A Two-day walk in the bush

Twenty-six kilometre walk! - Qsamt Malta!!


It was really tiring ... phew ... but worthed!! I managed to get 3 blisters, and a couple of scratches on my right leg and right arm (I fell in a ditch only an hour after we started walking :p ... hehe ...) - quite an accomplishment! We walked about 20Km the first day (approximately 7 hours walk) and 8Km the second day (3.5 hours).

Marley Beach:










Eagle Rock & North Era Beach:











Burning Palms:

Garie Beach:

Sunset at North Era

Summer School of Evangelisation

I've just come back from the longest retreat I ever attended - 8 days! It was held in a boys boarding school in Bathust which is 2hr 50min from Engadine (The place where I'm staying which is suburb in Sydney). The place was really cool! Instead of Hogworths School of Magic, this was Hogworths Summer School of Evangelisation!

So this Sunday-to-Sunday retreat entailed lectures in the morning and seminars in the evening. I attended to lectures & seminars on: Human Sexuality, Pathways of Prayer, Creative Workshop, and The Age of Mary. They were all really interesting. My favourite were Human Sexuality and the Age of Mary. I learnt a whole lot of new stuff! Human Sexualtiy dealt with Pope John Paul II Theology of the body, and it explained the beauty of our sexuality in the way God once created it to be and what we should aim for in our life, be it marriage, single or religious life. To use a very common Aussie adjective... it was AWESOME!! Bil-Malti TAL-GENN! The seminars on Mary were also very interesting. I learnt a lot more on the importance of Mary, on how she can be a means to draw closer to Jesus.

I got to meet a lot of new people, and it was also a great time to go back to my roots, pray and discover God in my life once again. Finding myself in a charismatic environment helped me feel at home. I really enjoyed the time we had in adoration, and the possibility of going to the chapel to pray whenever we could. We had time for reconciliation, venerating the WYD cross & icon, & commiting our lives to God.

On Saturday we had a really good fun night. We had a celebration meal, which started with worship songs, followed by dinner and then we had a kind of talent show. Brendon came up with this idea of doing a skit named 'The Pre-school of Evangelisation'. We dressed up in silly clothes and took the roles of children animators. It was like being back in summer school with the small kids. Bren wore shorts up to his belly and socks up to his knees; I put my hair in pigtails and wore my doggy socks (the ones you got me, matt, from Sweden) over the converse shoes... it turned out to be really good. It wasn't long only around 4mintues but the people liked it... I was happy about that... :D

Vigil with the WYD Cross and Icon

So, yesterday we had the opportunity to spend 12 whole hours with the WYD (World Youth Day) cross and icon. The Cross and Icon were given to the Antioch Youths (Antioch li like ZAK in Malta) of Sydney for 24 hours. We joined the 100 youths at around 11pm and stayed till 8:00am - a long night!!

The Cross and Icon were set-up at Maroubra Church. There were around 10 Antioch communities (from the different suburbs of Sydney), and each community animated an hour during the night: worship songs were sung, stations of the cross, rosary, reflections and time of prayer. I really enjoyed the time of prayer and worship - I miss it soooo much!! Being there in the church singing worship songs I knew gave me that home peaceful feeling; I could only sigh and say to myself, "Yeah... this is the place I want to be... this is what I want in my life."

We had morning prayers at 5am... most of the youths were still half asleep. This was followed by a procession from the church to the beach were we celebrated mass. The sun shone high up in the sky, a cool breeze blew from the ocean, and the sound of the roaring waves and the hustling leaves in the trees made the Eucharistic celebration even more special because it was like all creation was worshipping God at that point in time.

We got back home at around 10am totally tired. It was an activity worth attending. I got to know some youths from the parish I'm staying in, and a good time of prayer... Yep, it was a good evening.

Tomorrow we're off to Summer School of Evangelisation - you'll get to know all about it in a week's time.

Another Day

We went down to the coast and had a mixed day: we drove through some really thick fog, I held a small duckling in my hands for the first time - it was really cute!, went to see Brendon's nanna who lives in a home for old people and ended the day assembling chairs for Aunty Jo (Brendon's aunt). ... I slept all the way back (45 minutes) ... one thing I still have to get used to is the long distances... phew!!... it is soooo different from Malta!












oh ... the nun you're seeing in the picture is Brendon's other aunt, Aunty Janey.

Appyling for jobs & having a swim now and then

Brendon and I have spent the last few days applying for jobs, browsing the internet and also having a swim in the pool now and then. :p


So far I've applied for a teaching post with the government school system and tomorrow I'll post in my application to teach in the Catholic Schools. I don't know exactly what God is planning for me and to tell you the truth I feel a bit scared of what lies ahead, but I'm trying to take it day by day, trusting in Him and holding tight to my faith as much as I can. I always believed that He'll take care of my future - now, more than before it's time to keep close to that belief and have faith... :)

Working on the computer early in the morning.

This morning we had breakfast with Brendon's sister, Karin, in a cafe in Cronulla. It's a place next to the sea - well actually ocean, insomma you get what I mean. I had sauteed mushrooms on toast, followed by fruit and a really good chocolate milkshake!... mmmm... really good and filling!! The day was quite cool and windy, so we didn't have a go at swimming in the ocean. The waves were quite rough. I'll dive in the Pacific ocean another time - maybe I'll get to surf too you never know!! ... hehe...

New things are coming up in the next few days - interview with the World Youth Day (WYD) people for a post as a volunteer, Vigil with the WYD cross and icon, and Summer School of Evangelisation is starting next Sunday!! WOHOOO!!! TAL-GENN!! We had to cancel the coast walk we were planning to this week. Twenty eight kilometers of walking would have drained us out and we wouldn't have appreciated the other things... Tkun darb'ohra...

A day in the City

Yesterday was a great day: We went to the city - went to the Sydney Aquarium and we visited the sisters (Missionaries of Charity nuns) too!!!! We also stopped in 2 Comic bookstores... (guess why!!)

The Aquarium was really nice: seals, sharks, giant turtles, coral reef, a wide variety of fish - really nice. I was impressed most by the turtle and seals... turtle mainly... maybe its because I hadn't yet seen one so close and so big! Brendon liked the Platypus most... it's his favourite animal.

And the visit to the sisters was TAL-GENN!! aahh i really needed to see some familiar faces... well not exactly cos I dont know them but at least an environment that I'm familiar with. They have a kitchen soup every morning (I hope to go some day and give a helping hand) and they visit people in their homes. That's their main apostolate.

We really walked a lot. We both were exhausted by the end of it.

Today we had a restful day. Woke up late, prayed, had lunch, read for a while, and prepared some things we need for a 2-day hike we're planning for this coming week. It's a 28km Coast walk. We'll see how it goes. ;) Now I'm off for a swim and then for the 6pm Sunday Youth mass.

A walk in the Bush

Today we went for a walk in the bush in the Royal National Park.

We started walking at around 12:30pm and walked for about 45 minutes among tall trees and shrubs. It was a pleasant walk (it was all downhill! :p) and had this really fantastic view. At the end of the track we arrived to Karloo Pool (our destination) which is a small pool of natural fresh water. Swimming in there was totally refreshing!!

Australia - a new experience

I arrived in Australia two weeks ago and so far the days have been great!

I'm living in a really cool house: front lawn, back yard, pool in the back yard ... wow tal-genn! I'm staying with Brendon's family who having been really welcoming and who have done their best to help me feel at home.

This is a totally new experience for me: new country, new culture, new situation to live through. It's an experience I want to face with a smile :) challenging as it may be. It's a time where I wish to discover more who I am and who I want to be. It's a journey through i wish to discover more who God is and what it means to have Him at the centre of my life.