Easter Sunday in Adelaide, Australia

Today, it happened. What I was so desperately hoping to avoid: homesickness. I guess it had to come at some point, and I definitely know why it happened. Every single year of my life (21 years may not be old, but it is a pretty good amount of years!), I have been to a church service on Easter Sunday with my family. This year, I had no one to go with. First, let me give you a list of things I love about Easter at home.

1. Sunday morning waking up to a basket full of chocolate and money (once I got older) filled eggs.

2. Lunch at my grandparents. I'm talking a full spread: ham, macaroni and cheese, green beens, biscuits, SWEET TEA!, and any kind of dessert you can think of!

3. Easter egg hunt with the cousins and easter egg hunt at church.

4. The Easter Cantata at church with my family.

5. Easter dresses and white shoes!

6. Reese's eggs

7. Cadbury candy covered mini eggs

8. Jelly beans

9. Dark chocolate pastel colored M&Ms

10. Dying easter eggs

11. The entire day spent with family

12. Waking up to the peace (that just seems to be everywhere and in everyone I meet) of just knowing that today, my Savior beat death for me.

My Easter in Adelaide consisted of:

1. Chocolate eggs (that I bought b/c I just HAD to!)

2. Waking up to a dilemma: no directions or address to the church I was going to attend and no internet to look it up.

3. No one willing to go to church with me.

4. Everyone on the hall taking jello shots out of plastic eggs instead of finding chocolate and money in them. (That was really disturbing to me. I wanted to cry.)

***Here's where the day did get a little better. :)

5. A walk through Elder Park in the city of Adelaide just God and me.

6. Attending a new church in town for their 5 PM service.

7. Meeting very friendly people who gave me a ride back to campus so I didn't have to take the bus alone in the dark and ones that I will be meeting to go apple-picking in the morning! :)

8. A very interesting stir-fry concoction that I came up with consisting of mushrooms, tomatoes, broccoli, pasta, and seasoning. Overall, pretty healthy and actually tasted pretty good. However, it was no Mama and Grandma's cooking!

9. Finally finding the peace that I usually wake up with. Though I knew it was there, it was harder to see in myself when it wasn't noticeable in the people around me. (I know that doesn't make much since, but it's the best way to explain the feeling that you get when it hits you that thousands of years ago today Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified so that we may live.)

Overall a bad Easter? Not really. Just different. But, it was different enough to make me miss home. So, for those of you wondering if I miss home: A little, sometimes more than others, and especially on this Easter Sunday.

Mid-semester break trip: Sydney and NZ!

Alright, so my break has been action-packed, exhausting, and amazing! I loved touring Sydney and experiencing the beauty of NZ! So, I am going to try to give a detailed re-count of my trip, but I am going to post a link at the end of the post that will take you to all of the pictures. :)

Friday, April 8- Day 1

So, Friday was a busy day! We left for the airport around 9 and flew to Sydney around noon. Upon arriving in Sydney, we had to find the hostel that we had booked for the night. Well, lets just say Rob didn't look at what area of town the hostel was located. Though it was not the best area of town (by the sounds of the night life), it was ok. We were really close to the Botanic Gardens and the Opera House. So, we just stayed inside at night which was ok with me! Ceina and I put on Finding Nemo and had an early night. By the way, Finding Nemo takes on a whole new meaning when you're actually in the city that they're talking about!

Saturday, April 9- Day 2

So, before I left school, I thought I had everything that I needed. I was pretty proud of myself for packing 4 shirts, all of my underwear, about 5 pairs of socks, and 2 pairs of jeans all in one bookbag. However, I did not realize that I had forgotten one important thing: a towel. Well, let me tell you showering without a towel to dry off with is quite amusing. :) Though I thought about just skipping a day of showering, I did not know when I would get my next shower since we would be camping in NZ. So, I decided to try my luck on air-drying. Yeah... it doesn't work when you're not in the sun. So, needless to say, I got a good laugh at myself and took a really long shower (or so everyone thinks).

Now, after my shower ordeal, we all checked out of the hostel and went to the Botanic Gardens again. I didn't really want to sit around, so I walked around the Botanic Gardens exploring and taking pictures. It was so beautiful! Now, as I was getting going in my walk, I saw a little coffee shop in the middle of the gardens. I decided I definitely could go for a cup of coffee, so I stopped by to grab some on my way through the gardens. While I was waiting for my iced mocha (YUMMY!!!- they make their iced coffee with ice cream instead of ice!), I was standing off to the side and nibbling on a cookie that I got. It was a huge cookie and I was planning on saving a lot of it for the plane ride, but a man in front of me started making fun of how big the cookie was. He told me that he didn't think I could eat the whole thing, so he just knew that I wanted to share. Well, I knew I wouldn't eat the whole thing, so it probably doesn't surprise most of you that I did offer him a part of my cookie. Well, after I offered, he told me he really didn't want any of my cookie, but he really wanted me to try his banana muffin. (Little side fact: the man is the age of my granddad) That just seemed really weird to me, but I tried to be polite and just tell him that I appreciated the offer, but really didn't want to eat his muffin. He then kept on and on and broke a piece off and put it in my hand. So, I was really confused by this and just stared at the muffin in my hand for a while until he came back. He then told me that his buddy didn't believe that I had taken part of his muffin from him (which was really the truth b/c I didn't take it, he put it in my hand.) When he looked down and saw the muffin in my hand, he said "You didn't eat it!". Now, I know he didn't do anything to the muffin. I saw the man at the counter hand it to him, so I wasn't worried about eating it. I was still so confused by what was happening. Well, I put the little bite in my mouth, and the little old man went off a happy camper bragging to his friend that a young girl took a muffin from him. Oh well... Hopefully that made his day. :)

Ok, after my odd encounter, I walked through the gardens for a while longer. I walked and walked and ended up on the other side of the gardens completely. I saw the government house and where the Queen's castle used to be before it burned.

After leaving the Botanic Gardens, we still had time to kill. So, we took a ferry to Watson Bay. Now, I am like my dad and get a little bit of motion sickness when in the car and on boats, so I had to stay up front where the wind would blow in my face. I don't know why, but it just seemed to help. So, after arriving at Watson Bay, we had just enough time to get fish and chips and then catch the next ferry so we could get to the airport in time. That was the best fish and chips I have ever had and I couldn't even eat half of it, because they gave me so much! So, we waited in the airport and were finally off to NZ around 6 PM!

Sunday, April 10- Day 3

So, since we couldn't pick up the campervan until 8 AM Sunday morning and a lot of Christchurch's hostels were not open due to the earthquake, we stayed in the airport for the night. Apparently it is a common thing, because there were about 50 other people doing the same thing throughout the airport. They also had showers in the bathrooms! Though it was an interesting experience, I definitely did not get much sleep. After a night with very little sleep, it was finally time to pick up the campervan! We got going on the road around 11 AM and drove to Queenstown stopping at Lake Tekapo on the way. That night, we spent our first night in the campervan at a campground by Lake Watapiku.

Monday, April 11- Day 4

On Monday, we spent the day hiking up a mountain in Queenstown. Now this was an interesting experience since I forgot my belt. I have a pair of jeans that I have had since jr. high maybe? Well, they have finally seen their better days. I can not keep them up b/c the waist is way too big and they are so worn out that they are starting to get holes in them. However, I wanted to wear those jeans instead of my newish ones on the hike. So, in order to keep my pants up, I borrowed Sabrina's bandana and tied two of my belt loops together so that I could pinch the material together. Yes, it was extremely fashionable! :) However, it got the job done. After hiking, we went grocery shopping for dinner and stayed at the same campground as the night before.

Tuesday, April 12- Day 5

So, we got up Tuesday morning with all intentions of bungee jumping as a group. However, the more I started thinking about it, the more the "practical" Elizabeth started to come out. Why would I spend about $200 on an 8 second thing when I could spend less than that on horseback riding through where the Lord of the Rings was filmed. No, I have never really been a Lord of the Rings fan, but I have been wanting to ride a horse for a LONG time! Plus, I have been wanting to see the Lord of the Rings and what better time to watch it than after I ride through where some of it was filmed?! So, the practical side won over the adventurous side thought I am still kind of disappointed I didn't jump! I wish money grew on trees and that I had all the time in the world!

After horseback riding, we drove part of the way to Milford Sound and stayed at a really sketchy campsite in the forest. I mean there was only one other camper and they looked really creepy. Also, the campsite was in the middle of a forest. However, we survived! :)

Wednesday, April 13- Day 6

We drove the rest of the way to Milford Sound stopping at Mirror Lakes (so pretty). Milford Sound was really beautiful, but everything to see there was going to cost a good bit of money. A lot of their hikes were closed, because they were being fixed up. So, it was a little disappointing that we couldn't hike a lot there, but it was still worth the trip! After spending a few hours in Milford Sound, we made the drive back to Queenstown. Now, a little side note about New Zealand: they don't have interstates that will just take you from town to town. There was literally one road to get you to Milford Sound and one road out. So, we had to go back to where we came from in order to go somewhere else. That meant that we spent the night in Queenstown again. However, this time we spent the night at a campground that had showers, a campfire, a kitchen, etc. So, since I had not showered since Saturday, I was feeling pretty gross! That shower felt SO nice! :) I even took another shower the next morning just because I could! HAHA

Thursday, April 14- Day 7

We woke up Thursday and grabbed a few things in Queenstown before heading to the northern part of the South Island. We stopped to see the Franz Josef glacier (unfortunately it was raining so I didn't get a good picture) and stayed at a campsite called Goldsborough. It was in a little part of a forest that used to be an old gold mining town. That was where we first met the birds that would continue to follow us everywhere else.

Friday, April 15- Day 8

We continued the drive to Abel Tasman National Park (supposedly the main attraction of NZ) and stopped at several places on the way. We made a stop at the beach, pancake rocks, a brewery (I wasn't very impressed), a cave, and a few lookouts. Most of the day was spent driving, but we finally arrived at the campsite where we were able to have a fire (finally) and stayed on the beach. I could walk about 10 feet from the campervan and be on the beach, so it was pretty amazing. Plus, all around us was Abel Tasman National Park and a tropical forest.

Saturday, April 16- Day 9

We decided to stay at the same campsite again Saturday night, so we spent the day hiking in the forest and hanging out on the beach. While hiking, we climbed up a river which was great until the river level started to get higher to where the rocks we were just standing on where no longer there. We ended up going through some of the trees so that we could get to the rocks we could stand on. I ended up with wet feet, but had a great time. After hiking, I went for a walk on the beach. Here it comes Mom, the moment you've been waiting for... :) I really missed my mom while I was walking, because that is usually our thing. When at the beach, my mom and I usually get up in the morning and go for an hour long (at least!) walk on the beach. Our walks are usually very quick paced but still fun.

So, did you know in a tropical forest it rains practically every night? Well, it rained both nights we were there. I was kind of thankful for that, because the guys wanted to leave the campfire going through the night, but I didn't really feel comfortable doing that. I mean, we were really close the fire and plus, I didn't really want to be one of the ones responsible for setting part of a national park on fire. :) However, the rain made it impossible for fire to spread anywhere and put the fire out each night!

Sunday, April 17- Day 10

We spent all day Sunday on the road to Christchurch (which we found out had another earthquake Saturday night). It was a really long drive, but we made it to Christchurch before it got dark. There are only holiday park campsites in and around Christchurch, so we ended up staying there. I was pretty thankful, because I definitely needed a shower and they did have showers there. :)

Monday, April 18- Day 11

We woke up and cleaned the campervan, because we had to turn it in that afternoon. After having lunch at Maccas (McDonalds) and cleaning out the RV, we headed back toward the Christchurch airport where we stayed all afternoon and night until our flight departed at 6:45 AM.

Tuesday, April 19- Day 12

So, Tuesday was perhaps the longest day of my life. We landed in Sydney at 8:30 AM and our bus didn't leave until 8:15 PM. So, Ceina and I had several hours to kill. We took a train into the city center and bought bread, peanut butter, jelly, water, and chips that we would be eating for the next 2 days. We then made our way to Darling Harbor and back while stopping at St. Mary's Cathedral and in a few parks. Now, St. Mary's Cathedral was the first cathedral I have ever been in. It was massive and absolutely beautiful. Everything was so gorgeous, but one thing bothered me about the cathedral. There was a gift shop inside. Now, I know that the cathedral is a pretty big tourist attraction, but it just reminded me of when Jesus went into the temple and turned over all the vender tables and everything, because it was destroying the Father's house. I wished I could have stayed for the Easter service at St. Mary's, but I do plan on finding a church to attend on Easter Sunday. Darling Harbor was so much fun. We stayed there and watched a few street performances. They were so funny and really talented! After a few hours in Darling Harbor, we took the train back to the airport and caught the Greyhound bus.

Wednesday, April 20- Day 13

If I thought Tuesday was long, Wednesday was even longer! The Greyhound dropped us off in Melbourne at 8 AM and the bus for Adelaide didn't leave until 8 PM. So, we had another day to kill. When we arrived in Melbourne, it was raining (of course). That meant we couldn't go to a park and sleep for a while as planned. So, we ended up going to an aquarium. It was cool, but not that great. After the aquarium, we went to a nearby mall food court where Ceina fell asleep. I read for a little while while she slept and then we walked around the mall for a little while. After walking around, it was my turn to sleep. You know you are sleep deprived when you are willing to get a few minutes sleep in a mall. It was the little power nap I needed though! We continued to walk around the mall, because it was raining until it was finally time to catch the next bus.

Thursday, April 21- Day 14

Our bus arrived in Adelaide at 6 AM. We didn't feel like trying to catch another bus to school, so we just split a taxi. At 6:30, I got back to school and crashed completely. I did take the time to call my parents to let them know I was back safe and sound, but it was a 2 minute conversation that went something like this:

Me: "I'm back at school, but I'm going to sleep so I will call you tomorrow. Love you."

Mom: "It's so good to hear your voice! How was it? Tell me all about it."

Me: "It was great, but I'm exhausted so I'm going to go to bed and I promise I will tell you all about it tomorrow."

Mom: "At least let your dad hear your voice before you hang up"

Me: "Hey Daddy! I love you, but I'm going to sleep."

Dad: "Isn't it about 7 AM there? Aren't you supposed to be getting up?"

Me: "Not when you've been up for 3 days straight. Love you! Talk to you tomorrow."

Yep... I was SO through! Now, I am back at school with a few days to catch up on sleep and schoolwork. However, we are not having any meals served until Wednesday. I tried to make a trip to the store to get groceries, detergent (I desperately need to wash clothes), and toothpaste (I still have some, but am going to be out soon!) today, but was unsuccessful since guess what... It's Good Friday and a public holiday. So, nothing was open. Ooppss... My days got away from me, so I didn't even realize it. So, I will be making the trip again tomorrow so that I can have food for the next few days. Alright, all of my pictures have not been added to the website yet, so I can't put the link. However, I have added them to facebook (it was a lot quicker than this website). So, if you are my friend of FB, you can see them all there. If not, be on the lookout for the links really soon!

Happy Easter weekend!

Sydney Pictures:

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3521006023/a=158193405_158193405/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

New Zealand Pictures:

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3521542023/a=158193405_158193405/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

New Zealand

So, it is about 1:30 AM and I have still not gone to sleep. We are working on our second fire alarm of the night. The firemen really don't like us very much. I think if the alarm goes off again, I'm just going to stay in bed!

Anyway, not much to update lately. Well, there probably is but I just can't think of it right now. We are leaving for New Zealand in approximately 8 hours. I will not be updating for about 3 weeks, because I am not going to be taking my computer with me. We are planning to be in NZ for 11 days and will then drive the Great Ocean Road back to Adelaide from Sydney. So, stay tuned for a LONG update when I get back! Until then, I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!

Sports, sports, sports....

So, I have realized that practically all of my blog posts have something to do with sports. I really don't mean to revolve my posts around the sports here, but they are just so much fun! The new sport of the week is Netball! It is SO much fun! Netball is basically man on man basketball with no backboard, more players, and more rules. I played the position Wing Attack. Basically I could run everywhere except in the semicircle around my teams goal and the last third of the court toward the other teams goal. So, I ran constantly. Woah... Another difference b/t netball and basketball. It is as much running as soccer pretty much. I know basketball is a lot of running, but netball is actually more.

In other news, I have been trying to stay caught up with my classes, but it is so hard to do when I don't have tests! However, I am pretty much caught up in all of my classes except one. That class doesn't meet again until after break, so I have time to get caught up. (I don't have much else to do for it). Tuesday was so pretty that I just could not stay inside to do work. So, after I got out of class I put on my bathers (AKA bathing suit), packed some of my reading and a towel, then caught a bus to the beach. I enjoyed the gorgeous day, got a lot of work done (surprisingly), and got a good bit of Vitamin D as well.

I've also found a gorgeous place to run! I'm going to post a few pictures that I took of my afternoon run the other day. I hope everyone has a great end of the week and weekend!

Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day (like when I leave!)

So, I am sick of rain! It rained all week long pretty much. I will never complain about walking to class in the rain at PC anymore! When it rains here while I'm walking to class, it is pretty much guaranteed that I am going to look like I just took a shower when I arrive at my destination! Now, because it was raining all week, I really did not want to leave my room. That meant that I had to find things to do, so I got a lot of work done that I had been putting off! So, even though I felt like the rain wore out its welcome, it did make me a lot more productive.

Many of you know that I have been looking really hard to find a church to attend and someone to go with me without a lot of luck. Well, my luck changed Thursday night! I went to a meeting for the Christians who live in on-campus housing here. It was really great to get together with fellow believers, watch a NOOMA video, and discuss. I sure have missed my church family!!!

It finally stopped raining Friday but the wind took the rain's place. It was extremely chilly and windy. I did not bring hardly any warm clothes, because well... I guess I just figured it would be warm year round. Well, I was wrong. It was kind of cold. Thank goodness the rain stopped, because we went kayaking through a dolphin sanctuary Saturday! It was so much fun and in such a beautiful area! I did not get a good picture of the dolphin "Twinkle", because he was a tricky thing. He would come up close long enough for us to see, but not long enough to take a picture. Oh well! I enjoyed the experience! I have never seen a dolphin that close before!

Ceina and I ready to go! Well... kind of.

The beautiful view while we were kayaking! Notice the hills in the distance!

The "Amazon" that we kayaked through.

The next big trip will be in a little less than 2 weeks, and I am SO excited! We are going to New Zealand for our mid-semester break! The break is April 9-26, so we are going from the 9th through the 19th. Ok, so I am really excited about this trip! We are going to be backpacking! We are only bringing a carry on bag (aka my bookbag) with a few changes of clothes (as much as possible)! We are also renting a RV and driving across the South Island of NZ. So, we have booked our flights and put a down payment on the camper. :) After NZ, we are planning on landing in Sydney and driving the Great Ocean Road back to Adelaide. That means I will be out of contact for about 2 weeks. No blogs for that time; however no worries. I will be taking my journal and will do a big recap when I get back (with a lot of pictures!)

Well, that's all for now. I'm going to go get some work done (or try to at least)! Have a great week everyone!

Chocolate + Strawberry Picking= Perfect Combination

Alright, I'm going to try to recap my week/ weekend.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

So, yesterday I realized just how little sleep I got last weekend. I was exhausted! However, I had to get up early for swim training. It was the last early morning swim practice, because we had our swim meet tonight! Anyway, at dinner last night I decided that I was a little sleepy and needed a bit of caffeine to wake me up. Most of you know that I don't do caffeine very often which means when I have it, it hypes me up! I was just going to mix coffee with hot chocolate, but that was a little more complicated than expected. So, instead someone gave me the idea to put a shot of espresso in with my hot chocolate after I had a little of it. I decided to give that a shot. WOAH... I should never ever have espresso. I was as hyper as a 2 year old on mountain dew! It took about 4 hours for the caffeine to even start to wear off.

Anyway, tonight was the swim competition. It was a lot of fun although we didn't win (actually we placed last.) However, my even (just a novelty event... AKA doesn't count) placed 2nd! It was too funny swimming with a shirt on and trying to get the shirt off quickly. After that event, I was the only girl with 11 guys doing the biggest splash competition. Well, I wasn't the smallest splash (although I really think the judges took pity on me, because I got a higher rating than the biggest guy doing the splash. I don't know whether to be proud of that or ashamed... Hmmm...

Diving in for my turn in the race

Biggest splash!

Friday, March 18, 2011

St. Patrick's Day was amazing. The bands were great and it made me really miss my car. Why would that make me miss my car you ask? Well, I always sing in the car as I'm driving (or if I'm riding with my family), so I don't have that time to sing anymore. I need to figure out another place and time that I will be able to sing! :) I can't even sing in the shower, because it is a hall shower.

I found a great place to run yesterday, so I will take pictures on my run one day. It is beautiful and is a trail on campus that I decided to try yesterday. Up until now, I haven't needed to find a place to run, because I have had a different sport practice every day. I wish someone would just tell me a time to work out, because it is so hard to make myself go running when there are so many places to see and things to do! Oh well! I'll enjoy running on the path once I get in a schedule. I just need to make sure I don't trip and fall over rocks. Many of you know how clumsy I can be, so we'll see how long it takes me to trip over something!

Sunday, March 20, 2011 (Today)

Well, after class on Friday, I all of a sudden got a major headache. It was so bad it was making me nauseous. So, I decided that I needed to get some sleep. I had a lazy afternoon and night. I watched some movies and went to bed early. I still had a small headache when I woke up Saturday morning, but it was a lot better.

Saturday afternoon I went to Adelaide Hills in order to go to Melba's Chocolate Factory and strawberry picking. Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits and chocolate is a huge weakness of mine. I just can't seem to turn down chocolate. Anyway, we went to the chocolate factory first and it was way too hard to make decisions. There were so many great chocolates to choose from. I decided on a small bag of dark chocolate and a small bag of milk chocolate (to mix it up a bit) and a chocolate in the shape of Australia (with kangaroos and koalas on it). I'm going to take pictures before I eat it! :) After the chocolate factory, we went to pick strawberries (a little healthier than chocolate). I LOVE strawberries, so it got pretty dangerous while we were picking. I had a pretty good system down: pick a strawberry and eat it, pick another strawberry and put it in my basket, pick a strawberry and eat it, and pick another one to put in the basket. Considering I had so many in my basket, I don't even want to know how many I ate. It's a good thing I didn't have much for lunch (my PB&J sandwich failed miserably). I also got some strawberry jam that was made right on the farm, because I needed some jelly that I like for my PB&J sandwiches. I tried to eat a sandwich for lunch, because I got bread from the cafeteria and decided that it was a good idea to just get peanut butter and jelly. Well, the jelly I ended up getting (which was right beside the grape jelly that I was aiming for) was called Blackcurrant jelly. It was the most disgusting jelly I have ever had! I just could not eat the sandwich! So, I now have strawberry jelly (very good jelly b/c I had a successful PB&J sandwich today).

Trying to make a decision at the chocolate factory

Yummm... Strawberries!

After picking strawberries, we went to a little town that the Germans colonized. There were bakeries everywhere and cute little shops. I got a pasty (potato and vegetable filled pastry type thing) for dinner and was good to go. Once I got back from the Hills, we all watched a movie and had another needed lounge-around night.

Oh... a little tip: strawberries do not mix well with a computer. I am still trying to get the strawberry juice out of my computer keys. I didn't mean to drop the one gushy, bad strawberry in the batch on my computer. It just happened. But, on the positive side, the computer is still good to go and all of the keys work! So, it just looks pretty messy right now. I will get it all cleaned up though! Well, I'm gone to get some work done that I have been putting off for days!

Google left out a really key part of directions: UPHILL

Ok, I'm going to try to recap what all has been going on the past few days. We had a LONG weekend for Adelaide Cup. Yes... there is a holiday for a horse race over here! I'm thinking SC needs to learn from that. So, since it was a long weekend, we were all really busy.

Friday:

The weekend started off with Formal Dinner. (A little side note: there is a magpie flying around the halls of fourth floor. The guys are chasing it with Nerf guns. It is definitely a funny sight.) Back to Formal Dinner now. Dinner started off with Twilight drinks on the terrace. That just sounds fancy. Anyway, dinner started at 7 PM and it was so good! I had salmon, lo mein, fresh pineapple, shrimp, and different types of dessert. It was a feast (at least compared to the portion sizes we've been having)! It was a night full of fun and dancing! Did I mention they were playing 80s and 90s music? I kind of miss that music. Plus, Daniel and I showed all of the Australians how to shag. I think we might have them shagging on their own by the time we leave (at least that is our goal).

Saturday:

Most of my morning was spent on the phone or skyping, but spent the afternoon on the beach. Ahh... It was beautiful!!! and HOT! We stayed on the beach all afternoon, and when the others left, Jess and I ate tea (dinner) and watched the sunset. The sunset was amazing and absolutely breathtaking. God really knows how to paint. It was perfect.

After the sunset, we caught the bus back to the hall (well... after waiting for a LONG time).

Sunday:

I'm really trying to find someone to go to church with me, because I don't know anything about Adelaide or the area yet. However, I'm thinking that I'm just going to go somewhere this coming Sunday, because I'm really missing church. I've been watching NewSpring sermons online, but it is just not the same. Anyway, I went to the cricket game and to get some groceries from Marion Shopping Center on Sunday. I really needed food since we have to fend for ourselves every weekend. But no worries! I got peanut butter and jelly (which Australians think is an odd combination). I also got a few snack foods (Grain waves, granola bars, and tiny bears). I should be set for the next few weeks. I did not get any bread, because I have a plan. We have to fix our lunch every day at breakfast during the week. Well, a lot of people fix 2 sandwiches (most of them guys, but oh well!) So, I'm going to fix a sandwich and grab 2 pieces of bread to stick in a container for the weekend. That way I will be all set for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the weekend (toast, PB&J sandwich, and maybe another sandwich). Anyway, let me just say that Cricket is probably the most boring sport you will ever watch. I don't see how people can actually play and watch it on a regular basis!

Monday (Adelaide Cup Day): So, Sunday night was a late night since we decided to go into town and make a late night run to Maccas (AKA McDonalds). I felt like I was in Clinton again (except I wasn't driving everyone. We walked). But, after a late night (with only 4 hours of sleep) someone kindly woke everyone in the Hall up with a fire alarm at 8 AM by burning their toast. Oh well. It got the group up so we could go to Cleland Wildlife Park! Woo hoo! Kangaroos and Koalas! We got some breakfast (Thanks to Rob who fixed us all eggs.) and headed to the bus. So, since it was my idea to go to the wildlife park, I was the one who planned it. I had it all figured out: bus schedules and all. We had a choice to either catch a bus at 8 AM so we could catch another bus or walk 30 minutes after the final bus stop to the park. Well, Google maps told me that it was only going to be a 30 minute walk. What they failed to say was that it was a walk UP Mt. Lofty. Yes, a walk up the mountain. It also did not take 30 minutes. It took an hour and 15 minutes! So, I love hiking, but I was not prepared for it nor was the road we were traveling on. We walked on the side of the road (no sidewalk, no paths, and cars going 80K). Yeah... it was great. Thankfully, the road wasn't an extremely busy road.

The walk almost killed us, but the views were amazing. Once we finally got to the park, we all had so much fun looking at, petting, and feeding the animals. We were having such a good time that we forgot to eat lunch until around the time we were going to make the hike back to the bus stop (at 3:05). Well, they stop serving lunch at 3:00 and did not take pity on us. So, we all ate a bag of chips (or a granola bar for me) and prayed that it would hold us over. While everyone was eating their snacks, I decided to go ask the workers about the bus schedule (maybe we would get lucky and they would have more busses since it was a public holiday). Well, guess what! I made a new best friend, because the worker informed me that there would be a bus leaving from right in front of the park at 4:38 and would take us to another stop where we would catch another bus to the city 1 minute later. Oh my goodness! I could have hugged her I was so happy. I love hiking and exercising, but I was not looking forward to the long trip back. Plus, I was in flip-flops and we had not had any lunch. God was definitely looking out for us.

When we arrived back at the hall (after a power nap on the bus), we made spaghetti and garlic bread. I really think I ate my body weight in spaghetti because I was so hungry! Here are some pictures of the Australian wildlife!!! (For more, look at facebook).