Mumsies

Our moms and CJ's grandma arrived here last Friday for a visit! They rented a car, which has perhaps been a little more of an adventure than they bargained for, but I'm proud to say they and the car are scratch-free and they're handling it like champs! As for me, I think I'll pass on driving on the left side of the road from the right side of the car. I can barely parallel park as it is....

On their first night here, we gave them apartment tours and showed them around Bond campus. They didn't get much sleep on the 14 hour flight, so we drove Brenda and Donna back to their hotel, and mom and I came back to my place to crash. The next morning we went to a huge surfing competition, which CJ had been at days prior for his journalism internship. It was amazing; we were sitting on a grassy hill right by the beach, watching the world's best surfers compete. Dad, you'd be happy to know that the competition was sponsored by a flavored milk company. :) We then went back to the Sheraton for lunch and for a walk on Main beach. CJ, Mom, and I took a swim in the ocean, which scoffed at Mom's intention of "keeping her hair dry," with the huge waves and undertow doing their best to knock us over.

We went to a Presbyterian church on Sunday morning, which had a really traditional service, with its congregation's median age at about 70. We had another afternoon at the beach in store for us and enjoyed a relaxed Italian dinner at Broadbeach before we called it a night.

Weekend Retreat & Valentines Day

This past weekend we went with the Christian group here (BCC) on a retreat up in the mountains. We stayed 2 nights at a camp the valley, with gorgeous mountains towering over on either side. We played an outdoor game the first night and had the following day jam-packed full of activities. CJ started Saturday out with a 5am shower in a nearby waterfall with some of his cabinmates. I was spared and got to sleep in. We had a couple good Bible studies during the day and drove to the national park we were at earlier this month (glow worms!) to see the Natural Bridge and surrounding rain forest in the daylight.

The best part of the retreat was a hike I took with CJ, Liam and some of the other BCC guys to a river valley close to camp. If you've seen Avatar, the epic scenery by the river reminded me of the colorful planet, alive with exotic plants and killer insects. At this part of the river, the current was slow, so we could hop from rock to rock and wade in the river pools. It was great-- I felt like a wild, shoeless jungle child. We then reached the river's waterfall. It was amazing to stand on the rocks, lean forward and peer over the edge of the waterfall. On our walk back up upstream, I was so kindly reminded that nature still hates me. I was stung on the foot by who knows what insect, but other than a nasty sting and a bit of swelling, I was fine.

After playing some Olympic games, we had a worship session, during which CJ played guitar, and a sermon from the Bond chaplain. We finished off the evening witha classic game of uno, or "you-no" as they say it. I'm proud to say that CJ and I dominated the Aussies and between us, won each round :)

We got back from the retreat on Valentine's Day. After church, we had lunch on the patio of a little cafe and that evening, CJ had a relaxed picnic on the beach planned, with PB&Js and candles in the sand. It was lovely-- the beach is so peaceful at night! A little more razzle dazzle to match my bling from Christmas also topped off the night quite nicely. :) Life is good.

Surf Lesson with Jono

Our Aussie friend Jono decided he wanted to take us out surfing last Friday morning. In Australia the waves are always the best early morning. We were picked up around 5:30 by Liam in a car that looked like it belonged in the show "the Jetsons." We went to Miami Beach, a surfer's hot spot (even at 6 in the morning.) The waves looked intimidating, but we couldn't wait to get our Australian surfing careers started. Jono only had two surfboards, so he took me out first. I started off on the small waves close to the shore to get my balance and timing down. After catching a few waves Jono convinced me that I was ready for the BIG waves that were further out in the deeper water.... In order to get out there I had to master the "eskimo roll", which involves firmly holding the board to your body while rolling right before the massive wave breaks over you. After some hard paddling and a few eskimo rolls through violent waves, I made it out to the clam ocean. Just talking with Jono while sitting on the surfboard and waiting for the good waves on the beautiful blue water was well worth waking up at 5 am. Jono reminded me that it's extremely important that I always keep my eyes looking out toward the ocean... Unfortunately I found out the hard way why this is the surfer's #1 rule. At one point during my conversation with Jono, I wasn't paying any attention to the ocean at all. He stoped in the middle of our convo and yelled "CJ!" I quickly turned around, only to see half of the ocean in the form of a wave towering over me. It swallowed me up to the top of it, and I suddenly fell from the top of the wave to the bottom of the ocean, throwing me into all sorts of flips and somersaults. When I finally got some air, I heard Jono yelling at me again, and another massive waves bulldozed over me, sending me flying toward the shore. All Jono and I could do was laugh our heads off about how badly the wave destroyed me. He said it was one of the worst "smashes" he's ever seen.

Then it was time for Molly's lesson. Jono took Molly out to the same small waves that I started on. I was put to shame when we watched her get up on her second and third try. We decided that she was a natural.

Molly and I are officially surfers!

The Big 22

Nature hates Molly, but I'll get to that later. The Friday before my Birthday, we met the craziest Australian vegan, Liam. Right away we thought he was nuts, but we became good friends very quickly. So quickly, in fact that two days after we met, he offered to take  us out to the beach for my Birthday. Liam picked us up at 4:30am (still dark out) and drove us a 1/2 hour away to his favorite beach: Rainbow Bay. The sun was just coming up over the ocean as we ate the vegan-friendly Birthday cake that Liam had made for me. Epic. 

Next we had a go at body boarding. After 1/2 hour of being destroyed by waves, Molly got stung by a bluebottle jellyfish. We decided it wasn't quite necessary to airlift her to the nearest hospital. She was a trooper- it's too bad she has no scar to show for it.

After body boarding we went to Liam's church, where a lot of our Bond Christian friends go. It was nice to be back to church again. After church we laid out by the pool and Molly and her roommate made me the best cupcakes ever. After lunch I was showered with gifts-- even Molly's roommate got me something- an autobiography about Andre Agassi, which I'm almost finished with (a huge accomplishment for me!). I also got some awesome clothes from the Herbranson's (thanks!), and then the best gift of all was from Molly- 

A Skagen watch! It's a unique silver watch that  I've been eyeing for months!  I absolutely love it!  

Later that evening, Molly brought me to a super fancy Italian restaurant called Adiamos.  I ordered a fancy pizza, while Molly impressed me by stepping out of her comfort zone and ordered a pasta dish with lots of random seafood in it.  Her plate looked like it had been alive in the Great Barrier reef ten minutes earlier and was garnished with baby octopuses.  Even though I was the birthday boy, she made me eat one. Although I had a baby octopus swimming in my stomach, it still was an amazing birthday dinner : ) The whole day was amazing.  I guess it's not the worst thing ever to have your birthday in Australia!