Hi. I just want to give you some quick information about me before I go. These past few days have been really stressful for me and I'd appreciate some prayer. What's done is done so you can't pray now that it would have happened any better, but tonight I leave for my upcoming class: Adventure Based Camping.
The camp is from this Wed to Fri at Vision Valley Camp about an hour and a half north of Sydney. I'll be a camp leader in charge of 5 little boys and I'll be with them for 3 fun days. It is a Christian camp but not a lot of the kids that will go have heard about Jesus. So, I will have a great influence on them by the way I live and profess to live about Him. We will have some time to discuss important topics and I would really like to know I'm being supported with prayer.
Also, I have become ill over the last few days and I don't want that to distract me from being a great leader to these kids! I've been so busy with trying to work ahead with my other classes that I haven't had time to go out and buy cough medicine or see a doctor. Pray that I get through these days!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Outback!
Hey! So I'm finally getting to writing this entry. I know it's been a long time since my last blog and where I left off with what I was talking about. So here's the scoop on visiting the outback!!
First off, I want to clarify. There isn't "THE outback" like it may seem. It's a general term for the area of land that's beyond the busy and congested city/suberb life. It took a long bus ride out there--we stayed at a hotel on the way down, but we got to our destination. It took us about a day and a half to get there.
The whole ASC group went and stayed at Trillby Station, which is a sheep farm--they harvest the wool and/or the meat. The place is huge!! We're talking about tens of thousands of acres and about 800,000 sheep. They have 3 stations spread out across the land where they shear the sheep because it's so big. They use modern equipment to herd the sheep, such as helicopters/planes in the air and motorbikes on the ground. They also have chickens or "chooks" that lay eggs, goats for milk or meat (and along with chickens they eat food waste), and they have dogs (of a breed that I can't remember) to help with herding sheep. And, of course, they have native animals such as kangaroos.
The girls stayed in some shacks that they used for when they had workers, while the men stayed in a house. It was very well accomodated. However, there was always a group that slept outside for the night. I did that the first night but was very annoyed with how cold and wet it was in the morning...so I decided to sleep in a real bed the rest of the trip. We had heaps of time to venture around so we all did a good job of that. I brought my boomerangs that I bought at Vinnies and got to try them out. We figured out that it takes a little bit of wind to bring it back to you; if you have too much then it flies past you, and if you have too little it will keep flying ahead of you.
We had some great discussions around the campfire. It was like a central meeting place for someone who was stumped and didn't know where to go. It was going pretty much the whole time we were there. Each night we ended up there after the evening meal and shared "life storys." Kimberly had three rocks for us to take and share 3 events in our life that really shaped us or 3 things you want people to know about yourself, or a mixture of all that. People shared some really life changing things and we all got to know each other on a deeper level. It was a great highlight of the outback and certainly a highlight of our time in Australia.
The outback itself was pretty much like you would imagine: red and flat. However, this year it was very green. So much so that it is the greenest it has been in the last 40 years! I was partially disapointed to see life in the desert because it destroyed my visions of it. But I know now that this is a great season for the land because it is very fruitful. One thing to also note about this mysterious land is that this event may not happen for another 40 years or whatever: it's changing a lot and unpredictable.
First off, I want to clarify. There isn't "THE outback" like it may seem. It's a general term for the area of land that's beyond the busy and congested city/suberb life. It took a long bus ride out there--we stayed at a hotel on the way down, but we got to our destination. It took us about a day and a half to get there.
The whole ASC group went and stayed at Trillby Station, which is a sheep farm--they harvest the wool and/or the meat. The place is huge!! We're talking about tens of thousands of acres and about 800,000 sheep. They have 3 stations spread out across the land where they shear the sheep because it's so big. They use modern equipment to herd the sheep, such as helicopters/planes in the air and motorbikes on the ground. They also have chickens or "chooks" that lay eggs, goats for milk or meat (and along with chickens they eat food waste), and they have dogs (of a breed that I can't remember) to help with herding sheep. And, of course, they have native animals such as kangaroos.
The girls stayed in some shacks that they used for when they had workers, while the men stayed in a house. It was very well accomodated. However, there was always a group that slept outside for the night. I did that the first night but was very annoyed with how cold and wet it was in the morning...so I decided to sleep in a real bed the rest of the trip. We had heaps of time to venture around so we all did a good job of that. I brought my boomerangs that I bought at Vinnies and got to try them out. We figured out that it takes a little bit of wind to bring it back to you; if you have too much then it flies past you, and if you have too little it will keep flying ahead of you.
We had some great discussions around the campfire. It was like a central meeting place for someone who was stumped and didn't know where to go. It was going pretty much the whole time we were there. Each night we ended up there after the evening meal and shared "life storys." Kimberly had three rocks for us to take and share 3 events in our life that really shaped us or 3 things you want people to know about yourself, or a mixture of all that. People shared some really life changing things and we all got to know each other on a deeper level. It was a great highlight of the outback and certainly a highlight of our time in Australia.
The outback itself was pretty much like you would imagine: red and flat. However, this year it was very green. So much so that it is the greenest it has been in the last 40 years! I was partially disapointed to see life in the desert because it destroyed my visions of it. But I know now that this is a great season for the land because it is very fruitful. One thing to also note about this mysterious land is that this event may not happen for another 40 years or whatever: it's changing a lot and unpredictable.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Holiday
Hey! So here i'll try to explain where I went over my holiday.
First, I went to Cairns. The first day we did a tour of the rainforest. It's called the Daintree. It was a very fun tour! It was so green and later it rained...in the rainforest! :)
The second day we went to the Great Barrier Reef. It was so great! We couldn't go SCUBA diving because we had a flight the next day and there would be problems with the difference in atmospheric pressure for our bodies. So we just went snorkeling! It was very fun. We did two tours and had a lunch break inbetween. I got so close to the reef! I actually got so close that I clipped my flipper on the top of it. Our guides were really fun and talked to us a lot. Our favorite was a very experienced diver named Tazzy! He explained how all of the gear worked and how we were supposed to breathe correctly and all that.
The weather was really nice and warm. I would have liked to stay longer. We stayed at a party hostel! I got unlimited internet and a T-shirt for paying $10. The party group went bar hopping and got crazy. I just got free internet and a t-shirt that I want everyone (and I mean everyone) to sign!
The second trip we went to Melbourne. After a crazy couple of fun days in Cairns we just wanted to relax. No set plans. After we slept in and got our bearings, Tricia and I decided to go on a self-guided graffiti tour and around the marketplace. After that we toured the city at night and experienced the night life. It was very European and there were a lot of cafes. Fun times.
The next day we went to the beach and it was really nice. We laid down on a grassy hill and just watched the sun go down. We got some cheap food and got a few souveniers. We ate lunch at this neat Mexican place called Taco Bill's and after enjoying a fun conversation with out waitress she came out with sombrero hats for us! We wore them around the city. We also had a small bottle of bubbles so people probably thought we were weird. But we brought some smiles out of people!
The third and last stop was Hobart, Tasmania. It is a very overlooked state across the Tasman Sea. Once again we were exhausted and decided to sleep in. At this point I had spent all of my money and had to borrow some from Tricia...I apologize!! After we got all rested up we decided to go to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory. Bianca and Jen decided to go in the morning so we thought we'd go as well. It was late in the day, however, and we didn't get there in time. We actually missed our bus stop and then took a nice tour of the upper suberbs of Hobart in the hills. That was enough of an adventure. Anyway, we prepared our next and last day of Hobart and our holiday all together.
We started off by going to the Bonorong wildlife reserve park. It was a lot of fun! They have all sorts of animals like in a zoo but they have park rangers looking after them and giving guided tours around the park. Lots of them have been rescued and can no longer return to the wild. Some have been rescued from their mothers who were killed somehow and they are nurturing them back to health and then plan to send them out into the wild again. The animals we saw were: kangaroos, wallabies, different types of tropical birds, Tasmanian devils, a peacock, wombats, and geese.
Then we decided to go to Mt. Nelson and eat our pack lunches. Tricia felt like getting out of the wind so she stayed in the lookout point while I walked for a bit through the woods. We returned to the hostel to watch a movie: the Lion King. It was a classic for sure, but not a lot of the other guests liked it. Australia isn't Africa, but it definitely wasn't Kansas! Plus I haven't seen it in a long time so it was good to watch it again.
That was my week! The day after we got back to Sydney we headed out for the OUTBACK!! That will be my next blog...
First, I went to Cairns. The first day we did a tour of the rainforest. It's called the Daintree. It was a very fun tour! It was so green and later it rained...in the rainforest! :)
The second day we went to the Great Barrier Reef. It was so great! We couldn't go SCUBA diving because we had a flight the next day and there would be problems with the difference in atmospheric pressure for our bodies. So we just went snorkeling! It was very fun. We did two tours and had a lunch break inbetween. I got so close to the reef! I actually got so close that I clipped my flipper on the top of it. Our guides were really fun and talked to us a lot. Our favorite was a very experienced diver named Tazzy! He explained how all of the gear worked and how we were supposed to breathe correctly and all that.
The weather was really nice and warm. I would have liked to stay longer. We stayed at a party hostel! I got unlimited internet and a T-shirt for paying $10. The party group went bar hopping and got crazy. I just got free internet and a t-shirt that I want everyone (and I mean everyone) to sign!
The second trip we went to Melbourne. After a crazy couple of fun days in Cairns we just wanted to relax. No set plans. After we slept in and got our bearings, Tricia and I decided to go on a self-guided graffiti tour and around the marketplace. After that we toured the city at night and experienced the night life. It was very European and there were a lot of cafes. Fun times.
The next day we went to the beach and it was really nice. We laid down on a grassy hill and just watched the sun go down. We got some cheap food and got a few souveniers. We ate lunch at this neat Mexican place called Taco Bill's and after enjoying a fun conversation with out waitress she came out with sombrero hats for us! We wore them around the city. We also had a small bottle of bubbles so people probably thought we were weird. But we brought some smiles out of people!
The third and last stop was Hobart, Tasmania. It is a very overlooked state across the Tasman Sea. Once again we were exhausted and decided to sleep in. At this point I had spent all of my money and had to borrow some from Tricia...I apologize!! After we got all rested up we decided to go to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory. Bianca and Jen decided to go in the morning so we thought we'd go as well. It was late in the day, however, and we didn't get there in time. We actually missed our bus stop and then took a nice tour of the upper suberbs of Hobart in the hills. That was enough of an adventure. Anyway, we prepared our next and last day of Hobart and our holiday all together.
We started off by going to the Bonorong wildlife reserve park. It was a lot of fun! They have all sorts of animals like in a zoo but they have park rangers looking after them and giving guided tours around the park. Lots of them have been rescued and can no longer return to the wild. Some have been rescued from their mothers who were killed somehow and they are nurturing them back to health and then plan to send them out into the wild again. The animals we saw were: kangaroos, wallabies, different types of tropical birds, Tasmanian devils, a peacock, wombats, and geese.
Then we decided to go to Mt. Nelson and eat our pack lunches. Tricia felt like getting out of the wind so she stayed in the lookout point while I walked for a bit through the woods. We returned to the hostel to watch a movie: the Lion King. It was a classic for sure, but not a lot of the other guests liked it. Australia isn't Africa, but it definitely wasn't Kansas! Plus I haven't seen it in a long time so it was good to watch it again.
That was my week! The day after we got back to Sydney we headed out for the OUTBACK!! That will be my next blog...
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