August 23rd

Alas, a final blog entry from Australia!! We have sorted the apartment out, packed the last things and are ready to go...just waiting for Ian and the bus to go off to the airport.
Today has been a day for doing last things. We walked along the top of Kangaroo Point cliffs and then down the steep stairs to catch a ferry over the river. We swapped to a CityCat and went all the way up river to the final stop - Bretts Wharf. The weather has been absolutely glorious - superb sun and blue sky. After a stop off for a final play at New Farm we came back and ate barbecued beef sandwiches cooked on an outside BBQ. Then a final wander along to South Bank to look at the beach and grab a last delicious ice-cream.
Now it is time to leave, Ian has just arrived so off we go!

August 22nd

Well, today is technically our day off – but as our real involvement with South Bank finished yesterday I guess today has been a holiday instead! Ian drove us down to Sea World on the Gold Coast.

We saw loads of animals - including polar bears, sharks, a dugong and sealions. There were several really good shows which we went to and we went on some rides as well. One of the polar bears was amazing – he played with a fish in the water just in front of us – awesome. We also saw sharks swim by closely to the viewing window in the shark pool – so cool. The dugong was called Pig!

Beth was delighted to see Polar Bears for real (they are a passion of hers), Abi enjoyed seeing dolphins up close and Bex enjoyed the sealion show. It was a fabulous day out. I went on a roller coaster by myself and absolutely adored it. I went upside down in a loop and then did a corkscrew. I guess I was upside down, upside down – technically the right way up for a second or two!! We finished the day by going on the monorail right round the park.

Ian brought us back to South bank and we had dinner at Amici's which was lovely. Then a last walk beside the river, a play in the playground and then a walk home along to Kangaroo Point cliffs.

August 19th

This morning we did some preparation at the flat, then went to church and did some more. I drew up the outline of the new building for one of our prayer spaces (not bad, even if I say so myself) and Jon did lots of photocopying.
Once we were finished we went down the beach and the girls and I went swimming. The girls got hungry so Jon went and got chips. The girls played again while I sat and read, same as Jon. Then they got hungry again so Jon went and got a plate of Chinese food – Bethany particularly liked beef in black bean sauce, Abi liked the sweet and sour beef – then he went off again and bought Abi and Bex a Dagwood Dog each (see EKKA entry!).
The girls pleaded with me to make a sandcastle together - they said I was really good (I told them I had been taught by an expert!!!)
When we got in we found that Ian had sent us some photos for tomorrow, so we put the presentation together. It took longer than we had thought so when we had finished it was nearly dark (5.30pm - even after 5 weeks it is still weird and we can't get used to it at all.)
Having come along by Kangaroo Point Cliffs last Monday night, we thought we would go and have a proper look at them as they are floodlit at night. We took sausages in the hope of using an outdoor bbq but all of them were being used, so we came back and ate them at home.
This evening has been a mix of things - we have done yet more preparation for tomorrow, planned the children's story for the morning service, packed one suitcase and wrote our goodbye cards - not bad for one evenings work! Sunset tonight over Mt Coo-tha was fantastic again - Jon is getting a lot of practice with his camera...we have MANY sunset shots now.

August 12th

I took the girls down the beach this morning to free Jon up to prepare his sermon for tomorrow. It was really hot today and Abi and I have got a bit sunburnt. The girls went in the water and dug in the sand while I reviewed what I had already prepared for the service tomorrow.

After lunch we walked along Kangaroo Point cliffs to Story Bridge. We walked over the bridge which is incredibly high. None of us could imagine wanting to do the Story Bridge walk which goes up and over the top of the bridge! Once we had walked all the way over we crossed over to the other side under the road and walked back. The views were fantastic.

Jon has worked all evening on his sermon while I finished my planning for tomorrow. Again we have found it difficult this week to fit in all the preparation for Sunday, as well as the other events we have been involved in. Having only one laptop between all of us has proved to be more of a challenge than we thought! And living in a fairly small apartment has added its own complications. Working in the same room as the TV, kitchen, dining room, lounge is hardly a quiet environment suited to study and preparation!

August 11th

Jon had the opportunity to visit the same couple as last time (two weeks ago). The lady had been at the womens meeting yesterday and had taken a copy of my devotions home with her - she has already given a copy to her neighbour.

While he was out I did some preparation for Sunday. Jon got back just before lunch and I went straight out with Ian to the Foundations group. They were having a pancake party to encourage newbies to the group. There seemed to be more people round and the conversational English class (based around a newspaper article on the water shortage here) attracted a bigger group than the previous time I was there. Afterwards we moved into a time of games followed by worship. As we were waiting for the games to begin I spoke with one girl, from Hong Kong, who happened to have been born in England – near London! Her parents moved back to Hong Kong when she was about 5 so she doesn't remember much about the UK.

I took the girls along to South Bank, leaving Jon to work on his sermon once I had got home. Ian rang me while I was out to tell me youth group wouldn't be happening so having got back and told Jon, he decided to go to Bridges. As we arrived home we found Jon taking pictures of the beautiful sunset - the colours were amazing!

I didn't say anything yesterday but we heard about the news from the UK at around 7pm Australian time. It is a weird experience to know all that is going on back home. We are hoping it won't affect our journey back which is coming all to quickly - we can't believe we've got less than two weeks left!

Jon has just got in from Bridges - he found the group really encouraging tonight as he saw the young people really starting to build relationships with each other and grow as a group. When he gave out a leaflet advertising the prayer event we are planning, they were all shocked that we are going home so soon. They can't believe it any more than we can!

July 29th

Jon got up early to go and help at the garage sale at church which started at 6.30am! The weather was glorious compared with yesterday – complete opposite – with cloudless blue skies and strong sunshine. I did more preparation on my sermon and the girls amused themselves. Jon came back late morning and after lunch we went along to South Bank so the leaflets advertising The Living Room could be handed out. We stopped off at the beach to keep the girls happy. This evening has been full of preparation for both of us – I preach tomorrow while Jon has the childrens talk to do as well as lead devotions before the church's AGM.

July 26th

We walked into the city centre to get a couple of things and to show Jon where we walked the other day. We took the girls to the park afterwards back on South Bank, where they played and we did some reading - relevant to our placement (See, Rosemary, we have read the handbook!.)

This afternoon we went along to the beach where the girls dug and paddled while we worked on our sermons and Jon also did some reading about the devotions he is preparing for the AGM at the church on Sunday.

I went along to the English conversation class this evening and led a session on love and marriage after the ice-breaker about Aussie slang and a sentence game. I found this a little scary, but it seemed to go well. I then led a small group, me and two others, before the group finished with reading definitions of love that we had written, with Ian finishing on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 as the perfect definition.

July 19th

This morning we all went to look at Kangaroo Point Cliffs. The city looks amazing – the cliffs are quite steep and the view from the top gives a great vantage point to look over the central business district. We walked back along the base of the cliffs and saw a couple of people rock climbing. Having stopped for a coffee we then got organised and took the girls to Streets Beach. The sun was really hot and the water was icy cold. Jon sat on the beach, I paddled and the girls got themselves all wet – they are much braver than us! The water was so cold it was almost painful to stay in it for long. Lunch back at the apartment – much more successful (Australian sausages, potatoes and beans) then the girls and I went to the park and beach again leaving Jon behind to do some preparation for his sermon. After tea Jon went along to the church to join in with the conversational English class. I got the girls to bed – it is so weird them wanting to go to bed from around 6.30pm and that includes Rebekah! The girls have dropped off the sleep last night and tonight so fast it is amazing!! I did fall asleep while Rebekah was having a shower but I've dragged myself off the sofa to type this while I wait for Jon to come back.

Jon came back at around 9.30pm. He had chosen to wear his Redcliffe t-shirt – the one with Chinese characters on it – Knowing, Being, Doing – and there were several Chinese people there who understood what it said. He said there was a Japanese girl there who said that the Japanese use the same character set as the Chinese but they make different words – instead the characters read 3 different boys names!!!

The group played some games and had drinks and snacks which included jelly! The jelly was because someone had mentioned it the previous week and there were people who didn't know what it was.

We are all still flaking out late afternoon - 5-7pm is the trickiest time but we think this is because we are getting up so early rather than jet-lag.

July 18th

It was extremely odd going to sleep so early last night. We all woke up a couple of times during the night but strangely all at different times. 6am, however, saw us all up, and we ended up having breakfast really early! Neither Rice bubbles or Kelloggs cornflakes taste quite the same here as in the UK, but we think it is the milk that is making the difference. We are going to try and find some different milk today - easier said than done as there seem to be loads of different types! Beth tried Australian marmite but isn't impressed, maybe we'll try vegemite next.

By 8.30am we decided to go out for a walk and we wandered along to South Bank again. We walked over the Goodwill Bridge which gave us some phenomenal views of the city and Brisbane river, then we carried on to visit a play park to get rid of some of the girls' energy. Another meander helped us to find a tourist information place, a grocery – where we bought cordial (that's squash to the Brits), and a place to buy postcards. Yes – I know we haven't really done anything yet but the girls want to send one each to their classes at school and we haven't much time to send it before the summer holiday starts.

Back to the apartment for lunch and then Ian came over. He offered to show us some more of the city and take us shopping again – the girls had eaten nearly all of the bread we bought yesterday and we needed some other things as well as choosing some milk! We saw the main streets in Brisbane, the CBD (the central business district), some of the neighbouring districts and drove over the river about 4 times – there are a lot of bridges in Brisbane. Once we had done some more shopping, we came back and grabbed a coffee and went to sit on the balcony to chat - the traffic was a bit noisy but it was nice to sit in the sunshine. We found out a bit more about Ian and discussed our aims for the placement. The placement really begins tomorrow when Jon is going to go and join in with the conversational English class in the evening.

Tea was pizza – surprisingly another problem for two of the girls, then a game and bed. We dozed off for a moment but are now trying to stay up so that we don't get up quite so early tomorrow morning. Jon is watching the Bill - a traditional Aussie programme - NOT! He has also found out that Dr Who is on next Saturday - the beginning of the last series and Emmerdale!! We have seen Aussie versions of Deal or No Deal, Torville and Dean's Skating on Ice and Big Brother, maybe things aren't so different over here after all!

July 17th

I woke around 5am and had the privilege of flying towards the dawn as we approached Brisbane. We banked sharply twice over Brisbane before landing were it took ages to get through customs as three planes arrived at the same time!

Still, got there eventually and were met at the airport by Kerry Connell (friend) and Ian (Pastor and supervisor), who had brought the church minivan to collect us! It was good to meet Ian who we had only had e-mail contact with so far. He prayed for us all once we and all our luggage had been loaded into the minibus before we set off for the church. Ian arranged to meet up with us tomorrow afternoon and left in his red mini.

Kerry took us into the church to use the 'restrooms' and look around. We found out that they have 'morning tea' after the Sunday morning service and there is to a special one – in our honour – this coming Sunday!!

Kerry then took us for a walk to stretch our legs again along to the South Bank. The sky is gloriously blue and very clear. It is quite warm in the sunshine! We saw the purpose built beach – a bit weird in the centre of a city! Then we went back to the minibus – from here on known as the Edmobile – and went to Kerry's house in Mitchelton. He offered the girls some books to read – Bex being her usual self refused any at all so Kerry suggested going to a local charity store – I forget what he called it – and we got a couple there – I spent my first Australian dollars! Kerry took us home then popped out to do an errand while we were able to send an e-mail home to let family know of our safe arrival. This was 12 noon Brisbane time so it would have been about 1am back in the UK.

Kerry came home and bought us 'Aussie' pies and sausages for dinner – he said Nancy – his wife – would have been appalled, but he said it was the difference between a woman and a man looking after the guests! Once we had eaten he took us shopping for food to a shop called 'Woolworths' (nothing like our Woolworths really – more like Tesco or Asda). It was odd shopping there because everything was the same but at the same time strangely different. There were familiar brand names on the shelves – Nestle, Kelloggs, etc. but product names were slightly altered – Rice Krispies are Rice Bubbles over here – peculiar!

Once we had got our shopping Kerry drove us to our apartment. Abi spectacularly ran into the glass patio door and bumped her head and fell over! She said she didn't see it. Kerry said goodbye and we were on our own. Beth fell asleep watching Australian kids TV – it was a bit young for all of them but we all needed a break. We tried to wake Beth up but she kept dozing off so we decided to get something to eat about 4.30pm and then shower them and put them to bed. Showering them woke Beth up and though we let her sit up and colour while Bex had her shower, she and Abi then wound Bex up for half hour by giggling.

Jon kept falling asleep, often mid-sentence. I had to wake him up while he was holding a hot cup of coffee - he had me worried! And he keeps snoring. The time it has taken me to type this I've had to wake him 4 or 5 times because he is snoring so loudly and he has tried talking in his sleep as well. When I've done this I will wake him up and go and have a shower but I bet he will fall asleep again! (Later note: He did!)