Aussie World

Hey everyone! our trip is getting closer to it's end. Sad, I know. But We are having a fabulous time. After our adventures in Japan we flew to Brisbane, Australia. When we arrived at the airport our good Australia friends Shane and Lauren Horton picked us up bright and early. (You may remember them from our trip to Germany. We spent 5 days with them there.) We were happy to see them again, and they were happy to see us too. We were escorted back to "Bentley Manor." (This is Lauren's parent's house.) There we were greeted with open arms, by Mac, Lauren's mom, and chocolates on our pillows! It was delightful. Later in the day we caught up with Lauren's dad, Geoff, went to meet some of their friends at a small group meeting, and otherwise we just relaxed on those first few rainy days on the "SUNSHINE Coast".
Since we spent two entire weeks in Australia, we did alot of things. So I am not really going to tell them in any order, just as they come to my mind.
Let's start by building you a "base" of our Australian Friends:
The Jeffs Family who own the Australian Christian Channel that produce the snowboarding videos & also owners of Network Connections (Mom and Dad: Mike and Viv, Sons along with their wives and children: Stephen & Ruth with kids Bailey and Elijah, Craig & Bonnie with daughter Ava, lastly Adam & Rachel with their son Lucca and daughter India), Greg and Hannah Timmer with their son Jamie, Rob Wood who works with Josh doing the snowboard video stuff, Craig (who produces the music for the snowboard videos - Josh works with him) & Jodie Ross with thier son Jaylen, Shane and Lauren who lived in CO this past winter, Lauren's family - The Bentley's with their three daughters Lauren, Esther and Grace and their one son Warwick & his wife Ammi.

The first full day in Australia we visited the Australia Christian Channel and Goodlife Church and Recreation Center. We had lunch with a few friends: Stephen, Craig, and Rob. Josh was excited to see his friends who work hard to produce his snowboarding videos. I was just excited to see where, "all the magic happens." (HAHA- that's showbiz talk) Again, we had a nice evening at Bentley Manor, relaxing and eating dinner with the fam.
On the following day Josh decided to work on the up and coming video with the boys, while I had a fabulous day relaxing with Lauren. I wasn't feeling well, so it was nice to just sit and watch movies and read books. We realized as we arrived in Australia that we hadn't packed very well for "winter" weather. Although Australia's winter is mild, it was still a shock for our bodies after being in the sweltering heat of Europe and Japan. I also got to visit Network Connections, a cell phone store that our friends, the Jeffs, own and run. It was nice to see them all hard at work. I dropped in on Stephen, Mike, and Craig. Mike asked me if we wanted to eat lunch together the next day, since he was going on a business trip the next day, and would be gone the rest of our time in Australia. Craig also asked if we wanted to go to the beach house on the weekend with his family. So we were already compiling a busy schedule and we had just arrived. Of course we accepted both offers.
The next day we slept in and then we went to lunch with Mike and Viv Jeffs. We caught up on their busy lives, as they heard all about our extravaganza. Josh worked with the boys again, writing music for the next snowboarding video. That night we had dinner at Warwick (Lauren's brother) and Ammi's house. Dinner was fabulous. They live on a cute horse farm and we heard stories about their crazy dog, Kingston. It was a fun evening.
Friday had finally come and we were on our way to the beach house with Craig, Bonnie, and Ava Jeffs. We spent the weekend walking on the beach, hiking up the sand dunes, playing with Ava, laying in the sun, and watching Australia Football. While we were walking up the sand dunes, I was impressed by Ava's excitement to get to the top on her own. She is two years old. She has a funny little mind of her own. As she was working her way up the hill, I commented that she "looked like a crab." Hum... wrong comment. She started to say "...crab, Crab, CRAB!" Then she didn't want to walk anymore. (Opps! I didn't mean to mess it up.) But after awhile she got down and continued to walk.
One of the following nights after returning from the beach, we had dinner with Stephen, Ruth, Bailey, and Elijah Jeffs. It was nice to kick back and enjoy where they live and their very cozy home. We talked about everything and anything. It was a nice evening.
One afternoon Viv picked myself and Lauren up and we went on a girls day out while Josh and the boys worked some more. We travelled up the coast to Noosa. Noosa is a town on the coast that is know for shopping. We started with lunch at Bistro C. Viv and Lauren both raved about their food. I went in with an attitude that I would try something new... and I did. I tried calamari and corn fritters. I truely enjoyed the corn fritters, however I couldn't get myself to enjoy the taste of calamari. Oh well, at least I tried! Then off to the shops. I bought a very cool looking 80's shirt and a gray dress. Both were only 5 dollars! Lauren bought a very neat striped top with cute green buttons, also only 5 dollars. I bought some postcards and we called it a day. We had to get back so Viv could pick up two of her grandsons from school. I really enjoyed seeing their school setting. So different than ours in Summit County. Everything is out in the open, because there is nice weather all the time.
One night I made dinner for the Bentley's. I made my famous pierogie lasagna. Everyone loved it. Geoff thought it was the best meal in the world. He was facinated that it included all the food items he loved the most! Warwick stopped by and had a piece even though he was headed to a dinner party himself.
On a Tuesday Josh and I decided to do some adventuring ourselves. We loaned a car from the Bentley's and we went to the Australian Zoo. I had a small list of "to do" while in Australia, and this was one of them. You see, when I was little I watched "The Facts of Life: DOWN UNDER" It was a made for TV movie with all the regular characters who went to Australia...and it shaped my idea of what Australia had to offer. (It's funny what sticks with you through life.) Anyway, this zoo was started by Steve Irwin and is now run by the Irwin family. It was fabulous. We saw crocs, birds, camels, tigers, snakes, elephants, wombats, and otters. But I was the most excited to see two different animals: koalas and kangaroos. I was going to the zoo in an attempt to touch or even hold a koala. And I got to make my dream come true. They won't let you hold a koala, but I did get to touch many of them, as well as the kangaroos. It was a dream come true.
Towards the end of our trip we were asked by Craig Ross to stay at his home just around the corner. His mother-in-law, Glenda, was out of town and she was happy to let us use her home. So Josh and I packed up our things and headed over there. We had a great time hanging out with the Ross family. They are really awesome people. We felt right at home as soon as we walked through the door. Craig has a lovely wife Jodie who likes things clean, and a wonderful son, Jaylen, who loves to beat the grownups at video games. While at their house we played lots of Buzz, jumped on the trampoline, went to the beach, watched Bewitched, and ate like kings. They are incredible cooks. Thanks a bunch!
Almost every day we drank "heaps" of tea. Everyone loves to have morning tea, afternoon tea, and a tea before bed! I loved it! One day Josh and I had an afternoon tea with Viv. We talked about their up and coming trip to the states for Christmas 2009. It was exciting to think about the entire Jeffs family in Colorado.
Another dream of mine while in Australia, was to go surfing. And I got my chance. A friend of ours, Greg took us to King's beach one day. He finished work early and met us to go surfing. Josh had gone before and he just charged at the waves. As for myself and Greg, we stayed in the shallow while I learned. Soon, Josh came to join us, as he was being tossed out in the deep. I was proud that I got up five good times. And three of those times were very solid! I was stoked to be again living a dream! That evening Greg had us over for Friday night pizza night. We met his wife Hannah and son Jamie. Adam Jeffs and his family, Rachel, Luca, India, came along to catch up as well.
Another fun couple we met while in Australia, were the Lovell's. They include dad: Tim, mom: Donna, daughter: Holly, and son: Caleb. Tim is the pastor of Goodlife Church. After talking for a few minutes we found out that the Lovell's lived in Colorado before moving to Australia. Tim was the youth pastor of Faith Bible Church in Arvada. Josh and I are familiair with this church because our good friends in Colorado, the Stooke's went there. It is really crazy to go half way around the world and meet someone who knows someone you know!
Other favorites, other than friends, in Australia include: Cherry Ripe candy bars, meat pies from Beefy's, boys soccer nights (every Wednesday night the boys would play indoor soccer at the gym/church) they also had a chance to play outdoor soccer, and the sunshine, when it was around!
The last night we were there the Bentley's planned a barbie on the beach for us. We went down to the coast and cooked up some steak and "snags" sausages. We had hot drinks, salad, bread, and "hot chips" fries. It was a great way to end our Australian experience.
The next morning we got up extra early and Shane and Lauren took us back to the airport. It was a sad goodbye as this was the third time we have said goodbye to these friends. We were headed for Christchurch, New Zealand.