YWAM the begining...

So I know it has been a while since I have last posted a blog and a lot has happened since then, so I will try and get it all done. First I will start with the sailing trip that I did out of Airlie Beach. It was pretty amazing! It was a three night and two and half day trip that went out to the outer reef. It was a dive boat so there was the option of going scuba diving each day or just snorkeling. I went diving the first afternoon and it was fun...but a bit expensive to keep up so I stuck with snorkeling the rest of the trip. It was fun though and I saw a lot of cool fish and coral. You could often see turtles from the boat and we saw a sea snake too! The first night we went through a passage called the washing machine and I got a bit sick then, it was crazy! But after that I was fine and enjoyed sunbathing on the deck. So that is basically what the sailing was like ( and there was good food which was sweet!), the only bad thing was that me and Julie had to share a one person cubbie becuase they overbooked, but we managed.

After sailing we drove down to Hervey Bay and booked a trip to Fraser Island. The hostel we stayed in was really bad, but the trip was great. We did a guided tour of the island on the bus for two days and one night. It is a sand island so the beach is considered a highway and the roads are all sand and it is really easy to get stuck! It was a bit like being on a ride on a amusement park riding on the bus but it was a ton of fun! The lake were absolutely beautiful and it reminded me how much I miss swiming in fresh water. The ocean is great, but I am not a huge fan of the salt water. We went to a lookout and you could see whales, turtles and rays too which was neat. I will try and get some pictures up when I can.

After Fraser Island we spent a few days in Noosa which is a surf town just north of where I am now living. I really enjoyed my time there and on the last day me and Julie took a surf lesson which was awesome! I was able to stand up a few times and I can't wait to try again! We also experienced the dust storm while we were there which was crazy! It came on so fast and the sky just looked so wierd and dust was everywhere when it passed.

Anyways, now about the present....I am now at YWAM in Maroochydore and I am so excited. I arrived on Saturday morning and we did our first day of classes today. Yesterday we did a welcome bbq at the beach too. My roommates are awesome and I so far I have met a lot of really cool people. It was a bit nervous at first, but I am slowly starting to get comfortable. I have to say that I am really excited to see what God is going to do during my time here. It is pretty amazing to be here with a group of people who are committed to getting to know God more. I will let you know how it goes, but the lecture today was really good. Well that is all that I can think of for the moment. I have been sick the last week or so and would appreciate your prayers! I will try and keep this updated as best as I can, but the internet is really really slow. I miss you all back in Canada and you are always in my thoughts! Please keep in touch so I know what is going on with everyone back home!

First Week in Aus...

The first week here in Australia has been action packed and exciting. We spent the first 2 days in Brisbane and left on the third for the Gold Coast. We spent three nights in Surfer's Paradise and it was amazing. It was a last minute decision to go there but it was definately worth it! We spent the first night there wandering around a bit. The next day was our first real beach day and it was incredible. The beach was gorgeous and the waves were awesome to swim in! Me and Julie spent at least an hour just playing in the water:) Then later that night we went shopping for our Australian bikinis and I say "ours" because I talked her into getting one too! Needless to say they are awesome!

The next day, which was a Thursday we went hiking out the Springbrook National Park and went to the Natural Bridge as well as Purling Falls. I don't think words can describe how awesome it was! The Natural Bridge was pretty cool, but my favorite part was hiking to Purling Falls. There wasn't much water but it was still awesome. You could go and walk behind the falls and it was all rainforest with vines, cool birds and amazing trees. We even saw a Goanna up close and personal! The scenery was spectacular and I think it will definately be a hightlight of my trip.

The next day we drove to Maroochydore after spending some time at the Australia zoo. It was pretty cool and I got to pet a Koala and a Kangeroo! Maroochydore was good, but we got a bit lost and we just crashed by the time we got there so we didn't get to explore the beach at all. Then next day we made the 14 hour trip to Airlie beach which is where I am now. The drive made for some awesome scenery which I really enjoyed, unfortunately I also saw a lot of road kill. We saw over 50 dead Kangeroos on the side of the road in varying states of decompostion which was pretty gross! Apparently they don't clear road kill like we usually do in Canada. Anyways we saw an awesome sunset and a beautiful night sky full of stars. Now we are Airlie Beach and it is very nice here. The hostel we are in is great and the guy working there helped up book our sailing trip which me and Julie are leaving on tomorrow. We are pretty excited for the snorkeling and diving in the reef! So more information on that to follow! Overall the trip has been great so far and I have made some amazing memories!

Finally HERE!

So I have finally arrived in Australia! The flight was very long and I found it impossible to sleep on the plane so I watched a bunch of movies instead. We arrived into Brisbane shortly after 6AM. We took the train downtown and then had to hike up a big hill to get to the place we were staying. Apparently there was a lift we could have taken instead, but at least we got good exercise. At that point we crashed at the guest house for about 4 or 5 hours and then showered. The place isn't great, but i was just happy to see a bed. So far we have spent our first day in Brisbane wandering around the city and checking out markets and cultural events. It was great! I will put up some of the pictures when I get a chance, but I couldn't get it to work today. Anyways, that is pretty much it for my trip so far, but I am sure that I will have more adventures to share later! PS. I do totally love the accents! Soooo cool!

Heading Down Under!

For those of you who don't already know, I am heading to Australia this fall to do a Youth with a Mission program on the Sunshine Coast. The school is called YWAM Waves and it is a five month program that I am taking. I am flying out of Vancouver on September 4th with my friend Julie and her mom and heading to Brisbane, Australia. There we will be travelling around the east coast for just about three weeks. September 27th I will begin my DTS (Discipleship Training School). From there I will complete three months of training followed by two months of outreach. I do not know exactly where I will be doing my outreach, but it will quite likely be somewhere in Southeast Asia.

I decided to start this blog in order to keep everyone updated on my travels and experiences! So I will try and update it as often as possible, but I might not always have internet access. If you want to learn more about the program I am doing visit the following website: www.ywamwaves.com. I will miss everyone while I am gone and would appreciate your prayers! I would also love to hear from people. Even though I am in Australia, I still care about what is going on in Canada :)