Dinner with Helen and Verity

They made me do it.

Verity on the left, Helen on the right.

Torrens Linear Park Reserve Bike Ride

Today we took a ride from the hills all the way down to the beach with our friends Nandor and Annie. There is a park with bike trails that follows the river the whole way (about 25 k), and the path never has to cross a road. It's pretty sweet.

Nandor and Annie, getting ready.

The pile of bikes ready for the return trip.

Sorrow

Our friend from birth, Laura VanRyn, was involved in a serious car accident Wednesday night. Many of you from MI may have heard about the accident involving students from Taylor University. Laura was one of the students that was thrown from the car and the only one to survive. I found out minutes after it happened because I happened to be talking with Bri's parents when they got the phone call from the VanRyn's. It is such a shock and I can't believe this is all happening. I just want to fly home and be there with her. I know that many of you have gone to visit her and are praying for her and her family.

She has gone through 2 surgeries and is currently in a coma. They are waiting for her to wake and to see if there is any brain damage. My parents went to go see her on Thursday. I can't seem to keep the tears back whenever I think about her. It's hard to go out and enjoy life when I know that she is lying in the hospital and we are all just praying for her to wake up.
I know that God has everything under control, but it is hard not to worry. It's just hard to accept that this has happened to such a beautiful godly woman who has so much ahead of her. We trust and pray that God will heal her body and restore her to her family and friends.

The Hunt for a House Continues...

Well, we've seen five different houses now, or I've seen five, and Sarah's seen three of them. The first four were no good - either bad location/good house or good location/bad house. The fifth is the one though. This place is the best of both worlds. Nice place, great location: close to our friends, close to church, close to work. I just toured it and applied for it today, and someone else has already applied, but I think we just may be able to get it. It's all out of my hands now. We should know tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest.

The Hunt for a House Begins!

I looked at the first house yesterday. A little too long and narrow, too broken up for my taste. I like a little more openness and combination of rooms in my living space. Other than that it was nice.

We're both looking at another place in a couple hours. I hope it's more open. We'll see how picky we can afford to be.

Church of the Holy Trinity

Here are a few photos I took last night before church started. It was the first Anglican church in South Australia. I think it dates back to the early 19th century. The pews, I believe, are original, and are some of the most uncomfortable things I have ever sat in. The backs are almost straight, and the seats are unbelieveably short in depth. You can barly even fit your butt on them. And they creak too, like nothing else I have ever heard. They even creak when you try to pick your nose on the sly. I still like the place though. It's worth being uncomfortable for an hour or so every week, and you really don't even notice it when you're singing or listening to the teaching.

The Company Barbie

Morris starting up the barbies.

JJ with a footy.

A flaming brazier.

A Few Good Pics

I took this one by accident. Joe and I had driven up this crazy dirt road trying to get to some mountain bike trails, and we came up against this gate. I was in the process of sticking my hand out the window to take a pic when I hit the button. I think it's a pretty sweet photograph.

Notice the office windows lit up in the shape of a cross on the tallest building. You can see it from our apartment. I guess they do it during Easter time every year. I took this picture at night in my boxers when it was pretty dang cold. Thats why it's a little shaky.

This is one magnificent speed scabble layout. You can score it for me if you want.

Sarah and I thought the wrinkly bark was pretty sweet. Does anyone know why it does that? My theory is that the weight of the tree above (they're about 150 ft tall) compresses the bark at the bottom.

A tour of the Barossa with Peter, Anna and Roger

After church on Easter our friends Peter and Anna invited us to go wine tasting with them and Anna's brother Roger in the Barossa valley, which is North of Adelaide, on Monday. It was a lot of fun, it was great to get to know them better, and see some more of the country.

Here's the fruits of our labor...The pick of the pack.

Here's Peter, Sarah tying her shoe, and Anna looking on.

This is Roger, Anna and Sarah.

This is a truly great right hand drive Oldsmobile. 7.5 Litres in this baby. It reminds me of the CRX in a very contrary type of way.

Easteralia

Here's some photos from a little trip Sarah and I took to the botanical gardens atop Mt. Lofty. Although not in bloom at this time of the year, they were quite beautiful. Dad - I was totally wrong about the absence of deciduous trees around here. I guess they just hadn't started to change yet.

Easter Saturday

My lovely wife by the ferns.

A child near a meteorite.

A couple aboriginal canoes.

Church

We really love our church here. This morning we had a Good Friday service, and afterwards we went back to one of the pastor's houses and had hot cross buns. We ended up staying for almost four hours talking to a bunch of people. We got to talk to the pastor Craig and his wife Merl for an hour and a half at the end. It was great. We talked to them about everything from where to vacation to how the leadership structure of the church is set up, to what Sarah could get involved in around here. We're starting to feel like we're at home here already because people have been very quick to welcome us into their lives as friends. Good stuff.

We have about five more weeks at the furnished apartment we're in now before our furniture arrives and we need to move into a more permanent residence. It looks like we'll be able to afford to rent a two or three bedroom cottage style house here - so all you folks who want to come visit, you can start coming in about a month and a half from now if you want to.

In the next couple weeks I will be leaving my job at Gibbs & Cox, Inc. and I will be hired on at Gibbs & Cox Australia Pty Ltd. I'll get Australian vacation (four weeks a year) and Australian holidays (inlcuding Boxing Day). I'll also be paid in Australian dollars, so pray that their economy doesn't tank.

We're applying for our long term visas soon, so also pray that those will be processed quickly. Sarah can't legally work for an Australian employer until we get them, so the sooner the better. A life of leisure is only fun for so long; she's getting quite eager to be productive.

It's sweet to see Christ's death celebrated on the other side of the world, and to know that he's just as present and powerful as ever no matter where you may find youself. Praise God!

The Park Across the Street

"Mexican Seasoning"

So we bought some "Mexican Seasoning" yesterday to make some taco lasagna with.

It had a lot of curry in it.

Who in this crazy place decided that Mexicans use curry?

Mountain Biking with Joe at Cudlee Creek

Joe and I went biking on Sunday morning. We headed out at 10 am to a reserve in the hills with lots of trails called Cudlee Creek. It was a beautiful 45 minute drive east into the hills, in the middle of nowhere.

The first trail we went down was about two track width, and we dropped a hundred meters or so in less than a minute on it. It was to easy to be much fun. The trip back up those hundred meters took more like half an hour, in the baking sun. We made it though, because we're tough. We vowed never to do it again once we got to the top.

For the next couple hours we biked around exploring more trails, and we found some that we'd like to ride next time that we didn't have time for at that point.

On our way back to the car we took a couple wrong turns, and ended up at the bottom of the hill at the Northern end of the reserve. Our car was at the top of the hill on the Southern end of the reserve. We had inadvertantly broken our vow never to go up that hill again. It was just as brutal the second time around, but it feels good afterwards to know how hard you've pushed yourself.

Thankfully next time we're going know better. We'll park right next to the trails we want to ride.

Here's the view toward Adelaide from atop one of the hills we biked up.

Taking a quick break.

This is a shot of the first trail we had to come up.

The New Suit

My wife made me buy a new suit. Poor me. Now I'll have to look decent sometimes.

Actually, I like it a lot. It's real sweet. I'll be dressing up a little more as I start going to more and more meetings.

The mall was crazy though. We had to look for a parking spot for half an hour, and even then we didn't find one. We had to go outside the mall parking and find a spot nearby on the street. Good times!



Thank you Sarah!

The Search

So I rode my bike to work yesterday. We have showers at work, so I'm able to take one when I get there, which is key for me being able to ride. The trip to work was nice and unremarkable. As I prepared to head home I noticed that the clip holding my bike lock to the frame of the bike did not have an especially tight grip. After fooling with it for a few seconds I decided it was tight enough and took off. The ride back to the apartment was uneventful. However, when I arrived at the apartment I saw that the clip had failed and the lock was missing. After calling Sarah to see what our dinner plans were, I immediately set back out to find the lock. I traced my path back towards work, riding on the sidewalk so I could see the gutter where I had been riding. About half way back to work I was riding next to a tall hedge. Suddenly the hood of a car popped out into a driveway immediately in front of me. I slammed on my brakes, flew up over the handlebars and flew superman style straight into the side of the car, with my bike tumbling after me. After I collected myself I could tell that I was not hurt and that my bike had only a couple minor scratches. The car, however, had a rather large dent from the impact of my hand of steel. The driver was a young woman who was quite concerned for my and my bike's well being. I assured her we were fine, and gave her my address and cell number. It took a little convincing to get her to take the information, although I can't imagine why. It's not like I was asking for hers. I think she was just a little shaken up. After that I continued on all the way to work. I checked around where I had locked the bike during the day, and set out for home, still on the lookout for the lock. I did not see it at all, so it looks like I'll be getting a new bike lock.

I hope, Lora Lynn and Andrew, that this gives you some happiness. I'd like to think of it as my less intense equivalent to your van window day.

Settling In

I think Sarah and I are starting to settle in here. We know where to buy the things we need, we know how to get around, we're pretty comfortable in our temporary apartment, we found a good church. We're even starting to make some new friends. We really miss you all though. It's been tough to start over again without any of you here. We appreciate your prayers very much.

I Know You WIsh You Were My Guitar

We're in for nasty weather. Actually, it doesn't do a whole lot more than drizzle over here. It's been cooler, between 60 and 70 I think, and it's been raining a couple times a week or so.

Here is my new guitar that I bought from the store where my friend Charlie works just before Sarah and I took off. It's an Aria. I'm having a lot of fun learning how to play it.