North Queensland

How is this for a sunrise - over the ocean at Kurrimine Beach - now that is something we don't see in WA, so I had to get a photo. I love the awesomeness of sunrises, every day is different and they especially remind me that God says His mercies are new every morning - no matter what yesterday held, we can start afresh today. That is something I am always grateful for.



We left Brisbane on Wednesday last, and spent three days driving north, covering 1400kms in the three days. The kids were great and enjoyed the travel time reading, looking at the copious amounts of sugar cane that lined the road and watching an afternoon dvd! We praise God for keeping us safe on the road and are grateful for lovely travelling weather too. We stopped at few free camp spots, and in MacKay on the way up, and arrived at Kurrimine Beach on Saturday, 100km south of Cairns.

Here we stopped to have a break for a few days at a great van park in this beachside holiday town, a bit like Lancelin. It was peaceful and quiet and just what we needed after all that travel. The kids enjoyed the pool and we enjoyed walks on the beach, and the very balmy sunny weather - 28 during the day and about 20 at night.

On the first morning we were there Darren came back from the beach with some coconuts for breakfast! Everyone had fun trying to get the husks off and get them open, which required an axe, a drill, a hacksaw and a screw driver, we tasted the milk and then ate some of the flesh, which was fun and rewarding after all the work it took to get it! It has been interesting for us to see the change in weather and the change in sunrise and sunset as we have travelled north - there is so much to learn on the road. It is hard to believe they live up here in relative summer conditions all year!

Darren, Jerome, Josie and Grace visited the Tully Sugar Mill to learn about how the sugar cane is processed. It was a very interesting expedition - the sugar cane must be processed in 16 hours from the time of harvest, the sugar mill runs 24 hours a day from June to Nov and it is completely self sustained by its own electricity production by burning the begasse (rubbish sugar cane stalks and leaves) which runs the steam turbines that operate the heavy processing machinery. It has a very sweet and sickly smelling, like raw sugar/molasses and it was very loud as they walked through the processing plant.

Tully is Australia's wettest town, its average rainfull is 4490mm - wow! The highest one day total is 1140mm (no that is not a typo) and it also holds the record for the most rainfall in one year getting 7900mm in 1950. There is a big gumboot in town that is 7.9m tall and we climbed up to see just how much rain that was!

Today we travelled to Cairns, officially 5100km from Perth, as far away as possible - it will only be closer and onward home from here! It is warm, sunny and tropical and we are blessed to be staying in the driveway of the Winiarski family that we met in Brisbane a few weeks ago, although they did warn us about the rats, cane toads, sandflies and snakes that a often about, yuk! They have a wonderful garden full of lots of tropical fruits, including some banana palms - they generously gave us a hand of bananas and they are the fattest bananas we've ever had, delicious too. They also have a cane train line right behind their back fence so that is a winner for everyone and particularly for "you know who", who will be out there three times a day without fail I think! We've already seen two go by today and Jerome has decided this is all the sightseeing he wants to do in Cairns for the next few days!!

We look forward to doing a Reef tour and some day trips to Mossman, Port Douglas and Kuranda to see this wonderful part of our awesome country.

Brisbane

We spent Thursday at White Water World, the water park next to Dreamworld. We had so much fun, doing all the different slides. Dad, Joise and I (Jerome) did the Wedgie waterslide. You stand in a rocket-type compartment, then they count 3,2,1 and suddenly the floor drops away from beneath you, and you go shooting, almost vertically down to the pool below. I tell you, NONE of us did that ride again! When we got home that day we were telling about our favourite things and Mum worked out she'd done 26 rides on water slides - it was a great day!

On Friday, we spent our last morning at Dreamworld. We did the rides that we liked the most, these included the Log ride, Rapid ride and the Runaway Reptar roller coaster. We did the Motocoaster and Sophia got to do that, as she measured the right height. For that ride you sit on a motorbike and then go whizzing around the roller coaster track. Molly and Sophia got to sit in the sidecars next to Dad and Mum!

After lunch, we headed to the north of Brisbane, where we spent the weekend with the Growing families of Qld at their camp. We had
great fun with the different families, we did a kids programme on Character, learning songs about responsibility and self-control, it was great. There was one family that had come all the way from Cairns. On Saturday afternoon, we had a family games time. On one of the games, you had to squeeze through a spider wed made of rope, without touching the rope. It was very funny watching some of the smaller kids being fed through the rope holes! Everyone left on Sunday, leaving us by ourselves at the camp site.




















On Monday, we caught the Citytrain from Dakabin station to the city. We had morning tea at the Botanic Gardens, then we walked across the Goodwill bridge, that spans the Brisbane River. We caught the train home and went to have dinner with a family that had been at the camp, it was nice to spend time with friends and enjoy their lego city! I hoped to go on a cane toad busting walk, but there isn't many around as it is not the right season, what a shame.

On their recommendation, today, we went to the Opals Down Under shop. There, you could buy all sorts of precious stones and opals. We got containers and out the back of the shop, we got to fossick around the pit for different stones, which you could keep. There was one gold stone, that if you found it, you got to spent $10 in the shop and Grace found it, quite by surprise! How cool. The rocks were amazing colours and it seems incredible that they can be naturally found in such bright and varied hues - another amazing piece of creation by our big, big, God. Also, did you know 90% of all the world opals are found here in Australia - a little piece of trivia for the day.

Queensland - Gold Coast

On Friday we left Byron Bay, and we went up to a caravan park on the Gold Coast. on the drive we saw alot of sugar cane fields spreading across the landscape. We realise this part of our country seems to be the ultimate in materialistic consumerism gone made. The coastal spread of Gold Coast/Brisbane and Surfers paradise makes it a very expansive metropolis with about 3 1/2 million people. There are some amazing homes and big shopping centres, as well, of course, as the theme parks - Movie World, Wet n Wild, Sea World, Dreamworld and Whitewater world.

We found a good deal and decided to go to Dreamworld and Whitewater world as these seem the best for younger children. It was a long weekend here on the east, but even so on Saturday, we decided to brave the crowds and spent our first day at the theme park Dreamworld. There were so many different types of rides, including the Giant Drop, a 120m tower that you go up in a platform, you sit at the top for 40 agonising seconds, before you free fall almost to the ground. When you seem as if you will go crashing straight into the ground, powerful magnetic brakes stop you in a matter of meters. The braking system is so strong, that it exceeds 4gs - yes we all decided we will NOT be doing that ride! But we all thought Uncle Daniel and Auntie Rachel would be in it if they were here!!

One of the favourite family rides of the day, was the Rocky Hollow Log ride. You float down a creek, then you get pulled up to the top of a tower via conveyerbelt, then you slide down a ramp, before hitting the water with a splash! I tell you, we got wet! We also went on the Big Red car ride and Dorothy's tea cup ride which were Molly and Sophia's favourites! And got a picture with Wags the Dog and Dora the Explorer - what fun!

After lunch, which we had in the carpark and met a wonderful christian family who are also travelling around Oz, they were great company and we enjoyed chatting to them about their travels, homeschooling, etc - the people you meet! We spent the afternoon at White Water world, a water theme park just next door the Dreamworld. The park has heaps of water slides and you can go down them on mats or in tubes, by yourself or in groups of two or four. It was cool fun to go down together and get splashed and whirled and twirled along the way. There was also a huge bucket that fills up with 1000L of water, before it tips out on you! We had a great day of family fun and it is probably one of the highlights of our trip so far.

On Sunday, we drove north of the city to hear George Verwer speak. Talk about a contrast in worlds! Here we heard a man of passion and enthusiasm who has dedicated his life to missions and particularly Operation Mobilization sending people around the world to minister and share the gospel. My sister Jen, went on the ship Duolos with OM and we have wonderful friends, Lloyd and Kathering Porter, who continue to serve incredibly with OM in WA - yes, Katherine, and we quote the man himself saying, "Katherine Porter, she's been a jewel in the OM crown!" Of course, we totally agree with him and stand in amazement at all you and Lloyd do in your faithful and dedicated service for the Kingdom, enjoy George's company this weekend, we'll be thinking about you and praying that all goes well!

Knowing we wouldn't get to hear George in WA, it was awesome to be able to hear him here in Brisbane - it was a privilege to hear him speak (with his big world globe), he is such an amazing man, truly on fire for Jesus, he challenged us to be HOT for Jesus making every day and everything we do count for the Kingdom and for the purposes of God. In relation to being HOT for Jesus, he did mention he'd been on the roller coaster rides on the Gold Coast years ago and said he'd much rather go on those than the roller coaster ride of Rev 3:16 - you didn't know there was a roller coaster ride in the Bible did you, well, according to George, it is the "if you are lukewarm I will spew you out of my mouth roller coaster ride" we had to laugh, although we agreed, we didn't want to be riding that one! Of course George is heading to WA this weekend so if you have a chance get along to St Matt's in Shenton Park to hear him, he will be sharing at all three Sunday services. And don't forget, be full of enthusiasm and joy for the Lord in all you do, have a great week.

BYRON BAY

From Coffs Harbour, we drove up to Byron Bay. At Byron Bay, we vistited Australia's most easterly point and enjoyed a fantastic sunset. While we were there, we saw some whales, it is currently migration time for the Humpback whale who heads north to the warmer waters to breed. We didn't see them breaching (which would have been great) but we could see them surface and blow air every now and then. Isn't it amazing that they know where to go as they make this long trek north with such "enthusiasm"! (for all you Character First people out there!)

The next morning we got up early and returned to this most easterly point to see the sunrise. Unfortunately it was shrouded in cloud and so was a bit of a fizzer, but we were very excited to see some dolphins swimming at the base of the cliff where we stood. There was about four of them and they would surf in on the waves and then return to frolic and play in the water. They are such fun animals and it looked like they were have a super time in the early morning amongst the waves and surf. They seemed to be a great example of how to start the day - with energy and enthusiasm and having fun, and it reminded me of these words of the Master Teacher "I have come that they might have life and have it to the full", may you have life to the full today.

NSW coast

We are now in Coffs Harbour and, once again, can see how this must be a very popular holiday destination for the millions who live in the East here, great beaches, lots of things to do and see and heaps of accomodation options. Currently, as I said before, it is nice and quiet though!

We are staying at the Clog Barn here in Coffs Harbour. It is run by people with a dutch heritage and the man actually showed us, today, how wooden clogs are made. It was very interesting and although, not by hand as they used to, the machines throw lots of wood shavings everywhere so Darren really loved it - plus, we got to keep the clog!

Today we visited the Pet Porpoise Pool -which has an interactive dolphin and seal show and really allows you to get up close and personal with these wonderful marine animals. We all got a kiss from a dolphin and a seal - nice and cool and wet, but fun! And then, after the show, we could pat the dolphins and chat to the trainers, as well as feed a seal, a green turtle, a port jackson shark and some little blue penguins. Usually in summer they get 400 people to a show, today there were only 50 people there so the kids had a great opportunity to spend ages patting and watching the dolphins do tricks and learnt a lot about them and their environment. It was a fantastic day, one we are grateful for and will remember for a long time.


From The Entrance we headed north, again, and made it to Wauchope for a night. It rained all night and we thought we might float away by the morning - they'd had 100ml over a few days! But the sun came out the next day and we visited old Timber town, a replica village of an 1850's forrestry and saw milling town. The most interesting thing was the Bullock team and its trainer - there are not many of them around now days, but this guy did a great job keeping his 10 bullocks yoked together and in order to drag a log around.

It reminded me that God calls us to take up his yoke which is easy and His burden which is light. One bullock can only drag so much, but when yoked to another, their strength is more than doubled. God wants us to be yoked to Him, why would we want to bear this life alone with all its troubles and misery's - we can be yoked with the One who gives sufficient grace for every time of need and then know the secret of peace - putting off the taxing yoke of self and accepting the Master's relaxing yoke.

Sydney again

We got to see some more of Sydney last Tuesday when we were finally well enough to take the train in for the day. We walked across the bridge and then down to The Rocks historical area and over to take a ride on the Ferry to Manly. Because of the storms the day before the sea was rough and the Ferry had a good pitch to it which was... interesting! But we all really enjoyed it and found Manly was a really nice place to have lunch.

The beach was lovely and with big pine trees lining the beach it reminded us alot of Cottesloe. We headed back after lunch and had a few photos at the Opera House, which is a marvel of design and building - good to hear they Sydney City Council will put up the $180 million needed to up keep the builidng, we would've loved to catch a show there but time didn't allow and we headed home after a big day (which left me sick and having to take a day to get better again!)

On Wednesday we left Sydney and headed north to The Entrance - like Mandurah, only an hour and a bit out of the city, on the coast and full of holiday accomodation and eating places. We could imagine it being packed in the summer months, now it was cool and quite deserted, which suited us fine! They had pelican feeding here each day and we enjoyed watching those big birds having their daily feed - although, as Jerome said, they weren't being very generous as they ate those fish, it was every bird for himself!! (I guess we can't be perfect all the time and animals aren't either!!)

There was a lot of rain over that night and the next day but we enjoyed visiting the local Ken Duncan Gallery. His work is amazing and we marvelled at his ability to capture our awesome country, and his willingness to give testimony to God for his stories, his gift and this great land that we live in. He sits for days sometimes waiting for just the right light to capture the moment of majesty. I often wondered why Phil spent so long waiting for just right right shot - now I understand - all the professionals do, keep it up Phil, follow your dream and go with your talent.

Check out his website, there is currently a sale on all his stuff as they prepare to clear that out and get the next exhibition up and going. We bought a small book of shots around Australia, it is fun to look and see how many we have been to now!! Enjoy and keep smiling.