Calvary Chapel Newcastle

We drove two hours up the coast today to visit our friends at Calvary Chapel Newcastle. Jonathon took note of the four girls chatting after the service.

Bec, Tina and Lindy - all pregnant. Karyn is breastfeeding. Be aware that if an Aussie asks you to NURSE their child, they are really asking you to HOLD him/her. You also don't have a babysitter here, you get a child minder.

Terry and Lindy. These two Canadians have adopted Australia as their permanent home. They are SUCH a sweet family. We always enjoy hearing him teach and any opportunity we have to spend time with them.

Tara and Bryan. What a heart for the Lord these two share. They will depart in seven weeks for a six months in Kenya. Bryan will teach at a Bible college, while Tara will lead worship and work as a nurse (not to be confused with holding or breastfeeding, she really is a medical nurse!) in the slums of Nairobi. We came up to Newcastle today because Tara offered to cover my Bible in leopard print. I have GOT to get a picture of it on the blog. It is fur-tastic!

Jonathon and Bryan - good mates.

Carol's Birthday

We celebrated Carol's birthday tonight AND her and Joel's anniversary!

100,000 Kilometers

Our VW Bora odometer just tipped the 100,000 kilometers. Maybe that word should be "OdoKILOMETER"? I'm surprised we haven't hit 500,000 kms. We spend an eternity each week driving across and sitting in Sydney traffic. What a nightmare!

Eden's First Airplane Ride

This photo was taken on our return flight from Brisbane to Sydney. This flight was an hour and 15 minutes, and I was MISERABLE. Mom, I am so thankful we are not going to New Zealand in May. That three hour flight would have killed me! HA

Dinner with Chris and Ian

I LOVE prawns. These were caught fresh today right off the coast. I can honestly say, they are the BEST ones I have ever had. DEVINE (and also deveined! ha).

Chris Roden and Tina. He and his lovely bride live here in Sydney. We certainly enjoyed getting to spend so much time with him.

Jonathon and Ian. Ian is such an awesome bloke. He loves Jesus, the teenagers, teaching and leading worship music. God has blessed him with numerous gifts.

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I was all smiles after my prawns.....YUMMO! It was time to head back for more teaching and worship at our hotel.

Beach

We had an hour before meeting friends from the Pastors Conference for dinner. We opted to go to the beach.

You are so cute JR!

I just never knew that Jonathon could love a baby so much. He is the proudest papa on the beach.

Even with storm clouds brewing on the horizon, nothing could dampen our fun.

She is 18 1/2 weeks today.

Sea World

We didn't care for Sea World here at all.

The best part of the day was the dolphin show.

It was cooler today. What a welcome relief.

The sea lion show was age appropriate for four year olds not forty year olds.

The final show is best described as CHEESY!

Sea World 2

Is it me or is there just something WRONG about serving seafood at Sea World? Because we were visiting during the off season, the roller coaster and pirate ship were not open, nor were the two (AIR CONDITIONED) restaurants. It was fish and chips for lunch - deep fried of course. I'm sure Eden just LOVED that!

Eden is getting bigger.

This was a great way to end the day.

In the words of my brother-in-law Chris, "This is not a repeat!"

Alfie's Mooo Char and Bar

Australia Zoo is two hours North of where we staying in Surfers Paradise. We opted to find a place to eat BEFORE sticking me in a car for that long.


Jonathon looking over an inlet from the ocean.

We could see a huge storm brewing south of us. Fortunately for me, it was all lightening and NO thunder. It is a good thing because I didn't have any earplugs with me today.

I didn't have much of an appetite, but what I did eat was outstanding!

Australia Zoo

This was SO much fun! I can't even imagine how much more exciting it would have been to see Steve Irwin at the zoo which he loved so much. It is immaculately clean and the animals have ENORMOUS areas in which to roam.

This sign is at the entrance.

This is the Steven Irwin memorial. He was a great ambassador for Australia.

These Asian Otters displayed behaviors so similar to our beloved ferrets. We sure do miss Kato, Meesha and Houdini.

One Komodo Dragon and one very brave wild lizard enjoying the glass partition! HA

More Animals

Wedge Tailed Eagle

Meet Teela. Australia is the only continent in the world where wild dromedary camels exist. We now export them to Saudi Arabia, the dromedary's country of origin.

Dingo

This is a Shingleback Lizard and is also known as the Pine Cone Lizard. It isn't obvious to identify the head from the tail which helps to confuse its attackers.

The Crocoseum

What a ton of fun. It is all about education and conservation here.


He's no Steve Irwin, but this guy was very informative and entertaining.


Come to Australia Zoo in the off season between Christmas and Easter. We had the run of the place.

It was really hot today. The only air conditioning available here is in the three gift shops.