Weekend Away

We had been feeling a little bit house-bound, so off we went!

Mmmm... homemade ice cream!
We are totally health-conscious, but we're not rigid. That's no fun.
There's always room for sweet things every now and then.

We drove through Geelong to Torquay (a famous surf spot), to hit
the Great Ocean Road.
There were gorgeous beaches along this long, windy road...
and they were practically deserted. Summer fun, here we come!

This isn't a great photograph, but our campsite was nestled in
a beautiful little corner of
The Great Otways National Park.
To the left in this photo is a stream that runs from the waterfall,
pictured below.

Rise and shine!
We woke to the sound of raindrops on our tent. I don't mind rain when we're camping at all, as long as we can set up camp while it's dry, and take things down when the rain has stopped. In fact, I love listening to the rain, or to the sound of waves crashing on a beach. Our next camping getaway (hopefully next weekend!) will be to some clifftops overlooking a beach. Fun and free!

Here's the waterfall I mentioned above. It's called Stevenson Falls. It was an easy 1km walk from our campsite, and it felt like we were walking through a rainforest! I bet we were. What makes a rainforest a rainforest??

This is a sprouting fern. We saw loads of them in New Zealand, and more on our walk to Stevenson Falls. Some interesting facts: the Maori people of New Zealand have adopted this as their symbol, calling it the koru. The koru is the Maori name given to the newborn, unfurling fern frond and it symbolizes new life, growth, strength and peace. It is an integral symbol in Māori carving and tattoos. The koru is used in a stylised form as the logo of Air New Zealand and as an iconic symbol of New Zealand flora.

Here is a full photo of the fern with the koru sticking out on top.

The icing on the cake of our weekend was mountain biking! The trail doesn't look like much here, though it was quite challenging for both myself and Mark. There were lots of fallen trees of all sizes to maneuver over. I often chickened out and just walked my bike over the logs, but I did succeed in crossing a few of them! The landscape varied quite a bit. Overall it was refreshing just to be out in the wilderness, breathing fresh air and getting a good workout. It was fun, albeit tiring, and I can assure you we will both sleep soundly tonight.

The latest scoop on my job situation... I didn't get the Refugee job as I had hoped. I was initially very disappointed, but I feel completely fine about it now. I was looking forward to working with my African brothers and sisters once again, and other refugees. How sweet it would've been to develop such friendships here in Australia. I particularly miss Africa, their way of life and how life felt when I was there. My initial thought is that maybe Africans tend to have their priorities right, but I'll have to give it some more thought (what exactly I miss). I might be able to volunteer with the Multicultural Council, so the door isn't completely closed to my involvement with them. Anyhow, I'm not sad about it because I'm confident that if God wanted me to have that job, I would. I submitted a great resume, and proceeded to have a great interview. God must have something else in mind for me. What? I don't know, but at the moment the only open door has been to work at Starbucks. As they are interested in me managing a store next year, this option might not be a bad idea. I can only really take it a day at time. Tomorrow is my first day working at Starbucks in Port Melbourne, and I'm excited about it and thankful to finally be working. Please pray for me! I hope that it will be apparent if this is the job for me... that I will move up the ranks quickly if I should stay with them. Otherwise, I hope God will direct me elsewhere. Life is short, and I want to be where He wants me to be, even if it's behind a coffee bar. With this job, I could easily study in the evenings, which I hope to do as soon as we become permanent residents. I can also easily be involved in other things, like church things, or playing basketball (which I'm thoroughly enjoying). Dad, you would be proud... in our game last Wednesday we were tied with 40 seconds to go. I stole the ball for a left handed lay-up, was fouled, and then proceeded to make both of my freethrow shots! We won by two points =)