Jet Lagged

I sit here, writing this as I fly across the Pacific ocean. Back to the familiar: my friends, my family, my home, my reality. I spent the past 225 days overseas, primarily in Australia, but also a couple weeks in New Zealand. It was my dream. As a 7 year old child watching the Olympics in Sydney, something about Australia caught my attention. About a year later, 'Survivor: the Australian Outback' aired on TV. Not only did this start my Survivor obsession, it fed my desire to one day visit Australia. As I grew up, that desire grew and grew into the dream of all dreams. When I was 14 I went on a family trip to Europe, the excitement and constant adventure brought me so much joy, and that's really where my extreme love for traveling began. Mix it all together, you have the recipe for the #1 item on my bucket list: explore and live in Australia. 

I had met a few Aussies within the past few years at home, and they just added to the intrigue, not only did the place sound epic, I knew the people WERE epic! Maegan Williams was my first Australian friend, I originally met her through mutual friends at a party in 2013 but a few months later she was staying at my house as a missionary on NET. We hit it off. She gave me a hair wrap and I hoped it'd never fall out! Throughout the year  we sent each other letters, and once she returned to Australia, emails. In the spring (March) 2015, I decided if I didn't get into school (College) I'd go to Australia. When I told my Mom this, she cried. "You're gunna go there and find a boy, get married and never return!" I laughed about that. Since all my mail from the school was going to my parents house, my mom found out the result of my application before I did. I got wait listed. She didn't tell me for a few days.  When i finally found out, I was SO EXCITED! Maegan was the next to know - I was finally going to fulfil a dream that started when I was a little kid. I had never been more sure about a  such a decision before.

I invited a couple friends to join me on my radical adventure: Sarah and Jennine decided to grace me with their presence. 

Jennine and I arrived in Sydney on October 18th, 2015 (we met up worth Sarah in Brissy later). We spent our first week staying at Maegan's house - we instantly fell in love with the South Sydney community, and from then on I'd planned on living there for a few months after all our gallivanting was done. And it was so. I scored the BEST possible host family to stay with, getting my fix of delicious Asian cuisine, as well as some rock hard abs from all the silent laughing. I made some of the best friends a girl could ask for, going adventuring every weekend and having solid D&M's - conversations you can only have in a 'safe place'.

Dehydration 4 Lyf, you made me feel so welcomed from the moment we returned to Sydney, the nachos and Oatley Pub experience was one to remember :)

After all was said and done, and it came time for JinJin and I to say our goodbyes, you - the people I care so deeply about - threw us the best,  most shocking, heartfelt, EPIC surprise farewell party possible. I felt so loved. Even if you had to disappoint me in the process, cancelling all previously spoken about goodbye parties, I forgive you - this party definitely made up for it ;) Kudos to all of you for keeping the secret!

Today I'm flying back to Canada, had a layover in Sydney enroute. As we flew in I could spot Cronulla, the Shire, and had a good sense where Mortdale was - they announced 'Welcome to Sydney!', but my heart sank... knowing I was so close to all my Aussie friends, but so far. What a tease. As we departed, I felt like I had to say goodbye all over again - for real this time... back to the northern hemisphere, the true north strong and free, the land of Timmy's and PEROGIES!

This trip was literally a dream come true, I imagined it would be amazing, but I couldn't have anticipated it being anywhere as good as it was. I will keep all the memories close to my heart, for they will be a smile on my face that is incomprehensible to everyone else. 

I love you all, and miss you more than you know! 

Camellia Gardens

The day before our epic adventures in the wilderness, I had an interview with a job agency in the City. The basis of the job would be traffic stopping people in department stores trying to promote/sell fragrances. It was the farthest I had got so far with job applications, so I pursued it, although from the start I was pretty leery about it. After a group interview of 14 people, I was convinced I was the lease qualified person there and didn't expect to be called back for a second interview. Well, lo and behold they asked me to come back and offered me the job! I decided they just wanted me 'cause I'm foreign and have an accent since 5/6 of us were from abroad. After learning about everything that was required of me for this position, I didn't even have the honeymoon of being excited. Plus, there were meticulous grooming standards, none of which I approved of.

After my first day, I went home and ranted about how awful it all was and that I'd finish the 3 shifts they had given me for the week, but after that, I was DONE. And I was serious. Tom (my host dad) found the whole thing hilarious, thinking I was just being terribly dramatic. But it was that bad. After day two, I got a call from the agency asking me to cover 3 more days the following week, I was trying to find excuses to decline, but I had a weak moment and gave in.

I had mentioned to Pete I was in need of some solid fun times after my first few days of pure torture, so that weekend he arranged to go for brunch at the Camellia Gardens Teahouse in Caringbah. Everyone was interested to hear about my new job, so I gave them the DL... but they were not very compassionate. I told them I had to cake my face with make up wearing bright red lip stick and smokey eye make up, slick my hair back into a pony tail and wrap the elastic with hair to hide it, and wear 2 inch heels. They were like "So basically you're a model and you're complaining about it." Raaaaaaage! Ahhhh! Nobody understood. My mom had called me to video chat after a shift one day and she didn't even recognize me... that's how different I looked.

Sarah, Mae, Pete and I at the Camellia Gardens.

Anyways, the Camellia Gardens were gorgeous. After we had a bite to eat we went for a stroll through the park. There were geckos crawling across the foot path, ducks and geese in the streams, and jovial cries of laughter from deep within our chests. Johno, Sarah, Maegan Pete and myself decided to continue the party in Cronulla at the Simon's apartment unit. We talked about all the things we could do, but ended up just hanging out and talking for most of the arvo. Eventually we ventured out to the beach and rock hopped along the ocean. It was the perfect remedy for a rough past couple days. We eventually decided on a cuisine for dinner, and got noodle bowls from Thai Face. I tried 'Pad See Ew' for the first time, no regret! Was delish. Sarah had gone to Mass, but joined up with us again after dinner as we headed back to the unit. We played a quick game of Smegal and headed home before too late. It was exactly what I needed: good friends and fun times :)

Rock hopping in Cronulla.

Valley of the Fireflies - Part 2

Day two rolled around after a long night, I couldn't fall asleep in the tent cause it was so hot, so I ended up sleeping outside under the stars. It's so weird to think there's no bears here that'll eat you in the night, just snakes and spiders, but somehow those seem less terrifying.

I woke up to the snapping of twigs and crackling of fire, Pete had wasted no time. When Jess got up she explained how when she woke up she thought since I wasn't in the tent that I had fallen down the cliff in the middle of the night and died. So she was happy to see that I was alive.

We made brekkie: bacon, eggs, and toast buttered with avo! You're probably wondering how we managed to get eggs all the way down the canyon, being jostled about the whole way. Well, to be honest, a couple broke... but only 2/24! While we cleaned up, Chris read Lord of the Rings aloud - LOTR was definitely the theme of our trip; the topic of many conversations, the theme song and the card game we played (Smeagol).

We headed to the waterfall by mid morning, it was a gorgeous day, perfect for more adventuring - this time without our backpacks :) At one point we were following the leader, and after scoping things out we came to a place that looked pretty suss. I went to slide down a rock, to jump on to another, but I

lost my balance and grabbed a tree branch, but it snapped... leaving me to fall about 10 feet onto a bed of rocks. Thankfully I fell on the fleshy part of my lower back, just a couple inches to the left and I could have broken my back. BUT I DIDN'T! :) YAY! Everyone was freakin' out cause they couldn't see where I had fallen. I swear, I'm not normally so accident prone, but I just had a few freak incidents that would lead you to assume otherwise. They were really good about it, willing to sacrifice seeing the waterfall to accompany me back to the camp, but I didn't want to ruin the excursion or miss out on seeing

the waterfall, so we carried on, despite the throbbing pain in my back. It was SO worth it. We arrived at Carrington Falls by mid day and wasted no time getting in the water, it was heaps refreshing since we were all so sweaty. We went right under the waterfall, then just relaxed in the water - Pete said we should lay on our backs with our ears under the water and just look up, listen, take it all in. Peace. Serenity. Beauty. My goodness, was I ever happy I didn't miss that! It was the climax of the trip!

Blob time

The arvo was filled with lotsa blobbing; snacking, Smeagol, reading more LOTR, and story time (our worst injury stories, or near death experiences).

Day 3 started fairly early, had breakfast and cleaned up by 9am. Putting our backpacks back on wasn't so fun, but they were lighter than on the way down since we'd eaten most of the food. We smashed it out, stopped for a couple muesli bar breaks along the way. Chris was our navigator, if we started up the canyon at the correct spot, it would take far less time, and luckily he found that spot fairly easily. On the way up, we would hike for a few minutes and stop 'cause it was so exhausting going straight up. I had a serious lack of energy since I wasn't feeling great, but when we finally got to the top and walking on flat ground, just walking normally felt like I was running! So effortless. After what seemed like an eternity, we stumbled into the parking lot area... I was caught so off guard. Pure happiness. JOY. We made it! There were tons of people in the picnic area, a girl came over and asked what hike we just did. We told her we had done a 3-day hike, obviously that wasn't the kind of hike they were looking for. As Pete was talking with them we noticed a massive red stain on the back of his once-white shirt (we figured it was from a leech). He turned to join us again and the girl noticed the blood mark, we could see her whole group staring and pointing at us like we were some crazy people that just emerged from the jungle... I guess they weren't too far off, haha. We rewarded ourselves with a delightful spread of leftovers for lunch. Though of course Chris had to ruin it by exclaiming "the turkey mince looks like curdled milk!".

Gloria Jean's was a must, so we stopped in for a drink, Iced Chai's never tasted so good! While driving home, Pete was like "Hey guys, doesn't that person at the crosswalk look JUST like Silken!?" -there are two people at the crosswalk, a girl with a top-knot and an overweight man in a white shirt. *pause for effect* then he continued "...the one in the white shirt!!!! BAHAHAHAHA!" Everyone just lost it. I was slightly insulted, but it was hilarious.

But WOW. What. A. Weekend.

I have never laughed so much. I think I now have a six pack.

Despite the near death experiences and feeling sick most of the time, those are three days I will never forget... I have the scars to remind me. I constantly feel so blessed by the people God has placed in my life, the adventures He has allowed me to experience, and the beauty of His creation. I am so spoiled. 

Valley of the Fireflies - Part 1

Rock hopping at the top of Carrington Falls.

Excitement was building as the weekend approached, an entire weekend spent camping, hiking, and bush bashing with Chris, Jess, Pete and Jennine! Anticipation of the unknown set in as we packed our backpacking backpacks but, finally, Friday morning rolled around and it was time to hit the road. On the way, Chris, Jess and Pete gave us a heads up of how difficult this hike is, so we had fair warning of what to expect. We headed down past Wollongong to Carrington Falls. The view from the top of the waterfall was gorgeous, but we, unlike many others, were going to head down to the bottom the canyon. There wasn't really a trail, so we made our own. It was super steep, with the decaying forest floor often slipping from beneath our feet. On occasion we discovered leeches sucking our blood, so we burnt them off and watched them shrivel (that's the best way to get them off, fun fact!). After a couple hours of bush whacking, we came to the stream flowing through the canyon - Phase 1: Complete. The weather was perfect, though not terribly hot, sweat was still gushing from every pore.

Phase 2 consisted of rock hopping along the bottom of the ravine. With the turbulent water below, and canyon walls on either side, maneuvering over, under and around these boulders would prove to be fairly challenging, but chuck a 30lb backpack on to throw your balance off to increase the difficulty even more! Sometimes the rocks were covered in wet moss, causing quite the slipping hazard. I definitely biffed it a couple times, somehow only one foot every ended up in the water. There were a few sketchy parts, and often I wondered how everyone jumped across such a wide gap, but due to necessity, before I knew it I was also on the other side. It makes you realize you are capable of much more than you think you are!

And a few scars...

Just a few scratches.

We started heading up the other side of the canyon, though it was still steep with loose ground under foot. Just a little ways up, playing follow the leader, I went to grab a rock to help myself up (though checking to make sure it was sturdy) I took hold of it and before I knew it I was tumbling down the incline. Thankfully, I stopped myself before I fell into the chasm of raging water just a few meters below. Poor Chris was behind me and helplessly watched it all happen. I definitely shook everyone up a little. We sat for a bit while they gawked at the wounds on my legs, and a couple scrapes on my arms. I was pretty spent at that point, but we pushed through till finally I heard the most glorious thing I ever did hear. Chris yelled "COOOOOEY!", meaning 'WE'RE THERE!!!'. This particular spot was called 'Valley of the Fireflies', it was named by their group of friends when they first discovered the campsite there. Fully equipped with a cave, fire pit, and perfectly flat ground for tents, they just happened to stumble upon it and decided it was the perfect spot to stop and camp. The whole expedition took us about 5 hours, but we stopped for lots of breaks to play 'what ingredients are in the muesli bars?!', so we made pretty good time.

Pete modelling his cutlery. 

We dropped our bags and took our shoes off, it was then that I noticed how wrinkled and pruney my right foot was. Chris declared "I feel as old as Silken's foot looks!" After the days festivities, taking a dip in the creek just outside the site was just what we needed, along with a stretching session lead by Jess and Jennine. Then we got right to work setting up our tents, and making dinner. When it comes to food, Jess is the one you want planning the menu. Forget dehydrated mashed potatoes and baked beans, it was more like a 3 course gourmet meal! I was quite impressed.

Chris graciously reading LORT to us :)

The evening consisted of reading Lord of the Rings aloud, roasting marshmallows and play Truth (no dare). Since it was a 'safe place', all the super out there questions were asked, like "if you could choose 3 South Sydney boys to go on a date with, who would it be?',  and 'what is your most proud accomplishment?'. It was a real bonding experience, now they know privileged information.

That concludes Day 1, filled with lotsa laughs, near death experiences and heaps (and I mean HEAPS) of Lord of the Rings chitchat. More to come in part two!

Heels, Lanterns and Mojitos!

Although our days had been fairly chill (well, except for constant job searching), our evenings seemed to fill up pretty quickly. We played soccer mid-week for mixed sport, that left a bit of a mark on a few of us - scabs and scars included. The following night was our weekly Lenten Share Group and Adoration, so much goodness.

Friday rolled around and we discovered a friend of ours, Michaela, was preforming in a singing competition, so a couple of us went to watch at the RSL (The Returned and Services League). It was my first time attending an RSL, and probably my last... Once we arrived, a very large, attempting-to-be-intimidating man was checking ID's, but not only ID's, also footwear and clothing. Apparently you will be denied entry into an RSL if you are wearing flip flops. I found this out the hard way. He double checked with someone over the radio saying "there is a group of 4 ladies, one of whom is wearing thongs... RUBBER thongs..." we could hardly keep a straight face! He said I would not be allowed entry unless I changed my shoes, which I definitely didn't have. Luckily for me, Michaela happened to have an extra pair! She brought out size 7 stilettos that were a solid 3 - 4 inches tall. I am a size 9. Let's just say, with them, the big scary man let me in.  Though he was sure to say "you HAVE to keep them on the whole time, you CAN NOT, under any circumstances, take them off once you are upstairs." Not a second after we had sorted out the whole shoe dilemma, Jennine realized she forgot her wallet at home. We thought after all that, we'd have to leave, but Michaela mentioned even minors are allowed in, you just have to become a League Member. And so, Maegan signed up as a League Member (complete with a membership card, including a photo!) so Jennine would be allowed in. So, an eternity later, he finally let us all through. I hobbled to the elevator and over to the table where Michaela and Co. were sitting, I could hardly feel my feet at that point, they were so cramped! Finally! I sat down and immediately kicked the heals off. And kept them off the entire night, there was no way I was keeping them on. Praise God for thongs. Rubber thongs. 

The competition was full on, everyone was so good! It was particularly thrilling watching Michaela belt out the tunes, I had heard her sing once before, but I am constantly amazed by the power in her voice! What a firecracker! So happy we were able to be there to support her. 

How pretty, eh! 

 After about an hour and a half in transit to get back home, it was nearly midnight - best time for baking! I made cinnamon roll monkey bread for Chloe's birthday party the next day! Partially because I wanted everyone to try it (Cinnamon Buns aren't super popular here. I know. It's a tragedy), but mostly cause I miss the taste of heaven in my mouth. 

Decorating with Chloe and Jennine.

The birthday bash was held at a nearby park with gazebo, perfect location for an outdoor party! I arrived early to help decorate! We had mason jars with flowers in them on the steps of the gazebo, hanging lanterns and a few others banners. It all came together really well, I was quite impressed!
The 'Soiree' was a blast! We played some ulti and soccer (you'd think I was planning the activities, eh?), but had lotsa low key hangout time too, fully equipped with quality conversation. I found out a friend of ours from the area, Naomi, got accepted to NET Canada! How EXCITING! 

What a beautiful day with lots of laughs, delicious food and few casualties (Jess' toe took a beating). 

Chloe and Simone!

Photo Credit: Jess Laundy

We wrapped up in the mid-afternoon, cleaned up and had a nice chill time at the girls house afterwards.

Chris and Jess had us over for dinner, what an honour! Jess was the bartender for the evening, she makes a real good mojito! During dinner they took turns telling us their story, how they met and everything in between. The pure love for God and each other is so evident in each of them.
A little later they then started brainstorming more epic places they could take us. Valley of the Fireflies came up, apparently it's a pretty intense hike, starting at the top of a canyon and climbing down to the bottom. And Boom. Just like that, our next adventure was planned. 

Stay tuned. 

This ones a gooder. 

If You Like Pina Coladas...

Me and Mae at Audley!

Throughout our first week back in South Sydney, we started our job search. At first it wasn't so bad, but after dropping off nearly 30 resumes in 3 days without even an interview, getting rejected got old pretty fast. It'd definitely the wrong season to be looking for work!

Picnicing at Audley

Being unemployed had it's perks though, time for more adventures! Pete took Maegan, Jennine and myself to the Audley Weir in the Royal National Park. It was slightly overcast that morning, which was perfect for a day on the water. We rented out a row boat and each took turns

We got the goods :)

rowing. The pressure was on to preform when you were in the drivers seat. Of course when it came around to my turn, I had to weave through a ton of rocks jussst below or jussst peaking out the surface of the water. Thankfully I didn't bottom out the boat! Everyone was heaps impressed. Saw a couple eels along the way. We got to the end of the creek and scoped out a place to have our picnic lunch. A little later, a couple friends from Wollongong came outta no where! We had opened the event up to everyone, but assumed we were the only ones keen. Guess we were mistaken! We headed back together, they were so much faster than us in their canoe! We noticed a snake swim across the water, then ironically a couple minutes later we went for a

Bartender Pete!

dip... ha. Jennine wasn't too fond of swimming in the same water as snakes, but somehow hanging with Chris, Jess or Pete - fears are conquered. It's like they have special powers or something.

Once we got back to the car, we decided to grab some snacks and go party at the Simon's house. While we were at the supermarket, I saw Pina Colada Tim Tams, and went on about how we'd been trying to locate a Pina Colada Cocktail since we'd arrived in Australia, but decided they just don't exist here. So Pete, being super spontaneous, was like "why don't we just make them!", before I knew it he was looking up a recipe and at the liquor store buying Malibu rum. We all dispersed throughout the store looking for the necessary ingredients.

We may have been a little excited...

Upon arriving to Pete's house, much to our surprise and delight, we found Jess in the living room. And so it began. We listened to the Pina Colada song (Escape by Rupert Holmes) on repeat, at least 8 times. What better thing to do on a rainy day than sit inside with some of your best mates playing Wizard, sipping on Pina Coladas! Best.

Jennine and I headed over to Maegan's in the evening for some quality girl time. Watched a movie and had dinner. The fun times just keep coming. In the documentary we watched (Twinsters), they said "The great is the enemy of the good." Which brought me to ponder my life; here in Australia and back home. We have been having the time of our lives over the past few months, with so many GREAT experiences, though knowing my reality might not be quite as exuberant back home, I wouldn't trade this trip for anything. Thus, I'll just bask in the beauty of my current life as an honorary Mortdalian.

Much love and prayers!

<3 Miss Silks

Welcome Back Canadians!

Alas! The time had finally come for us to graced with the presence of the beautiful people of South Sydney. We moved into our new home with the Ng's, a family in the Disciples of Jesus community who agreed to have us live with them for the next few months. They are originally from Singapore, but moved to Australia 14 years ago. Basically this means we get to eat ridiculously delicious Asian cuisine all the time! BEST!
Although we would be moving with them to their new house exactly a week later, we were so excited to unpack our backpacks and have our clothes in drawers or the closet where we could see them! Ah, you don't appreciate the little things until you have gone without them for so long. Like a real bath towel. The towel I'd been using for the past 4 months was literally the size of a hand towel. We're really living the good life now! Get to use a real towel every day! How good.

A bunch of our friends threw a welcome back party for us, complete with nachos (courtesy of Steve), cider and quality company. Being back in Mortdale was another dream come true, although I loved gallivanting across the vast and varied landscape of Australia, it was here that I felt the most at home. After spending our first week in Australia here in Sydney, I was convinced that after we were done backpacking, all I wanted was to settle in Mortdale for the last few months.

Daniel, Sam, Tim, Steve, me and Jennine at Oatley Pub!

Anyways, after dinner it was time for the after party at the Oatley Pub! Some of us weren't so keen on the whole "clubbing" thing, so they bailed early. Lame. Apparently this place was a bit 'seedy',  I didn't know what that meant at the time, but I soon found out. There was an outdoor location with music and dancing, pretty epic! Unfortunately Canada doesn't typically have such venues. The boys dubbed us official 'Mortdalians' cause of the experience. What a blast. We stayed till closing then met up with a few more friends later on. We felt quite privileged to have a party thrown in our honour! What gems, they are so good to us.

Wattamolla in the Royal National Park.

A couple days later, which happened to be Valentine's Day, a group of about 15 of us headed to Wattamolla for a day at the beach! It was gorgeous out, beautiful blue skies above, crystal clear water below. Maegan, Pete, Jennine and myself arrived fairly early - after claiming our spot on the beach, we didn't waste any time getting in the water, climbing up the rocks and jumping off the cliff! Got the adrenaline pumping pretty quick. Part of the cliff was a meter or two higher than the rest, which Jennine and I wasted no time conquering, but had to encourage couple guys at the top just kept looking down and phsyching themselves out.

Adventure time! After swimming out into the ocean a bit, a few of us climbed up on the rocks and quickly found the sheer joy awaiting us. Lotsa scaling, scrambling and scoping with waves crashing along side us the entire way. Ah, paradise. I just couldn't get enough. We headed back with cuts and scrapes all around, every one was worth it.

We had a nice little picnic, then played soccer on the sand, which felt like we were playing on the surface of the sun it was so hot. Lasting maaaaybe ten minutes, everyone, sweaty and covered in sand, booked it to the water for some refreshment. Ah, what a glorious feeling. Couldn't cool down fast enough! We were sure to grab frozen cokes from Maccas on the way home, good life choice.

All in all, our first weekend back in Sydney was a solid 8/8. So much good.