I warned you that more pictures from my Australia trip were going to be coming. Since we were on a mission trip, our sightseeing adventures were few and far between. This was one of them. After the Sunday services that day, we were joined by a good number of the Sydney youth and chaperoned by Raymond Young (the guy in the middle throwing up the peace sign) to spend the afternoon at Manly Bay. To get there, it took over an hour total travel time between train and ferry, but it was so worth it.
Once off the ferry, we made our way through the large outdoor shopping mall. In my mind, I compared it to Crocker Park here in Ohio, except this one was way bigger and ended at a beach by the Pacific. It was incredibly cool just to wander. Before long however, we needed to make an ice cream stop. Imagine almost 30 people at once entering the line for the tiny ice cream shack.
The ice cream was just a small joy on this endeavor. We eventually made our way to the beach. And while there were a good number of people there, it was winter time in Australia so the beach wasn't packed. Ray Jiang saw an opportunity. He had brought his frisbee with him and since there was enough open beach, he got an ultimate frisbee game going. I've played ultimate frisbee in many places in my day, but never on an Australian beach, in the winter, with the sun setting over the Pacific. What made the game the most fun was that there was a stone wall that separated the beach from the mall area. There were a lot of people sitting on that wall. As we were playing, a good number became interested in our game. So much so that there were cheers at great plays and "oooo's" at missed plays. Having random local Aussies enjoy our game made me feel a bit like a pro. Now take a look at the guy on the far right of the picture in the blue shirt. That's Ray. As you can see he's in full dress garb and sweaty. That's because he was the only one who didn't think to bring a change of clothes to the church services as he thought we'd have time to go back to hospitality later. So he played the entire game in dress clothes.
The last highlight of the outing was actually the ferry ride back to Sydney. As mentioned before, it was winter time so it got dark before 6PM, which was about the time we got on the ferry. So it was completely dark by the time we were reaching the city. What's so cool about that? Being able to see the entire city lit up at night (including the Opera House), from a boat, as it reflected off the ocean. To really understand the awe of it you'd have to be there.
This picture embodies that memory. All those young people who welcomed us into their houses and into their lives for two weeks, spending the day enjoying each other's company and time together. And I kinda like that everyone's not focused on the photo as they're lost in the people and conversations around them. So yeah, if you ever visit Sydney, Australia, be sure to check out Manly Bay.
No comments:
Post a Comment