(written on July 31st, before I left Kiah Ridge Conference Center, an hour outside of Sydney, Australia)
The past couple of weeks have been a blur of activity. It’s
been a fitting end to a wonderful journey. However, as I sit at the conference
center where we are finishing up our final tasks, I remember a few highlights
that stick out to me as important events that I want to remember in the future…
Tuesday, 24 July –
Adelaide Gaol
The Adelaide Gaol is an old stone jail that was built in the
1880s to hold the criminals and repeat offenders in South Australia. (Believe
it or not, SA is the only section of Australia that was not originally part of
the penal colony. It was initially intended to be a business port and an area
of immigrant villages…no convicts around.) The Gaol was in continuous use until
the 1980s, at which time it was converted into a heritage site and museum. Due
to its long use, the Gaol itself is an interesting blend of old construction
and new technology; it has security video cameras right next to loose bricks
stacked on the tops of walls (they would fall and make noise if someone tried
to escape). It is also the site where 56 convicts were executed—murderers and
conspirators, most of them hanged. They are all buried on site, so the Gaol is
rumored to be haunted. I don’t exactly believe in that kind of stuff, but I’m
not gonna lie—it was a creepy place. It’s rather rundown, so a lot of the light
sensors don’t work until you’re already full in a room; there are random
manikins that are meant to depict certain people or prison uniforms; there are
many partially furnished cells that have scary-looking lighting; and you never
quite know which doors are going to be unlocked and which ones are supposed to
be locked. But it was really interesting to see a different way of life and
take time to absorb the process in Australia over the years.
Funny story about this day: I was staying at Mark and
Karen’s house in Norwood, which is closer to the city. (They were away in
Greece.) I got on the bus going in one direction when really I should have been
going the other way. An hour later, I finally got on the correct bus and in the
city, but it was a different bus than the one I needed to get back to Norwood. So,
when I tried to return to Norwood later in the day, I got on a bus that two
gift shop owners and a bus driver told me was the correct bus (it wasn’t). For
the second time that day, I spent over an hour on the wrong bus and finally got to a street close enough to
the house that I could walk within ten minutes. (Mark won’t let me forget it.)
Sunday, 29 July – Last
day at Soul Food
I showed up for my last shift at the cafe a half hour early,
and they were so busy that I started early and we didn’t stop until closing. I
didn’t slow down enough to really think about the fact that it was my last day
until we were already done. I went home and started the long process of packing
up—figuring out what could fit where, what I needed to leave, and how to pack my
souvenirs. I wound up with space to spare and evenly distributed weight in my
luggage, so I’m in good shape for the flight home!
In the evening, Flick had organized a farewell party at the
café for me so that I could say goodbye to everyone at once. Nearly everyone
that I knew in Adelaide came and I had a great evening of fellowship,
farewells, and great memories. They gave me thank you gifts and I feel like it
was a fitting send-off. It helped the church also, because they could see their
immediate group that they are impacting and the strength of fellowship in the
group. (I had to re-pack some stuff and leave a couple more shirts, but it’s
all worth it!)
Monday, 30 July – Goodbye
Adelaide, hello Sydney!
I got up super-early and Flick drove me to the airport. It
was a beautiful day to fly, and I had a smooth flight over to Sydney. Mark and
Karen were in baggage claim to get our bags, and it was really neat to
reconnect with the other four American students who came over to
Australia—Ashton, Maggie, and Taylor from Melbourne, and Mac from Perth. Mandy
(an Aussie from Brisbane who is taking over Mark and Karen’s position next
year) took us to Circular Quay in Sydney. It was a fun subway ride to the city,
and we were talking 90 miles a minute! We spent a few hours exploring the Rocks
(the first neighborhood in Sydney and the true birthplace of the penal colony),
taking pictures of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, and riding
the Manly Ferry across the Harbour (where we got a fantastic view of the
skyline, Opera House, and Harbour Bridge). It was SO COOL to see the
world-famous landmarks that I’ve always dreamed of seeing, and it only served
to make me want to come back and spend days in the city, exploring the history
of the region and learning the vibe of Sydney.
I also had one of the coolest things happen to me in my
entire life…Sydney is a large city of over 4 million people. It’s a massive
area with literally hundreds of things to do. I had a friend from my Walt
Disney World days (Colton) that was touring Australia for fun. We had joked
about meeting in Sydney because we would be there on the same day.
Unfortunately, because of my time schedule and not having a cell phone, we
figured out that it would be nearly impossible to meet up, so we just resigned
ourselves to talking about it later. On this day, as my group (the 5 Americans
and Mandy) were walking away from the Opera House to head to the train to
return to the airport, I look up…and who should be walking towards me on the
street, than MY FRIEND COLTON!!! In a huge city with millions of people and
thousands of things to do, I run into the one person I know in the entire
Southern Hemisphere! We freaked for a minute and took a picture to prove it to
ourselves later, and the people in our groups couldn’t believe it. It was one
of the coolest things I’ve ever had happen!
We headed back to the Kiah Ridge Conference Center about an
hour outside of the city, the place where it all began, so long ago…
Tuesday, July 31 –
Debriefing
