Author: Carol Laird

Well, I’ve got internet again 🙂  We’ve just pulled back into Newcastle to say ‘bye’ to Britt before we head back to Sydney and then fly out to India on Saturday.

We’ve been posting small statuses from our phones, as the hotels we stayed at you pay for all internet – and usually you pay per MB usage.  So, now’s the time to update you on our amazing trip north.

First Stop…. Newcastle/Hunter Valley/Beach!

We stayed in Newcastle for 4 days to hang out with Britt and take in some of the sights of where she lives.  We were finally able to come face to face with the many familiar names we’ve heard about and even talked to in the past years at the YWAM base here in Newcastle. It was good to sit in with Youth Street staff and see the fruitful ministry in action.

Just an hour away from Newcastle is Hunter Valley.  As we drove the country side, I had just asked Britt if we would see any kangaroos randomly by the road when low and behold… there they were – grazing in the field!  Hunter valley is a world re-known wine making region. Because it’s winter, the vineyards were bare and the grape vines were pruned right back – one could hardly believe that they would produce any grapes at all.  We stopped at the local touristy village area to have lunch and check out the cheese and chocolate stores…that apparently go great with wine 🙂

The next day we went to the beach.  One of our favourite places to spend time.  We walked out to the lighthouse and waited for the sun to set.  The site was breathtaking… it was SO gorgeous.  I was kind of going on and on about how amazing the sunset looked. At some point I realized my sunglasses were still on and thus was the reason I was experiencing the most amazing sunset of my life!!  Haha… it still was lovely!

Today we rented a car and drove up to Newcastle to spend a few days with Brittney before heading up the coast for a two week road trip. Jamie is finally getting the hang of driving on the left and navigating his way around the corners…keeping to the left!  And the wipers aren’t coming on so often every time the intention was to put on the signal 🙂 Britt and Mykee will be joining us for the one way up to Fraser Island – the largest sand island in the world!

Our first stop was Morisset (30 min south of Newcastle) to see the wild kangaroos.  They hang out in a field by the Psychiatric Hospital 🙂  We are able to walk right up the them and pet them – even though I was a bit scared of them rearing up on their tails and kicking me with both feet.  Jamie just told me I had seen too many cartoons!  It was so amazing to stand in the middle of the crowd of kangaroos and watch a little baby crawl into momma’s pouch and then pop it’s head out to munch on the grass.  There was quite an intimidating large kanga just watching us from a distance.  I’m assuming it was a ‘he’ because of the size… but we have no idea how to tell a ‘he’ from a ‘she’.  Regardless, it was large and almost majestic as he took in our presence.

From Morisset, we made our way to Newcastle and hung out with Britt and other YWAM staff for the evening. It will be great to be here for a few days!