In Australia!

We arrived 2 days ago to a sunny Sydney. Besides the early morning rise to get to the airport on time, we had a wonderful time in Christchurch. We stayed with a extremely kind family there, who not only allowed us to leave our car at their place for 3 weeks, but drove us to the airport at 4 in the morning! Can't beat South Island hospitality!

We found our way from the airport to the YWAM base where we are staying with Trevor for the week. While a little in the 'burbs, it's a great place to stay, with a swimming pool, internet access and free food! Yesterday morning, we returned to the airport to pick up Amy, which was amazing! I had trouble containing my excitement, as Dave can attest. She survived the long flight, and we headed back to the base to unpack and rest up.

And then, the real fun began, with a day on the town!! We headed back in on the train (you take it everywhere here), and got off at the Harbour. We stepped off the train to the most amazing view of the Opera House! Wow, it really is beautiful! Larger than life! It finally started to sink in that we were in Australia, spending Christmas with wonderful friends - truly blessed.

We walked around the harbour, admired the Opera House, the gardens, the massive cruise ships and the cool old buildings at The Rocks. We sat in the park and enjoyed a greasy meal of fish and chips, a standard fare here and in New Zealand. After a couple of hours of wandering around, taking it all in, we headed back to our place to rest up for today. The plan for today is to head back in to the city, make our way to Manly Beach by ferry, and then go to the zoo. While Dave and I try to deny that we're tourists in New Zealand, we've embraced it here. There are so many interesting things to see in this city, so I'm sure we'll keep ourselves busy over the next few days, cameras and maps in tow.

We trust you are all doing well, and looking forward to Christmas around the corner. With the hot weather and the palm trees, it is difficult to get our heads around the holidays, but we've been signing some Christmas carols recently, to try to get ourselves in the mood! It wil just be a different kind of celebration this year! We will try to put some pictures up soon!