quick update - really quick again

Hi everybody,
I've put more pictures on flickr, meaning there are more photos on the bottom right of this page, also I am doing well in Melbourne, I'll try and post an update in the next week. also I've posted some photos on Facebook!
bye for now
from down under
Adam

july 4

Hello everybody,

So far vacation...i mean journey in Australia has been great.

Ok a quick update on where I have been and what I’ve been doing.

On the night of June 20th I got off the plain in the Gold coast after a 1 and a half hour plane ride and caught a taxi with Daralynne and Tyler C. It was dark and the ground was still wet. I was praying that we would get nice weather during the week. We got to our place and discovered it was a nice resort and our room had a great view. We watched the first half of Boondock Saints but we were too tired so the 3 of us went to bed.

I woke up just after noon on Saturday the 21st and it was Hot! I went out on the balcony and it was clear skies with a beautiful view of the ocean. I sat outside talking to my dad for a half hour and I was sweating afterwards, it was cooking. later in the day, after we had went to pancakes in paradise for brekkie (at 3pm!) more people arrived. Colton, Travis D, Stacia, Kylie, Tamar, Jenn and Mike came in the afternoon and Adam H came after we had dinner. Tyler C, Daralynne and I went with Adam H to get more dinner, he bought us pizza. The 4 of us went to our unit (Kylie also got a unit for the week, but I think ours was way nicer) and we watched the illusionist.
On Sunday the 22nd it was warm again (25ish) and clear skies, we hung out on the beach for a few hours, i went for a swim with Tyler C and Adam H, then sat on the beach. Travis made some Spaghetti (Really good) for dinner.

Monday the 23rd was my birthday. I woke up around 11, it was sunny and hot with clear skies again, and went down to the pool where Adam was relaxing. We talked for an hour, then Tyler C joined us and we went in the spa (hot tub...but not actually hot, just warm) we hung out there til around 2, then they took me out for a little birthday lunch, i had fish and chips. We went to the other unit and watched a bit of tv and some people napped. I went and found an internet place and went on the net for 20 minutes. Later we went up to the rooftop bbq and Travis made some really good bbq chicken. After waiting for the girls, we went to outback jacks for my birthday dinner. I got all you can eat ribs of course, and they gave me a plate of spaghetti first, then I finished off two plates of ribs. After that we got the “death by ice cream’ sundae, it was massive. Chocolate, strawberry, vanilla ice cream, chocolate shell, caramel topping, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and marshmellows. Hmm. Afterwards we all went back to our place, Adam H, Tyler C, Daralynne, Jenn and I were going to watch a movie, so the rest of them left to go be loud and drink at the other place. We watched American Gangster. It was a great and memorable birthday, 21 in Australia!

On Tuesday I got up and talked to my sister for a while, and to my mom for a bit, while sitting on the balcony enjoying the warmth and clear sky. It was great to catch up with family this week. Colton and I made our way to the beach and hung out there for more then an hour. The others went shopping and then we had lunch on another part of the beach and did some surfing (Travis rented 3 boards for a day). After the sun set, Adam, Tyler, Daralynne and I went to Macdonalds and got some dinner, and watched Charlie Wilson’s War and Awake. Both good movies.

On Wednesday we of course went to the beach again, and it was beautiful again (clear sky and warm). I lay on the beach for 3 or 4 hours, it was cool and I didn’t even come close to getting burnt. Afterwards I went on the net for a bit and found a shoelace for my shoe. Wednesday night we went to a little beachside bar to watch the sunset, then made a great meal of steak, potatoes, corn on the cob, salad and kebabs. Tyler, Daralynne and I watched I am legend ( i think ive watched that about 4 times since I came to Australia.). I said bye to mostly everyone.

On Thursday it was time to leave. After waking up early and saying bye to Daralynne, I walked to the bus stop with all my stuff and with two awesome friends during my time at Capernwray and got some coffee. The bus was coming so we ran outside to the stop and just as Adam got to the door to stop it, the bus driver closed the door and drove away, amid our yelling. It was disappointing but actually good because it gave us the chance to have a last chat and have a good goodbye (or see you later) as I waited for the next bus. I got on the bus and it got to the train station just as the train left, so i waited half an hour for the next one. I took the train into Brisbane where Geoff, Renata and Greg picked me up in their car. We drove about 4 or 5 hours, detouring to see some sights, to meet the Queensland mission trip team in Hervey Bay (across from Fraser Island). We got there and I was reunited with Mark, Cheryl, Lisa, Sean, Kim, Maxi and Melissa from Capernwray. We (including the 3 I came up with) all went to a concert where the African orphan choir group from Uganda that is on tour was performing. It was really good. Afterwards we set up tents in Hervey Bay.

Friday the 27th was Fraser Island day. We rented two 4WD Utes (utility vehicles) and took the barge across to Fraser Island at 8:30. We got across and started driving Fraser Island. It is an Island that is made entirely of sand, but it has big hills, trees, plants and dingoes. The roads are all sand and that is why you have to have a 4wd vehicle to drive on the island. We drove across to the east side where the 75 mile beach is. 75 miles=125 kilometers! Thats all one beach, a large section of it is entirely straight. (check it out on a map). We drove probably 30 miles up and explored the beach, doing some surfing behind the truck for a bit until we got into trouble. We explored Fraser Island, then rushed back to get to the barge to take us back at 4. We ddin’t realize how long it would take i guess and we missed it by 15 minutes. It was cool but sucky. We weren’t expecting to be stuck, but it was the last barge going back, so we would have to stay the night somewhere and find food. Maxi booked us into a resort where we all stayed and some of us bought dinner. We swam in the hot tub, but it was wierd, it wasn’t hot. It was barely warm, it was definitely much warmer than the pool though. We ran around in it a bit which was fun. I had to store my contacts in a glass haha.

On Saturday morning we got up and left the place we stayed at by 6:30 and we drove to Lake Mackenzie on the Island. It was a really cool lake, totally clear water, a few of us drank some of the water, tasted pretty decent. We drove back and caught the barge at 9am. When we got back to the campsite where our tents were still set up, Melissa made us some bacon and eggs, yum. We started our trip to Mackay (pronounced Macai) at half past 12. It was a long trip, but we made it to Mackay just after midnight, after a half hour detour just outside Mackay because of an accident. The 8 of us got split up, us 4 guys stayed at one billets house for the night, 3 of the girls went to one and one (Lisa) went to another. It was kind of annoying to be split up on our last week together, but oh well.

On Sunday the 29th we went to Mackay Church of Christ, it was good. Then in the afternoon we went to Barbs parents house for lunch. Barb was student at Capernwray with us, it was cool to see her again and it was a good time hanging out there. Afterwards we had to split up more, Sean and I got sent to another billet, and Kim left the other 2 girls and went to another billet. That night we helped out with youth at Iona west uniting church, it was cool. I shared my testimony at that church’s service that night and our group played two songs. We had sausage sizzles and talked to people after the service. That day we discovered that it is hot in Mackay in winter, 25ish with humidity everyday (well the group that came up here on prac week in May found out it can be rainiy and cooler too).

On Monday the 30th. We did a little shopping, then took Barb out for a picnic and hung out at a beach/grassy area. Once again we had clear hot skies. We went to an internet cafe then went to a music practice. Mark, Cheryl and I just threw a Frisbee around. Monday night we watched the Sound of Music.

Tuesday July 1, Happy Canada day! We went out to camp eagle early in the morning and took down some stuff and helped organize a bit. We ran around town afterwards getting dvds made for the camp Eagle recovery party (reunion party?) that night. The recovery party was at 7, and there weren’t alot of people there, it was good though.

Wednesday the 2nd. One of the guys I talked to on Sunday night, who is just out of youth, said we could use his sailboat, well we ended up using his dads, but we did get out sailing around 11. It was fun, the first time I’ve been sailing I think. We split up into two groups because it was a small boat. Then we had some fish and chips and a group of us (well not me) tried sailing again at the harbour when there was no wind with Latoya. The 2 guys on the boat actually had to get out and swim and push the boat a bit, after they had paddled for quite awhile. Latoya is the 15 year old sister of the flatmate of one the lady’s who hosted us that week, Jonelle. Latoya hung out with us a bit during the week, which was cool. Wednesday night we each had dinner with our hosts, it was interesting, getting to know the couple that hosted us, and discovering that most locals think the summer is too hot and love winter...hmm different mindset.

On Thursday we went to the skatepark to help with a skate tour/competition put on by Red Frog. There were a ton of kids, but not really alot for most of us to do, except Mark and Latoya who are skateboarders, they had fun. the rest of us cooked up lunch and just watched mostly. On Thursday night we went to the youth rally put on by the Red Frog team, it was really good, not a great turnout, but I really enjoyed, i got to go onstage as a volunteer for the illusionist guy, and two guys came up and told great testimonies/ messages. A few kids accepted Christ as Lord, which was awesome, and I felt like God was talking to me a bit that night too.

Today we got up at 3:30am and eventually made it out of town by 4:30am, for a long drive to the Gold Coast. It took about 16 hours but we made it to surfers paradise/gold coast. I have been billeted out with Mark and we are staying at an amazing house. Its really cool.

Picture count = 3700! 1300 to go in the next 4 weeks!

Thats about it, having good times here, spending time with friends, making the most out of my opportunities and learning more each day.

Thanks for reading.

From Down Under,

Adam

Capernwray is....done

Hello everybody,
Well, Capernwray Australia is done. Now I’m off on the next part of my journey in Australia!
Ok a quick update on what happened in the last 3 weeks!

Everybody got back from the other 2 prac week teams the weekend of the 1st and told of their stories. It was cool. I started working on my devo for the Thursday and found out from Steph G that I had bought a ticket a few months earlier (totally had forgotten about it) to see Hamlet at the Sydney Opera house with her, Heather and Lisa, on that upcoming Friday. Wow, coolness.

I did a devo on God’s faithfulness on Thursday (got an A), it was cool.

On that Friday (June 6 I think) Lisa drove us to Campbelltown and we took the train into Sydney. Steph, Lisa and I went to Paddy’s markets for a few hours and Heather went swimming. I bought some more souveniers there. Then we met with Heather and walked to Darling Harbour, we had coffee and hung out there for awhile, then went to a fancy McDonalds before racing to the Opera House for a 7:30 show. We got our bags checked then went into the little drama theatre(not the main hall unfortunately). It was a cool cozy theatre with a nice stage. The show was pretty good, I am not a big Shakespear fan but I definitely enjoyed it and actually understood what was going on. the show went longer then we expected (over 3 hours) so we raced to the train station, but had plenty of time, we just got back to school late thats all, at about 2am.

On Saturday I pretty much worked on my bible study presentation most of the day, went and saw Narnia that night with a Forgie, Mark, Cheryl and lynden. It was a great movie.

On Monday I worked on my bible study some more, same deal Tuesday, also worked on the dvd

Wednesday we had guys brekkie, with bacon, eggs, toast, beans, sausage and coffee, before workday. On workday i worked on the semester dvd. Wednesday night I had my bible study, it went great, even though I had a small group (5 including myself). Got an A

On Thursday I had my last funhouse, it was pretty fun. worked on the dvd a bit more.

On Friday we had a school outing. We drove an hour to a place near Campbelltown called teen ranch camp. We got split into 3 groups and did a big swing drop thing, high ropes and archery. It was a fun day. Friday night I worked on Snac with the snac team and worked on the dvd.

Saturday I worked on snac for 3 and a half hours, then the semester dvd, then we went to an AFL game. Almost 30 of us got on 2 busses and drove into Sydney to see the Sydney Swans play the St. Kilda Saints. The game started at 7 and we were the life of the party. It was sold out (25,000??) but the crowd wasn’t as lively as I expected. Some of us got dressed up, and it took a little while to understand the rules (Aussie football is a different game), but I got it and it was an entertaining game, lots of kicking, not quite as much tackling. The field is circular and you have to kick to score (either 7, 1 or none). Sydney won 95-65. We got back to school around 12:30am.

On Sunday we had our last church service. The few of us that go to Bowral Baptist went for lunch at a guys house afterwards, then I worked on snac. That night Steph G, Tyler F, Mark, Julie and I presented snac, it went great and we got an A. We did it on the great commission.

On Monday i finished up the semester DVD and started getting it copied, after running into several brick walls on the project. Monday night I created the final version before heading to bed.

On Tuesday I cleaned a van for workday and cleared up some rubbish. In the afternoon I finished copying the Semester DVD and the covers. Tuesday night we has our Grad dinner. I got a haircut from Carla and then dressed up nice for pictures then dinner. It was a cool night, lots of pictures and the conference hall was all transformed to look like a totally different place, great for a grad dinner. The dinner was good, not amazing but good.

On Wednesday we did a run through of the grad service at the church of Christ in Bowral with everyone, then had the afternoon to pack. I worked on getting everyone their semester dvd’s and watched it full length with some people in the retro room. Later I started packing up my room. Sad day. It was hard to pack stuff and to decide what to keep and what to chuck. I went through alot of paper and got rid of some shirts and pants. Wednesday night we got our yearbooks and did a mass signing, and I worked on the talent night DVD.

Thursday was the last full day. We had packing in the morning and had to have our rooms clean before we could leave campus. Eventually our room got clean and I also got the talent night DVD done and about 30 of us went to Briars for the last coffee. It was cool to do it one last time. Thursday night we had grad ceremony, which was really good, and we had heaps of snacks afterwards. After the ceremony, everyone stayed up, people left the school and tears were shed. I tried and failed once again to get online, signed a ton of books and hung out with everyone one last time. Slowly people trickled out to bed, there was no curfew so heaps of us stayed up. I ended up staying in the hall til 3 am. I needed some sleep. Many more went to bed around 5ish and alot actually stayed up all night. Crazy.

Friday June 20 was the last day of school, or as it says on the school calendar, feelers Friday. I woke up just before 9am, missed saying bye to the Saskatchewan boys who left on the 8 bus, sadness. Got down to the conference hall at 9 and said bye to the people leaving on the 9:15 bus. Continued to say bye to people and eventually I left on the bus with Tyler C, Daralynne and Kiwi at 10:15. It was sad to say bye to people, but it was weird, it felt like I would see them after not long, but who knows when I’ll see some of them again. Of course I will still see alot of them this week in Brisbane (12 of us) then on the mission trip in Queensland the week after (Sean, Kim, Cheryl, Lisa, Mark, Maxy) and will see the second sems when i come back in August to stay a few nights before heading home. We got on the train and i read a bit of my yearbook with the signatures in it, doing that got to me a bit, so many great people that I spent the last 5 months with, gone. Onto the next journey. Kiwi stayed on the train to meet his family and Tyler C, Daralynne and I went to Bowral and got coffee, we saw Merideth and Dorthe there! Crazy, good byes again as the 3 of us left and got back on a train. We made it to the airport, after talking about memories, staff, students, future and sad moments. We wandered around the airport, checked our bags about 6 hours before departure and managed to kill 6 hours at the airport, eating, shopping, reading, sleeping (Daralynne) and sitting around talking.
Now I am in a resort in on the Gold Coast with 11 other Capers students and relaxing. Capernwray is done, its on to a nice long vaction!
Picture count is at over 3100 for capers plus like 1000 pics from others.
Thnks for reading.
From Down Under,
Adam