Sunday, July 13, 2008
Melbourne was Wicked!
July 10 -14
It's been a busy couple of days! We arrived in Melbourne on Thursday afternoon, having stayed in Brisbane less than 24 hours. Once we arrived we awaited our pilgrim transport and met some fellow pilgrims, from Minnisota/USA, and Kingston. After waiting around for a few hours, they decided to get the bus to drive us directly to our stop, where our host families had been anxiously anticipating our arrival. We were warmly received and had tea at Lena and Joe's. It was a bit chaotic as arrangements were made and schedules sorted out. Ashlie and I got paired up with Michael and Eileen Griffith, a kind and friendly elderly couple.
We had a quick supper and then Anne, Kathleen, Katherine and I were off to the Bush Dance at the Australian Catholic University. Good times! It reminded me a lot of square dancing or French Canadian dancing. We learned several dances, including one where we got to either baa like sheep or moo like cows/bulls. Yeah!
Friday, we went to 8:30am mass and met the parish priest, Fr. Tran. Then we were off to the Aquarium. After that, we split off, the girls to go shopping, Damien, Carlos and I to go to the Immigration Museum and Michael went... somewhere else. The museum was interesting but definitely depressing. Australian immigration history is similar to Canada's and it is amazing to me to see how terrible we can be to people who we perceive to be different than ourselves. The propaganda!! And this is less that a century ago! Unsettling, to say the least. After that , Damien and I cheered ourselves up with chocolate covered churros as Carlos went off to the Art Gallery. We met up with the rest of the group at the Telstra dome where we celebrated mass with 30 000 other pilgrims/Melbournians. One of the pre-mass highlights was doing the wave around the stadium, including over 600 priests/clergy. Every time the wave way got to them the whole rest of the crowd cheered them on. And the crowds on train ride home was something else! Just a warm up to how Sydney's going to be...
Saturday we got up to do a pilgrim walk around down town of the Blessed Mary MacKillop of Melbourne. We stopped upon the impressive St.Patrick's Cathedral kinda randomly and stayed for adoration before we checked out the stops highlighting her life. After that, we were off to a Aussie Rules football game, Collingwood Magpies vs Adelaide Crows. We were advised before hand that the team to cheer for were the Magpies. A few of us got suited up in Magpie Black and White and we cheered them to victory 106-74. What a fun game to watch! I'm definitely a footy fan. And as it turns out, a few of us were put on TV! Before the game, a few of our group ran into a few of the pilgrims from St.Theresa's. We got asked to take pictures with a young footy fan with a Canadian flag. And apparently we made it onto the evening news! Add that to my 15min of fame!! After footy, Ashlie, Carlos, Damien, Kathleen, Michael and I went off in search of food. We happened upon an Italian restaurant. We were the only ones in there for the better part of are meal and were well doted on. After that, we headed back to ACU for a concert by Matt Maher. And thus concluded another great day!
This morning, we went to mass at Corpus Christi and had a nice tea after mass with the parishoners. After that, we were off to the zoo! We saw kangaroos and emus and lions and tigers and meerkats and wombats and bears and butterflies and orang-utans and elephants and giraffes. After that we headed back downtown to grab a bite before our show. We went and saw WICKED at the Regent Theatre. That is the nicest theatre I have ever been in. And WICKED was so great! And now it is WAY past my bed time and we are getting picked up at 6:30am to head to the airport and then we and 30 000 other people for here will be headed off to Sydney. Man oh man oh man! It's been such a great time so far!
It's been a busy couple of days! We arrived in Melbourne on Thursday afternoon, having stayed in Brisbane less than 24 hours. Once we arrived we awaited our pilgrim transport and met some fellow pilgrims, from Minnisota/USA, and Kingston. After waiting around for a few hours, they decided to get the bus to drive us directly to our stop, where our host families had been anxiously anticipating our arrival. We were warmly received and had tea at Lena and Joe's. It was a bit chaotic as arrangements were made and schedules sorted out. Ashlie and I got paired up with Michael and Eileen Griffith, a kind and friendly elderly couple.
We had a quick supper and then Anne, Kathleen, Katherine and I were off to the Bush Dance at the Australian Catholic University. Good times! It reminded me a lot of square dancing or French Canadian dancing. We learned several dances, including one where we got to either baa like sheep or moo like cows/bulls. Yeah!
Friday, we went to 8:30am mass and met the parish priest, Fr. Tran. Then we were off to the Aquarium. After that, we split off, the girls to go shopping, Damien, Carlos and I to go to the Immigration Museum and Michael went... somewhere else. The museum was interesting but definitely depressing. Australian immigration history is similar to Canada's and it is amazing to me to see how terrible we can be to people who we perceive to be different than ourselves. The propaganda!! And this is less that a century ago! Unsettling, to say the least. After that , Damien and I cheered ourselves up with chocolate covered churros as Carlos went off to the Art Gallery. We met up with the rest of the group at the Telstra dome where we celebrated mass with 30 000 other pilgrims/Melbournians. One of the pre-mass highlights was doing the wave around the stadium, including over 600 priests/clergy. Every time the wave way got to them the whole rest of the crowd cheered them on. And the crowds on train ride home was something else! Just a warm up to how Sydney's going to be...
Saturday we got up to do a pilgrim walk around down town of the Blessed Mary MacKillop of Melbourne. We stopped upon the impressive St.Patrick's Cathedral kinda randomly and stayed for adoration before we checked out the stops highlighting her life. After that, we were off to a Aussie Rules football game, Collingwood Magpies vs Adelaide Crows. We were advised before hand that the team to cheer for were the Magpies. A few of us got suited up in Magpie Black and White and we cheered them to victory 106-74. What a fun game to watch! I'm definitely a footy fan. And as it turns out, a few of us were put on TV! Before the game, a few of our group ran into a few of the pilgrims from St.Theresa's. We got asked to take pictures with a young footy fan with a Canadian flag. And apparently we made it onto the evening news! Add that to my 15min of fame!! After footy, Ashlie, Carlos, Damien, Kathleen, Michael and I went off in search of food. We happened upon an Italian restaurant. We were the only ones in there for the better part of are meal and were well doted on. After that, we headed back to ACU for a concert by Matt Maher. And thus concluded another great day!
This morning, we went to mass at Corpus Christi and had a nice tea after mass with the parishoners. After that, we were off to the zoo! We saw kangaroos and emus and lions and tigers and meerkats and wombats and bears and butterflies and orang-utans and elephants and giraffes. After that we headed back downtown to grab a bite before our show. We went and saw WICKED at the Regent Theatre. That is the nicest theatre I have ever been in. And WICKED was so great! And now it is WAY past my bed time and we are getting picked up at 6:30am to head to the airport and then we and 30 000 other people for here will be headed off to Sydney. Man oh man oh man! It's been such a great time so far!
Monday, July 07, 2008
Slightly Battered and Bruised
Okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic. But I do have some new righteous bruises! Even I'm impressed. A large one on my left shin, one PURPLE on my right hip, another large one on my right elbow and a good dozen other smattered everywhere in between!
July 5 continued: So, Anne, Kathleen, Damien and I went to go grocery shopping (taco night!) and when we came back, we met up with the rest of the gang. They had also had quite the day! They had gone whale watching and made a friend who took them to some of the nicer lookouts around Coffs Harbour. With the troupes rounded up, we took a taxi to St.Augustine's for 6pm vigil mass. But once we got there, it was obvious that the itinerary posted on the internet was incorrect. There was no one in sight! When Anne, hobbled out to check the mass times not a single time was as it had been posted... That'll teach me for being naive enough to think that the internet postings are updated on a regular basis!! So we took the taxi back to the hostel, made supper and then went out on the town, the whole gang. T'was nice. I think we are all fans of the Carlton Dry aussie beer.
July 6: We went to 8am mass, some of us wearing our pilgrim jerseys/t-shirt with CANADA 08 emblazoned on the back. There was no phone to call for our cab ride back so Kathleen made friends with the priest who took her back to the rectory to call for our ride. Our taxi driver it turns out had been to Edmonton and knew all about the Mall. Good times. Anne and Kathleen hooked themselves up with some surf lessons while the rest of us headed out to check out the Big Banana. It turns out that large man-made objects are quite popular in Australia... and the Big Banana is one of Coffs Harbour's claim to fame. It is located at the banana plantation... Coffs Harbour is the banana capital of Australia, don't you know! It was rather anticlimatic to be quite honest. My guide book said that there was a train that took you through the plantation. We saw NO train. Boo! But we did have a banana split shared between us and if you know me at all, you'll know that ice cream makes everything better!! The rest of the day was pretty chill... we boarded the Greyhound to our next destination: Byron Bay. The bus driver was a little cranky, and we almost left without one of our passengers but he did not drive through any signs so I figure that's a good thing!
July 7: Byron Bay. We had hopes of tandem hang gliding today but it was not to be as there was no wind. Which made for perfect hanging on the beach time! And shopping. Anne found herself some nice board shorts and a rash shirt. Lucki has a new hat, and Kathleen and I have some new shades! We made a feast of a supper, stirfry and rice. Now we are headed back out to the beach for a little late night stroll. Tomorrow is full of surfing and hangliding (hopefully). We'll see how many more bruises I'll accumulate!!
July 5 continued: So, Anne, Kathleen, Damien and I went to go grocery shopping (taco night!) and when we came back, we met up with the rest of the gang. They had also had quite the day! They had gone whale watching and made a friend who took them to some of the nicer lookouts around Coffs Harbour. With the troupes rounded up, we took a taxi to St.Augustine's for 6pm vigil mass. But once we got there, it was obvious that the itinerary posted on the internet was incorrect. There was no one in sight! When Anne, hobbled out to check the mass times not a single time was as it had been posted... That'll teach me for being naive enough to think that the internet postings are updated on a regular basis!! So we took the taxi back to the hostel, made supper and then went out on the town, the whole gang. T'was nice. I think we are all fans of the Carlton Dry aussie beer.
July 6: We went to 8am mass, some of us wearing our pilgrim jerseys/t-shirt with CANADA 08 emblazoned on the back. There was no phone to call for our cab ride back so Kathleen made friends with the priest who took her back to the rectory to call for our ride. Our taxi driver it turns out had been to Edmonton and knew all about the Mall. Good times. Anne and Kathleen hooked themselves up with some surf lessons while the rest of us headed out to check out the Big Banana. It turns out that large man-made objects are quite popular in Australia... and the Big Banana is one of Coffs Harbour's claim to fame. It is located at the banana plantation... Coffs Harbour is the banana capital of Australia, don't you know! It was rather anticlimatic to be quite honest. My guide book said that there was a train that took you through the plantation. We saw NO train. Boo! But we did have a banana split shared between us and if you know me at all, you'll know that ice cream makes everything better!! The rest of the day was pretty chill... we boarded the Greyhound to our next destination: Byron Bay. The bus driver was a little cranky, and we almost left without one of our passengers but he did not drive through any signs so I figure that's a good thing!
July 7: Byron Bay. We had hopes of tandem hang gliding today but it was not to be as there was no wind. Which made for perfect hanging on the beach time! And shopping. Anne found herself some nice board shorts and a rash shirt. Lucki has a new hat, and Kathleen and I have some new shades! We made a feast of a supper, stirfry and rice. Now we are headed back out to the beach for a little late night stroll. Tomorrow is full of surfing and hangliding (hopefully). We'll see how many more bruises I'll accumulate!!
Friday, July 04, 2008
First few days in Oz!
Day 1 and 2 - July 1/2 + 3
The disappearing day. Recap: 1.5h from Edmonton to Vancouver, 15h from Vancouver to Syndey, 8.5h via Greyhound bus from Syndey to Port Macquarie.
Highlights: Ashlie and I made friends on both our flights. Shout out to Winston and Chantelle! Anne slept, the rest didn't. The bus ride was actually really fun... We made friends with our bus drivers, Lindsay and Peter. We sang, we ate (Subway), we slept, we stared at the stars, and went through a tonne of round abouts. Weee!! Except for the time the driver ploughed THROUGH the roundabout sign. Talk about scratched up window!! We showered and we slept soundly. Life is good.
Day 2 - July 4
Port Macquarie: We got up and putzed around a bit. Saw the ocean, some of us for the first time. Damien re-injured Anne... She's okay but I'm thinking we need to start a club or something. We walked along the walkway, lined with painted rocks, mostly commemorating a trip, a moment, a friend. Nice! We then wandered to the koala hospital. So cute and cuddly looking. Then back on the bus to Coffs Harbour ~4h away.
Coffs Harbour: Got settled in, went grocery shopping and made supper of champions - pasta and salad! Carlos and Damien went for a run in the rain. We hung out for a bit and then Ashlie, Katherine and Carlos headed out to check out the local pub scene. The rest of us chillaxed. A good day all around.
Day 3 - July 5
Coffs Harbour: Damien, Kathleen, Anne and I went sea kayaking and surf riding this morning. Righteous!! Rafting was great, especially when Anne and I can't figure out our rights from our lefts and totally help out in capsizing our raft. It's kinda like whitewater rafting except on ocean waves instead of river water. I think we all got water logged and someone sat on my head but it was all good! What I really loved was the kayaking. Now that's a way to ride in and out of a wave. Good times were had by all, despite Anne not seeing a dolphin. She tried her Flipper call, but to no avail.
The rest of the crew was supposed to go whale watching today. Haven't seen them yet but I'll keep you posted.
Tonight, we go to mass, then we dine on soup and sandwiches and then we are going out for a little Australian night life.
We are enjoying hostel living. No worries!
The disappearing day. Recap: 1.5h from Edmonton to Vancouver, 15h from Vancouver to Syndey, 8.5h via Greyhound bus from Syndey to Port Macquarie.
Highlights: Ashlie and I made friends on both our flights. Shout out to Winston and Chantelle! Anne slept, the rest didn't. The bus ride was actually really fun... We made friends with our bus drivers, Lindsay and Peter. We sang, we ate (Subway), we slept, we stared at the stars, and went through a tonne of round abouts. Weee!! Except for the time the driver ploughed THROUGH the roundabout sign. Talk about scratched up window!! We showered and we slept soundly. Life is good.
Day 2 - July 4
Port Macquarie: We got up and putzed around a bit. Saw the ocean, some of us for the first time. Damien re-injured Anne... She's okay but I'm thinking we need to start a club or something. We walked along the walkway, lined with painted rocks, mostly commemorating a trip, a moment, a friend. Nice! We then wandered to the koala hospital. So cute and cuddly looking. Then back on the bus to Coffs Harbour ~4h away.
Coffs Harbour: Got settled in, went grocery shopping and made supper of champions - pasta and salad! Carlos and Damien went for a run in the rain. We hung out for a bit and then Ashlie, Katherine and Carlos headed out to check out the local pub scene. The rest of us chillaxed. A good day all around.
Day 3 - July 5
Coffs Harbour: Damien, Kathleen, Anne and I went sea kayaking and surf riding this morning. Righteous!! Rafting was great, especially when Anne and I can't figure out our rights from our lefts and totally help out in capsizing our raft. It's kinda like whitewater rafting except on ocean waves instead of river water. I think we all got water logged and someone sat on my head but it was all good! What I really loved was the kayaking. Now that's a way to ride in and out of a wave. Good times were had by all, despite Anne not seeing a dolphin. She tried her Flipper call, but to no avail.
The rest of the crew was supposed to go whale watching today. Haven't seen them yet but I'll keep you posted.
Tonight, we go to mass, then we dine on soup and sandwiches and then we are going out for a little Australian night life.
We are enjoying hostel living. No worries!
