The day came to leave California, and we all crammed our stuff back into those lovable green duffle bags and anxiously awaited our departure. (I guess some people tiredly awaited our departure, as shown in the photo, but who cares about technicalities?)

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare- about 10 hours. As you can see by our jubulant faces, it was a thrilling experience checking in approximatly 55 pieces of luggage. :) After a fun day of sitting around, calling family and/or friends, looking in the shops, eating, and practicing mime in various parts of the airport, we finally boarded a very large plane. It was amazingly comfortable! For the first 30 minutes, that is. The next 14 hours...well, what can I say? Some people (like me) attempted to sleep, others chatted, and others watched the unfamiliar Australian movies showing. Finally we landed in Aukland, New Zealand for a layover. It was nice to be able to stretch out after the long flight. Most of us eagerly exchanged about five dollars for New Zealand currency and bought a postcard or something to say, "I've been to New Zealand, too. See?" Melissa, me, Maral, and Prascilla had our picture taken with the welcome sign. Who needs more proof than that?


The flight to Melbourne was wonderfully short. We made our way through customs, worried about Maral's ROOTS clothing (We were told that "roots" is not a good thing to say in Australia), and exchanged our money. Finally we met our host, Garry, who gave us some delightful news! Actually, we were less than thrilled to find out we had to drive ten hours north to get to our destination! The beginning of the ride wasn't bad and we had fun stopping to see a place of Australian culture, which turned out to be the Ettamogah Pub (left). Some were skeptical-"We're a Christian mission team and our first stop is at a bar?"- but it turned out to be the first location we were able to use our Salvation Bracelets.


The rest of the ride was more difficult as we were forced to stay awake (to lessen jet lag). We tried singing, talking, hitting each other, whatever worked. When we finally arrived in Goulburn, we were exhausted, but not too tired to order pizza! Our first night was spent in a cold school building that we weren't prepared for, but we were just glad to not be traveling anymore. Well, until the next day, that is...


Next: Gosford- The Central Coast