I'm Just Waiting For My Friend

One of the things that has intrigued me about this trip is the people that we encounter. On Friday, we were driving through the Snowy Mountains, which are also known as the Australian Alps. Believe it or not, it was down to 41 degrees, from a high of 49 degrees. Got you! You're thinking Fahrenheit again, weren't you? Yes, it was nearly 120 degrees Fahrenheit as we went into the Snowy Mountains. In case you are wondering, there was no snow. Just in case. I know that some of you were actually wondering. Anyway, we stopped in a park to eat our delicious pizza from Eagle Boys. Doesn't that sound tasty?!!! After finishing our pizza, I noticed a guy about 30 years old just sitting in the middle of the park. He was doing absolutely nothing. So I went over to him and asked him a question about a tragic event that had occurred the day before in Melbourne. I then asked him whether he was from this part of Australia. "No, I'm just waiting for my friend. He said that he would be here about 40 minutes ago." After a few minutes of talking, I asked him a spiritual question. Immediately, he got up to leave. But then he said, "I was baptized three years ago." We then talked for a couple more minutes before we parted ways. Did God have him waiting in the park for a reason? I don't know, but he went home with something to think about.

American Food? Where!!!!!

A four-leaf clover, a tax refund, a guy spinning on his head eating pop rocks: some things in life are hard to believe. So when we heard that there was a store in Melbourne that actually sold food from America, we were a bit skeptical. You see, while they have a lot of products here that are similar to American items, you simply just miss your favorite foods. Can you imagine going 3 ½ months without a Hershey bar? Craving Mexican food? Forget it. How about a can of Dr. Pepper? Keep dreaming. But then we got the address to U.S.A. Foods, and off we went. We had only 60 minutes to make it to the store, which was on the other side of town. Thankfully, we made it. And there it was: Pop Tarts, A&W Root Beer, Lucky Charms, A-1 Steak Sauce, Tootsie Rolls. It was enough to make a grown man cry. Don’t worry, I didn’t. But the bill did. American food ain’t cheap in Australia. To give you an example, a box of Lucky Charms was $12.99. And it didn’t even come with a prize! Oh, well, it will be the best bowl of cereal that we will ever have for dinner (whose waiting for breakfast!).

Penguin Parade

Penguins? In Australia? Yes, they actually have penguins in Australia. What don’t they have here? I think that Noah must have crashed in Australia and lost a few of the animals. Anyway, last night we went to see the Penguin Parade. The penguins are raising their young at this time, so the penguins fish all day at sea and come ashore at dusk to feed their babies. After watching all the penguins come home, we got to walk a boardwalk near their dens to hear them calling one another. It was a beautiful sight to see. Obviously, the two little penguins (that's their real name) didn't take up too much room on the ark.

Tennis, Anyone?

Believe it or not, up until a few years ago, I always wondered why they played the Australian Open in the middle of winter. Well, after sitting through 110 degree heat at the Rod Laver Tennis Center in Melbourne yesterday, I now fully realize that the Australian Open is played in the summer. We had a great time in spite of the heat.

Stop!!!!!!!

As we were driving down a dirt road in the country, Susan suddenly yelled, "Stop!!! There is an echidna!" I know, I know, you're thinking: "What's an echidna?" An echidna is a small animal that is similar to a hedgehog. It is one of the animals that the kids and Susan wanted to see while we were in Australia. Before I knew it, Susan and Tyler (and then Amy) leaped out of the car, jumped a fence (in a single bound!), and sprinted through a cow pie-infested field toward the echidna. Before long, Susan picked up the echidna (with the help of Tyler's sweatshirt) and was posing for a picture. Aussies tell us that echidnas are rare, and this is the first one that we have seen. I hope you enjoy his picture.

Hottest Week in 100 Years!

The forecast this week for Melbourne is that it may be the hottest week that they have had in 100 years. Now, those are not the kind of records that we like to be around for, but at least our campground has a pool. Besides, we only have two weeks left in Australia, so we are willing to endure any weather, for we really don't care to get back to the "normal" rountine anymore. Hopefully, something different will be coming down the pike when we get back to America.

How Many?

After leaving the 12 apostles, but before we arrived at our new friends' home for the evening, we ventured off down a road to see a lighthouse. On the way, however, there was a car pulled over to the side of the road and the people were outside looking up into the gum trees (that's what they call eucalyptus trees). Before long, we saw that they were looking at a koala. And then we saw another one. And another one. After about two hours of looking, we had seen 78 koalas. Tyler hoped to reach 100, but we fell just a bit short. How close did we get? Close enough to touch one of them (we didn't--this time). But wait until you see the pictures!

Would You Guys Like to Spend the Night?

As Tyler and I were coming back to our tent, I noticed that the people camping next to us had an awesome set up for camping, but it appeared as though it would take quite some time to set up and break down, so I asked how long it took. As the guy and I started talking, we started talking about all kinds of things. And before long, he and his wife invited us to come have dinner with them and to spend the night at their place. They have five acres about an hour out of Melbourne. We immediately accepted their invitation and told them that we would see them later that night, for they were heading directly home and we were continuing down the Great Ocean Road. Later, we were treated to lamb and chicken; it was awesome. We had a great time of fellowship, a great night's sleep, and they even asked us if we would like to do some laundry. In the morning, our host taught me how to play cricket, which has some similarities to baseball. We didn't hit the road until almost 3 p.m. It was an absolutely blessed time.

12 Apostles?

Okay, quick: who are the 12 apostles? Let's see . . . there are Peter and John and James. And I doubt that you could forget Thomas. Then there is Judas. And . . .hey, I'm not going to give you all the answers. Why do I mention the 12 apostles? Because we got to drive by them the other day. No, not the grave sites of the 12 apostles, but the beautiful 12 apostles in the Southern Ocean. When we get to a campsite that has WiFi, then I'll post a picture of them.

Tour Down Under

As we came into Adelaide, we realized that we had come into town just as Lance Armstrong was about to make his cycling comeback at the Tour Down Under. Since watching the race is free of charge, we found a great spot to watch the race and waited for the riders to come by. If you have ever been to a cycling race before, then you know how fast they go by. Put simply, while we can say that we saw Lance Armstrong go by on at least four different occasions, we would be hard pressed to say which of the riders he was. Be that as it may, it was a great time.

Road Train

As I was driving down the road in the outback, I encountered a site that I never had seen before: a road train. What is a road train? It is an insane way for goods to travel across the outback by truck. So if you ever drive to Uluru, then make sure that you drink plenty of coffee, for the last thing that you would ever want to do is to cross the white line and meet up with a road train. By the way, road trains can be as long as 13 trailers long, although we only saw a road train with four trailers. Talk about a personal convoy!!

Melbourne?

Today I read an email from our friend, Gerard, in Tahiti. In short, he had received an email from a pastor in Melbourne who was asking him if he soon would be in Australia. Gerard sent him an email (and forwarded a copy to me) informing him that we are currently in Australia. Unbeknownst to Gerard, we will be heading for Melbourne in a day or two. Do you think that God knows your travel plans and goes before you? "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:6. Put simply, I think you know where our path will be going in Melbourne.

Coober Pedy (Part 2)

We made our way back to the campground in Cooper Pedy to say "hello" to the Grecian woman who had recently lost her daughter in a car accident. Thankfully, she was doing much better and had a smile on her face. Susan gave her a small gift and told her what a special person she was. In return, the woman gave Amy, Tyler, and Susan some opal from her opal mine, which is right behind her family's campground. The following morning, we met her grandson (13 months old) and spent some additional time with her. We then drove about 300 miles down the highway before running across her daughter's memorial. We stopped by, cleaned the site, and then left a small teddy bear (with angel wings) in her memory.

From Wal-Mart to Alice Springs

This past year, we found a great deal on some bibles for boys and girls at Wal-Mart while we were in Northern California. Yesterday, the majority of those bibles (along with toys and bottles of water) were handed out to young Aboriginal boys and girls in Alice Springs. It was a special day, particularly for three young boys who accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

McDonald's

As we drove into Alice Springs, the Lord placed a thought on Susan's heart: to have dinner with a local family. Alice Springs has a large Aboriginal community, so we were by McDonald's and we saw two young women, so we invited them to McDonald's for dinner. They accepted our invitation and brought along their young cousin. During dinner, their aunt arrived and joined us for dinner. Their aunt happened to be the daughter of a pastor and a Christian. We had an absolutely enjoyable dinner with these women. We parted ways and exchanged email addresses. Has the Lord prompted you to do something recently? Have you obeyed Him? Let me assure you that to obey is better than sacrifice. That sounds familiar, doesn't it?

We Live in Alice Springs . . .

About a week ago, we met a couple at a campground. We talked with them for about five minutes. Toward the end of our conversation, they asked where we were headed. "Uluru and then Alice Springs," we told them. "We live in Alice Springs," they responded. They then gave us their contact information and asked us to look them up for a "cuppa." A "cuppa" is Aussie slang for having a cup of tea or coffee. Six days later, we arrived in Alice Springs and had a "cuppa" with our new friends, who happen to be believers. Interesting, isn't it.

No Rules, Just Right!

As you know, we have been in the outback for several days now. I don't think that there are any real driving laws in the outback. In fact, I think that the only driving law is: No Rules, Just Right! (or maybe that's just "left.") Oh, wait a minute, that's actually Outback Steakhouse's motto. Oh, well, we decided to apply Outback's "law" today when we let Amy and Tyler get a feel for driving on the wrong side of the road. Yes, now even Amy and Tyler know what it is like to drive on that crazy side! Granted, they were on a dirt parking lot, but they got to drive the Aussie way nonetheless.

Uluru

After a great night’s sleep, we headed over to Uluru and quickly learned some dreadful news: it is only open for hiking until 8 a.m. No, that is not a typo. 8 a.m.! What time do they think that I get up? To make matters worse, they only open up the hiking trail if there is no wind, the temperature does not exceed 36 degrees (thankfully, that was Celcius), and a whole host of other reasons that would make any lawyer proud. In December, the trail only was open five times. "How many times do they think I’m coming out here?" is what I was thinking. But what I asked the ranger was: "When was the last time it was open?" "On New Year’s Day," he replied. Once in 12 days. Needless to say, we were a bit disappointed, for we wanted to hike Ayers Rock. As we hopped back into the car, the temperature read: 47 degrees. Now, granted, the car had been parked in the sun, so it may have been reading a little high, but there was no way that the following day was going to be less than 36 degrees.
The following morning, we got up at 5:37 a.m. We didn’t plan to get up at that time, but Tyler had forgotten to set his watch. Now, granted, I woke Tyler up in his dead sleep and asked him to set his watch, and it seemed like he did, but now we were a bit behind schedule. Susan and I both noticed that it was not windy at all. The prior morning it had been very windy. So we headed for the car and scrambled off to Ayers Rock.
As we were nearing Ayers Rock, we saw the most beautiful sight in the world. No, it was not a camel . . . or a kangaroo. Rather, it was hikers hiking up Ayers Rock! It was open!!! "Thank you, Lord," I whispered. I was so excited to see the trail open that I feared the ranger would come and close it. Why would I think that? Because the wind had picked up and it was getting stronger by the moment.
Susan, Amy, Tyler, and I quickly began our ascent of the mountain, but only Tyler and I intended to go for the top. After snapping a few photographs of our initial ascent, Susan and Amy headed back down the mountain. Tyler and I then began pulling our way up the mountainside. It was very reminiscent of the ascent of Half Dome that we had done for Susan’s 40th birthday, but it was a lot longer and just as steep. (Memo to Mom: just skip to the end now, so that you are not horrified.) The wind began to blow so hard, that Tyler and I just sat down on the side of the mountain and held onto the chain. 36 people have died trying to hike up Uluru, and we had no intention of being added to the list. Before long, we made the wise decision and headed down.
(Don’t skip to here, Mom.) After descending the mountain, I just had to go back up. I wanted to go a lot higher, so I grabbed my backpack and headed back up the mountain. Just in time, for it was 7:35 a.m., and they close the trail at 8 a.m. The wind had picked up even more, but, being alone, it was easier to hike. Up and up and up I went. And up and up and up went the wind speed. I occasionally just held onto the chain and sat down. As I got higher and higher I realized that there was virtually no one going up or coming down from there. In time, even I realized that unless I wanted to be number 37, I had better turn around. (Okay, Mom, you can start reading again.) So down I went. No, I did not make it to the top, but it was exhilarating nonetheless. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat, particularly if we had some hiking gear and Randy and Larry along for the trip.

To Uluru At Night

They say that you shouldn’t drive at nighttime around here, for you are likely to hit a kangaroo or a camel (yes, you read right: a camel!). Camels were introduced to Australia over one hundred years ago, and they have flourished. We are told that there are over 1 million camels in this part of Australia. Unfortunately, camels are occasionally hit at night, so when we had no choice but to drive at night, we slowed to 70 kph (relax, and realize that’s only about 38 mph). Okay, so when Susan wasn’t looking we might have inched up to 80 kph, but that’s still only about 45 mph. In short, we got caught in the middle of nowhere and had our choice: continue driving 120 kilometers to Uluru or sleep in a free campground with some questionable looking campers. Any sane individual would have made the exact same decision that I made . . . except for those guys who camped there that night. After driving for about two hours under the bright moon lit night, we arrived at Uluru Resort. Believe it or not, the campground is located within a resort. Pools, internet connections (how did you think I sent this one?), green grass, everything is at our disposal, for the price of camping! Not a bad deal.

Right Place, Right Time

As we headed out for Coober Pedy, which was one of Amy and Tyler’s dreams due to their love of opals, we had a long drive ahead of us. But today’s road was easy to remember: the Stuart Highway. Now, Australians really know how to make you feel welcome, but even I have to admit they went a little over the top on that one, but I can live with it. Anyway, we ended up at a campground run by some Greek immigrants. In addition to the campground, this family also has an onsite pizza café. Choosing between peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Hawaiian pizza has never been so easy. We got our pizza around 10 p.m., and as we were eating, Susan suggested that we offer to help the owners with some of their work, for she said that the husband, who was in his early 60s, had mentioned that their kids were out of town on holiday (that’s what they call "vacation" over here), so he was tired. So when the owner’s wife came outside where we were eating, Susan struck up a conversation with her. Susan then asked if her children were on holiday. "That’s a tough question to answer," she replied, before pausing, "for my son is, but my daughter died almost two years ago in a car accident. It will be the anniversary of her death on the 16th." With that, the woman began to silently weep and tell us all about that fatal day. I asked her a few probing questions in hopes of allowing her the opportunity to "get it out." She promptly began telling us all about what happened to her daughter and about how it had impacted her life. We offered to pray for her, but she stated that she had lost faith as a result of the accident. "How could a loving God take my daughter away," she sobbed. She wasn’t irreverent in any respect, rather, she just had a deep feeling of hopelessness. We silently prayed for her and consoled her. Our trip will take us back her way again, so we intend to bring her flowers. Not surprisingly, we will be back on the very night of the anniversary of her daughter’s death.

Arizona Highways

We arrived at Port Augusta early Friday (January 9th), stopping around 2:30 p.m. If there had been any other campgrounds within a couple hundred miles, then we would have loved to continue driving, but there were none, so we stopped and pitched our tent. We then went around town, saw the sites (that didn’t take long), and then headed back to our campground. When we got back to our campground we soon saw a camper’s worst nightmare: somebody had placed their tent within two feet of ours. Fortunately, it was only a small tent for a single camper, but we were admittedly a bit bothered. Of course, we didn’t say anything to the guy who had scooted into our space, but some of us (the guilty parties will remain anonymous) wanted to. At any rate, in the morning, I got to talking with the guy, and I soon learned that he was a lover of America. He was especially fond of Arizona (and, no, it was not John McCain). In fact, he even went to his car and retrieved one of those Arizona Highways magazines. He also showed us pictures of various places that he had been in Arizona, including Monument Valley. He said that once he had gone to America, he saw no reason to explore Australia until he was done exploring America. Before long, we were showing him pictures of our recent trip to Alaska and we were discussing some future adventures for him. Before our conversation ended, we had breakfast together and we exchanged CDs. He gave us an Australian country singer’s CD and we gave him a copy of Sanctuary. We invited him to come to the bible study group that we have been attending on Saturday nights, which happens to be close to where he lives in Sydney, and invited him to come listen to me speak at CC Sydney the following day. We parted ways, ever so happy that we had not voiced our complaints about how close he had put his tent to ours. Come to think of it: who has God placed in your way recently? Could it be that He has done so for His purposes?

Put It In The Boot

While most Australians have never actually been to Uluru (a.k.a., Ayers Rock), that adventurous American Spirit seemed to beckon: go west, young man (yes, I know Tyler is the only young man in the car), go west. So like any good American would do, we headed to the grocery store first. With 72 more 20 ounce (okay, okay, I’ll use the metric: 600 ml) bottles of water in the boot (that’s what they call the trunk around here), we were ready to venture out into the 110 degree weather of the outback on our way to Uluru. (Just a quick aside: I now know why the Aussies use Celsius instead of Fahrenheit: 47 degrees in January sounds normal to Americans (their main tourists targets).) Wait a minute! With all that water in the boot, there was barely any room for us! For we rented an SUV, so there is no boot. Instead, everything is crammed into the back: sleeping bags (just in case the forecast was actually in Fahrenheit), pillows, Amy, water, spare water, Nerf football, Tyler, spare tire (I think it’s in there), food, ice chest, H2O, soda (one bare necessity any decent American cannot live without), and on and on the list goes. Meanwhile, up front, Susan and I are forced to navigate the outback in the air conditioned front seats listening to the new Jeremy Camp CD. Who said life’s not fair? Well, at least if you are in the front seat.

You Can't Do What?

While we were trying to rent an SUV for our road trip, our host told us that we needed to make sure that we could drive from state to state in it. While the restriction sounded odd to me, I quickly learned that most rental car agencies would not permit you to drive to the Northern Territory, which is the location of Ayers Rock. Feeling a bit frustrated, I began the long arduous task of comparing one agency's restrictions to the next and so on. Initially--before the wonderful news of the restriction--I had a great rate on an all-wheel SUV, and I hated the fact that I was going to lose it. But then I asked another rental agency, which permitted us to travel to the Northern Territory, if it could beat the other rate. "No way," replied the agent, "we wouldn't make any money." Before long, she was checking with her boss . . . and then his boss . . . and then I heard the announcement that I wanted to hear, "Sure, we can beat it." This was just two hours before we were to rent our SUV. And then when I went to pick it up, I learned that we were being given a 4-wheel drive, which normally cost three times as much as our rate, for the same price. God is truly good.

Happy Birthday, Amanda!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Amanda, Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!!!! Amanda, we may not be able to call you for your birthday, so we just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday from the outback. Love, Uncle Stuart, Aunt Susan, Amy, and Tyler

Excuse Me, But Can You Tell Me How to Get . . .

Later today, we'll be back on the road for a few weeks before heading back to Newcastle and Sydney to say our "goodbyes," and then heading to New Zealand. Please, pray for safe travels, as we'll be heading to Uluru (a.k.a., Ayres Rock). (Yes, that's that big, red rock in the middle of nowhere.) We look forward to the divine appointments that God has in store for us. We have no clue if we'll have any internet access as we head deep into the outback, but we'll be fine. We were blessed with a 4-wheel drive SUV, so we've got plenty of room (a spare 15 liters of water) and should be able to get out of any mess that we get into. And when we return, I've been asked to teach at CC Sydney, so it should be a blessing.

It's Starting to Make Sense

Awhile back I was viewing a YouTube video of some guy spray painting something onto a canvas. As he wildly spray painted, I rushed to figure out what in the world he was painting. Perhaps you've seen that video. At any rate, as he kept spinning his painting around and quickly spray painting lines here and there, it seemed extremely random. But you knew that it was going to be something good, otherwise it never would have been forwarded to you in the first place, right? (Okay, so maybe that doesn't always turn out to be the case with things forwarded by email, but you get the idea.) Finally, when the painter finished, he finally turned the painting right side up and it was an amazing painting of . . . (I actually forget what it was, but if you remember, then please post it as a comment!) Whatever it was that guy painted, the point is that this trip is starting to make more sense to me. I'm starting to see what the true painter is doing. And even though in the days ahead it may appear to you as though things are spinning more than ever, I can assure you that in time, you, too, will be just as amazed as I was at that painting (whatever it was!). For God only does wondrous works.

5 a.m. Kickoff?!

If you thought you had to get up early to see your favorite college football games this morning, I had to get up at 5 a.m. (yes, you read right) to see the Huskers take on the Clemson Tigers in the Gator Bowl. While I was not able to watch the game on "regular" television, I was able to watch it live on a CBS online feed. Quite frankly, I still can't believe that I (and later Tyler, Amy, and Susan) got to watch the game. God is surely good. And, as you might know, the Huskers came out with a victory. And all the way on the other side of the globe, I was smiling all day long (with the help of a couple cups of coffee and a couple cans of Coke, that is).

And the Number One Song Is . . .

Earlier this year, I heard a new song on the radio that I immediately deemed to be our theme song for our trip to Australia. In short, the song encapsulated what I wanted for our trip. Tonight, that song, "Give Me Your Eyes" by Brandon Heath, was voted the number one song on Air1 radio. The lyrics to the chorus are: Give me your eyes for just one second Give me your eyes so I can see Everything that I keep missing Give me your love for humanity Give me your arms for the broken hearted The ones that are far beyond my reach Give me you heart for the ones forgotten Give me your eyes so I can see. If you would like to view Brandon's video, then click on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OihvG607W-c. Enjoy.