Ethan's 1st Birthday

Ethan's first birthday was down at the ferry side of manly beach not far from Jamie & Tracy's apartment. Tracy made her family's traditional hedgehog cake and you could tell Ethan loved it. Right after cake and food and some great video footage it began to pour rain. We packed up and ran to the ferry area to take cover while the little ones loved getting soaked playing in the warm rain.

Almost Christmas

It was kind of strange seeing all the Christmas decorations out and trees everywhere in the middle of what felt like summer....well I guess it is their summer. It was really neat as downtown the department stores had their windows decorated with scenes of the nutcracker or other Christmas themes.

Royal Botanical Gardens

The Royal Botanical Gardens are huge and absolutely beautiful. We spent pretty much all day touring them and the areas around. The different flowers there were amazing. Once thing that was kinda creepy though was when you went through certain sections there were trees full of hundreds of large fruit bats that were hanging taking a snooze. They were not so pretty & when I mean hundreds I'm probably under estimating.

The Government House

One afternoon we headed downtown Sydney to tour around a bit. We decided to go to the Royal Botanical Gardens and was able to catch a tour in the Government House. We were allowed to take pictures outside only as its still presently used.

The Harbour

Well this was one of the best December's I've ever experienced. So beautiful and warm. We would walk from Jamie & Tracy's on a path along the water to the Manly Ferry. On the weekends the habour was full of sail ships. It was amazing! All I could think of is how they navigate through so fast without hitting eachother.

D'Hotel de Scott's

Next we moved into Jamie & Tracy's RV in Manly, Sydney. We would park on the street outside where Jamie & Tracy's little apartment was and sneak in at night so no one knew we were sleeping in there. It felt a bit adventurious! We did sleep very cozy in the bed but I'm still wondering how Tracy and Jamie fit in those beds right till she gave birth to Ethan. In the mornings we would go up to their apartment get ready and enjoy breakfast and fun with Ethan. Ethan grew attached to Casey (of course what kid doesn't)and so we got many smiles and laughs in the morning. Casey & Jamie enjoyed some great surfing times (which Jamie ended up rescuing Casey one day before the beach was closed due to the waves. Tracy & I enjoyed some wonderful time going for walks with Ethan and having a spa day complimentary of our hubbies. Oh and one of my favorites was going on a shopping day with Tracy, who became my personal shopper. She found the most perfect shoes in the world for me! I wish we could do that all the time. We had such a blast with them and were really blessed.

Casey's next injury

We got back to Sydney and were staying with Stu & Kristi for a while longer. Since the beach was only a few blocks down Casey decided he would go for a surf on his own. Well unfortunately the surf board decided with the wave to knock some sense into him and to the hospital we had to go. Kristi & Stu were gracious enough to give us a ride and I have to admit the service and how quick your treated at the Aussie hospitals is great. After some stitches and a nice bandage we were out. We had a great time with Stu & Kristi while with them enjoying some many great meals, amazing thai food in the city and some Christmas celebrations. We went to an outdoor celebration with their family where everyone brought food and sat on chairs or the grass while listening to wonderful performances of different Christmas Carols etc. We also enjoyed a family dinner at Kristi's parents, a school Christmas performance and a great Christmas party with plenty of fun games. It was truly a blessing to spend time getting to know them more and enjoyed the time we spent with them.

Games night

What a hilarious night with one of Casey's famous games. Earlier in the evening Jamie suggested a game where we each told 3 stories about ourselves and 1 was true the other two were a lie and we had to guess what was true and what wasn't. I'm still confussed if Jamie & Tracy walked up the Eiffel Tower......

Gerrigong - our little get away (I think that was the city)

We went South of Sydney with Jamie, Tracy & Ethan and Stu & Kristi for a little retreat where they had a arranged for all of us to stay at this beautiful house on the beach for the weekend. The area was beautiful I couldn't even describe it to you, lush green with the beautiful ocean right there. It was amazing. We had a wonderful time talking about Backpacking Ministry and making and eating great food and having fun. Little Ethan began not feeling well while we were there which was unfortunate but he was so cute and such a trooper.

Back in Sydney

We arrived in Sydney and connected with Stu & Kristi. They graciously let us crash at their house and we had a bit of fun before heading to our scheduled retreat in Gerroa. We had to take this particular picture because we realized at one point that we all were matching completely that evening, not on purpose either. So we figured it would be the new "Backpacking is it team" uniform!

Mojo Surf Camp

From Byron Bay we jumped back onto the OZ Experience bus heading back to Sydney. On the way there we had a overnight stop at Mojo Surf Camp where they give a day surf lesson. Well we arrived at Corindi Beach which is where the camp was and dropped our belonging off into our little cabin which we shared with three other girls. It was so windy that day and to me pretty cold that I skipped the lesson and just played photographer that afternoon. But you couldn't keep Casey out of the water. While everyone struggle to surf with the crazy wind I gained a new best friend who kept me busy playing fetch. The cute mojo surf puppy kept me pretty entertained. After everyone was done surfing they went back to shower and then off for supper. At dinner everyone had a laugh as they showed a video of pictures of the afternoon surf. After dinner Casey & I hung out for a little bit then headed to bed to get ready for an early morning back on the bus to Sydney. The next morning we packed our bags and headed for breakfast and found the mojo puppy passed out snoring like he had a few to many drinks. I think he's been hanging out at the Surf camp a bit to long.

Byron Bay week 3

Sunday (November 11), we went to Eastgate Church with Alex and her family, then after service we enjoyed a kebab together before they dropped us off back at the hostel in Byron Bay. After 2 weeks of not be able to I was determined to get into the water. So that week we hung out at the beach a couple of days and I was able to attempt to surf. I got up but it was only on the white wash which is a great beginning. On Saturday (November 17) Hilary, Christa and I went for a hike up to the world famous Cape Byron Lighthouse. It was such a beautiful day and the sights along the way were so amazing. The 2.5 km hiking trail led us along the ocean and brought us to some beautiful secluded beaches. The view from the light house was absolutely stunning and we could see whales, sting rays, turtles and dolphins playing in the surf. One of the lookout points from the light house is the most eastern point in the southern hemisphere and the first place to see the sunrise. On the last day that we were there, Tuesday October 30th Christa and I woke up at 4 am to go to the light house for sunrise. It was so dark that you could feel it almost like a blanket. As we left the hostel we noticed the sun was already starting to slowly light up the sky so we grabbed a taxi so we didn’t miss it, Christa had this excitement as we got closer to the lighthouse. It was the most breathtaking sunrise we had ever seen. The clouds glowed as red as fire just before the sun burst forth. As the sun appeared its rays shot up in the sky in a glorious way. What a sight it was and how much we continue to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us, if creations is this breathtaking how much more our creator!

Hosanna Farm Retreat

After a week in Byron,(Sat Nov 3) we went to Hosanna Farm Retreat which is about 30 minutes inland from Byron in what they call the hinterlands. Alex who owns Hosanna is in the process of converting Hosanna from a Christian retreat center to a backpacker’s hostel. The property at Hosanna was about 100 acres of beautiful lush green country, filled with large forest areas with creeks running through the middle. We really enjoyed getting to know Alex as she has such an amazing heart. Hallvard and Linda, a couple from Norway that we met in Byron came with us to Hosanna and we all helped Alex in any way we could. Christa did an amazing job setting up the food storage area, which was a lot of work and involved an 8 hour shopping day with Alex. One day we did a day trip with Hallvard and Linda into Tweed Heads. Tweed Heads is one of the best surf beaches in Australia and holds the Quicksilver Pro Surf tour every March. I instantly fell in love with this little surf town and think that it is one of the most beautiful places in Australia. We liked it so much that Christa and I went back there by ourselves later that week and spent the day sightseeing. At Hosanna we had a busy but relaxing time and can’t wait to see the hostel when it is finished in early 2008.

Byron Bay - week 1

Friday October 26 we were back on the bus on our way to Byron Bay. The bus trip was only a few hours down the coast but was one of the most intense bus rides we have had. About an hour out of Surfers Paradise we drove into a massive storm. The bus driver even put on her seat belt......it was raining so hard that the bus had to slow down to about 20kms per hour on the highway and there were cars pulled off to the side of the road. At one point we heard a huge ‘CRACK’ and a lightning bolt hit a tree right beside the bus. We arrived safely, thank God, and settled into our hostel for the night. Byron Bay is one of the nicest spots in all of Australia and I was definitely looking forward to doing some surfing. On Saturday we hooked up with the crew from Youth With A Mission, which is a Christian discipleship training course that has bases all over the world. We spent a couple of nights at the base with them and went to some of their lectures during the week at a local church, Eastgate Community Church. We were introduced to Pastor Neville who did the teaching that week on Biblical covenants and were so blessed to be able to go. It was amazing to see the bigger picture of how the Bible was written and how perfect God’s word truly is. On Monday (Oct 29) we moved back into a hostel and the plan was to ride bikes to the church every morning for the rest of the lectures. Well on Tuesday that plan fell apart. As we were riding to the church I felt the need to try a wheelie on the bike. I am not sure why, I guess I wanted to try and impress my wife since she looked so hot on her bike. Anyway I fell off the bike and pulled ligaments in my knee really bad. Thank God Pastor Neville offered to pick us up and drop us off every day for the lectures. The really, really crappy thing was that we were finally in a place that I could surf but because of my knee that wasn’t going to happen. Through the YWAM group we met Hilary who was the assistant manager of the hostel we were staying at. Christa and Hilary got on great. The three of us hung out a lot that week and had some really good times.

On Monday October 22nd we jumped on the bus to travel a few hours to Surfers Paradise. Don’t let the name fool you, although there was a beach it definitely wasn’t a “surfer’s paradise”. The beach was nice but the surf wasn’t so nice, it was small and the rip was so strong that we heard a Japanese tourist got sucked out to sea the week before we got there. The weather was a bit temperamental it would be sunny one minute and the next pouring rain with thunder and lightning. Casey didn’t get into the water once in the short time we were there. The great thing about Surfers is that it is really close to some really popular theme parks. So on Thursday (Oct 25th) Christa and I caught a bus out to Dream World which is kind of like Disneyland except 1/5th the size. Casey couldn’t ride waves so he rode rollercoaster’s. The first ride we jumped on was a medium rated roller coaster that was great for all ages. As we were waiting in line Casey couldn’t understand why people were screaming. I explained kids would scream especially if they were like me....... at that age of course. Well we jumped on and within the first few seconds I heard a sound come out of Casey’s mouth that made me almost pee my pants he screamed like a girl!!! No joke, I never knew he had it in him. Now he says he did it on purpose but I don’t know. After the ride while I was trying to stop myself from laughing hysterically we headed to the tiger show that was about to start. They had 3 large Bengal tigers, one which was pretty old and completely white except for his black strips. The show was to educate you on these endangered animals and they showed how high they could jump, sit on their back legs and climb a tree with no great effort. It was pretty amazing seeing these gigantic cats. After the show it was off to enjoy the rides. The ride we went to next was called the “tower of terror” we waited in line for about 40 minutes got up to the gate to jump on when all of a sudden we heard the sound of massive amounts of rain pouring down. We were informed that the ride was temporarily closed due to the rain. When we walked outside we walked into a torrential down pour and quickly found shelter at the IMAX theatre, we were just in time for the beginning of the space show. When the rain stopped it was back to the rides. Casey’s favourite ride was called Drop Zone, you sit in a seat with your legs dangling and it takes you about 200 meters up a tower and then drops at a speed of 160 km’s per hour. Casey loved this adrenaline rush and went on the ride twice, he would have gone more except the park was closing, and as for me my stomach had enough for the day.