She Wore A Yellow Ribbon - Home Again

Thursday

Today I woke very early ( 5-something ), got ready, packed up and checked out and drove east to Lorne....stopping whenever and wherever I wished and looking at the ocean the whole time (and the road).

Lorne is absolutely gorgeous. I sat by the ocean eating my salad roll and drinking my mango and guava sparkling mineral water. Then I took a nap while listening to John Barry songs and the waves (in the car with the door locked- it was still cold despite the beautiful sun and blue sky), and watched surfing classes- they obviously hadn't seen North Shore- no duck diving.

And so the day passed- enjoying the ocean and singing along to my favorite playlists, and driving.  My last stop was Bells Beach.  The south side is the place where Bodie bit it.  The stairs look just like  in the movie.

I successfully navigated the whole driving experience- thanks to GPS, prayer, and concentration, and arrived back in Bendigo around 4. Stephen made sweet curry for dinnsies.

Nice to be back to my lovely bedroom and friendly faces.

John Denver, The 12 Apostles, and a Light House

What do all of those topics have in common? I will tell you:

Wednesday

Here's a run-down on my wonderful Great Ocean Road day.....woke, watched Downton and slept some more, got ready, bought a salad roll at the local bakery ( and a raspberry/white chocolate muffin and lemon lime sparkling mineral water ), took off for Port Campbell - 2 hours west from Apollo Bay- sang John Denver the whole way, arrived at the 12 Apostles- spectacular!!!!!!, met nice people who took my photo for me and I took theirs, walked around the 12 Apostles, ate my salad roll, drove one hour east to Cape Otway Light House, walked around and up to the top of the light house (trying to be brave instead of having a complete freak out as I felt like doing whilst walking up the very steep narrow steps with flip flops that felt like coming off), met some gay American democrats - who were very nice and who were talking to the light house guy about how only democrats from America travel abroad- they found me to be an oddity, I shopped for more souvenirs, drove back to Apollo Bay, rested, went to watch the ocean for a lovely long time.

Photos Highlights:

Robert, Jack and John (Denver not Wayne)

Sorry for the theme change, but...

Tuesday

Two roads diverged in a wood and..... I took the scenic route. Literally and figuratively. Turns out the navigation unit I rented from Hertz has 3 billion options for traveling from point A to point B; including, the option I inadvertently selected of "take every single out of the way little side road that exists in Victoria to get from Bendigo to the Great Ocean Road." Wow.

I kept thinking, okay Michael Scott, you're driving into the pond, but, once committed - out in the middle of nowhere in a country that is not your own - you kind of have to keep going.

Luckily, it was a stunning drive - the whole drive. What a beautiful country-side. I was reminded why Victoria is the garden state.

For those of you who need all the details, here's a quick snapshot (photos to follow when I get back to Bendigo and normal wi-fi).

- got up "early" (7:30)
- saw kangaroos out the window
- took Kelsey to school with Stephen
- went to Hertz to add me as a driver
- had a quick driving on the left side of the road refresher lesson from Stephen
- got some petrol ($75 to fill a Toyota Corolla tank 3/4 - ouch)
- packed, ate, prayed, and left
- drove all over the country-side of Victoria for 5 hours
- very happily arrived at The Great Ocean Road
- pulled over to say hello to the ocean and in my haste and excitement, flipped on the windshield wipers...you have to think the whole time you are driving on the wrong side of the road
- found my motel and checked in - they upgraded me to an "apartment"
- got a salad roll and lemon drink and walked over to the ocean to eat
- talked to a nice lady
- walked along the beach
- bought souvenirs
- bought groceries
- turned in for the evening

I have officially begun one of my bucket list items - "Drive down the Great Ocean Road by myself and stop at all the towns I wish to."

Good old John Denver wrote many lyrics with layers of universal human sentiment and truth....whether it be a night in a forrest, a mountain in springtime, a walk in the rain, a storm in the desert, or a sleepy blue ocean....skiing down a snow-covered mountain in Aspen, Colorado or driving down a sun-filled ocean road in Australia.....my senses were filled. So amazing!

What a beautiful world God created for us!!

More tomorrow- if the wi-fi works. Xoxo

Chisum

Laundry day today....and a good thing too- it was a shocker weather-wise. Incredibly hot and wow, the humidity. I went out for my walk at 9ish and it was already so muggy. The Aussies are wondering why summer is still hanging on so strong and looking forward to a drop in temperatures. I am rather thrilled that I am lazing about in shorts and a t-shirt and not driving around snow-covered streets.

I talked to my former investigator today and I am going to see her on Friday. That will be really good. She sounded excited to hear from me and that made me happy.

I read some more of the David McCollough book- it's the one Inj and I heard about when he came to speak at a Family History thing in SLC. Loving it so far.

Great food today- my yogurt (pictured below), pizza, salt and vinegar chippies, a passion fruit snack (see below), and fish and chips (also below).

The sky looked really cool on my walk, so I felt you would enjoy seeing that too.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Church today. Really fun to see old acquaintances from the ward again. I learned that the missionaries are teaching an old investigator my trainer and I taught 20 years ago.

I made the Mexican meal for tea- heaps of people...the elders, Terri's sister and her family, a new couple in the ward, some friends of the Rechters, the Rechters and me...well, I guess it was only 17 people.....but it seemed like a lot.

Food today- hot cross bun for breakfast, my yogurt and salt and vinegar chips for a snack, real chips later, and my meal of chicken enchiladas, massive nachos with ground beef, corn, kidney beans, jalapeños, olives, cheese, and salsa...oh, and chips hahaha, my new favorite guacamole, rice- made by Stephen, fresh salsa- made by Terri, and a Pavlova- made by Stephen and lime fruit salad - made by Terri for dessert, plus I made chocolate chip cookies.

I spent time talking to the elder from the U.S. who seemed very shy and in need of some kindness- his companion seemed a rather rude lad - it was fun to re-live the mission days a bit telling him stories of my time in Bendigo. This may have been rather boring for the elder, but I tried.

Here are the pics. Of note:  I hand-trimmed raw chicken all by myself- something I never do and never wish to do again....and there are several up close snaps of Kelsey- she stole my camera whilst I was cooking and left some little gems for me.