Hey everyone!
Not sure how I made it this long without another blog update – so I’m gonna try and make this one the best one yet!
Locals setting the tone @ Snapper Rock - Coolangatta
When I first set out on this Australian adventure I came here with one goal – to complete my Business degree. As of last week I am happy to say I have completed and been awarded my Griffith University degree. A pretty cool feeling, and strange as well; for as long as I can remember I’ve been in school (as many of us can relate to) - and now, it’s all over. Wow.
One thing I have lacked in, and have been asked a bunch about, is what the surf life is like. I still hardly have any pics since I can’t seem to get myself out of the water and grab the camera, but here’s a few of what I have so far!
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| D'bah surf spot! |
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| Snapper Rock surf spot! |
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| Kirra beach! |
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| Azim lovin the aussie life! |
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| Small waves does not mean small fun! |
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| good pal Adam doin his thing - Surfers Paradise |
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goin right! ..in Surfers Paradise
A few weeks ago my friends Alex, Azim and myself hiked a mountain an hour and a bit southwest of us called Mt. Warning. It’s a 2 hour hike to the peak, filled with unique looking trees, a few snakes and other small wildlife, and these weird looking creatures from the lizard family, called Land Mullets! HAH! We started hiking at 3 AM hoping to get there for sunrise but the rain and clouds that surrounded us drowned out the sun for a while until after we made the peak - finally the sky opened up and amazed us. Take a look... |
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| an early start! |
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| oh hey there snake 10 seconds into our hike! |
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| The crew on the way up! Alex, Azim, and myself |
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| Alex found her resting place |
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| so did I |
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| Land Mullet! What the heck ARE YOU?? |
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| HUGE trees! |
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| The top! Elevation - 1156 metres... Amazing. Ocean coastline in the distance |
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| Mt. Warning, you just got owned. |
At the end of each November the state of Queensland’s high school grads (schoolies) come spend their grad trip in a few locations along the coast. Here in small Surfers Paradise is by far the largest group, with 30,000 schoolies coming to party in our streets. Drinking age is 18, but these grads are all 17, so they load up on alcohol from older friends or whoever and all drink in their hotels. With these kids first taste of freedom turning into more than they can handle at times, an organization called “Red Frogs” has grown to be the support system for these schoolies. Red frogs are a candy, like a gummy bear just shaped like a frog. They were the first icebreaker in 1997 and this year 750 of us from all along the coast put on the shirt and represented red frogs and what a week it was. Our days started at 4 PM, where we had our prep meetings, dinner, then hit the hotels and streets with our teams of 4-5 people until 3-4 AM before heading to bed. Our job description would say we walked kids home from the beach party if too drunk to walk, to make them pancakes if they were hungry, help them clean up their place after a heavy night, or get them to the medical tent if under an influence too much for them to bear. But it was so much more than that. We had a blast getting a chance to hang out with these kids first and for most, with energy running low, emotions running high, and these kids becoming overwhelmed with choices they have to make post- schoolies, this was a chance to get involved in this chaotic week and be a light into many of the dark times of schoolies. Unforgettable, sleepless, exciting, highs, lows, worth it.
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| Red Frog crew |
This year I got recruited by a frisbee team that rep’s the Gold Coast. It’s a league based out of big-city Brisbane so each week we’d rip up there and play. Our team was already pretty established in the league before I was added, a few Canadians, couple Aussies, an American, and a couple from Europe made up our skill-filled team. The BPL (Brisbane Premiere League) labeled the best frisbee league in Australia full of some quality players gave us a challenging season. We ran ourselves into the ground each week, laid out for grabs and snags, and come finals we stood at the top winning the championship. Yeeooowww!
Looking back on the last 10 months I have definitely learned a substantial amount academically, but the life highlights about this experience so far have been the peripheral things along the way. The opportunity each day to do something I’ve never done, go to a place I’ve never been to, make friends with people from a foreign country wherever that may be has been an overwhelming experience to say the least. The world is starting to feel like my backyard, but it’s those reading this that are the big influences in my life to have guided me, sharpened me and been placed in my life for a purpose and sent me off as prepared as I could be. For all the prayers that have continued to flow in, I can assure you that God’s hand has been as evident and as tangible as this email you are reading and I can’t thank you enough for this faith-filled support community. I always get reminded how far away I am when I go to Skype someone and I have to coordinate across a 15 hour time change, and then hear of the snow falling when its 30 degrees here and the Leafs are...I want to say winning, but we all know what they are normally doing. But at the end of the day I’ll always remember where home is and those that I can call my friends.
On December 30th I leave for three weeks for India with our church mission’s team here, an opportunity and privilege to go share the love of Jesus in a few small isolated villages and be eye opened once again to the world we live in. I look forward to the many stories I’ll have following and will definitely have a few to share in next blog. While I’m there I’ll be getting my working Visa, and plan to spend up to another year here in Oz. Not done here...not yet anyway – plus, I haven’t had any visitor’s yet! (Wink).
It doesn’t feel like Christmas here – it’s hot! “Dashing through the snow” doesn’t quite work here, but I’m looking forward to experiencing an Aussie Christmas with friends here, surfboard in hand and celebrating the time that God came looking for us by sending his son – the biggest present we could have imagined, to come meet us where we’re at, and be a presence in our lives today. Awesome.
So in advance, Merry Christmas everyone! Love you guys heaps!
Until next time,
Rob
