Over the hump, and accelerated friendships.

We are now well into the second half of our year-long adventure in Aus. After our amazing halfway-point-July-holiday, I have to admit, I felt that life was a little anticlimactic and the post-vacation-blues hit hard. We had seen, we had experienced, we had adventured, we had met some wonderful people, and, in some ways, we had conquered. After a bit of a climax with our much anticipated trip up north, it felt like we should be going home-home, not to our Dubbo-home. I would say that it took a good week or two to settle, once again, into our new and temporary life here. During this mild mid-year-crisis of sorts, I think we have been able to reset our priorities and focus for the rest of our year here. As far as I can tell, I believe it is to continue learning more about our world, ourselves, and each other; in relation to our God  - through travel, through growing relationships with some really great people, and through forming solid memories together through all of these experiences. It is so good.

Lego Clubbing

Fun with new friends.

More Lego Club - the alien challenge.

We have lots of time for goofing around in the evenings.

On that note, we just came back from a really refreshing weekend connecting with another Canadian-teacher-exchange family who came from St. Thomas, Ontario to live near Forster, NSW for the year. We met at our Sydney orientation way back in February, and had an instant connection. Our two families have managed a get-together for a camping weekend in Newcastle and a "chance" meeting at the Daintree Forest over the last number of months and really enjoyed connecting over our experiences. After hearing numerous times about Forster, and how it is a gorgeous vacation destination for many who live in Dubbo, we decided to make the almost-six-hour-drive to check it out. Kevin was able to leave a little early from work on Friday, and we drove the whole way without stopping (a family record, I reckon) to spend a fantastic weekend in yet another beautiful part of Australia. It was so good to connect with folks who are in a very similar life stage as us. Kevin and I were chatting on the drive home and wondering how it was that we could so quickly have a solid connection with such new friends. We came to the conclusion that we have a natural connection, coupled with the fact that we are both in very similar situations that cause us to feel accelerated in our friend-making-process. At any rate, we are thankful to have made fast-friends that feel a bit like old-friends that we could spend a fun weekend with. 

 On our drive we practically drove through the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It hasn't rained a drop in Dubbo for months. In fact, I can probably count on one hand the amount of days it has rained since we have been in Dubbo. So rain was so good to see and smell in the air. 

 Exploring the beautiful community of Forster.

Meh...just another spectacular deserted white sand beach with crystal clear turquoise waters - it's getting so old. JUST KIDDING! The kids ran up and down this gargantuan sand dune multiple times. They had sand in their pockets, in their ears, and everywhere else. And they slept hard that night. To give you an idea of scale, this is the kids at the top...

 Halfway down...

There they are, the tiny specks down the bottom (Aussie-speak). 

 Sheltering from a rain shower on yet another beach.

The kids discovered that these rocks were covered by millions of little flies and found it very entertaining to disturb them with clumps of sand. 

Our little mermaid.

 We joined our new friends for an outdoor church service at a gorgeous place called Seal Rocks. The drive there was spectacular. You can't beat this view. In the photo below, a kookaburra decided to join the preacher by sitting on the speaker beside him. It was heaps cool.

We have not seen a dingo yet, but we thought this sign was pretty cool.

 Yawn....just jokes.

We took a little walk to the picturesque lighthouse at Seal Rocks. We even got to spot our first  whales! Very exciting. 

For a small fortune, you can stay in these lovely suites beneath the lighthouse.

 Spotting some breaching whales.

We are so thankful for a beautiful weekend away with sweet new friends.