It is a pleasure to welcome 52 new members this month to the club.

To Katrina Downie of Tasmania who was our 100th person in joining, we will be sending a gift pack of spa bodycare products from Melle Beauty .

Tale of the Month. "Two Wedgetails" who have stayed the previous month will share their experiences.

I never thought I would get married in Tasmania!!

Having decided that we would 'run away' to get married we then had the job of finding where. The Pacific Islands didn't appeal to either of us and we didn't have a lot of money to go far away so Australia it was to be. Flicking through an Australian wedding magazine at the supermarket I found a supplement on venues. I was disheartened at first. All I could see was hotels in the city catering for up to 500 guests. Finally near the back was a couple of pages for intimate weddings, this was more like it. A small advertisement caught my eye, Eagles Nest Retreat, but it was in Tasmania, not the place for a dream wedding.

I wrote down the website anyway and a few days later had a look at the site. I was amazed by the place, it was beautiful. I called my fiance over to look at it. He was equally impressed, so we used the website enquiry form and sent off our details. The automated response said we would get an email back within 24-48 hours. A few hours later my cellphone rang and it was Des from Eagles Nest Retreat. We were both suitably impressed with the speed of response.

Des discussed the packages available and told me about the celebrant and photographer. He also discussed the price, which we thought was very reasonable so we booked it straight away. He explained that he would be away on holiday so wouldn't be able to send us confirmation immediately.

Des was in regular contact with us throughout the year leading up to our wedding. He was happy to answer any emails that I sent, no matter how trivial they sounded, his emails were always cheerful and full of good wishes. He passed on our contact details to the photographer and celebrant and also provided us with details for flowers, hair and makeup.

Finally we arrived at Eagles Nest Retreat; it was all we expected and more. Des met us there and gave us the grand tour. It was stunning. We were provided with enough breakfast provisions to last a week, even though we were only staying three nights, and also the gourmet basket of goodies as promised on the website.

Des was full of ideas for the layout of the lounge for the ceremony, this was great as we didn't have any preconceived ideas and he had done it all before. He had thought of everything.

The day of the wedding dawned; it was raining, which wasn't what was supposed to happen. I don't know how he did it, but, as Des promised the sun came out. I went to get my hair etc done and left my fiance at the Retreat. Des came over and prepared the lounge for the wedding. Greenery and flowers from his garden, and also a beautiful bunch of flowers from the local florist were arranged in the window. He also brought along a gorgeous antique candelabra, which we felt privileged being able to use as this was the first time he had loaned it out. He had thought of everything including lighting the log fire for atmosphere. Everything was perfect.

Des and his lovely wife Dianne were the witnesses to our ceremony. After the ceremony was over, Des had a surprise for us. Knowing we didn't have a cake organised he had arranged for one of the chefs that he uses to bake us a gorgeous chocolate cake, this was decorated with flowers from his garden once again.

The ceremony and photos over, everyone departed and left us to it, but not for long. Soon Ben arrived, the chef that was arranged to cook us a scrumptious meal for the evening. Ben was fantastic, the food divine and he was friendly and chatty but not intrusive, knowing it was a special day for just the two of us.

Ben left us feeling satiated and then finally we were alone. It was a gorgeous night with no clouds in the sky, perfect for star gazing out of the skylight in the bedroom.

All too soon it was time to leave. This was not something that we wanted to do. Des came over and we did the business thing of settling the bill, not unpleasant at all really, it was worth every cent and more.

All the way on the drive back to the airport we kept talking about what an incredible place we had been at, we are still talking about it now. A friend from work is thinking about going there with his wife, for their 25th wedding anniversary, after listening to our experience and seeing the website.

We are now planning to spend our first anniversary there and being able to have more wonderful memories of the place.

Thank you to Des, Di, Dan, Ken, Ben, Michelle and Gwen for making this a memorable day for us. Look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Linzi and Mike Towsend, 29 Jan - 01 Feb 2007

Did you know that you can now book online from the Members Only area? Yes Wedgetail Members can now use a credit card to snap up the Dream Time Rates that are available only to you. All transactions are secure.

Eagles Nest Retreat....Is for Lovers, the ultimate Lifestyle 24/7, at one with Nature.