Second Honeymoon

Wow, I have not stopped running since we got back from our time away celebrating our 25 years of marriage. It was so good to get away for four nights even though it required major organisation. We had to put our two foster boys into respite care and organize our own kids. We could have done anything for our time away and I did consider a few luxury options like a cruise, flying to the Gold Coast or Whitsundays, but really spending a fortune for a few days and having absolute luxury is just not us (I know you all think we are MAD!!). If it wasn’t winter we probably would have packed our tent and gone camping. Anyway we settled on a road trip – some of our best memories in our marriage is just being in the car and travelling – talking and sharing our dreams. So that is what we did. We jumped in the car and Hubby had no idea where we were going or staying – I totally surprised him. We headed up to the Sapphire Coast in New South Wales as we had not been that way before and it was beautiful. The beaches were stunning – crystal clear turquoise water and fine white sand. We stayed at a lovely hotel in a place called Huskisson that was a good mix of old world charm and modern comfort and was just us down to a tee. Sleeping in, long walks, eating out and getting to a movie is something we don’t often get to do these days with such a big family so we savoured every moment. We talked future and where we see our business going – a great time away. Thanks to my best friend and hubby – I love you babe – you have made life fun and adventurous – so love your enthusiasm for life and your positive outlook.

Enjoy all the pics

On the road – we saw some beautiful countryside

 The town of Huskisson where we stayed.

We went to the movies in this quaint little movie house – a converted mechanical institute building. Below  is a photo of our hotel that looked over the river mouth and the bay.

 

The sunrise and sunsets were magnificent

The best part was the stunning beaches

Honeymoon Bay

Even the kangaroos were romancing at honeymoon bay

Murrays Beach

Wreck Bay

We had many laughs trying to take selfies on the trip – some came out great and others were a disaster

Love this man!

Our last night was spent at a unit right on Quarantine Bay

We had such fun – we travelled through many state forests with our radio blaring and singing at the top of our voices – just because we could!!

On the way home we stopped at this little town called Cobargo. It had art cows all over the town.

Another place we passed through and loved was Lakes Entrance – about a 3 hour drive from home.

We loved the pelicans – they were waiting outside a boat restaurant for scraps.

All in all we had beautiful weather – not a drop of rain all week which changed of course when we were about an hour from home – back to wintry, rainy Melbourne. The kids seemed pleased to have us home.

We are not waiting another 25 years to do this again – we already have our dream of buying a caravan one day and touring Australia when the kids are gone. I take after my Mum and Dad.

Goodbye 2013…. been a great year!!

It’s 10 pm on New Years Eve and I just had to squeeze in one more post before the year ends. This year has been one of the best years I have had and I have so enjoyed it, but in saying that it has also been one of the  years that I have had to lay down my own personal time and projects. Don’t get me wrong – I am loving the two foster boys we care for but going back to nappies and toddler tantrums when I’m well into my forties has been somewhat of an adjustment. My goal for 2014 (among the many others I have) is to try and get the balance between  caring for these boys and making some me creativity time.

The end of this year has been great – we took the first week of our holidays and went to Anglesea which is about two hours South West of Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road (famous for the 12 Apostles which we visited two years ago – photo below to remind you).

 

We camped and had a great time as school had not yet officially finished so the campsite was quiet and we weren’t surrounded by numerous campers. The camp grounds had amazing facilities and our tents were about three hundred metres from the beach and the river. Sleeping to the sound of waves at night was most relaxing. The sunsets were particularly beautiful.

We also celebrated Bennies first birthday (photos on my Sweet Hope Chronicles blog – password required) and it was a delight to see him enjoying his birthday cake with abandon. We enjoyed swimming  and many cycle rides along the river and cliffs.

 

The little village of Anglesea was also great fun to shop at. I didn’t have to go without my fix of Op shopping either as there were two amazing  little second hand shops to visit. I managed to get myself a beautiful pair of sandals and a framed Paul Gauguin print which I love.

 

The kids had great fun bouncing on a giant inflated pillow and  playing mini golf too. The park had some super wood sculptures of sea creatures which meant we could have some fun taking photos.

 

Christmas was spent at home where we celebrated with a Christmas Eve dinner. Toasts and thanks were given by each of the children. We have been truly blessed to have such superb kids. It never ceases to amaze me how giving and generous our kids are. They have been incredible this year as we have welcomed two new faces into our hearts and lives. It has not always been easy on them but they have come through and all pulled their weight in helping to integrate the boys into our family.

Our kids have also excelled in their repective areas of study and work. Michaela will make an outstanding nurse/midwife and Ethan is starting to show keen interest in his Personal Fitness endeavours.

Mostly this year has been one where we have moved away from our religious efforts of being involved in structured church and leadership. We have explored other ways of connecting with like minded people and building true friendships and relationships out of the confines of a church meeting and it has been very refreshing and rewarding. We have felt freedom to question our theology and beliefs and to throw out the things that we believe have manipulated and controlled us over the years. Mostly it has been fun getting to know Jesus away from all the religious influences. This has been the year I have learned to love people who are different to me and to not judge them for their lifestyle choices. This has been a big thing for me coming out of a system that looks at people as either in or out ( you are in if you believe like I do and out if you are an unbeliever). Just believing that I ever thought that way is so ridiculous to me now. I am discovering that there is so much more to being a blessing in our community than by simply professing I am a christian and going to church each week. I have discovered the reality of actually doing – of getting up daily and loving two little boys who have been abandoned by their parents, dealing with their emotions and self-harming issues and I feel more fulfilled and alive than I ever did  as a pastor for ten years. I guess what I’m trying to say is that making a difference doesn’t require me to be super-spiritual  – it just requires ordinary me to open my heart and hands and just be willing to help and love people where I can – it’s that simple and yet it has taken me years to work it out.

2014 is going to be a great year – I can feel it! This is going to be the year we are living in blessing and with great joy – many dreams and creative ventures being fulfilled. I am looking forward to it with my amazing and beautiful family alongside me. I wish you all an equally fabulous 2014.

 

Queensland Trip

I am so delighted to have my beautiful daughter back home again – I so missed her while she was gone. She admitted that even though she had a blast she missed being part of a noisy,big family.

Here are some of her holiday pics.

Off on an adventure….

First day at Sea World – with luggage and all…

Day two – Wet n Wild

Beautiful Golden Beaches….

Movie World and all the exciting things to do …. Roller Coaster heaven!

They even had a people dryer after you got wet on the Wild West Falls ride which fascinated the girls – they did not pay the $5 to get dry as it was so hot but they couldn’t resist sneaking into the booth to have a photo.

A few days later they headed up to Brisbane.

Love this photo of them both

And finally heading home ….

So glad they had this opportunity

Wagga Wagga Weekend

What an amazing and busy weekend we have had!!  We finally travelled out of the state of Victoria into New South Wales to a place called Wagga Wagga. The reason for this being that Hami participated in a Triathlon. When we got back from our trip I discovered that I have been nominated again for a hubnugget award on a different post I wrote – if you would like to vote for me then go here:

Easy French Country Table Makeover  or if that doesn’t work then here Home .

That being done, lets get back to the triathlon. This was all in preparation and training for the big one – The Ironman New Zealand at Lake Taupo in early March 2012. We parked our car in this street at the race – is this not prophetic?

This triathlon is the longest one he has done yet and the conditions were pretty tough. The race started and hour late which was a bit annoying. There was not one unfit looking competitor – all the athletes looked super fit and had all the latest gear – except us of course!!Hubby doesn’t have a bicycle that costs more than our car and requires a mortgage. We later discovered that every athlete was there as this triathlon is considered a qualifying triathlon for whatever they are trying to qualify for!! That meant that there were cut-off  times for every leg of the race and the times were quite stringent. No pressure!! By the time the event got underway the wind was blowing vigorously – that meant there were waves in the lake and that the water was a beautiful muddy brown – you could not see even 20 centimetres in front of your nose. This is Hami’s worst nightmare for swimming – he hates swimming in dark water and waves make him seasick!! Good news though was that he has been training in Lake Lysterfield near home and so the dark water was okay and he has had some experience in the wind too. I was so proud of him as he did his 2 kilometre swim well in the cut-off time and he managed to do it in the most awful conditions – even the top athletes were struggling. I even tried commanding the waves on the water to be still like Jesus did – I must say I was a little annoyed that they didn’t listen – they were meant to I know because if Jesus could do it, so can I – have to keep practising that one!!

 

I am always glad when the swim is over!! He came out the water looking a beautiful shade of seasick green and he mentioned as he ran past me how sick he felt. Next was a 120 kilometre cycle. That was just as bad as the wind picked up even more and made it very difficult for the cyclists. They were blown all over the road, rained on and in between managed to get sunburned when the sun came out.

Last leg was a 20 kilometre run around the lake and by then it was just getting cold – wind still blowing. The good thing was that Hubby’s knee behaved itself and didn’t give in much to my relief. He just continued on – he says he is like the tortoise in the Tortoise and Hare – slow but steady – he gets there in the end. He finished his race in 8 hours and 17 minutes and we were all very proud of him. It was very good training for the Ironman as he learned a lot about nutrition, what works for him and what doesn’t so that was good. I think being able to swim in such horrible conditions also gave him confidence.

 

 

The Hemingway support crew were awesome!!

This little Common Mynah bird was so cute – he kept hopping around my feet looking for food crumbs!

We stayed in a cool cabin at a tourist park and had a great stay. I love exploring other parts of the countryside and seeing new areas. We passed through a town called Euroa and found out that Ned Kelly and his gang robbed the bank in this town. Ned Kelly is a famous outlaw in Australia – he wore a metal helmet over his head and his gang robbed banks. Although he was hanged for killing policemen, he is considered a bit of a hero in Australia for his daring feats. The buildings in Euroa were lovely – I love that old red brick – it reminds me of a town called Pietermaritzburg that I grew up in as a child. Euroa may be a small town but it was unanimous with the family – they make the best pizza we have ever tasted!

All in all a really cool weekend!! Well done to my honey for a great triathlon – you make us proud!!

Time away…

Last week we headed off for a couple of days to have a break. We have accomplished very little this holiday as we have been so busy sorting out things and seeing various people that our holiday was virtually non-existent, so when the opportunity to go away came up, we jumped at it. We headed off to a place called Taggerty which is North east of Melbourne. We stayed in a big house out on a farm that overlooked fields, hills and forest – it was lovely.

It was also absolutely freezing in the early morning and evening, but we had a huge fireplace that was well used while we were there. One of our days was just spent walking on the farm through the forest enjoying the wallabies and kangaroos, reading in front of the roaring fire and playing crazy games like Twister. It was very relaxing and therapeutic.

 

The other days we headed to Mount Donna Buang so that Aaron could finally see snow – this has been his wish for this winter. We had a lovely time making snowmen, tobogganing down the slopes on an old baking tray (yes, even I took a turn down the slopes on the tray!!) and having snowball fights. Great fun had by all and only an hour away from home. Hope you can plough through all my photos.

 

 

 

 

 

And every day after a cold spell outdoors we ended off our days like this …… with pikelets and hot chocolate!!

A few days in Lorne….

Getting away for a couple of days was wonderful – even just the change of routine and no demands was like a breath of fresh air. We decided to head off to Lorne but we chose the very scenic route to get there. Melbourne bay is huge – about a 300km round trip so getting from one side to the other is never a quick easy trip. We decided to head down to Sorrento (near Blairgowrie)  from home ( which is between Springvale and Drouin on the map)  on our side of the bay. We  caught a ferry across the bay to Queenscliff and then we drove along the Great Ocean Road to Lorne. All in all it took us about five hours with stops for lunch.

Sorrento is a very pretty spot – some lovely homes and quite a quaint village. The kids enjoyed the ferry ride – Aaron was fascinated that we could drive our car onto the ferry. Unfortunately we didn’t spot any dolphins on the crossing but the weather was good and it wasn’t freezing.

We enjoyed the trip down to Lorne as we have never explored that side of Melbourne due to the bay being so huge. It is very different in places to where we live – at times it was drier and the grass was browner, but then we also passed through some National Parks that were beautiful and lush and green. We arrived in Lorne in the late afternoon and we spent the rest of the day setting up camp while the kids explored and played in the stream below our campsite. We had borrowed some camp gear from friends and I discovered that not everything was there – I had one pot for the few days so cooking in THE POT was a challenge. I did it though!!!

The next morning we had breakfast and then went down to the pier to have a walk. The sea was magnificent and the water crystal clear in places.

This was a highlight for me – a photo with Ethan – he definitely is getting over the  “it’s not cool to be seen with Mum” phase.

Then we took a drive up to the Erskine Falls and had a walk through the forest. It was so pretty with all the tree ferns and moss – it reminded me a lot of New Zealand!!

For lunch we headed back to the beach in Lorne and had a BBQ picnic overlooking the bay. The kids enjoyed swimming (crazy as it was freezing, but they don’t seem to feel it!!) and hubby and I enjoyed the view and a glass of wine with lunch.

Michaela and I decided to walk back to our campsite through the village and do some shopping along the way. It was great to browse in the little shops and to get some good ideas from different places.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the stream around our campsite.

That evening I had a run in with a possum at the entrance to our tent. The dear little creature decided it wanted to come down the tree as I was making my way into the tent. I clapped my hands trying to scare it but instead of running up the tree it decided to jump down towards me – well instinct took over and I ran around the boys tent screeching like a mad woman in the middle of the night – poor hubby had to get out of his warm bed to rescue me and chase away the possum.

During the night it began to rain, but our tents stayed nice and dry and warm – the only lousy part was packing up in the drizzly rain. Our trip home was uneventful – we drove around the bay and through the city this time taking us about 3 hours.

I never got to see the 12 Apostles after all, as it was still another 145km from where we were staying. Hubby and I decided that we will make the trip when we can get away without the kids as their tolerance for sitting in the car for hours is somewhat limited.

All in all we had a great few days away – it was so lovely exploring more of where we now live.

A break….

We have had some incredibly busy weeks the last few weeks so at the last minute we have decided to take three days break and go camping on the spur of the moment. The weather is going to be kind to us according to the forecast so that is good news. Our plan is to head down the coast to Sorrento where we will catch the ferry across the bay to Queenscliffe. This will be a great experience for the kids as we should see dolphins in the bay.  Then we plan to make our way along the coast to a campsite in Lorne. Part of our trip will hopefully include going to see the 12 apostles (although I think there are only 7 left now) so Iam looking forward to the quick break and getting to see more of our coastline. Of course I will have my camera and I plan to take many photos. See you when we get back!!!

Weekend break…

We had a wonderful weekend away – there is nothing like a break from the mundane and routine to energize and refresh oneself after a busy few weeks. Now to be honest, we didn’t go away to have a break or to rest – we went away because hubby was competing in a triathlon in Daylesford. This wasn’t your typical triathlon – it was more rough and ready than that – a swim in a freezing lake, followed by a mountain cycle through the Wombat forest and then a run through the bush on rough trails. He had such fun doing it, although he was full of a head cold which made it harder for him. We cheered him on as he came through each stage. This triathlon is the start of his training for a dream he has had for a long time – the dream to do an Ironman. That dream is now becoming a reality. Last week we decided to make it all come true. He registered for the New Zealand Ironman event in March 2012. This will give him a year to train for it as it is a massive undertaking. So now begins the hard work!! Isn’t he gorgeous?

Some people just couldn’t cope with the early morning start!!

 

We stayed at Lake Calembeen Caravan park in a cabin – six of us in very close proximity and yet we all managed well and had a great time. This park was in the little town of Creswick. Our cabin overlooked a little lake and the forest around it. We had a great time walking around the lake looking at the birds and enjoying the peace.

Daylesford was quite a cute town and bustling with weekend visitors. Michaela and I found some amazing shops – of course she was attracted to this bookstore which was two floors and crammed with books from beginning to end – a book lovers dream!! Her other favourite thing of all is chocolate so she couldn’t resist the chocolate shop either!!

Then we found another vintage store – I was drooling in this store – they had some amazing things in it from clothing to vintage furniture, lamps, little knick knacks and so on. This lamp took my fancy and if we had the space in the car, I would have grabbed it – it was a solid brass base with a shade that had a feather trim.

I did manage to purchase a few items from the Sunday market in Daylesford. I found a lovely wooden bread bin for $5 and a cute wooden cupboard for eggs for $10. I love buying a few small items when I visit a new place as it always reminds me of places I have been. hubby and I were both tempted when we saw a lovely old wooden ladder that was in brilliant condition – the only thing that deterred us was the idea of having to somehow strap it to the roof of the car and get it home again – no bad idea!!

We stopped at a place called Sailor Falls on the way home and had a walk down a steep set of stairs. The falls weren’t huge and not much water was flowing but it was pretty nonetheless. I even managed to convince the teenage son to have his photo taken – breakthrough!!

 

All in all it was a lovely weekend – relaxing and enjoyable. Aaron summed it up though when we got home – “Home sweet home Mum, it’s nice to be back in a bigger house and not in our little house anymore.”  Yes indeed, there is no place like home!!

Loving Touch…

Aren’t these little faces precious? It always amazes me that when you see photos of third world children they are smiling and joyful despite the hardships of their lives – the lack of food and water, shelter, loving care and material provision. I remember always seeing little faces in South Africa when we travelled through what was then known as the Transkei and the children would always smile and wave as you passed by, they would be playing games with a piece of wire or a car constructed from wire and the carefree way they played always spoke volumes to me. I love seeing my kids blessed and delighted when they receive gifts and as a parent it warms my heart, but I never want them to be insensitive or ignorant of others that are suffering and dying, not by their own choice but because of the circumstances they were born into.Hubby was telling me that the kids in India are so appreciative of even the smallest gift of a pencil or a sticker – to  them it is a treasure. I see why Jesus loved children – He always made time for them and he blessed them and loved them – He even reminded us that to see the kingdom of heaven we need to come as little children – throwing away our logical reasoning and linear thinking and replacing it with honest devotion and simple faith. That is where I want to be – simply trusting Him and listening to His voice – doing that which He tells me to and not feeling pressured to perform tasks He has not called me to. These beautiful faces remind me again how loved we are and how precious life is.

This photo is of a friend of mine from church who really knows how to love people – especially children and one of our youth leaders.

 

A year today…

This time last year we arrived on the shores of Australia – I can’t believe we have been here one year already. In that time we have seen God’s favour on us, been blessed   beyond measure, had our lives restored and discovered freedom as His children. What a great year it has been. Hubby is not here today – he is in India with a team from our church ministering to villages and praying for the sick and broken. This was a dream of ours when we came here and in one year God has made this a reality for us. He is preaching tonight at a crusade and so we are trusting for many to receive Jesus as their Saviour and to experience God’s love and power. We also work with an orphanage in Guntur where we help to sow finance and where we go and bless the children and share God’s love with them. Finally I feel as though we are making a little dent in helping the needy – I can’t wait for my turn to go!!

At the orphanage with all the kids.

Two  of the youth praying for the sick.

First night at the crusade.

Hubby looking a bit jet-lagged.

Hubby catching up with friends who now live in India.