Arrival in Sydney

Since I left you on Friday a lot has happened, so I'll try to fill you in.

 

Friday night:  I convinced (or should I say coerced) Gareth and Luke to go to the Veggie Bar.  We had wonderful meals and even the guys reluctantly admitted they were full on "rabbit food".  The night ended with the tradition of going to Trampoline for gelato and a game of scrabble.

 

Saturday started really early as we had to catch our tour bus at 7:05am outside the hostel. Two tour operators stopped by before ours came.  Each time I would have to ask which tour it was, to see if it was ours.  Unfortunately while I was asking the 2nd bus driver, I accidentally stepped on the edge of a concealed pot hole and twisted my ankle.  Boy did it hurt!  I've been limping ever since.  It seems to be the most painful when I have to put weight on it when my foot is not completely flat on the ground.  It's slowly getting better, but in the meantime it's so annoying!  It means it takes us forever to get anywhere, and I can't walk for long periods of time with out it being extremely painful.  Being the true stubborn Canadian I am, it hasn't stopped me much.  

 

Anyways, Saturday turned out to be a wonderful day despite the injury.  One of our first stops was the tribute to the WWI soldiers who built the Great Ocean Road.  Luke wanted a picture of him underneath the sign, so he convinced a German guy on our bus to take his photo while he ran out into the middle of a busy highway!  (I refused to take the picture, so he had to find someone else to help him with this crazy stunt!)  Other sights we saw were Koalas in their natural habitat, a temperate rain forest, The 12 Apostles, Lock Ard Gorge, London Bridge, and the Bay of Martyrs.  I could tell you so many stories about each of these, but they'll have to wait for another time.  They were all wonderful to see!  One story I do have to say is apparently there never have been "12" apostles, there are only 10.  It was just a marketing gimmick from the early 1900's!

 

The worst part of the day was walking on sand.  Since sand gives, and causes your foot to twist sideways, I was in a lot of pain!  Thankfully, Luke was patient enough to let me lean on him for support.  Ironically, while I did this I had the song "Lean on Me" stuck in my head.  It gave me a new picture for the phrase, "Lean on me, when you're not strong."  Between Luke's tensor bandage, and advice from some nurses in our group, we were able to wrap the foot quite well which helped keep the swelling down. 

 

That night we all chipped in to make a stir-fry at the hostel, and then the rest of the group went looking for Kangaroo's while I rested in the common room.  Sunday brought some beautiful hikes in the Grampians, and some really good wine tasting!  White is definitely my favourite now.

 

Sunday night we met up with Gareth again, and went to "Bimbo Deluxe" (a pub on Brunswick street) to play pool and have some cheep pizza.  We tried zuchini, calamari, and eggplant pizzas.  They were good, but looked so gross!

 

Today we flew to Sydney, and thanks to some WYD volunteers and a really kind bus driver, we found our way to "Our Lady of Lords" in the suburbs of Sydney.  Since we were early we helped set up for the welcome BBQ.  I wore my Red Deer Royals jacket to the BBQ, since all pilgrims were encouraged to show "country pride".  (My jacket is red and white with maple leaves on it...) I has so many people say that I was the first pilgrim they spotted that evening!  That meant I had so many little old ladies coming to talk to me, and little kids wanting to welcome me to Australia!  It was so cute!  When the organizers told us our host parents to look for "The Canadians"  Patricia easily found me!  Patrica and Allen are wonderful, and they've given us access to the Internet, our own rooms, and access to the pool if we feel like swimming!  It will be so nice not to have to share a room with anyone for a whole week!

 

There are two other groups of two in our Diocese placement: two brothers called "the Nuts" from Fort Mac, and two Brits.  The Brits, are also a female/male pair, with a similar story to us!  (Friends from college who wanted to travel together) Luke had a nice talk with them about the perceptions people have of you when you travel in a mixed pair.  Everyone either thinks you and your travelling buddy are related, or dating.  It's kind of annoying after a while. 

 

Well I'd better get some rest before the big opening mass tomorrow.  I'm not sure how much of Sydney we'll see this week, but WYD does look to be interesting so far!

 

Cheers mates!

Andrea