australian adventures - edited for people

7/31/2019 Australian Adventures - Edited for People

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Australian Adventures!

In the second instalment of my travelling adventures, I

have gone that little bit further eastto Australia!

We undertook a three week mission trip to the other side

of the World. We hit Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane

all in one trip. What an experience!

We were a team of five, not including Alex (in charge of

the trip) and Mike. In Melbourne, we were serving at the

Soul Survivor festival, an offshoot of our festivals back inEngland. We were running a caf for the week, but also

helping out in whatever way we could. Great fun!

In Sydney we were again at a Soul Survivor event, called

Soul-in-the-Bush. This was an outreach project run in

seven different towns outside of Sydney. Our group was

split up between these towns, which gave us a little bit

more independence and risk in what we were doing.

Myself and Simon were based in a town called Tamworth.In the third week, we travelled north to Brisbane, where

we had a mini holiday, staying with relatives of Natalies.

We explored the surrounding areas, and had a great time

relaxing after two exhausting weeks of serving!

I feel so privileged and blessed to have been able to be a

part of this trip, and made such good friends whilst out

there. I wouldnt change anything about it.

One of the big things that has come out of this gap year

with Soul Survivor is the opportunity and chances Ive

had to experience Church all around the world. It has

been quite incredible, seeing God move in the same way

he does here all the way on the other side of the world.

I hope this travelogue/diary is as well received as the last

one, and I hope you enjoy reading about what Iexperienced as much as I enjoyed experiencing it!

Monday, 9th April 2012

The Adventure Begins.


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Felt the effects of that for a while!

The stopover in Singapore was for three hours, and we

took full advantage of those hours by eating in Burger

King and trying out all the products in the massage shop!We stayed in there until the shop assistants tried to make

us buy something or get out.

Ive come to realise that whenever people ask me if I like

flying, I always say yes, although I think I might have to

change my answer soon. I dont mind it, Im not scared or

anything. But its just the monotony of it all that annoys

me. Spending such a long time in the same small space isnot pleasant.

Still, it is a small price to pay to get to the other side of

the world.

Wednesday, 11th April 2012

The first day

Upon landing in Melbourne, I realised we had somehowmissed a day! Where had Tuesday gone!? Time zones

always have, and probably always will confuse me. We

literally bypassed a whole day!

It baffles me.

But anyway, after collecting our luggage, we went

through and looked for our lifts. There were two guys

from the Church to pick us up, Mike and Corinne. Theyare great guys, and they drove us to the camp.

The camp was a lot smaller than I expected. I knew it

wasnt anywhere as near as big as our festivals in

England, but I expected it to cover more space than it did.

Im not saying this as a bad thing, by the way!

I think there are good and bad points to having largerand smaller events. One of the positives of having a

smaller festival that is pretty prevalent here is that you

can recognise and talk to the young people more than

once, because it is that much smaller, so you see more of

the same people, which is good for building relationships.

This was definitely one of the plus points of the festival.

We decided as a group that we would try and fight thejetlag and stay up through the day then sleep properly at

night. This was a good plan in principle, but meant that

when it got to the evening, I was pretty much a zombie!


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So in the afternoon, we got a tour of the site and where

everything was, as well as where we were staying. We

stayed in small shared cabins, which were basic, but good

for what we neededsleep!

We were also showed the venue we would be running for

the weeka caf called 5 loaves. We were showed the

ropes as to what to do and how to run it. Fortunately, we

werent required to work straight away. I cant imagine it

would have gone very well given the state we were in!

We had dinner as a group, and Mike and Alex joined us,

which was nice. Although I have a distinct recollection,and the others keep reminding me of it too, that I fell

asleep whilst Mike was talking to me. I could feel my eyes

going and my head nodding..and I eventually

succumbed to it.

It cant have been more than ten seconds, but I was soon

woken by the others laughing, and Mike giving me his

fake angry routine. I didnt feel bad - just even more tired!

So we went to the main meeting, and although Im sure it

was good, it was the wrong decision to go. We (or at least

I) should have gone to bed. I fell asleep in the worship

(standing up!).I fell asleep in the talk..and I fell asleep

during the ministry time. Fortunately I wasnt praying

for someone!

At one point, just as the ministry time was starting, I wassitting down asleep, and Natalie had her head on my

shoulder (also asleep). Apparently, I snored/snorted

rather loudly, as well as twitching somewhat jerkily. This

obviously woke Natalie, who was confused already, but

then I apparently told her to shhhhhh, then turned away

and carried on sleeping! I could hear the sniggers from

the people in the row behind, but I really didnt care at

that point. As ministry time went on, the others left forbed (apparently telling me, but I was clearly asleep and

didnt hear them!). I eventually dragged myself up, and

left the meeting early to succumb to the tiredness.

Sleep had never felt so good!

Thursday, 12th

April 2012The work begins

I woke at seven, after a beautiful sleep. Breakfast was at

seven thirty, so I had time for a shower beforehand.


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Breakfast was good, and myself, Alex and an Ozzie guy

called Pete invented a new breakfast delicacytwo hash

browns in a toasted sandwich. We called it the Tash!

After breakfast it was up to the caf. We opened at eight!

Closing was at half six, so a long day ahead indeed. We

drew up a rota in the afternoon, so we would all get a

decent amount of time off to explore the festival too.

The caf itself was easy enough to run, as it was just

selling and keeping track of what items need stocking up.

We were only really busy at lunch and dinner time too, sothe days were always going to be pretty quiet I think!

So my day was pretty much spent in the kitchen serving,

which was cool. I didnt think it needed to be open all of

the time, but we were doing what wed asked.

The ozzies are really nice. I definitely felt welcomed.

They were always making sure we were doing ok, and ifwe needed anything.

The meetings today were good. Lex Buckley led worship

at both, which was cool. I had forgotten how good a

worship leader she is. Ministry time was cool too, with at

least half of the congregation going up for prayer.

In the evening we hung out together for maybe about anhour or so, before going to bed.

Still very tired!

Friday, 13th April 2012

Dancing.?

Another early morning! Up at seven for a shower, then

breakfast.


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Ran 5 loaves for the day. That was pretty much the

summary of the day.

Although the evening wasnt ideal. One of the guys on

team asked me and Simon to look after the dance venueSmoove for the evening. This was ok in principal.

However, it turned out that it was a venue where all the

14-16 year old girls wear hardly anything and.dance.

This would have been great.eight years ago.

As it was, we mostly just stood at the side chaperoning

and looking awkward. Brilliant.

Went straight to bed.

Saturday, 14th April 2012

A half day?!

Again, this was a day of serving. We did however, run out

of food! This is somewhat of a flaw when it comes to thebusiness of running a cafe. So we opened up for the

morning, sold everything, and then finished up!

It was good to get out into the camp during the day, and

get a real feel for what it was like round the site.

We actually got to try our hands (or rather, feet) at

tightrope walking. Unfortunately, it doesnt look likewalking the rope is my life calling, as I was truly terrible

at it.

Simon however, was very good, and we are encouraging

him to pursue a career in the circus

We then climbed a good tree! We made a load of Tim

and Simon videos too, which was cool. Got some goodfootage!

The evening meeting was good. Well, the worship was at

least. Once again, I fell asleep during the preaching. The

others were all raving about the speaker though, so its no

reflection on him, I was just very tired!

That actually made it a clean sweep. I had fallen asleep inevery evening meeting that week! I like to think of it

more as recharging during the preaching, so Im ready for

the ministry time.


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Its good logic.

We had a good time of just hanging out in the evening,

talking and being silly with a childs squeaky toy.

Little things are often the best entertainment.

Sunday, 15th April 2012

Last day in Melbourne!

Last day! We were up, breakfasted and showered by half

eight, ready to go. It was just one more meeting and pack

down to do.

The meeting was really good. Great celebration worship,

then instead of a time of teaching, they invited any of the

young people who wanted to go up and share a testimony

of what they had experienced during the week. It was

very encouraging to hear so many good news stories.

After the meeting, it was time to work! Its funny to thinkthat Soul Survivor Melbourne takes one afternoon to set

down, whereas ours takes a full two days! We got it done

fairly quickly, then it was time for goodbyes!

It was sad to say goodbye to the friends we had made

over the course of the week. I genuinely hope that we

manage to stay in touch.

And so..week one was over!

We got a lift from camp into Melbourne City to our

hostel. We went out for a meal in the evening, which was

nice.

I tried Kangaroo steak! It was good, though Im not quite

sure what meat I could compare it to. It would have been

nicer if it had come with chips.

We took a walk along the river afterwards, and had ice

cream. This was good fun. Me, Alex and Simon took a

turn for the silly.

We made up our own language and danced down the

riverbank. The locals didnt know what to make of it!

We were back to the hostel and in bed by ten past ten, as

we were all pretty shattered.

So it was on to week two, and Sydney-bound!


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As a reflection on the trip so far, it has been good. I love to

serve, and we have certainly done that well so far. It has been

great to pray for so many young people too, although it does get

very tiring! It makes for such a different trip dynamic, having

only a few of us. Especially when we dont particularly know

each other too well.

The next two weeks will be interesting

Monday, 16th April 2012

One city to the other

We stayed in a hostel in Melbourne for the night, as ourflight was on the Monday morning. The hostel was

particularly nice, and we were up and out by six thirty.

We got a taxi to the airport, and we certainly cut it tight!

We eventually got there and through check in and

everything with only five minutes to spare! Alex will tell

you it was perfect timing, but it was definitely a close run

thing.

The flight lasted only an hour, so it was pretty easygoing. Virgin had changed our flights for some reason, so

Corinne and Becki were on a later flight to the rest of us.

But it all worked out ok.

Once we had all arrived at Sydney airport, we were met

by out host driver, Stef. She is very cool. We all liked her

immediately.

We split up at the airport, Alex going with one person,

Corinne and Becki going with another, leaving me,

Natalie and Simon with Stef. We definitely had a great

group.

Stef has a Subaru! Shes our age, and has a super nice car!

We all packed in and set off for the town of Tamworth.

The drive was just over six hours, so was a long one, butwe made it fun!


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All of us instantly got on with Stef, and were all singing,

laughing and joking almost straight away. We stopped off

a couple of times for food and rest.

It was great travelling across a bit of the Australianoutback. We were on the lookout for kangaroos, but there

was no sign. Stef even took us along some back roads into

the bush searching for some, but had no luck.

We eventually got to our Church destination just as the

meeting was starting, so we sat and settled into the

worship.

I dont know if it was just us being tired, but the meeting

seemed pretty dead. We hoped the kids would get more

into it as the week went on.

We got a quick McDonalds afterwards, before heading to

our temporary home. We were staying in one of the guys

parents houses, and very nice it was too.

We stayed up a while before going to bed. Sleeping on the

floor!

Tuesday, 17th April 2012

Soul in the Bush starts.

We were up at seven thirty, and Stef took us kangaroo

hunting again! This time we had a set plango to

Marsupial Park. The name says it all!

And it certainly didnt disappoint.

We saw AND fed kangaroos! It was so cool, they are so

cool! The two tame ones we fed were only six months old

so quite small, but a good size, coming up just above our

waistsa good size for feeding and photos!

What a great experience.

We saw some bigger ones too, but they were roaming

about freely and looked pretty mean, so we kept our

distance from those ones!

We also saw and danced with cockatoos! If you bob your

head at them they do it back, so we had great fun withthat. They also said hello to us! Got it all on video.


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There were Emus there too, and they were flippin scary!Theyre just like dinosaurs! They were definitely trying

to intimidate us. One started rubbing itself up against the

fence to me, and the other tried to peck out at Stef!

After our morning adventures, we headed to Church.

Sadly, this is where Stef and Natalie left us. They were

driving onto another base project. It was sad to leavethem, as we had had great fun as a foursome the past day

and a half. We all liked Stef.

And so, me and Simon were on our own!

The meeting was good, again not particularly dynamic,

but better than the last night. Might have been because

were slightly less tired!

After the meeting we had lunch. We started talking to

people, and began to make friends. A couple of the guys

made an effort to talk to us, which was nice. One in

particular was a girl called Sam, who is one of the youth

leaders of one of the youth groups that were there. She

was very enthusiastic and interested in talking to us. We

liked her!

Then it was onto our projects. I was part of an olive tree

pruning team.

An exciting sounding team if ever you saw one, eh?

Still, we were there to serve, and were more than ready to

throw ourselves into whatever was in store for us. It was

also a great opportunity to get to know the young peoplewell too.

The first day of olive tree pruning went well. It was

literally one big field full of trees, which we made our way

round cutting and snipping away at the weeds and rogue

branches. The weather wasnt great for it, but we

soldiered through. Got to know my team a little too, and

they are a good bunch.

After work, it was back to Church for dinner and another

meeting. This meeting was good. There were more

people, they engaged with the worship, the talk was good,


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and the young people responded to ministry too. Good

times all round!

We got to laugh and joke around with some of the young

people afterwards too, which was really cool. It was goodto begin building relationships with those we would be

spending the week with.

So we were settling in nicely!

It was back to the house, and a beer before bed!

Wednesday, 18th April 2012

Here comes the Sun.

I definitely started to feel as though I was forming good,

solid relationships. With youth leaders and young people

alike. They were all very easy to get on with, and allhappy to chat. We formed a good friendship group with

the boys from the worship band and a few of the girls

who are youth leaders. We got on really well, and it was

sad when we had to leave.

Today was a good day. The morning session was good,

followed by lunch. We then went out to our different

projects, so it was back to pruning olive trees!

We were joined by another group today however, so we

got a lot more done. It was cool to mix with the other

group, especially as it was led by one of the girls, Sam,

who I get on really well with.

And the Sun showed his happy face today! It was a

scorcher out there in the fields, which made working that

little bit harder. But with the kind hospitality of ourhosts, who gave us water, juice and biscuits, we managed

to do pretty well!

And that was the day. Upon arriving back at Church,

some of the guys were playing basketball, so I joined in

and showed them all up (well). It was great to actually

play a bit of sport! I really enjoyed it, and I actually did

ok, throwing three pointers like nobodys business!

Then it was dinner, which went straight through me! It

was some sort of lasagne, and it really was a case of in one

end and out the other!


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Also played the whole orange challenge.Its what it

sounds like. Try to fit a whole orange in your mouth, and

then eat it from there. Its a lot harder than it sounds.

I lost.

Evening meeting was good. Worship was particularly

great, I think maybe because they played other songs

rather than the ones that had been played constantlyfrom

the We are the free Soul Survivor album.

The word was great too, all about injustice. Stirred

people up, and we had a good discussion about it at theend. The friendship group that I mentioned we had

formed got together and had a really good time talking

about it, which we continued when we were home too.

Spent the rest of the evening talking and listening to

music. Then it was back to the house for beer and more

conversation.

Good times.

Bed.

Thursday, 19th April 2012

HOW many trees?!

We were up extra early, to go on a prayer walk up amountain. This turned into a prayer drive, with prayer

when we got to the top. It was very cool though.

Stunning scenery, and a powerful time with God. The

young people really enjoyed it, as well as us.

Then it was to Church (via McDonalds) for a bit of

worship and chill out. Then we split into our project

groups and did a bit of proper prayer walking. We were

assigned the main strip of town, so we walked along therefor a bit, then into a park. It was a good time.

Back to Church, and we headed next door for bowling! I

came joint second out of seven people.

Three strikes in a row - just saying.

It was lunch next, then off to the olive farm.


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We finished the whole field! Between the ten of us we didreally well, and I was proud of our team for doing it so

well without moaning or complaining.

The owners of the farm, Wally and Trish were very

appreciative of what we had done too, which was great.

It was brilliant to serve in that way for those few days. I

felt I got on with the youth group I was attached to well

too, and have formed good and lasting relationships.

Dinner time!

The main meeting was really good. Worship was

excellent, and we had the preaching via video link from

another base. And the ministry was excellent too.

The kids really grew as the week went on, and it wasgreat to see that happen and be a part of it too.

We had a chilled out time after the meeting, watching

what looked like impossible basketball shots on YouTube.

It felt like we formed real relationships with people this

week. Particularly on one account.

Relaxed back at the house with a few of the guys from the

worship band with a beer and some talk.Friday, 20th April 2012

To Bathurst!

Another great day. I woke up extra early to be all packed

up and ready to get to Church early. As did everyone else,

much to my surprise!

We got to Church, and all the cleaning up was alreadydoneHallelujah! So we had breakfast, made lunch for

the road and prayed. Then we were off!

Me and Simon were being driven by Sam, so it was her,

me, Simon and Ro (one of the friends we had made in the

week) in the car. What a great combination. Definitely

the best car journey Ive ever had. The music was playing,

conversation was flowing, company was amazing, lovedit. We all found out more about each other, we played

games, and genuinely had heaps of fun.


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So the day was pretty much a road trip across Australia

(or at least, a little bit of it). The scenery was beautiful.

We eventually got to Bathurst at about three. We

registered, dumped our stuff, and went to explore. It wascool just hanging out and being silly. It was also good to

see Natalie, Corinne, Becki and Stef again too.

Me and Simon eventually got given jobs to do, though.

We were on car parking! It was alright, because it only

lasted twenty minutes or so.

We were also ushers for the main meetings. An easy joband the six of us made up the whole team.

Also got told that I was seminar hosting the next

morning. I was apprehensive, but excited.

Spent the evening hanging out in our car foursome, plus a

few others.

Bed.

Saturday, 20th April 2012

Showtime!

A packed day! We were up early for breakfast, and then itwas time to host a seminar!

The idea of it was for me to basically introduce the

speaker; so ask their name, where theyre from etc. But we

had sound troubles with the PA system, so had about

fifteen minutes to entertain maybe one hundred to one

hundred and fifty people.

And I really enjoyed it!

I just made fun of myself and the fact that Im British, and

the crowd loved it. I did a little soccer knowledge

competition, and a whos better, England or New

Zealand? competition (just for Simons benefit).

We won, of course.

All in all, it was a great experience! It definitely makes me

want to do more public speaking, so hopefully will get

that opportunity in the near future.


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Then it was time for the main meeting. We ushered! The

meeting was really good. The worship was fantastic; God

really knocked me out, fully. Even cried during worship. I

think it hit me that we were leaving.

And I didnt want to leave.

I genuinely had the best time this week. Serving locally

was great. And getting to know people was been brilliant.

I wished the festival could go on another week.

I wanted to cement relationships and just keep hangingout with the new friends I had made.

Lunch.

Then we cleaned toilets. It was a pretty quick job, if a

little boring.

Then it was soccer time! Our tournament idea went out of

the window, and we just had two massive games on the

go, with anyone and everyone joining in.

Was then taken out for dinner by Stef with the others.

We went to an Irish pub down the road. I had a steak

burger and chips.

We were back in time for ushering, and the meeting was

good. I sat with Sam. The worship really kicked off aparty!

I was supposed to be helping organise Capture the Flag

after the meeting. My face dropped when I got asked to

do it. But Alex came to the rescue. He told me to have the

night off, to have some fun.

Love that guy.

And so I did. Spent a good evening just hanging out with

the friends we had made that week. Fully enjoyed it.

Stayed out until about midnight, before going to bed.

Sunday, 21st April 2012

Sorrow in parting..


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Was up early, because Alex was leaving us! He was

leaving early to get back to England, due to other

commitments, so we woke early to say goodbye. We had

a good shower session, singing One Direction across the

cubicles.

Went and found breakfast with Simon.

Got offered a job! Keith, who had been our Bush Host for

the week in Tamworth was telling me how his Church

need young leaders to be youth leaders/pastors, and I

would be more than welcome to do it! He gave me his

details, emails, home phone, mobile number, address,everything! So Ive definitely got something to think and

pray about!

Whether or not that happens is the real question.

Realistic ideas and pipeline dreams are so often very

different, and it is down to God to help distinguish

between the two.

It was to the main meeting next. Fulfilled ushering

duties. We were setting up for Communion, so had to be

there earlier to set tables with bread etc. The meeting

itself was great, really good worship again.

We split into our base groups for communion, had a

really good time of prayer and breaking bread. Felt like

family.

Then we had a time of big celebration! Party worship!

Then it was time to pack down. And this meant that

goodbyes were imminent.

I really didnt want to say goodbye to my new friends,

because I really didnt want to leave. I can admit that I

was scared of crying, I had become that attached to thepeople there. We had formed a tight little group, and

even though it had been like, six days, it was horrible to

think that we might not ever see them again.

We can always hold out hope that we meet again; the

Christian world is a lot smaller than it might seem at

times. But at the time of leaving, that is the furthest thing

from your mind.


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So we made sure we got each others emails and facebook

details and all of that. And it was as simple as a hug

goodbye, and a choked farewell.

And that was that.

I exchanged phone numbers with Sam, because there was

a possibility that we could meet up the next day.

Sam works in a caf in Sydney, and we are going to be in

Sydney tomorrow. Praying that we can find that cafe.

And so we left Soul Survivor Sydney, Soul in the Bush. Ithas been one of the best weeks Ive had in my short life so

far.

It was me, Simon, Natalie and Stef driving in the car

again. Stef was really cool, and she took us through the

Blue Mountains on the way to Sydney. We stopped and

took photos and made videos.

We finally got to Sydney, and stopped at Stefs house so

she could get changed before we went out. We alsostopped at Fuzzs house, so we could up some crutches for

Becki.

Then we went to meet Corinne and Becki. The hostel was

ok. It was a little run down and dirty, and definitely a

clubbers hostel. But we were only there for one night,

and it served its purpose.

Because ofBeckis lackof mobility, we couldnt really

stray too far from the hostel, but that was ok, as we were

all pretty tired anyway. So we went to an Irish pub 30

seconds away and had dinner. Got to see a bit of football

in there too!

We went back to the hostel and stayed together a little

while, eating ice cream. Then people went to bed, but I

stayed up longer and bought some internet time. I

explored facebook and chatted to a few people from back

home, which was nice.


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But, most importantly, I looked up Sams caf, so I knew

where to go in Sydney! I found it and stored it in my

head, determined not to forget it!

Monday 22nd April, 2012

Reunions

Last day in Sydney! Woke up early after a bad nights

sleep due to the noise level. So I showered and dressed

and bought some more internet. I surfed a little while,

and looked up the football scores. We had beaten Stoke 3-

0 and were fourth in the tablebrilliant!

The others emerged, and we went down to check out of

the hostel. This was where we parted with Stef. It was

sad saying goodbye to hershes very cool. I fully

appreciate all the work and effort she put in for us,

especially the amount of hours she spent driving us

around! She and Natalie had become particularly close.

So me, Corinne and Natalie got the train to South Quayharbour, where we were going to get the ferry from,

whilst Simon and Becki got a lift with Stef.

We got some breakfast at the harbour, before getting on

the Manly Ferry. (Manly is the place name by the way,

not my judgement on how masculine it is!)

On the ferry we saw Sydney Harbour Bridge, and theOpera House. Enthusiasm was dampened (quite literally)

by the rain, however. Not a good day for weather at all.

So we got off at Manly, and had a look around. I knew

Sam finished at one, so my plan was to turn up just

before, so we could see her at work, then go off

somewhere.

We got to Manly at about twelve, so we all had a little

explore and walk around town. I bought a boomerang! A

big one for a decent price too! Very pleased with that.


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It finally got to quarter to one, and we found the caf. It

was after a wrong turning and a little searching,

admittedly, but we found it.

Hello!

We talked for a little while in the shop, and said hello to

her work friends.

She got this long, thin box out of the fridge. It was a

selection of Macarons! She had made up her own box

selection of sweet things for us.

We went next door to get coffee, and sat awhile in there,just talking and being silly. It was great.

We went to Nandos afterwards, and sat outside, the rain

having subsided. We had a good time, just chilling all

together.

Simon got his Mac out, and showed Sam the video wed

been making and a load of photos from back home.

Then we had to go.

We walked back down to the docks to get the ferry, and

said goodbye to Sam. Again, it was sad and it felt strange

having to do all again a second time.

But goodbyes were said, and that was that.

So we got on the ferry, back to shore, went back to the

hostel, got our luggage and headed to the airport on theshuttle bus.

We caught the plane, and flew to Brisbane! Once there,

we found where we picked up the hire car, and drove to

Natalies familys house.

Tuesday 23rd April, 2012

Brisbane

We had a lie inyes! So we got up late which was nice.


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We spent the day in Brisbane city, which was cool.

Tammra (Natalies cousin), Belinda (Auntie) and Lauren

(friend) showed us round a part of the city called the

South Bank. It was a nice area, with an artificial beach on

the riverbank and a promenade of shops and cafes.

So we walked along the river, went to a museum, and ate

good food. The museum was similar to the Natural

History museum we have in London, just on a smaller

scale, and with and obvious focus on Australia.

We had a BBQ in the evening, which was really tasty. A

lot of Natalies family were round and it was good to meet

them, and share food and company.

We watched Hot Fuzz later, and then went to bed. Very

tired!

Wednesday 24th April, 2012

To the beach!

We were up early to leave for Noosa, and the beach!

Sat on two different beaches for the rest of the day. Very

relaxing.just what we needed.

Australia is awesome. People, places, all of it.

Thursday 25th April, 2012

Zoo!

Australia Zoo! It was time to hold a koala!

We drove up towards the zoo, stopping at a place called

Eumundi Market on the way, which was nice. It was this

Australian modern/boutique market, selling all sorts of

things. There were quite a lot of dodgy mystic/tarot

places which we walked straight past. They didnt seem

to be getting much custom anyway, thankfully. I say

thankfully, of course I wish the people well, just not their

particular line of business.

Anyway, we got to the zoo! We met Steph Rayner there,

which was cool. We were supposed to be meeting Belindathere too, but we went in ahead of her, and she couldnt

find us, so went home. I dont think she was too

impressed. But we pressed on.


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The zoo was great. You got a real sense of enthusiasm

from the keepers about the animals and their welfare. It

was good to see the caring side, as well as the

entertainment of it all.

Australia Zoo is Steve Irwins legacy in Oz, and they

certainly push that point. There are videos and pictures of

him and his family all over the place. Being there took me

back to my childhood, watching him wrestle crocs on TV!

It was great!

They had a good range of animals too. The focus wasobviously on Australian specific beasties, like crocs,

kangaroos, koalas etc. But they had an Asian and African

section too, so had tigers, elephants, cheetahs, and

giraffes. I took a lot of photos!

The highlights of the day were holding a koala and

feeding the kangaroos! There was a koala photo booth,

and for $20, you could have your picture taken

professionally and take it away the same day (the picture,

not the koala!) . The koala was surprisingly heavy! But so

so fluffy! Very cute.

The kangaroos were in an enclosure called Roo Heaven,

which was pretty much a free roaming part of the zoo.

The kangaroos wandered around, feeding off all the

willing touristsincluding us!

They just licked the food right up out of your hand. Itwas ticklish! But a great experience. The kangaroos were

so tame, not bothered in the slightest by all the people

taking pictures and bothering the animals. In fact, I think

they loved it! Constant food, and lots of love and

attention sounds like a good deal to me!

Another big attraction of the zoo was their midday show.

It was pretty impressive. They did a rather extensive birddisplay, which was cool. Theyve got some big birds!

They did the usual tricks of flying in formation, flying

from one place to another, catching bits of food in mid-air

(particularly cool). But the main draw of the show was

Monty the croc. He was massive! They went through the

motions of showing us how crocs hunt and attack, which

was great to watch. Crocs are so powerful! The zoo

keepers were visibly nervous and wary too, which just

goes to show how dangerous crocs are!

We went into the wildlife hospital after wed finished the

zoo, and that was particularly unspectacular. It was


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literally one room, and with windows looking into a small

part of the hospital. We saw a load of tables and

equipment, but sadly no injured animals.

All in all, it was a good day. We just chilled in theevening.

Friday 26th April, 2012

Last day.

A very chilled out day. Natalie and Tammra went out

early to see her grandparents, so the rest of us had a goodlie in. Tammra also left her laptop out for us to use, which

was amazing. Internet!

I managed to catch up on sports news and facebook. Felt

suitably caught up on social situations.

We went out in the afternoon to the shopping mall, more

for just a wander round than anything else. Bought some

food, but nothing else.

But in the evening, we went to see The Avengers, and it

was awesome! Put all those comic book superheroes

together in one film, and youre definitely on to a winner.

Fully enjoyed it, despite the expense.

Tonight was also a goodbye to Tammra, as she wouldnt

be around when we left. It was another sad goodbye tosomeone who, although we had only known each other a

few days, is most definitely a good friend.

Packed up our stuff once back at the house, and went to

bed.

Saturday 27th

April, 2012Flying home.

We were up and off by 9.15am, and were due to make

good time to the airport. However, our trusty SatNav

Gloria had other plans. She was clearly in a mischievous

mood, and we ended up circling the car rental place,

where we needed to drop the car off.

God showed up though! We were praying that we would

somehow find the car rental depot and whilst filling up

the car with petrol, who shared pull up behind us but an

Apex car rental van! So Natalie took the initiative and


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went behind to speak to the driver. She asked if he was

headed back to the depotand he was! So Natalie asked if

we could follow him back, to which he replied Certainly!

Thank you God!

So we deposited the car, Gloria and all, and hopped on the

shuttle bus to the airport.

And away we went! Goodbye Australia! No problems at

check in or security, and we were airborne.

Reflections

Putting this together about a month after coming back

from Australia, it is very strange looking back on the

whole experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it, and have had so

much fun typing up and editing what I wrote whilst I was

out there. Its been great to be able to look back on it all

and remember all the good times that we had whilst out

there.

I would love to go back at some stage in my life. I dont

know whether that will be sooner or later, but I loved

being over there, and would relish the opportunity to

work in some capacity in Australia.

The people I met are such good people, and so far, I have

stayed in touch with most of them. It feels very cool to be

able to say Yeah, I have friends on the other side of the

world.

Working at the two festivals gave me a great insight as

to how things work logistically at those sorts of events. It

was a really good foresight into what my summer couldlook like, working at our summer festivals.

This was such a different mission trip to the one I took to

Asia, in so many ways. Both have given me so much


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experience and knowledge of how things work in the

Church around the world. I think this is invaluable

information, and cherish these trips in the highest regard.

The guys who I travelled with were great the whole trip.

We had ups and downs, not all of which I thought fair to

include in this format. But above all, we served together.

Alex, our leader for the trip, was excellent support for us

throughout.

I do feel as though Ive gained a brother, in Simon. We

were there for each other throughout the trip, and I now

think of him as family.

I finish with a thank you to all who were involved with

this trip. Those I went with, and those we met out there.

You are all amazing people.

australian adventures - edited for people

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