Day 1
'Tony it's ok we'll stay in a hostel!'... The reply - 'I am a hostel, your staying with us!'
That was the beginning of an incredible four days where it can only be described as like meeting long lost family. This family was in fact Mario's cousins who we had met on separate occasions in London, and who were 'ordered' by Harry to look after us....of course they didn't need orders.
We arrived at Melbourne airport where we bought a dozen Krispy Kremes as a welcome present. Sophia cheekily asked for a free doughnut and the girl serving us found this audacious comment so amusing; she gave us a free doughnut each instead. A good start!
Tony of course was waiting for us despite our protests to get a cab. It was a special moment seeing his big smile and having a big hug from him... Soph: He later told us that he saw oresti but thought that he was agitated aborigine approaching him, in a bit of a rush as he was tanned, wearing shorts, a t-shirt and sandals in the freezing winter weather and a huge box of Krispy Kremes. Hilarious!!
We drove straight to the factory where we met Milton. (Toni's older brother), that was great too. We saw all the work going on there and were so impressed.
We got to the house and settled into our room, which Connie (Toni's younger sister and house mate) had kindly given us for our stay. It had an en-suite bathroom and was brilliant. We only found out later as we were heading to bed that Connie was going to sleep on the couch. That was the kindness we experienced to no end over the whole four days, and was at times breathtaking.
We met Toni's parents for the first time in the evening, and that was so nice. We had pizza and during this I was trying to establish whether Thio (Toni's dad) knew my dad because they were from the same village. Or more accurately Thio was trying to establish this which was often met with blank ignorance. (I need to know more about my family history!). Milton of course also came to spend time with us, and everyone just made such an effort,it was incredible.
Day 2
The following day was chill day while everyone went to work. We had the house to ourselves! I started by setting myself up for a challenge - to fix Toni and Connie's tv. The info I had received about this 50'' monster was that it flickered on and off all the time. To resolve this Toni had repeatedly bashed the back of the tv that succeeded in making it look like part of a WWF stunt. Oh well I gave it a go using my Swiss knife and found a tiny loose wire. It worked!! I also un-bent the rear panel to give the tv some dignity back.
Soph was in her element reading women's magazines, and I went for a run in the drizzle. The area around the house is so open and quiet, it was brilliant.
When I got home Soph had a great idea to cook for everyone as a way of saying thank you. We went to Woolworths (the equivent of Tesco I guess) and bought all the ingredients for a lemongrass vegetable stirfry and steak, with Jasmin rice... Yum yum!! Couldn't resist 2 extra large bottles of Merlot either!
Toni and Connie got back and I couldn't wait to see Toni's face when he saw the tv (Connie already knew when we spoke earlier in the day). It was a great sight and he had a beaming smile! Food was almost ready and the first bottle of wine was cracked open. We sat at the table for 3 hours enjoying the food, wine and plenty of laughs. Again Milton came too to spend time with us. It was a great evening and after one litre of wine it was time for bed! We had an early start because Soph and Connie had booked the 'Neighbours Tour'!
Day 3
Connie took the day off to spend time with us (again just amazing) and drove us all the way to the city. We just made it on time and jumped on a bus covered in Neighbours logos and photos. It was really quite sad! We were greeted by an Irish tour guide who had the incredible talent for being able to drive a coach full of tourists, and be a full on comedian simultaneously, whilst actively engaging the audience. It also meant that one hand was permanently disposed of by holding the microphone, so the guy was either a lunatic or a genius. We went to Ramsey street which was actually quite surreal having seen it on tv so many times. We then went to the studios and met the one person I really wanted to see... Dr Karl Kennedy! Legend! Subconsciously he's probably the reason for choosing a career in medicine! Thanks Dr K!
We got back at lunch time and Connie insisted on buying us lunch of course. That was nice and we headed back home. In the evening Toni's parents invited us over for what can only be described as a mammoth dinner BBQ. There were only 8 of us but enough food to feed Cambos (a small Cypriot village) for about a month. There were about 50 sheiftalies (Greek hand made sausage) and they along with the koubes (Minced meat wrapped in fried couscous) we're my favourite. We also met Mel and Amalia (Milton's wife and cute 16month old) which was lovely.
Breakfast was more sheiftalies and koubes, and a game of backgammon with Toni's dad ( I lost of course).
We planned to all meet again in the evening and stay in the city. So late afternoon we headed down to the Docklands area. It reminded me a little of Canary wharf but much larger. We stocked up on alcohol and had a great laugh as the hours flew by. Toni, Connie, Soph and I went for a Thai meal (Mel and Milton had a birthday to attend for a couple of hours). The food was great; the company better. The wine flowed again and of course we weren't allowed to pay. Not only that we weren't allowed to pay for the hotel room either. It was 2 doubles for 6 of us. Yes you guessed it Toni and Connie on the floor. Our protest was strong, even attempting to sleep on the floor with them but Milton in true older brother style was having none of it.
For breakfast we ate at a really nice restaurant at the crown plaza and had a great bacon sarnie. Conversation was dominated by the idea of converting an old route master bus into a pimpmobile to house us all and tour Oz for a year. It would include a quad bike, canoes, and full fishing gear, a jacuzzi, kitchen.... Etc. Endless ideas. Maybe one day!! The day flew by and we even had a flutter at the roulette wheel.
The day ended with dinner round Miltons and Mels amazing house. Again we were not allowed to pay. We all had pho soup and more wine. We we're laughing and talking all night, it was magical.
Connie took us to the airport late at night (despite having work in the morning) and it was an emotional goodbye.
We were touch by the love these amazing people had given us. We will never forget that and hope that one day soon we can show the same hospitality in London. Thank you so much guys. X
