Once upon a time, in the middle of the Australian outback
lived five World Racers from America, just trying to survive mozzies, crocs,
wet season, and many other things. Well…. not exactly.
This trip ain’t no fairy tale, just an awesome outback adventure filled
with more twists and turns than a roller coaster. This month my team have been in the Northern Territory
of Australia, specifically we have been in the town of Katherine, along with
our visits out to the aboriginal villages of Beswick, Bulman and Weemol. A stretching month indeed, but also one
in which I couldn’t have grown more.
We arrived in Darwin on a Friday and literally jumped right in. That night we drove to Katherine,
which would be a “home base” of sorts for us. Our contact Carl Musch had arranged for us to stay for a few
nights at a farm right near an historic cattle station called Springvale.
Within our first few days we really got a true taste of
Australia with extreme bouts of rain, outrageous prices for everything, the
Australian accent, the bush, and being able to see Australian wildlife
including Wallabies and Kangaroos.
Our first day we arrived welcomed us with torrential down pours and
riding in a troopie (think Crocadile Dundee and you get the picture). We went to McDonalds for breakfast and
were quickly shocked by the prices, which made me think “we’re not in Cambodia
anymore Toto.” The sticker shock
so consumed me that I got to the point where purchasing a kids “Happy Meal”
became a “splurge!”
We ministered to a few churches in
the Katherine area before setting off on the REAL adventure in the
outback. Our first stop occurred
in the town of Beswick about 1 ½ hours away from Katherine. We met with the church there for
fellowship, and had a woman’s bible study the next morning. My teammate Jessie was able to share
her testimony which really encouraged all of the ladies who attended. They were
also very kind in allowing us to use the kitchen at the Woman’s Shelter where
us girls were staying to cook, although they had never used the stove as they
were afraid it would blow up!!
After a few days there we set out
for the next leg of our adventure… so stay tuned to find out more!
