WYD 2008 update #1: Traveling to Sydney

Cheerio mates!

We're just muckin around in the outback, down here! After acquiring a bit of respite, we shall head to the church and have a holy hour with our group!

The flights were LONG, LONG, LONG. My leg swoll up to about twice it's size. It looked like I was wearing a fat suit on one leg!

We had Mass at LAX - in the middle of the airport. We saw paparrazi harrassing some movie star (recognized her, don't know who she was) so in the middle of this chaotic world descended the peace of Christ and all was hushed as the Eucharistic prayer began. It was powerful, and I realized the true nature of this PILGRIMAGE we are on.

We ran into John Angotti at LAX, too, ps.

We had a bit of an issue upon arriving in Brisbane, Au, and that was four of our group, including David and Alicia, weren't booked on our same flight. That ended up getting sorted out and the Holy Spirit was definitely at work in that our flight was delayed enough so that we all ended up arriving within 30 minutes of each other.

Once we made it to Sydney, we had about a two hour bus drive to Wollongong (ANOTHER ride... total travel time was 38 hours!) FINALLY we made it and it was dreary and rainy. Because of our delays, we missed the Bishop who came out to meet us. We had mass with the Australians and it was great. We are so excited to be here and what a great and beautiful thing it is to share unity in the Catholic Church - the Mass is the same wherever you go and I felt completely at home sharing Eucharist on this foreign land.

I'm working on my accent, by the way. And it's great. :p

Then, we met our host families. My friend Dawn and I are staying in a rainforest!!!!! Last night, we saw a kangaroo cross the road (A KANGAROO IN THE WILD!!!) I have it on video:) We also saw a wombat (giant rat, bigger than a raccoon) and a wallabee (small kangaroo-looking creature). The land here is beautiful. The wind was so high last night that it sounded like an ocean. Then when we woke up this morning and looked out the window, we saw we were on top of a mountain in the rainforest, and we could see the ocean from our view. It's all breath-takingly beautiful. God is good and His handiwork is magnificent. We had a great time visiting with our host family. I even ate salmon. Raw. That's the only thing thus far that I hope to never experience again. :)

This morning Dawn, David, Alicia, and I played Mass for our group and host families. We played with an Australian composer and his son. We had great fun. The music here is different. More on that another time. We had fun.

Following Mass, we went for a hike in the Miramurra rainforest all the way up atop a waterfall. It was like a scene out of Jurassic park, but without the scary dinosaurs. We went for a drive up to Saddleback mountain which overlooks the whole valley and ocean.... WOW, the most breathtaking site. I took some pictures but quickly became discouraged as nothing could capture the beauty. Everywhere you go, you can't help but give glory to God!!

Oh! And we went to see a blow hole in volcanic rock formation where the water comes up and spouts through the whole. We met a bunch of Nigerians here for WYD. I met the President of Nigeria's Catholic Youth Organization!

Right now, I am sitting at another host family's home (Dawn and I will be staying here in couple of days for a couple of days) They have ocean views on two sides of their home, so we've been whale watching!! We've seen a couple of whales, but they are so far away, we haven't been able to really make them out aside from the splashes they made.

I am so blessed to be on this pilgrimage. We have a holy hour shortly, so I better run. Music tomorrow and Adoration tomorrow... the Australians have been unbelievably kind and generous and allowing us to be part of their celebration has been quite an experience.

I love you all, and I'm praying for you. All of your intentions are held in my heart each day, and I pray God blesses you profoundly. Please keep us in your prayers, too!

Noelle

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