,  he wanted to see his reaction...

doing the paper work before their dive

definitely recommend this skydive company....

wishing Sirio all the best as he takes off....

Off he goes...

Down on the beach to watch Sirio land...

Sirio coming down

He had a large grin on his face.....so Steve was happy

 Then it was Steve's turn...
Back to the airstrip with the guys from Capricorn Skydive...
I drove back to meet them there because I wanted to get some photos of Steve getting ready for his dive...

getting on his harness...

 Out to the plane for and the final preparations..
Going through the details of the dive again before they take off....

hoping in the plane...

Bye bye..... off we go...

taxing down the run way

They are in the air...

 Then it was a rush back to the beach to be ready for when the dive actually took place....

Beautiful Kinka Beach...

Everyone on the beach ready for him to come down...

All on the beach waiting waiting waiting.....

 Meanwhile he is up in the clouds

Admiring the view whilst gaining some height before the jump

he is keen

 Th views up there were pretty amazing...

It is a long way down.....

needing a little help to let go....

free falling

Someone is really enjoying himself....

 The the parachute comes out and the views are amazing as they float down to the beach...

 We got some great shots of him coming down also....

Spotted up there

Here he comes.....

the landing

He is down....

Pretty happy with himself...

 His face tells the whole story.... He LOVED every minute of his skydive and you know I am sure he would do it again in a heart beat....

Talking to Dan and thanking him....

 We were able to pick up the USB of the dive pretty much straight away so we headed back to the cabin so that we could all watch them.... They provided us with plenty of laughs as we watch the guys face wiggle and twist whilst free falling...
When we got back to the cabins we noticed these peacocks wandering around on the deck on one of the units...

beautiful peacocks just wandering around...

 We enjoyed a bit of a wander around the park and a bounce on the jumping pillow... Even little Maxie got right into it...

 We didn't go out for dinner,  we had a nice bar-be-cue at the Resort itself....  It is such a lovely spot.  Sirio, Sharon and Dylan joined us along with Chloe's flatmate Danielle, and Phil and Janine...

My wonderful man.....

The birthday cake....

About to attach his cake....

giving his mum a kiss after blowing out his candles...

Lovely night with wonderful friends....

 What a great day it has been... One I am sure that Steve will never forget.. He got to spend it with most of the people he loves most...  It would have been more complete if Pete and Maria could have been there along with Colin, Willow and Dan....

It has been the perfect weekend in a perfect location...  I love this part of the coast of Australia and couldn't think of a nicer place to celebration the milestone in my sweethearts life.......

The Singing Ship at Emu Park..

Fisherman's Beach Emu Park

 

Singing Ship was really singing today...

 It has been a pretty special weekend.....
The few days away in the van has made us feel very excited about our adventures later in the year, and without wanting to wish the year away, we are excited to be heading off later on with our good friends the Forwards....

Just got to get through a wedding first....