Another check off the bucket list - we took a tour on the Great Ocean Road! It felt like I was in a postcard the entire day... well... maybe not when I was sitting in the bus, but the rest of the day.
We stopped a bunch along the way, as tours often do, had morning tea and biscuits, found some koalas and cockatoos, had lunch at a cute little cafe, but best of all: the 12 Apostles! Ahhhhhh! I dunno what makes these big mounds of rock so picturesque, but they are one of the top three most photographed places in Australia. We got to do some exploring at multiple different places around the Apostles, including some hiking and wading. It was pretty legit, I just wanted to stay there, maybe join the surfers and have a picnic on the beach! But before long we were already heading back to Melbourne. It was a day well spent!
That evening we were able to meet up with our Canadian buddy from our Fraser Island tour! Was a nice little reunion, so good to hear how a bunch of the others are doing too.
Fr. Dave, Chrissy, Lloyd, Jennine and me after breakfast at Santucci's.
Upon leaving Canberra, we took a 9 hour bus to Melbourne, arriving at 11pm. There is honestly nothing better than having someone pick you up when you arrive in a new city. Well, lucky for us, our good friend Lloyd (from Mortdale) was in town and graciously offered to chauffeur us to our accommodation, which he also set up (he's really good to us, we're super spoiled). We stayed in a girls share house, was kinda weird walking into a stranger's house while they are asleep, as you try to locate your bedroom.
Santucci's Breakfast!
Huh, found my name at TYPO, wonder how that got there...
In the morning we met Lloyd at St. Benedict's parish for mass, it's only a half our walk from the house we were staying at... but 30 minutes is a long time when it's pouring rain and you have no idea where Google maps is attempting to direct you (our phones are PAINFULLY slow, we get to grow a lot in the virtue of patience as we try to cope). Fr. Dave greeted two very wet Canadians as we walked in the door, was so lovely to see such a friendly face after the mornings festivities. Lloyd and his friend (our new housemate), Chrissy, joined us along with Fr. Dave for breakfast at the famous Santucci's cafe for breakfast! So yum. Lloyd ended up showing me around the city a bit while Jennine gallivanted off to the first of many days at the Australian Open. We checked out St. Francis church and the Catholic Disneyland across the street (aka. a catholic bookstore). Considering we were in Melbourne, what else do you do but sit in cafes and sip on chai lattes, whilst educating your friends on some very necessary Canadian geography.
Djokovic
Me, Rubini and Jennine at Santucci's!
Our other housemate, Rubini, graciously showed us other cool parts of the city and more cafes. My favourite though was watching Gilmore Girls and all our late night heart to hearts. Lots of sleep was sacrificed, but I gained a beautiful, kind and caring friend, which is worth much more.
On Australia Day, January 26th, I accompanied Jennine to the Australian Open! Getting to experience the vibe was super exciting! We got to watch a couple of our Canadian home boys play in doubles, and watch Djokovic (#1 male tennis player in the world!) practice. Clare, from Canberra, ended up coming down too, so we spent part of the day with her and her friend. It was beautiful, hot and sunny, such a good way to spend Australia day.
Jennine, me, Gen, and Juliette (YMT).
We went to the Disciples of Jesus potluck picnic with Rubini, and met heaps of new people, including the new Youth Mission Team for the parish. Gen, our share group leader at summer school was also there, it was so nice to see a few familiar faces! We also hit up Sofia's diner after Mass for dinner with a bunch of the young adults in the area. What a beautiful community! I felt so blessed to be a part of it, even just for a short time. The Australian Open Men's Final was going on that evening, so we went to Fed. Square in the city to watch it on the big screen! This was we could listen to all the drunken Scott's chant for Andy Murray. It wasn't quite the competitive game we hoped for, Djokovic won yet another title.
Leaving Melbourne was bitter sweet, the girls who hosted us were so hospitable and lovely, but even the people I met walking down the street were so friendly... maybe a little too friendly at times... haha.
Summer School in Bathurst had to come to an end eventually, unfortunately, but we didn't have to say goodbye to everyone right away. Jennine and I headed down to Canberra with our newly acquired friend, Bri. The car ride consisted of lotsa fun questions, like "Who would you choose for your celebrity husband and bridal party?" Niall Horan and Kate Middleton may have been among my answers. Bri dropped us off at Clare and Nathan's place, also friends from Summer School. Basically our entire time in Canberra was made awesome because of our Summer School Friends.
Jennine. me and Amy at Bush Dancing!
Among the weeks activities, catch up sleep was at the top of our list, but we also took time to explore the nations capitol. We toured the parliament building with Nathan and Amy - who I quickly clicked with the week prior. She took us bush dancing, which is an Australian type of dance with a live bush band and traditional folk dancing from Europe and parts of North America. It was a blast! We were the only young people there, with the average age being about 65 otherwise.
My shake!
The next day we hit up Patissez, the talk of the town in Cannberra. It's a cafe that's famous for their 'Freak Shakes'. I got a Nutella shake, afterwards I felt like I was gunna go into a chocolate coma. It was delish though.
We meandered over to the War Memorial and were in awe of the thousands of names we discovered on the wall who had passed away during combat. The museum was particularly impressive, I felt quite educated after our walk through.
Hiked up to the top of Mount Ainslie which overlooked the entire city. Beads of sweat rolled down our faces as we hit the top. It was a blistering hot day, the water in the car wasn't as refreshing as we hoped, maybe we should have saved the freak shakes for after...
View from the top of Mt. Ainslie
The rest of our time in Canberra was spent hanging out, watching the Australian Open (tennis tourney) on TV, going to dinner parties, going away parties, and Settlers of Catan parties. Despite some saying there's not much to see and do in Canberra, it was definitely worth our time to visit. Clare and Nathan were fabulous hosts, it was sad to leave, but we left with the hope that perhaps we'd see the in Melbourne!
Summer School, what a way to spend your Australian vacation, eh? Well, to be fair... this wasn't just any kind of summer school, this was a special edition following more of a retreat format, and the subject was Evangelization. Heaps of people in Mortdale had raved about it, but we never really considered going. After an official invitation, some encouragement and discernment, I decided to commit. It consisted of seven days of lectures, seminars, plenary sessions, mass, adoration, sports and recreation, plus meeting and hanging out with tons of awesome Catholics who are in love with the Lord. My Mom said I wouldn't regret it, and she was pretty spot on (she's a wise lady).
We drove down from Tamworth to Bathurst on Sunday morning, about a 5 hour trek, and arrived at St. Stanislaus College, a Catholic boys boarding school, where we stayed for the duration of summer school.
There were about a 185 of us, including participants, presenters, MGL's (Missionaries of God's Love - Brothers, Sisters and Priests), and all the people up front and behind the scenes who planned for weeks to pull off an event that spiritually impacted many people in a profound way.
The theme for the week was 'The Joy of the Lord is Our Strength' - Nehemiah 8:10, what a relevant topic for my life over the past month! Joy - such a simple, three letter word with a plethora of meaning behind it, constantly begging me to pay it some well deserved attention. Throughout the week, I couldn't ignore it. All my buckets were full; I received Jesus in the Eucharist everyday, filling my soul, learned more and more about my Catholic faith in various talks, filling my mind, I got to play sports (soccer, ulty, tennis, swimming), rejuvenating my body, and I was surrounded by heaps of beautiful people striving to love one another as Jesus loves us, making my heart overflow with so much JOY! Since we're kinda in a bubble at summer school, people talk about the going back to the 'real world' but THIS. This is the real world. This is what life was meant to be like. If only everyone could experience a week such as this, they wouldn't accept the world we live in today as reality. We want so badly to be loved, but often we're looking for it in messed up, convoluted places.
Each day there's a different focus (whether it be on God's Love, Mercy etc.), so on Thursday it was Holy Spirit night. Everyone kept asking if I was excited and looking forward to the evening, being 'baptized in the holy spirit', but I decided to go into the night without any expectations cause I didn't want to be disappointed. We had Mass, then some praise and worship, where everyone is singing with their hangs raised or dancing. I just stood there. I couldn't sing. I couldn't dance. I was spiritually dry, feeling no desire for any outward sign of praise. Trying not to be resentful, I went in line to be prayed over. Once I reached the front of the line, the guy directing people where to go skipped over me - twice, assuming I was waiting for someone in particular to pray with me. Finally, he realized I wasn't. He showed me to Steve and Kate - two new friends who, though I don't know well, have so much respect and admiration for. I felt that God was directing me to that prayer team, which may have been why I had to wait in line a little longer. They asked me what gifts of the Holy Spirit I wanted to ask for, but once they started praying they said there was something I was holding onto, to let it go 'cause God had something bigger in mind. Ironic, "Think big", that's what my Dad always says. I ended up falling in the spirit, though hesitant at first. I fell in a way that reminded me of the 'Speak Life' music video by Toby Mac.
I felt a weird tingling throughout my entire body. Sometimes I think I put God in a box, but God doesn't fit in a box. It was a super surreal experience, something I've never felt before. Although I feel like I trust God, I think there's often a part of me I want to hold onto, a part I can control. Learning to give that to God has been a daily choice, but I've been learning to more fully allow His will to guide my life.
Me and Pia, watching the Talent Show.
On another note, we had lots of late nights hanging out, playing games or having deep discussions - like "If you moved to Australia, choose 6 friends from Canada you would bring with you." Brutal question.
Saturday evening we had a formal dinner, had fun getting all dressed up, then broke bread and drank wine, just like Jesus did back in the day. What a lovely way to finish a beautiful week. After dinner there was also a Talent Show, heaps of raw talent, plus lotsa random content...
All in all, I had an amazing time, encountered God in a real, authentic way, met so many genuine, real, holy people - Mom was right, there was no part of me that regretted my decision to go. If only I could attend next year... *sigh*....
The South Sydney Community - My Australian Family <3 (some key people are missing)
