Holiday Break Adventures in Sydney

Well I am halfway through my three week mid-semester holiday break and I have kept plenty busy. I spent Good Friday and Easter Sunday with my friend Ally Croker and her family. On Good Friday, we attended an Angelican church service with one of Ally’s friends. It was a small, close-knit community church and they served a light dinner after the service, which consisted of three different types of soup. I had a pumpkin-based soup that was delicious.

We left the following day to the Corkers’ holiday house on Lake Macquarie, which was said to be one of the largest salt water lakes in Australia. The house was a short drive away from multiple beaches which offered great swimming areas as well as surfing and body-boarding. As my first experience in Australian surf, I fell in love with the warm sand molding to my feet, the bright sun reflecting off the damp sand and the crashing waves as loud as thunder. It was such a peaceful place where I could lose myself laying in the sun and witnessing God’s creation. At one beach there were caves, which have been slowly and continuously filled by sand over the years, making it more difficult to crawl through. The best way to describe it was as a nature-mad maze within the rocks, carved by the ocean wind, water and sand.

The evening before Easter Sunday, Ally, her parents and grandparents and I put together an egg hunt for her younger brothers. We hid dozens and dozens of chocolate eggs throughout the house, some in challenging spots. The boys missed some and we continued to stumble upon hidden eggs throughout the day.

Ally, her dad and brother took me on a tour of the lake on their boat. We spent a couple hours admiring the massive boats and houses while having some fun speeding through the lake, hitting some pretty rough waves at times and being bounced around, it was great fun.

After a few days relaxing at the beach, we returned to Sydney where I watched one of Ally’s brothers play soccer in the rain. Though it was raining, the game was exciting as the boys were playing girls two years older than they were, and they won! The parents were cheering on their team but it was a bit interesting to listen to the parents because every so often a parent would say something a bit negative about their child, for instance “oh come on, you should’ve gotten that”. This was a little shocking, coming from a family that was always supportive and offered constructive criticism in private.

Ally, Kate Murton and I went to the Sydney Easter Show. This is a yearly event that goes for two weeks during April. It is similar to a fair with rides, barns full of livestock to look at, a cow milking demonstration and performances such as dance schools, pig racing and wood chopping. We saw some awesome fruit displays made of fresh fruit and grain. There was also a phenomenon called Showbags. They are plastic bags that you buy for various amounts of money which contain candy, toys and costumes, depending on which Showbag you bought. Apparently everyone buys them and it was apparent by all the people holding fistfuls of bags. Each of us bought a show bag, I bought a Freddo Frog chocolate bag and included was an awesome swirly straw cup, which will be great for college events.

I’m on the Central Coast now with Jess Sluyter and I will write about my adventures here soon. Also, check out my photos at
http://picasaweb.google.com/KaseyCrawford9