NZ Holiday Wrap Up!

Starting Sunday week ago (27th Sept.) Tiarnee and I set out on an 'end of Uni' holiday for Tiarnee. She's finished her study and when her registration comes through she's able to start teaching. Very cool! So being the last chance we'll have to take extended holidays for a while we headed off to the South Island of New Zealand for 8 days, and then 2 days in Melbourne when we returned. A brief summary of the trip: (Pictures to follow when I return to an ADSL2+ net connection!)

Day 1: Minimay - Melbourne (drive) - Christchurch
Set out nice and early to arrive at Tullarmarine Airport with plenty of time to check-in and fulfill some duty-free orders for family. The drive was a really good 5 hours, and the flight a smooth 3.5.

Day 2: Christchurch - Franz Josef
After getting up at 8:10 local time (which was 5:10 according to our body clocks!) we rushed though brekky and picked up our hire car. As the weather was miserable we headed out of Christchurch, taking the stunning drive through Arthur's Pass across to the west coast. We then headed down the coast, arriving at Franz Joseph on sunset. We soaked the evening away in some beautiful 38 degree hot pools.

Day 3: Franz Josef - Haast
As the Franz Joseph walk was booked out, we quickly drove down to Fox glacier in time to take the morning half-day glacier walk. This river of ice is 17 km long & 300m wide. It was a massive walk but a clear-blue sky made for spectacular scenery and a great walk on the ice. One of the highlights of the trip.

Day 4: Haast - Queenstown
On this morning we drove through more snow-capped mountains and beautiful clear lakes as we drove through the Haast pass. A stop at Wanaka for lunch, before driving to on to Queenstown where we checked into the Crowne Plaza!

Day 5: Queenstown
The most awesome day of the trip! Sleep-in, free cooked breakfast and the Shotover Jet in the morning! In the afternoon, up to Coronet Peak for snow sightseeing, before shopping in town (for Tiarnee) and a ride up the Skyline Gondola for yet more spectacular scenery, downhill luge, and a buffet tea! After tea what better than for a drink? So we headed to the 'Minus 5' bar where everything including the cup you drink from is made from ice! You can only be in the bar (temp of -8 while we were in it!) for 30 mins. Took lots of photos of each other and the ice sculptures inside.

Day 6: Queenstown - Invercargill
Much more low key. Another awesome cooked brekky in Queenstown (not free this time!) before we drove south to Invercargil. The further we went the worse the weather became. Went all the way down to the bottom of the South Island. Before the hail, rain and wind got the better of us and we retreated for the evening.

Day 7. Invercargill - Dunedin
Heading back up the east coast, we arrived in Dunedin in the early afternoon. A visit to the Cadbury factory there was literally 'sweet as'! We also visited NZs only 'castle' which wasn't really a castle, as there were no walls or moat. But it was a huge old Victorian mansion with elaborate garden etc. For tea this night I ordered Crayfish! Expensive but delicious! It was the first time I'd ever ordered Cray, but hopefully won't be the last.

Day 8 - Dunedin - Christchurch
In icy 5-6 degree temperatures we set out on the 5 hour drive back to Christchurch. We arrived in time to have a walk around the Cathedral Square and finish off our souvenir shopping. We also went to the even church service in the Christchurch cathedral. A very ornate church!

Day 9 - Christchurch - Melbourne
Clothes shopping in the Christchurch mall for Tiarnee, followed by a quick visit to the fantastic International Antarctic Center before dropping off Earl our hired car and heading to the airport. Our flight home was perfectly smooth, and featured a stunning flight across NZs southern alps.

Day 10 - Melbourne
A relaxing holiday day to recover from our holiday! More shopping by my beautiful wife before heading to the Melbourne Museum to visit the Pompeii exhibition & a movie at the IMAX! We rounded out the day with a delicious meal on South bank.

Day 11 - Melbourne -Minimay
Another sleep-in before our long drive back to the Wimmera. We were glad to breakup the drive by having lunch with some friends in Ballarat, and tea with some other friends in Nhill!

All in all a fantastic holiday that I'm still enjoying!

The Death of Innocence

Well after a couple of months in the blogging wilderness I'm back on the cusp of so called "Adulthood."

It's been an amazing couple of months in which so many things have happened.

The first was that I finished my Bachelor of Information Technology, so in May I'll be able to have the letters B.I.T. after my name. Exciting stuff.

After leaving Ballarat on election day I drove a truck almost non-stop (full-time +) until New-Years. This gave me some badly needed money to tide me over until I start work on the 25th of February. I wonder if O-week at work will be anything like O-week at Uni.

I also managed to spend at least half of the above earnings on a 3-day trip to Adelaide with Tiarnee. The money was spent on furniture for my flat that I was lucky enough to secure in a prime location just north of the city. It really is the perfect spot, only a 10-15 minute commute for me to work, a 5 minute (or less!) commute to see Tiarnee, and for her, is walking distance to her bus route to Uni. So because she is moving in later in the year, she wanted a say on the table and chairs, fridge, and Queen-Sized bed that I (we!) ended up purchasing. 'Discussions' were had, but the fact that we where still on talking terms for the trip home really did bode well for the future.

The last 2 weeks saw our family with an exchange student from NZ. Jacques was a Protea turned Kiwi who was really good to show around the place, and even came to Ocean Grove with us. That is where we've been for the last week. In Ocean Grove relaxing, playing tourist in Melbourne & did I mention relaxing? Oh, & cheering for Marcos Baghdatis.

In summary, those people that told me that "remember this time, school years are the best years of your life" where oh so wrong. I hated school. But I'm loving now. God is amazing to me, and I seriously sometimes wonder if it can get any better. Did I mention I'm turning 21 tomorrow?

Mt (Easter) Bunny

It seems whenever my life get busy with things like: Uni, Assignments, Empty Chair, Going Home for the weekend and IBM.
I become slack in the following areas: Eating well (if at all), Sleeping well (if at all), exercise (Squash), quiet times seeking God, shaving, general room cleanliness and blog posting.

Now I have 2 weeks holidays, it's time to make amends for at least one of the above.

I've had an amazing couple of weeks. I'm feeling God starting to move in my life in a way that I haven't seen in years, probably since the end of Year 12.

It all started with my class getting an extension for the previously mentioned AI assignment. I wasn't gunna be able to do it, and had no idea what it was on about. So I rock up to the Lab before it was due, not knowing where to start with the thing. Lecturer then saw that a couple of us where struggling with it, and gave us an extension for 1 week to get on top of it. I knew in that moment it was God, and that I was gunna get the assignment handed in. I did hand it in a week later, albeit only bare-bones complete. But you know what they say, P's get degrees.

Another awesome moment, and the inspiration for my blog title, was Tuesday night, where a whole bunch of young adults from York St went up to Mt Buninyong. The purpose, to reflect on Easter and all that it meant. We sang a couple of songs, had a bible reading or 2 and had communion. All up the top of the Mt. Bunny tower. Despite the fact that it was REALLY cold, I had an awesomely refreshing time. It was good to be in such a scenic spot where we could pray and be somewhat 'free' up there.

Today, being the best of Fridays, I met Tiarnee at Serviceton and we went to church. It was a simple service, and again was really nice to sit and reflect upon everything that's been happening, and of course, Easter and all that it means for me. Then this afternoon, Tiarnee and I watched 'The Passion of the Christ'. It affected me differently to the first time I saw it, less shocking I suppose, being 3 years older and having seen it before, but it was just as gripping. I felt a helplessness as I watched the movie. Not helpless because I was unable to stop the pain that Jesus felt, but helpless because that I know if I'd lived in that time and culture, I would've been apart of the angry mob.



So over all the above, I'm thankful. Life is so full for me at the moment. Each turn is an exciting one, forming a future that I don't yet know and am discovering only one day at a time. It would be a cliché to say "I can't believe it" because it is happening. I don't deserve all that I have been blessed with. The only reason I can think of for this, is that I'm loved. Beyond description and beyond measure.

Oh & BTW, I'm going to Adelaide next week for a group interview for a potential post-graduate position. Praise God!

FINAL YEAR

So, I'm heading back to Ballarat tomorrow. To embark upon my FINAL YEAR OF UNI! (How does that feel Prof-praccers?) Anyway, I have to say. Mixed feelings all around. It's good that I'm going back to see my Uni mates, it's good that I'm going to be doing something productive with my time & not wasting it. It's UNREAL that I'm a final year. So close to a real job, real money & a real life. At the location of my choosing. I can't believe all that is laid out before me & all I have to do is take it. The possibility of moving to Adelaide is one that is almost too good to be true.

Yet, every time I think of this possibility three very distinct things happen:

1. I think of how awesome being that close to Tiarnee would be.
2. I get this horrible taste of the remaining dregs of the Murray River in my mouth.
3. I remember a saying that I once heard "we make sacrifices for what we love." 1 Corinthians 13 sums that all up really.

The flip side to those mixed feelings is that: Tiarnee will be 600km away, holidays are fun and I hate packing. (& unpacking!) Oh & the Internet isn't free any more.

Arrivals

Sydney: A Summary of the best city in Australia.

Day 1: When Anthony arrived at my place to leave it was 6:45 am. We where leaving early because we where embarking on what would become a ~1,250km trip to Sydney. When we arrived at Hay (NSW) it was lunch time & we'd burnt 1 tank of fuel. When we arrived in Sydney we found ourselves heading into the city along Pitt St. (Think Bourke St in Melb, or North Tce in Adelaide.) We got through that drama and then found ourselves driving around Kings Cross (think St Kilda in Melb) trying to get onto the right street in the right direction at 10pm at night. Needless to say, after arriving in Sydney, we where happy and tired.

Day 2: After arriving at Circular Quay (read: Key!) we learned that the Opera House & Sydney Harbor Bridge really are the coolest buildings in Australia, & that all the hype about them is completely justified! Jet Boating across Sydney Harbor is very cool. After tea that night, we realized how cool Monorails are! So after doing a complete loop of the monorail, we arrived at Darling Harbor, which is a very cool place, (like Southbank in Melbourne, except better!)

Day 3: After arriving at the Taronga (as opposed to my home, Tooronga!) Zoo we would spend over 5 hours looking at all sorts of weird and wonderful animals that live on Gods earth. After walking seemingly many kilometers around what really is a great zoo, we caught the ferry back to Circular Quay again.

Day 4: By this stage tiredness is starting to set-in and arriving at a stage of consciousness proves difficult, especially given that this is the coolest night (ie. best for sleeping) since we arrived. After arriving via Ferry to Manly (Who was insecure enough to name a place that?) we cruised around what was a fairly nice beach, and some nice cliff face sorta things as well. Later that night, when we arrived at the top of Centrepoint tower, we saw a very pretty view of the Sydney night skyline.

Day 5: When we finally arrived at the markets at 'The Rocks' we saw some weird and wonderful crafty creations. It was about 1pm when we'd finished there. It was by far the hottest day of our trip t0 date, and what better thing to do on a hot day than go to the beach? So that's what we did. Took a bus out to Bondi and managed to fill in the rest of the afternoon at what we rekon is a fairly cool, but mostly overrated Bondi beach. When the sun went down, we went back and changed before heading to the Hard Rock cafe Sydeny for tea. Best eating out experience ever. Funnest atmosphere & best food. American Brownies are really good!

Day 6: After arriving in Canberra, it was late in the afternoon on a day in which we had: Driven across the Harbour Bridge. Driven back across the Harbour Bridge & then spent over 1 hour trapped under the Sydney Airport in the M5 East tunnel because of an accident. It was hilarious watching people get frustrated because they where running late. As if getting annoyed was gunna get the accident cleared faster. Anthony & I had a whale of a time drinking coke and memorizing the warning message: "This is the M5 East Tunnel Control Room. There has been an 'incident' in the M5 East Tunnel. For your safety, please observe all signs, including the reduced speed limits. (The traffic was backed up for well over 1km & at a standstill!) M5 East Thanks you for your co-operation."

Day 7: After arriving at the Australian War Memorial, we learnt that the Australian love of a 'souvy' ( souviner) was even extended to the battlefield. Apparently there is more WWII German Artillery in Australia than in any country in the world. There's even a piece of artillery on display in Kaniva. Our diggers really are legends. Learning about war odly fascinates me. Somthing about focusing the best of humanity's technology, manpower & ingenuity into somthing that is such a fallacy. Imagine if we put the same effort into usefull things, like reducing greenhouse emmissions, finding a cure for AIDs or reducing poverty.
After a brief look at the mint, we would arrive in Albury 3 hours or so later, to an awesome cabin & some Hungry Jacks for tea.

Day 8: After arriving home, we had traveled almost 2,700kms for the trip and spent at least $210 on fuel. After arriving in Bendigo we had lunch and briefly caught up with Sammy, one of the locals. We where pretty tired and glad to be home, but we had an amazing time & saw some really cool things. It's one of the best things I've done in a long time.

Holidays

Don't have long, as it's late & I should be getting organised. But tomorrow Tiarnee and I are going to Melbourne for the weekend. She brought me 2 tickets to go and see Australia Vs (the hapless) England on Friday. I can't wait to go. While I'm not convinced that Tiarnee has the same anticipation that I do, the fact that she did it means alot to me & it should be a great weekend for both of us. If not for the cricket (for her), then for the fact we're staying a stones-throw away from the Queen Victoria Markets.

I've done alright these summer holidays. After spending Christmas at Ocean Grove & having been to Ballarat & Port Fairy last weekend with Tiarnee, I'm now off to Melbourne tomorrow. In a few weeks I'm also planning a road-trip to Sydney with one of my best mates Anthony. Neither of us have been to Sydney before, so it should be an awesome trip, to just be able to do that as mates should be great.

It's fun as!