Our Trip to Australia

We started planning a trip to Australia about a year ago, well before we received our mission call. We wanted to use up the last of our frequent flyer miles and go somewhere interesting. Australia was great! Derek was able to join us for almost two weeks of the trip. We spent just over three weeks there traveling to Sydney, Melbourne, and the Great Barrier Reef. We got to see lots of kangaroos, koalas, crocodiles, and beautiful countryside as we drove over 4500 kilometers. We got to go diving and snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. We attended church in three different cities where they spoke some type of Australian English that was mostly recognizable. In Sydney, we attended the Harbour Ward where there are 14 young missionaries and 3 senior couple missionaries. Sunday School was held in at least five different languages. Last year they baptized over 66 new converts that were mostly students from other Asian countries including China, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Church was held in a high rise building in downtown Sydney and one of the missionaries took us to the top of the building to see the sights. It was great!

At Sydney Harbor



Koala at Cape Ottway National Park

 

 


Kangaroos in a field  near Cairns, Aus

 



At Coogee Beach near Sydney





Crocodile on the Daintree River



 

Scuba Diving at the Great Barrier Reef