My birthday usually comes and goes with little hurrah, mainly because I'm pragmatic in the spending, so my present is my prescription sunnies that I've had to buy or some other dull but costly necessity.
However, this year, after discussing some of our woes with a wealthy client, the generous man said "Why not take the boat out for her birthday?". And so we did.
It was exciting that I could invite 19 friends (our family taking up 5 of the spots, so 25 of my peeps in total). The list would change as soon as a 'no' came in, as I wasn't leaving a single spot empty.
With numbers amassed, we all turned up excitedly at the pier.
Already a few champagnes in, I squealed when I saw lunch arrive! It was so rockstar and so out of the ordinary for me and my friends. We were all snapping photos of the waiters like crazed starstruck teens.
We cruised around the stunning harbour then swam and played Bananagrams as the sun made it's way across the clear blue sky (because that's how rockstar we really are).
I felt so lucky to live in this beautiful city, so special to have such wonderful friends. The best part, it was such a special thing for all of the guests. Some had never been on a boat on the harbour before, some just needed a day to themselves to relax, and we all felt spoiled rotten!Even better, it's made me think I need to spend more time on boats, and while not as luxurious, we've just been whale watching and in a few weeks will get the ferry to Patonga for lunch, en masse. So from a one off treat, a small lifestyle change is in the works, at least for this summer...
I am very thankful to the man who loaned us his boat, to my wonderful partner for organising it, and to all my fabulous friends who were so excited about the day, and as always, made my life experiences so fun.
What was your best birthday ever?
Linking with #TimelessThursdays with the memory of one of my favourite birthdays!
Wow this sounds like a blast!!
ReplyDeleteLook at the food!
Not sure about jumping into the harbour waters though ... legs dangling and all that ... eeek!
You've reminded me of my middle child's 4th birthday. Timing was just right, in that we were visiting family on the central coast on her actual birthday. We stayed with my grandmother who threw her a breakfast fairy party. We then attended a movie preview with goodie bags galore thanks to my sister before heading to Sydney for an afternoon cruise that I'd won tickets for. Her birthday is in December, so once we finished the cruise, we hoped on the monorail and did a couple of laps, hoping off at Darling Harbour where there were carol singers. It was rather late in the day at this stage and we'd already done so much that day with a 2 hour drive home, so we started heading back to the car, when our eldest (5 at the time) piped up... I'm not finished. There must be something else to do before we head home. Out of all the birthdays before and since for my three girls, none measure up to that particular day.
ReplyDeleteHa! That is a tough act to follow!
DeleteIt certainly has been. I'm going to give it my best shot for my birthday this year to top it. Thanks for linking up for #worthcasingwednesday
DeleteSo glad to hear you had such a wonderful day - any chance you'd share what the date of your birthday is ??????
ReplyDeleteIt's so good when you get to make special memories with special people - I'm so happy for you xox
It was ages ago...;)
DeleteWhat a great birthday and how generous a gift was that! Yes, the Harbour is a great place to be and to play. My DIL had her hens' on a boat like that. Some people felt ill unfortunately but the views cannot be beaten from a boat!
ReplyDeleteHow awesome. That looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing experience Lydia - that would probably be anyone's best birthday ever!
ReplyDeleteWow, that looks like a great way to spend a birthday for sure!!!
ReplyDeleteThat does sound pretty special! I can't say I have any standout great birthdays ... a couple of outstandingly bad ones though, which I blogged about here: http://www.middleagedmama.com.au/bad-birthdays/
ReplyDeleteBad birthdays are a story in themselves. We all have some amazing clangers...
DeleteLooks like a great time documented with fine photos.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos - no wonder this birthday was so memorable! Looks like you had a wonderful time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining the party at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-little-dab-of-color.html
What an amazing birthday celebration to share with your friends!
ReplyDeleteWow what an awesome birthday celebration!! I love Christmas and one year I had a Christmas themed birthday party which was ace! And at uni one year I basically spent a week celebrating, including a pyjama party. I'm quite big on birthdays so there's been a few good'uns. Your photos are beautiful, what a special day. Oh and whale watching is ace isn't it?! #stayclassymama
ReplyDeleteOh god, these photos give me butterflies - we came to Oz for our honeymoon 4 years ago and finished up with a week in Sydney where we saw opera and climbed the bridge and did amazing things - love love love. Belated happy birthday xx #stayclassymama
ReplyDeleteThis looks soooooooo good!
ReplyDeleteI love boating and champagne and that onboard food, glorious! Happy Birthday! Thanks for the idea too, mine is just around the corner.
That looks absolutely stunning! Sydney is just so picturesque isn't it?!
ReplyDeleteLook at all that gorgeous food! Awesome birthday!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing way to spend your birthday, so spoilt. We all deserve spoiling every now and again.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing birthday celebration!!
ReplyDeleteSSG xxx
Oh this sounds wonderful! I'm a bit meh about birthdays because mine's between Christmas and New Year, plus I really only have my mother who buys me pressies and nowadays she gives me $ or gets me something bigger for Xmas and birthday.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to do something special now and again though because you remember it always (as you rightly do!!!).
It was great to re-visit this post and the amazing Sydney harbour again! Thanks for linking up for #lifethisweek. Denyse
ReplyDeleteI'm still jealous of your special birthday experience Lydia - what an amazing day!
ReplyDeleteYou just won birthdays! That looks so very cool! I'm glad that you got to spend a lovely day out on the Harbour, especially since reserving a costly necessity as your "present" seems like a bit of an annoying thing to have to do. #lifethisweek
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing Birthday! I really want to hop on a boat now, what fun! #LifeThisWeek
ReplyDeleteI totally get why this is your best birthday ever Lydia those killer views of the harbour are just wow! Sending you hugs and thank you for joining Timeless Thursdays Lydia :)
ReplyDeleteThis sure does look like a fantastic birthday! Sydney Harbor is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant birthday.
ReplyDelete