Spit to Manly and IMAX!

And here we are again back at you.

Since the excitement of the bridge climb, we have hunkered down in earnest and put in some time for the church. It is a great feeling to know that our efforts are actually being of use to the energetic Hurstville Society. Everyone in this society has to put in extra time to make it run smoothly and I have been especially impressed by the dedication of the church members here. This week, and last week, we made some "task cards" to give to the congregation with quotes on them that we decorated with suns and painted borders. The purpose of them was to give everyone at least one thing to take away from the service that they could remember during the next week. They were happily recieved which of course made us happy. This society has been so welcoming and friendly towards us and it has really made this internship a pleasure.
On Saturday we set out another hike, the Spit to Manly Walk. Our companions were Kristen, Angela, Naomi, and Nick who all made the experience much better and we shared a lot of laughs along the way. It was shorter than the other hikes we've done and ended at the beach which was exciting. On the walk, we saw about seven, unshy, lizards who had no fear and came right up to us. I almost stepped on one at one point but luckily avoided it at the last second. We had a beautiful day for our hike, nice and sunny, not too hot and not too cold, just like the littlest bear's porridge. The hike only took about four hours, which included a stop for lunch and a little lighthouse. Arriving at Manly Beach around 3:30, we tested the water and debated to swim or not. It was quite chilly, but I decided I couldn't pass up a chance to try out some Australian water and went in. I don't regret it, but I definately felt the cold once I got out. After hanging out on the beach we trooped back to catch the ferry back to Sydney. It was a HUGE ferry and fully loaded with people going to and returning to the city for Saturday night. Back in Sydney, Sarah and I decided to scoot around the corner to Darling Harbour to find some dinner. The last time we walked from Sydney to the Harbour turned out to be kind of a disaster, I don't know if you readers remember our famous three hour walk, but we sure do. We decided not to try and navigate our route ourselves so I decided to swallow my pride and just act like the tourist that I am and ask a woman at the information booth. She told us what to do- to catch another ferry in fifteen minutes- so we got some coffee from an Italian guy and jumped onto our next ride. On the ferry, Sarah decided that for the rest of the night we had to talk with Aussi accents which I thought was brilliant and that added a lot of extra laughs to the night. Walking around the harbour I remembered that there was an IMAX theatre nestled in with the cafes. I think it is because of my papa that I love IMAX. There is something about them I just can't resist. Luckily, Sarah likes them also and we decided, completely spontaneously, that we couldn't pass up this opportunity for fun. We decided at about 5:55 to watch Harry Potter 3D at 6:00. After hustling to buy some tickets we grabbed those some stylish 3D glasses and settled in for some 'Arry. The movie was terriffic and the whole experience was well worth it. The fight scene at the end in 3D, wow, right on (that's for you uncle garth). Once that was over, we got some fish and chips and ate it looking out at the harbour and observing the other citygoers around us.
Now it is Tuesday night and we are planning out yet another trip into the city tomorrow morning to deliver some books of the Writings to second hand bookstores. This is one of our internship jobs and I think it will be fun to meet some Sydney bookkeepers. It will be good practice for us to try and explain about the Writings and will test our navigation skills once again.
Well, that's all folks. We miss everyone at home and hope that all is well wherever you are reading this from,
love Carling and Sarah