I made it!!

tip of australia here i am * about...2 weeks ago but thats beside the point*
today was a day where i stopped and thought....what the heck am i even doing here??


also more pictures up on my flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/saskatchewanpirate

modified email to allyce

Hey so sorry i havent been able to update you at all. iv pretty much been in the boonies since iv got here haha but i have the net for 2 weeks up here. so yay.

leave the computer and find a map. ok, ..... iv been to ingham, cairns, hopevale, bamaga, injinoo, new mapoon, umagico, sesia, and now im in weipa and arakun. haha which is all in northern australia.

so far iv, snorkeld at the great barrier reef,
seen many wild kangaroos ( and hit one with the OKA, oops)
seen red dirt and stray horses, and dogs with gross diseases,
iv been 4wheel driving on the most famous track in australia,
did a few river crossings which i have vidoes of.
swam in eliotte falls,
swam in the jardine river which has ALOT of crocs cause one guy go taken last year. but the area we swam in apparantly by the words of a local " oh most crocs live down stream." haha. so comforting. most.
iv been crocodile "hunting" and by that i mean...looking for them.
iv seen 2 sharks in the wild,
iv eaten turtle ( which tastes like lamb thats been living in the ocean ) and bush goose,
been to the very very tip of australia ( theres even a sign )
and took a small boat up to thursday island which was scary cause i was in open ocean so it was SOOOOO rough,
iv been spear fishing,
normal fishing,
and seen the colored sands.
iv swam in the ocean and travelled in a great big ferry to the reef.
iv been invited into communities most cant get into because they are aborigonal ones and you need an invite to get in and the town im going to tommorow is a closed community and its basically a 3rd world town.
iv been leading worship ( yes, im playing guitar for people )
\im public speaking,
and im in charge of taking pictures for marketing for reef to outback,

sorry that was an ADD post. wow. hahah but no words can explain how much fun iv had. nothing can explain the feeling of kids with snot and scabs all over there harms touch your hair. but you not really caring because the kids are so beautiful and need so much love, i know it sounds crazy but im in love with this place haha, but i miss you all so much though. i miss everyone soooo much. im so excited to be home soon. im ready to leave but it will be hard. sept 5th im back in good ol canada. i hope to see you soon

Outreach.

way too much to tell on this short rationed time on the internet. im in the boonies in a place called Hopevale. weve traded palm trees and park benches for red dirt and stray dogs.
But its beautiful. the kids here are absolutly beautiful. "miss! miss! spin me around again! carry me carry me!" dispite the runny noses snotty hands and gaping sores. i love them
hopevale has around 500 people. weve been invited in so nicely which is suprising for this kind of town. you have to be personally invited or else your not allowed in and by the grace of God weve gotten permission from the elders here.
since being here its pretty random. we went from serving in Ingham and Cairns to being served here in Hopevale. i mean theyre taking us EVERYwhere. the beaches. the colored sands. everyones farms for BBQs, being served left and right.
Today we did our first full day of ministry in the schools helping out the teachers. i taught kids how to play guitar and how to do math. all the while looking after the "bad kids" who were climbing on the roof. literally.
busy busy day. but thats ok. I love every minute of it and even though im exhausted stinky and dirty. its been fabulous.

Leaving in T minus 2 hours

Yep its true. were leaving on outreach in 2 hours. its going to be heaps of fun. In about 3 hours we will be in Ingham, we spent all afternoon and morning cleaning our flats and packing up the trailer and now its time to say our goodbyes and have some down time to ourselves.
its kind of a bitter sweet day, iv made some amazing friends here and its going to suck to say goodbye today, so iv been moping around for most of it but inside im really really excited for outreach. its going to be such an amazing experince and adventure. i dont think ill be excited until i hop aboard the OKA and we take off.
Its pretty surreal though. i just realized we will be working as carnies for the first week so thats kind of funny.
but anyways. i hope you all have a fantastic time at home in canada. and i might have some internet access up until cairns so i might try to update at least a few times when im there.
God bless!

Outreach in 4 days!

Hey everyone, its been a while since my last real post.
Well this friday was our last day of lectures. a bitter sweet moment but it was well welcomed. We leave for outreach this thursday and we will be doing prep all week. im in charge of worship so that should be intresting. we leave for inhgam thursday evening and get there an hour or so slater in time to help with the fair in town for a week. and then its up the cape! yay!

This last saturday was my last youthstreet with the kids here so that was pretty sad for me, im gonna miss them alot.

But this last friday was a thing called parents night itis a night where all the youthstreet kids invite there parents and each team ( dance music skate and sport ) does a preformance and our team did our dance we have been making for the last 3 months and pulled it together pretty well. i got it on video for those who are intrested when i get back home.
but yeah thats my quick update ill probably say more later.

ps. 4 days ago it was recorded the coldest temperature EVER in townsville and its been raining for the past 2 or 3 weeks. YAY tropical weather!...not. this is totally supposed to be the dry season.

to my fellow students

you know you have studied in australia when..


Tim tams have become a new food group

Vegemite - try it once, maybe never again

You are seriously impressed with the selection of M&Ms

You use "oi" correctly in a sentence and smile

You have more than 2 hours of class a day and complain

You coordinate your weekend outings around buying just one day pass for the bus

Reese's cups have the trading value of black market kidneys

McCafe - enough said

You have travelled more across Australia than your home country

You have never lined dried your laundry but do now just to save a $1 coin

Peanut butter becomes your life, you hoard it and dinner time gets violent if it's in limited supply

At first, the tropical birds waking you up at 6am were cool, tropical even. Now, you wish you brought your BB gun on the plane...

You have encountered spiders larger than a small dinner plate - and lived to tell the tale

You live for Thursdays - pasta night and taco day

You move from being poor, to being broke, to being in debt in a few short weeks

HEAPS

You are more commited to state of origin events than most sporting games back home








im sorry this is pretty much for my fellow students haha most of this probably is very very forgien to you...and it should be. haha

If anyone ever wonderd...

what my whole DTS would look like combined...wonder no longer









compliments of marci rasmussen. you are my hero.