All things Oz

The first few days of our adventure have been wonderful and eventful. It all started on Saturday evening when we went to go pick up our rental car. We got to thrifty cars on time but when we got there the lady informed us that our car was booked for pick up in Adelaide City… that’s about 7 hours away from Melbourne. The company botched up and not of the pick up city they were going to give to us is only made standard when I requested an automatic. Anyways, the woman there hooked us up big time. She gave us an upgraded car and more insurance coverage, for the same price as the other car and she didn’t charge us the under 25 or the one-way fee! God is good.
Nattie and I got on the road in our kickin Lancer at about 7 am the next morning. Both of us have adapted very well and quickly to driving on the other side of the road. The state of Victoria was really big on driving tired awareness. They had so many funny signs warning us that is we drive while tried we will die! But the road was beautiful and we made pretty good time. Once we got to the city we though we were going to stop in, it was still pretty early so we decided to drive on. This is when the evening started getting amusing.
We didn’t really know the area and it was a Sunday night so every town we stopped at was closed up and dead. We drove for about 3 or 4 more hours to a little coast town outside of Wollongong (about 50 miles south of Sidney) We knew nothing of the town other than the fact that it was on the coast and it probably would be cute. Like all the other towns was completely dead, but we followed signs to surfside beach keeping our fingers crossed for some kind of camp ground or even just a rest area. We had no such luck. We did however find a surfing school and an inlet to a little cove. So we decided to park and go walk on the beach. Even though it was dark we figured that this was probably an extremely beautiful area. So after some thought and deliberation we determined that since it was beautiful, in a safe looking little town, on a Sunday night and in a empty parking lot next to a cove we could just sleep in our car. We also assumed that if a cop had happened to stop by we could politely explain to him that we had been driving since 7am and sorta got lost and couldn’t find a hostel, and he might cut us some slack.
After a good 7 hours of sleep we woke up in time to walk the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. It was a small cove surrounded by mountains. We were able to see the sun come out and dig our toes in the sand for a while. Its winter here and the sand leading to the water was cold, but the water itself was Warm! It was a wonderful start to our day. We got re-organized and on the road pretty quickly to start our next adventure.


Nattie and I have had a wonderful few days on the Sunshine coast. We made our way up to a beautiful costal surfing town called Byron Bay and stayed at a hostel there that use to be a great old hotel. Since we made such a far drive (another 15 hour day) we had enough time to spend in the town the next day. After a little lunch and a walk around to see the beautiful beach we got in the car to make our way to Brisbane. We got to Brisbane and caught a 2-hour train ride to Maroochadore to meet up with Natties friends from the YWAM base up here. It was quite difficult to get all our luggage around and on the train but we made it in one piece.
The house that we are staying at is Beautiful, it looks like we are in the middle of the jungle and it has the most beautiful porch out back. Its just a short walk to the beach and that of course is beautiful. We were able to spend the day walking around and laying out on the beach. Its pretty amazing that it is the middle of winter here and we were able to get some sun. By the end of the day we were pretty tired but were able to make a good dinner and watch a movie.
Jermey (the connection here in Maroochadore) let Nattie and I use his Amazing van for the day on Thursday. So we took a scenic route through some cute towns. First we went and saw the world’s biggest ginger factory. Across the street there was a really cute coffee shop so of course we popped in. The owner was wonderfully friendly and gave the most wonderful coffee I have ever had for free. After that little adventure we made our way to a hiking trail through the most beautiful Australian Rain forest with Amazing trees that we could climb all over. Then to end our little tour we stopped at a vineyard and did a tasting. It had a great view of the land and again friendly people.
After getting back in town we just hung out with Jeremy and one of the guys in his group. They do a skater ministry, so we went out with them to the park. This week is their prayer week, so they have a group of people that pray for 2-hour slots at all times. Nattie and I went with them to their slot and it was wonderfully refreshing.
God has been so good to me in this trip. Not only have I had great adventures and met so many amazing people but also I have been able to share it with Nattie. God has also been continuing to open doors in NZ. I found a place to live, so I know have my very own room in a house on Barbados St!!!!! AND on top of that amazing provision, I met a guy here from Christchurch and he told me about the church he went to. It sounds like it would be a Great fit AND…it’s only a block away from my house!!!! I am completely Blown away by Gods provision and his blessings that he continues to pour out on me!

Here are links to all my pictures!
http://unt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2140198&l=0f9e1&id=23902206

http://unt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2140211&l=d9cbf&id=23902206